A note on Japanese Service

Thursday, February 25th, 2010 in: News

Last week, we did a little shopping in Nagoya station. Although the total amount of floor space dedicated to the train station itself is not exceptional, including the two massive skyscrapers jutting out of the station, it’s considered the “largest” train station in the world. Hiro has been using the same wallet for 4 or 5 years, and now that he’s a bigshot CEO, it’s time for him to have a wallet that matches his social stature.

After wandering around the various shopping levels in the station, we found the brand range we had been looking for. Dunhill, Chanel, Calvin Klein and Coach stores wound around the escalators with a menacing sense of luxury. These are the companies that have established themselves as quality brands, and have grown fat off their reputations.

Hiro decided on a Burberry wallet that caught his eye. Only mildly interested in such things, I wandered out to the front of the store and took out my yo-yo for some much-needed practice. When I came back, the sales lady asked us about the yo-yos, and was really impressed with the strange shape and color of the ones we carried. Not like any she’s seen before, she remarked.

She carefully wrapped Hiro’s new wallet up like it was a gift, and escorted us to the store’s threshold before presenting the bag to Hiro. With a deep bow, she ushered us out the store and thanked us for our visit. Each time I looked back, she would either wave or bow again until we were out of sight. In Japanese, 見送り。

Hiro went on to explain that for him, this is the real reason to come to stores like this; yes, the quality of the products is very high, but it’s the level of service that really sets them apart. Whereas I would be satisfied with a sturdy product that I bring to a counter and just pay for; there seems to be a borderline obsession with the quality of service and the actual shopping experience here in Japan. Many a time would my friends remark on the service of this or that place, noticing minor details in the way they acted or spoke that I never bothered to pay attention to or listen for. Perhaps this is why customer service here has developed into such a major facet of doing business. It’s hard to describe, really; I would call it “professional” friendly, as opposed to “personable” friendly. The barrier of politeness often prevents the interaction from breaching true conversation, but it’s not an unpleasant experience at all. I guess sometimes I’m more curious about the people providing the service for me, which causes me to resent the walls that have been built around us. I sometimes feel like with all the ultra-polite set phrases and trained responses, it’s easy to disregard the humanity of the people providing you with service. As a minor point of comparison, in the states, a waiter will offer his first name in order to establish repour with the customer. In Japan, this never seems to happen… It’s hard to tell which kind of service I prefer. I think it really depends on how I’m feeling and what the situation is.

A week later, we received the following handwritten note from our sales girl at Burberry. Hiro leaned back and smiled. “This is quality.” People are happy when they feel cared for, maybe that’s what “service” is all about.

Mr. Mii, Good day to you

Thank you so much for taking the time in your busy day to come into our store the other day. Have you already begun to use the wallet you picked out? The Yo-Yos you were carrying were very cool!! I was surprised by how different they were from the yo-yo’s I had seen before!!

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