Don’t demand quality from your part-timers! Soon 80% of customer service will no longer be necessary… The future of customer service, which is becoming increasingly mechanized and automated.

Is there such a thing as “I don’t know because I’m a part-timer?”

Recently, when shopping in stores or inquiring by phone, I have frequently seen clerks who do not have a grasp of their products or become grumpy when I ask them questions.

I was looking at social networking sites to find out if it was bad luck, if the author just has a hard eye, or if the quality of customer service is declining, when a post with X jumped out at me. To summarize,

When I asked about inventory at a home improvement store, the clerk replied, ‘I don’t know, I’m just a part-timer,’ but I thought part-time work should be that lenient.

This is a good example of how part-time work can be just as lenient. Even if he is a part-time worker, he is still a shopkeeper. Is “I don’t know” a reasonable response?

However, I was mildly shocked to see many positive replies such as, “If you are in a supermarket or mall, you should search by yourself instead of asking the clerk.

The hospitality industry is facing a number of issues, such as labor shortages and harassment, and employment is diversifying. In such an era, is it wrong to question the quality of customer service?

While I was agonizing over these questions, I came across a book titled “Needed Customer Service, Unnecessary Customer Service,” written by Kota Saito, a customer development consultant.

Mr. Saito points out that, against the backdrop of advances in IT and AI technology, there are an increasing number of industries and sectors where human customer service is no longer needed, and many young people believe that it is no longer necessary. He predicts that 80% of the customer service that has been performed by people will become unnecessary and will eventually disappear, i.e., “unnecessary customer service.

However, the remaining 20% will be “customer service that is needed. He believes that “customer service that makes people happy,” which only people can provide, will remain forever.

We joined Mr. Saito to consider how service recipients can enjoy shopping, dining, and drinking in a pleasant environment by accepting the “customer service that exists” and the “customer service that is not needed.

What industries do not feel the “need for customer service?

Let’s say you went shopping at a fast-fashion store on a weekend stroll, had lunch at a family restaurant, bought a boxed lunch for dinner at the supermarket, and went home. You have already checked out the products online, ordered at the family restaurant on a tablet, and paid at all three self-checkout counters. I found myself not speaking a single word to the staff at the restaurant. ……

Such a day would not be unusual.

According to Mr. Saito, until around 1970, most retailers in Japan were engaged in “face-to-face” sales. It was around 1970 to 2000 that “self-sales,” in which customers select and buy products on their own, began to expand. Supermarkets sprang up one after another, and fishmongers, grocers, butcher shops, tofu shops, etc., which were mainly engaged in face-to-face sales, gradually disappeared from the streets.

Today, however, people can shop online without the need for customer service, and self-checkout machines have been introduced in supermarkets and convenience stores, allowing customers to pay for their purchases without the need for human assistance.

Mr. Saito predicts the future as follows.

By 2030, convenience stores, supermarkets, drugstores, and other retail chains that handle daily necessities will have self-checkout systems throughout the country, and unmanned stores will be spreading in urban areas.

Even in fast-fashion stores, many customers have acquired a great deal of information from the Internet when they visit a store, so they choose products on their own without asking store staff. Since the products are reasonably priced, failure to select the right product will not be a major blow. Since customers do not feel the need for customer service, I believe that the number of staff devoted to customer service will be reduced for the sake of efficiency.

Similarly, restaurant chains such as fast food and family restaurants will probably minimize the number of people serving customers by around 2030 by unmanned reception areas and the use of food delivery robots.”

To begin with, at home centers, convenience stores, supermarkets, fast-food restaurants, and fast-fashion stores, contact with store staff will last only a few minutes if ever. As was mentioned in the reply to the opening post, customers themselves do not feel much need for customer service in these industries. I guess what they are looking for is cheap and easy.

There are some cafes that offer value-added service, but in most of these industries and businesses, it is misguided for customers to expect quality service. It may be better to think so in order to avoid unnecessary stress.

Mr. Saito offers this advice.

When you want to improve your satisfaction level, the first thing you can do is to take actions that do not make you feel negative. At the very least, you can avoid feeling uncomfortable.

Now that information is available on the Internet, there is a slackness on the part of the store that says, ‘Customers should know what they are looking for,’ so if the product is reasonably priced, we should assume that they will not ask too many questions. We can also line up at the self-checkout counter and avoid the customer service scene, which tends to create a negative mood. Of course, that can be frustrating when you can’t read the bar code (laughs).

When I go to an izakaya, I often ask for recommendations first before ordering, but what I want to know is not the recommendations that are always posted on the wall, but information like the fresh fish that came in today or the back menu made with mamai (laughs). But in many cases, restaurants that charge around 3,000 yen per customer only have temporary staff. With that in mind, I give up asking.

However, when there is someone nearby who is clearly the manager, and he is available, I ask him (laughs). (Laughs.) Then, they are unexpectedly happy and we have a good conversation. It’s a fun time.

So, in what types of industries will customer service continue to be needed in the future?

Industries that require long hours of customer service, such as luxury cosmetics, furniture, electrical appliances, watches, jewelry, automobiles, esthetic clinics, sports clubs, hotels, Japanese-style inns, and kappo restaurants, where the added value of customer service is important to the customer. These are the industries where people are most needed to serve customers and where the value added by serving customers is important. I think it is essential to further improve the level of customer service, and customers should demand high quality customer service as well.

In terms of monetary value, the unit price should be 30,000-50,000 yen or more for merchandise, and 10,000 yen or more for food and beverage. Personally, I think it is about that much.

For example, if a hair dryer costs 3,000 yen, you would buy it online, but if it costs 30,000 yen, wouldn’t you go to a mass retailer where you can ask questions on the spot and try it out?　If the price is over 30,000 yen, the store should have the right people on hand to answer customers’ questions in detail.

The role of human customer service is to “give a sense of happiness.

In his book, Mr. Saito explains that the role of customer service is to “1,

1. to deliver information
2. to guide and pay the bill
3. to give a sense of happiness.

As mentioned above, the role of customer service is to provide information to convenience stores and supermarkets, and to provide a sense of happiness to customers.

As mentioned above, in the case of industries such as convenience stores, supermarkets, family restaurants, and fast fashion stores, where customer service time is short and ease and affordability are more sought after than quality, the roles of “1_delivering information” and “2_guiding and accounting” are mostly already being played by IT, AI, and robots. The need for people to take on these roles is diminishing.

However, the role of “3. giving a sense of happiness” is something that people are good at. It is only when people take on this role that value is created. The industry, which places a high value on customer service, should improve the level of customer service that “gives a sense of happiness,” increase the number of such customer service situations, and enhance the value of customer service delivered by people.

He says, “Let me change the angle and scene a little. When do you feel happy when you are talking with a good friend on a holiday? When a friend listens to you and agrees with you, saying, “I think so, too! or when you realize something that you have never experienced before, or when you laugh or cry together, doesn’t that fill you with a sense of contentment? Don’t you feel happy?

Why is that? Because people feel happy when they share something with others.

Talking with a friend or receiving customer service is the same in the sense that people talk to each other. If a person delivers customer service, the customer will feel happy. A customer service robot can provide information, guidance, and billing, but it cannot provide a sense of happiness. A human being can. I believe that people can deliver added value through customer service.

This was my own experience when I visited a store to check the size of a jacket I had found on a certain brand’s website.

The staff helped me find the right size, showed me how to match it with the clothes I had on hand, and even compared it to another jacket I was trying to decide on, and suggested a way of wearing it that suited my lifestyle. The customer service was excellent, as they were able to grasp the customer’s preferences through conversation and offer the best advice. I remember that on the way home, my steps were light with a sense of accomplishment.

Looking back on this experience, it was a great pleasure not only to have bought a jacket that suited me, but also to be able to communicate with the staff.

This is what I would call customer service that “gives a sense of happiness. If I had purchased the jacket online, I would have been delighted when the jacket arrived, but I would not have been moved any more than that.

In this light, the value of “customer service delivered by a person” is truly significant in today’s world of expanding online shopping.

A “weekend without customer service” is somewhat tasteless.

There was a time when the phrase “the customer is God” was used in the customer service industry. The original meaning aside, the phrase was generally used to mean that “the buyer is above, the seller is below, and the customer is great. Customers are great.” However, times have changed.

However, times have changed, and “the relationship between stores and customers has become flatter,” says Saito.

What is important is to convey the same thoughts and feelings to each other.

For example, restaurants value customer satisfaction more than anything else, so when a customer eats a delicious meal or receives good customer service, they should express their gratitude by saying, “It was delicious, thank you,” when they pay the bill. I think it is a good idea to express your gratitude. The staff at the restaurant will look happy when they hear your words, and seeing their faces will make us happy as well.

Especially in the restaurant business, it is difficult to make a profit. I can imagine how difficult it is to hire part-timers and keep the business running. It is important to think from the standpoint of the provider, and this will lead to a pleasant shopping and dining experience.

At the end of his book, Mr. Saito asks the following question.

I think there are times when we wish for such a weekend. However, compared to a weekend in which you received excellent customer service, don’t you think that a weekend in which you don’t receive any more customer service is somehow less happy or tasteless?

Kota Saito Customer development consultant. Representative Director of SIS Inc. Independent in ’04, based on his experience in planning retail support for major manufacturers, creating manuals for in-store activities, and supporting sales increase at sales sites. Based on the idea that “fostering fans” is the key to sustainable corporate growth and LTV improvement, he supports brands, companies, sales staff, and sales employees in creating fans by developing strategies for fostering fans and improving LTV, creating systems and organizations, proposing improvements in customer service and sales, and providing human resource education (lectures, training, etc.).
He has published several books, including “The Customer Service You Want and the Customer Service You Don’t Want,” “Customers Don’t Know What They Want,” and “The Customer Service You Don’t Want. （LTV Maximization” (Standers), “How to Nurture ’10-year Customers'” (Dobunkan), “Visualize, Mechanize, and Nurture Excellent Customers” (Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun), and “High-Quality Service. High-Quality Service” (Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Ltd.) and many other books.

Click here to purchase Kota Saito’s book “iru sakushoku, nai sakushoku.