Best Buy is looking to improve its customer service levels so, today, when a person applies for a job with the consumer electronics chain, the company is looking to find those who not only "get" technology, but people too.
The chain is looking for these "people persons" because it sees service as a key differentiator from the competition in the marketplace. While Walmart and others may be able to compete on price, Best Buy management believes it will be harder to match on service.
Today, Best Buy wants its associates to find answers for customer questions even if that ultimately has them hunting down a product sold somewhere else. The thinking is that the goodwill created here will be repaid with loyalty beyond a single shopping trip.
"My vision is of the blue shirt as a human search engine," Robert Stephens, Best Buy's chief technology officer, told MarketWatch.
Mr. Stephens recently went to a Best Buy store and asked an associate about a tripod for an iPhone. The employee went online and found a $14 item on eBay.
"Best Buy didn't make a dollar," Mr. Stephens said. "But he did something that you can't find anywhere else."
The emphasis on service is part of Best Buy's "connected world strategy," which not only has it selling consumer electronics products, but a wide variety of services such as mobile broadband, as well.
"The connected world strategy is focused on touching a larger profit pool," Barclays Capital analyst Michael Lasser told MarketWatch. "Best Buy can compete effectively on price. Service and selection are their competitive strengths."
Discussion Questions: Will Best Buy's increased emphasis on helping shoppers find the answers they are looking for be enough to gain share in the highly competitive consumer electronics category? What will the chain need to do to make sure the reality in stores matches the public statements made by company executives?