Did it ever happen to you that you started a new job and immediately noticed an ineffective task? Everybody else didn’t because they work there for years and that’s the same thing they did for the last 10 years already….
I believe that the same thing applies to cultures – only someone who arrives to a new country can really notice the unique characteristics of the culture.
The first thing I noticed, when I arrived to the USA
When I say shopping culture I don’t refer just to the amount of time and money people spend on shopping, let alone the Black Friday tradition, but the transaction process as well.
I remember when I booked my first trip to the Caribbean a few months after arriving to the states, I saw a small box “coupon code” - I googled it and found US$ 250 off coupon.I couldn’t understand how in less than a minute I’ve saved such an amount.
In my native country (Israel
This was just a small example but the whole approach is different in Israel
The question that I raise is is therefore this: if a company can sell the same trip for US$ 75 less but for everybody wouldn’t it be better for all of us?
I do understand it is marketing strategy but my point is that the marketing highly depends on the social environment and not vice versa.
In addition to shopping there is one more thing that I’ve noticed and these are the customer service representatives.
In Israel
The first time I stepped into a T-mobile store I was shocked to discover that in order to cancel a wrong charge the representative had to call the same call center I call as a customer. After I’ve questioned him about it he said that he can’t even activate a line. Everything is done by phone, that basically he has just a limited computer access to the customer records, and everything is handled through the call center.
The first time I went into T-mobile store was also the last time. I figured out I can call the call center by myself and get results faster.
I think companies in the USA should train their customer representative better and give them the tools and the authority to do more than answer “yes sir”, ”no sir” and just read us the company procedures.
Now, if to be perfectly honest, I do take advantage of every available coupon and I buy electronics only through a website that summarizes all the best deals\coupons (http://www.deals2buy.com which is highly recommended), but I still think things can be done better.
Regarding the customer service I already understood it pays off to ask to speak with a supervisor if I have something a bit complicated. Then again, I don’t think it is the right solution.
