Mary Queen of Frocks episode one review: Implementing the vision

Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service, reviews the first episode in the latest adventure of retail guru Mary Portas.

The irrepressible Mary Portas returned to our screens on Tuesday night, with the inaugural episode of Mary Queen of Frocks. In her latest commercial endeavour, Portas is putting her own reputation – although not her own money – on the line, creating a new fashion range for forty-something women who want to look great without dressing like their daughters and, crucially, who want a different kind of shopping experience.

Portas shared her vision at the top of the programme. The concession with House of Fraser will be a luxurious space, with enthusiastic, helpful staff – they won't just get the shopping-weary husbands a cup of coffee, but will 'style' the partners, wives and girlfriends in youthful and colourful clothes – taking customer service beyond a transactional exchange.

In principle, the idea is a good one from a customer service perspective. At the Institute of Customer Service, our extensive research into that elusive question 'what does the customer really value?' has told us unequivocally that paying attention to the whole customer experience is key. Customers want to interact with professional staff, they want it to be easy and stress free to do business, they're looking for good products and a positive experience with attention to detail...and a smile!

No doubt these are the elements Portas has chosen to emphasise in her new shop, and her vision makes sense. The next, and all important, trick is to take the vision from its embryonic state – as we saw at the beginning of Tuesday's episode – and turn it into action.

Starting with a strong idea is essential, and all very well, but being able to articulate this through great communication with staff, stakeholders and customers and managing through the change is crucial to success. It is the beginning of this process to which the first episode was dedicated – recruitment.

Customer service is a profession, calling for politeness, abundant enthusiasm, professionalism and personality. Portas, with her wealth of retail experience, understands that selecting the right people – and ensuring that they have bought into her vision – is make or break. It is comparatively simple to train someone bright and enthusiastic in the basics of good customer service, but you just can#t teach personality, empathy or sparkle.

Portas' selection process used role play to assess how well applicants interacted with 'difficult' customers and the quality of their advice, as well as an interview to confirm that they 'got' her vision. This comprehensive approach was encouraging to see – after all, frontline customer service staff set the tone for the whole customer experience, along with the decor of the outlet, ambience, layout and so on.

Investing in recruitment and training, as well as the physical design of the shop, furnishings and products, is absolutely time and money well spent. A welcoming environment will provide the customer with a great experience, making them advocates of the business, fostering a sense of loyalty and enhancing bottom line – real return on investment.

As Portas so succinctly put it, ‘there’s a recession on’. With consumer confidence low and high street spending falling flat, customer experience is the point of differentiation for retailers. So, let's see how her unique vision progresses next week...