What is the difference in communication style between Sainsbury staff who are local students compared with staff who are international students in the process of service provision?
The answer to this question is derived from the findings gathered from the opinions revealed in the semi-structured interviews conducted to the customers. The opinions of the customers are interpreted to understand the difference in the communication style between local service employees and part-time international employees.
It is inferred from the findings that the communication style of part-time international employees is characterised by apathy. It is evident from the response of one of the customers where he revealed his experience with the part-time international service employees. The following finding confirms the above argument
“It happened when I visited the store for the first time when I faced a part-time international service employee. As I was looking around the store, a Nikon camera caught my eye and one of the service employees came forward to explain the features of the camera. He initially gave a brief demo about the camera. Then as I had some doubts, I asked few queries for which I received irrelevant answers. I asked him repeatedly the same question so as to make it clear. Then, I thought that it is my slang that is troubling him in understanding my queries. He not even bothered to call his department manager to clear the issue. I found that he is not concerned to clear the issue and simply let the issue pass on .”
The communication style of local service employees is characterised by the features such as friendliness, trustworthiness etc. This can be said because of the rapport they share with one of the customers which is clear from the opinions revealed by the customer through semi-structured interviews where he mentioned that
“I usually prefer interacting with the same service employee whenever I make a purchase from the groceries department. He is quite helpful for me in giving information about the new arrivals and new offers .He understands my needs and utilities as we have developed a sort of personal connection with repeated visits to the store. The reasons for strong personal connection may be due the fact that he is empathetic, friendly and reliable.”
Apart from this, the part-time international student employees possess affirmative communication style. Moreover, the impatience is other negative feature of the part-time international service employees. This is evident from the findings when Customer C reacted in the following manner
“I am a regular customer to the store. In my shopping experience till date with the store, I observed that the part-time service employees are less patient in hearing my concerns and my requirements. They tend to rush off without listening to me completely. I observed that they interrupt me in the middle of my dialogue and they start talking without completely listening to my opinions. This is generally not observed in local service employees”
However, the communication style of local service employees is characterised by cheerfulness and activeness which usually passes on the moods of the customers making it a satisfying shopping experience. This is known from the opinions of Customer C when he shared his experience about local service employees.
“I found local employees to be more active and characterised by socially acceptable facial expressions. This creates a cheerful environment at the time of purchase. Moreover, this ultimately leads to a satisfying shopping experience.”