Customer service: Today, ‘women 
want 
respect’

By Tammy Joyner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

At 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, nobody’s going to argue with Paco Underhill about whether he really knows what a woman wants.

But if his imposing physique isn’t enough, his street cred in the retail world ought to suffice. As the founder and chief executive of Envirosell, a 140-employee research firm that studies consumer habits, he’s been called everything from a retail anthropologist to a shopping scientist, one who takes his vocation very seriously and has some 900 varied measurements to prove it.

He’s become the Ben Bernanke of retail-watchers. Have him tell it, though, he’s more like a mechanic.

“One reason I like working in retail is because it’s often the dipstick of social change,” said the 58-year-old Underhill, who stops in Atlanta for an appearance this week.

His advice is sought by retail developers around the world. A new Citibank branch in Singapore. An H&M in Berlin. A Turkish department store in Cairo. In almost every case, the same question kept emerging: What makes this female-friendly?

“We live in a world largely owned by men, designed by men and yet we expect women to be a significant participant in it,” Underhill said.

Women have always controlled the family purse strings when it comes to purchases, but now, with more women becoming chief breadwinners and critical decision makers at home and at work, Underhill’s latest book “What Women Want” could be sage advice for retailers. By the age of 30, many women are out-earning their male peers by 15 percent to 20 percent, Underhill notes. Corporate America needs to know what makes this group tick.

He not only knows “What Women Want” — think cleanliness and safety foremost— he knows “Why We Buy” and why we heed “The Call of the Mall.” Those are two other books he’s written. They’re not business tomes, mind you.

“I don’t write books for the business audience,” Underhill said. “I write books that are fun to read. They’re anecdotal.”

He’s on the road 120 to 150 nights a year. He writes columns and editorials. And he can wax eloquently about more than what’s in people’s shopping carts. Don’t get him started about the state of American politics. (Want good politicians? Pay them good salaries, he says. Politicians in Argentina and Singapore make beaucoup more than U.S. lawmakers.)

He’s got a few words of wisdom about guys, too. He’ll share that with an Atlanta Press Club audience this week. We spoke to the retail guru by phone on the eve of his visit.

Q. So, in a nutshell, what do women really want?

A. They want acknowledgment that they are who they are. They’re not second-class citizens. They’re not arm candy. They want respect. From the standpoint of marketers, they’re often coming to the product, store or environment having processed decisions differently from a man.

Q. How so?

A. I walk into an Ace Hardware. I buy a hammer. You walk into an Ace Hardware and you buy the picture on the wall. If they sell to me, they sell one way. If they sell to you, they’re selling another way.

The tools we bring to the process are different. First is hygiene. My hygiene radar is nowhere near as calibrated as yours. Going into a hotel room or restroom, whether it’s a shower curtain in a hotel bathroom or the way we design convenience stores, [for a woman] it has to be light and bright. There’s security. If I’m checking into a hotel here, I’m 6 foot, 4 inches tall, 225 pounds. I’m a gorilla to start with. If the hotel clerk mentions my name and what room I’m in, there’s really no security concerns.

Q. We saw the biggest trade-down in retail history as consumers flooded Wal-Mart and other discounters during this recession. Now the consumer seems to be moving back toward Target and other similar retailers. What does this mean for discounters like 
Wal-Mart?

A. Most of us woke up a year and half ago and realized our houses were too big, debt too big and bellies too big, and we desperately needed to go on a diet. We’re a nation where one-third of us are in a downward mobility regardless of class. The upper middle class is now middle class. Baby boomers’ retirement accounts have been hit so hard and we’ll never have time to recover.

There’s another third of us who aren’t immediately affected but know somebody who is and part of what that has done is train me. I’m no longer bragging about how much I spend, but how little I spend.

The third category are those who believe conspicuous consumption is bad manners and that’s driving people to do a lot of shopping for discretionary purchases when not at home. Rather than shopping at Lenox or Perimeter, they’re spending when they’re on vacation or a business trip to New York. People don’t want to be seen climbing out of their cars [at home] with lots of bags. It is not good. They’re doing it on the sly.

Q. What are the trends on the horizon?

A. Several issues. We’ve seen the efficacy of the big box. They can’t grow the stores any bigger and get any more money or time out of us. We’re looking at a better union between brick-and-mortar and online existence. It’s going to give us different price paradigms. We’re watching the evolution of customer service. There is delivering customer service nose to nose — across the counter — vs. customer service [with] you being on the same side of the counter. We’re moving toward side-by-side customer service. They’re dealing with you hip to hip.

Q. How does this make the shopping experience better?

A. There’s no differentiation of “this is my space and this is your space.” It’s a more effective use of retail square footage. What made a good store or bank 10 years ago is different today and looking at the difference is a clear reflection of us now.

Q. Are you optimistic or concerned about the future?

A. Being 58, I’ll be glad I’ll be 6 feet under when it all shakes out. We’re in a very difficult period of adjustment. The science of economics has served us poorly over the last 20 years. [But] there’s a resilience to us as people. We’re an entrepreneurial culture.

Meet the author

Envirosell CEO Paco Underhill, speaking and signing his book, “What Women Want.” 8 a.m. 
(7:30 reception) Wednesday. $25 (nonclub members). Atlanta Press Club, 191 Club, 191 Peachtree St. N.E., Suite 400, Atlanta. Pre-registration required at www.
atlantapressclub.org.