Although people nowadays still complain about poor service, cool attitudes and brusque answers from the sales assistants in state-owned stores, the attitudes of sales assistants in shops which are succeeding in carrying out reforms are consciously being changed and more and more assistants now aim to satisfy customer needs, The Beijing Department Store, with a staff of 3,600, is one such case.

In the store's musical instrument section a salesman was playing An die Freude from Beethoven's Choral Symphony on an electronic organ to attract buyers; in the garments section the salesgirls tried on stylish jackets, dresses or velvet qipaos (high collared, close fitting Chinese style dress with low slits on both sides) to attract customers. The girls selling woollen or worsted fabrics draped samples across their shoulders for customers to make their selection.

One of Beijing's four largest department stores, the Beijing Department Store is situated in the busiest downtown area - Wangfujing Street. Carrying some 32,000 varieties of goods, the store's annual sales are around 400 million yuan. Although known all over the country for its enthusiastic salesman Zhang Binggui, who was also a member of the NPC Standing Committee, the department store was often criticized for the impatience of its sales assistants, for their unwillingness to exchange or refund goods, and for their neglecting their posts during work hours.

To Sell More

Most of the store's assistants love their work. The many young employees chose to work here after successfully passing examinations. Two years ago when the store advertised to recruit 700 assistants, thousands of young people queued for registration.

Peng Lan from the textile department said the store's main reform involves contracting a fixed quota of sales with each group and each assistant; the sales quota is based on 60 percent of the monthly average of the previous year. A bonus or fine is applied each month, depending on whether or not the quota is met. Peng once fulfilled six times her monthly quota and earned a bonus equal to one and a half month's wages. This was unimaginable in the days when all workers received the same pay whether they performed their jobs diligently or sluggishly. Today, Peng and her colleagues are all trying to sell more.

Creative efforts to attract more customers are now being made. Tang Mei from the garment section said, "I never imagined that sales could rise so high simply by my wearing the new style garments behind the counter."

Nicknamed "Restless," Tang Yuezeng who sells silk fabrics used to wander from one counter to another during work hours. But this is no longer the case. He once exceeded three times his monthly quota. "Since the introduction of the fixed quota system, the top three and the three poorest performers are publicized every month. Now everyone can see how well you are working," said Tang. "I'd feel ashamed if those girls did better than me."

Pang from the woollen fabrics section was so shy that she seldom talked with her customers, but now she will readily recommend the goods she is selling. She received a considerable bonus the first month the quota system was put into practise.

The ruling of no return of goods was a headache for customers of the department store. With the reform, the store introduced new regulations allowing the refund or exchange of most goods providing they are not damaged or soiled. Although returned goods may reduce the sales volume, assistants accept the new regulation and seem to respect the store's reputation more.

Some assistants feel that stressing sales volume does not solve all problems in the work area. Li Ying, the service pacesetter, explained, "Because some work, such as fetching goods from the warehouse, stacking and cleaning, is not included in the quota, many assistants are unwilling to do these jobs. They now become the duties of the group leaders and pacesetters. I'm used to doing these things quietly, but sometimes I feel I am unfairly treated."

Serving the People

Some customers are snobbish and rude and make assistants feel "unfairly treated." "I pay the money and you must be at my service." In these situations, although sales assistants feel aggrieved, they will not quarrel with the customers for fear of being fined. Instead, impatience, long faces and harsh replies ensue. But to a pacesetting assistant, such "unfairness" is met with a smile. Li Ying said, "Such customers only number a few. We have no reason to give them the cold shoulder. We should try to make them satisfied. For after all only we can help change the attitudes of impolite customers."