writing thank you notes to customers with purchases over $500, and on
and on.
Such demanding service standards would represent a serious burden to
many. Indeed, working at Nordstrom isn’t for everyone. Through careful
selection, Nordstrom seeks out the dedicated go-getters who really loveto
sell. Among the thousands of applicants there is a percentage who fit this
profile. If you happen to be one, Nordstrom is a retailer’s nirvana. As a fun-
damental tenet of policy, the company neverputs the salesperson at cross-
purposes with the customer. (The ultimate sin at Nordstrom is to say ‘no’
to a customer.) Co-chairman Bruce Nordstrom states: ‘we want the sales-
person to say “yes” and put managementin the position of occasionally
saying “no”. And we do say no – for example, when a person appears to
be shoplifting from another store and repeatedly attempting to exchange
the merchandise at our stores for cash.’ As noted earlier, management
rewards its employees for going the extra mile. Unusual heroics reap
prizes, citations and other forms of peer recognition. ‘Nordstrom’s makes
its salespeople the kings and queens,’ states one experienced saleswoman.
‘Our department managers and store manager act as facilitators and
provide support. Around here, the floor salespeople really have status.’^20
Contrast the above characterization with the plight of many sales clerks
in dead-end retailing jobs. Not surprisingly, Nordstrom is considered a
preferred employer. Prior to opening the Menlo Park store in New Jersey,
the company screened 5100 applicants and actually interviewed 3000
people to fill 700 positions. Applicants were told that Nordstrom expects a
far higher standard of sales productivity and service than they have prob-
ably experienced anywhere; they are also told that failure to achieve the
demanding sales quota for three consecutive pay periods means dismissal.
Many applicants remained undaunted. Some talked about how tired they
were of being jerked around by absentee financial investors who know
little about merchandising and care little about customers. Nordstrom
stood out as an attractive alternative.
Nordstrom has a particular genius at defining a unique relationship with
its ‘internal customer’ – the salesperson. It adheres to the philosophy that
the people on the sales floor are the most important contributors and it
actually displays its schematic diagram of the organizational chart upside
down. (See Figure 5.3.3.) The customer is included at the top of the chart;
salespeople occupy the highest internal rung. Next are buyers, merchan-
disers, store and department managers. At the bottom are the four co-pres-
idents and five co-chairmen who occupy small walk-up offices on the sixth
floor of Nordstrom’s oldest department store in Seattle. They share secre-
taries, answer their own phones and generally act as high level ‘go-fers’
and firefighters in support of those ‘above them’ in the organization.
Everyone, repeat everyone, wishing to rise up into a buying, merchandis-
ing or managerial position at Nordstrom starts out selling. (Many experi-
386 Relationship Marketing