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To the uninitiated it sounds like another smooth sales pitch, though retail veteran John Williams, founder and partner at J.C. Williams Group retail consultancy in Toronto, agrees with it.

“Nordstrom’s service is in in a different universe from other retail,” he said, noting the retailer typically assesses 400 candidates for every sales floor position. “I recently asked for a pair of shoes in Nordstrom [in California]. The guy brought out the pair I wanted, along with two pairs, both slightly similar. I asked him why he did it, and he said ‘It’s a condition of employment.’ They want people who are passionate about retail sales and who are aggressive about selling, and they can upsell and make big bucks on commission sales. It’s not offensive — they are just very skilled at helping you.”

Ms. McKibbin said last year the company had 100 salespeople sell over $1-million in merchandise. Those people, Mr. Willams estimated, make about US$100,000 a year.

The job “is not for everybody,” Ms. Mckibbin said, adding there is no Nordstrom sales guidebook and staff are asked to use their best judgment when dealing with customers. “You can’t script this. These are folks that have a great will to please.”

It’s a tall order, given how Canadians feel about the level of customer service in retail stores today.

With streetfront competition on the rise and prices squeezed from online retailers, retailers often cut corners by lowering the number of people scheduled to cover the sales floor, or skimp on training staff. At the same time, online research has enabled people to learn much more about the merchandise they are looking for before they enter a store.