Have a Norse day; WAR FOOTING: John Browett, boss of PC World and Currys, expects an invasion from American rival Best Buy.

Byline: NEIL CRAVEN

VIKINGS and public relations don't usually go hand in hand, so Norwayseems an unlikely place to turn for lessons in customer service.

But DSG International, the former Dixons Group and owner of Currys and PCWorld, has to start somewhere.

Dixons became a byword for poor customer service in the Nineties and the groupstill suffers a reputation hangover from those days.

Chief executive John Browett, who has been in the job for five months, thinkshe has found the solution at the company's Norwegian chain Elkjop.

Its five-step approach to dealing with customers that begins with a simple'hello, how can I help you?' is being imported to UK stores to standardise howstaff talk to shoppers.

Elkjop is the biggest of DSG's Scandinavian chains, the jewel in the crown ofthe group, together accounting for three-quarters of the group's profit.

Browett says it was the last place he expected to find a solution to his problem.

'The Viking spirit is still alive and well,' he says.

'In the Nordic business, customer service is ingrained in the managementprocess. It begins with the chief executive and includes the commercialdirector, the human resources director, all the way down the chain.'

While Browett says the UK arm of the company can boast 'large numbers' ofexemplary staff, he concedes it is far from ingrained in the culture.

'I don't think it was even bolted on to the side of the strategy,' saysBrowett, who quit last year as head of Tesco's online business to run thetroubled electrical retailer. 'Management just didn't take responsibility for it.

For them, it was all about product and price.' In-store training programmeswill be held over the coming months, providing staff with up to a week oftuition.

In future, team bonuses will also include an individual payment based on avariety of measures including sales, customer satisfaction and the results ofmystery shopping tests.

Customers should start to feel the benefit by Christmas, while the full effectswill take two or three years to filter through, Browett says.

He was appointed last year amid increasing concerns.

The UK business was not growing as quickly as it should, hampered by aproliferation of internet retailers nibbling at the edges of its business.

It also faced problems at some of its overseas operations.

But Browett's plans left the City unimpressed last week.

He said he would close 77 Currys.digital stores as leases expire, but that wasless radical than had been expected - particularly as American giant Best

Buy, which recently gave the green light to a joint venture to sell electricalgoods with The Carphone Warehouse, appears to be waiting to pounce on any signsof weakness.

Instead, Browett outlined a gradual programme of change led by betterlookingstores, more choice and improved service.

He plans to open Currys' biggest megastore to date - its location is a closelyguarded secret - countering a plan by Best Buy to open large stores in Britainnext year.

Browett will also expand ranges by almost 15 per cent in PC World stores and 75per cent in Currys through better use of space. He is also urgently reviewingperformance of its offshoots, including DSG operations in Italy and Spain.

His message is that the core UK business is not broken, but can be better run.But with consumer spending on the wane, this will be a tough time to provehimself right, with or without help from his Viking friends..

FIVE STEPS TO A SALE

1 Greet. ' Good morning.'

2 Establish need. ' How can I help you... what is your budget?'

3 Offer alternatives. ' The features on this one might interest you...'

4 Explain benefits. For example, ' if you are buying a computer mainly forusing the internet, you might find this one better...'

5 Close with a complete solution. ' Have heard about our after-sales careoffers...?'