5 SECRETS TO SHOW YOUR CUSTOMERS YOU REALLY CARE

 

Businesses lose billions of rands each year because customers feel the organisations don’t care about their business enough to make an effort to keep them. It takes five times more effort to win over a new customer than to keep an existing customer. Then why does this happen? No training or poor training has a lot to do with it. Here are five secrets to showing your customers you really do care about their situations when interacting with them:

1. Listen!

Take the time to listen to the “pain” the customer is trying to share with you. There is a reason why we have two ears and one mouth. Listen for the content and not the method of communication the customer is using. Use active listen skills such as:

* Nodding your head

* Saying “I hear what you saying,” “I see what you mean,” or “tell me more”

* Stop doing something else and devoted all your attention to listening.

* Look at the customer

* Be patience and not interrupt the customer before adding your thoughts

You might be the first person that day who took time to listen. Make the most of it.

2. Respond

Respond to the customer in the following ways:

* Use inflection in your voice (avoid sounding monotone)

* Don’t use “whatever,” “yeah, right,” “if you say so”

3. Check your body language

Make sure your body language is saying to the customer, “I want to help you.” Make sure you are doing the following:

* Smile

* Stand erect

* Hands at your side, but never on your hips

* Avoid leaning against the counter or slouching in the chair (especially while speaking on the telephone)

4. Show Empathy (Understand the Pain)

Show the customers that you understand their “pain.” Make comments such as

“I can understand why you would feel that way.”

“If I were in your shoes I would feel the same way”

“I would be disappointed, too, if that happened to me.”

Most customers just want to be listened to and understood. Show them that you understand their “pain” and solution comes much earlier.

5. Commit to Action

Let the customer know that action will be taken; and then act. One without the other is just a broken promise. Share with the customer your clear plan of action such as the following:

“I am personally going to take care of this for you. What we are going to do is…”

“I need to get additional information before I take care of this for you. I am going to talk with my manager. Would you mind waiting?”

A couple of basics, just as a reminder:

How's the view?

Have you seen the view that your customer has when paying for a purchase? Sometimes it is not pretty at all.

We see our surroundings all the time and might not really see what's there. Think - tangled cables, used staples and paper clips, old pens and pencils, rubber bands and just about anything else you can think of. The worst part is that all of these things look even worse when they are coated in dust...which is not unusual.

Another thing that often goes unnoticed by management, but certainly not by customers, is the dust that gathers in the air vents on your POS equipment.

As part of your morning opening routine, you should stand in the position that your customers are in when they are purchasing. Take a good look around. Check out the cash desk, the wall or windows behind the desk, the ceiling immediately overhead, the floor and the POS equipment.

If you don't like what you see, you know what to do!

Don't Let This Happen in Your Store!

The setting: A busy clothing store. The Store Manager is serving a customer. A mature, part-time employee who has been with the company for several years comes to the cash desk with her customer.

The background: The customer was making a return of merchandise she had purchased at another store. The part-time employee spent a few minutes assisting the customer - showing her merchandise. She successfully turned the return into an exchange for a different item. So far, so good.

But now:

The comment from the part-time employee to the Manager, in the presence of the customer: "This return is from another store-how do I ring this in so I get credit for the sale? I'm the one who spent time with this customer."

What was she thinking?

The question was reasonable but certainly not in front of the customer. Most retail employees, whose compensation is in any way tied to their personal sales and productivity, want to ensure that their transactions are accurately recorded. That is understandable and, in fact, expected. Even if the company does not manage to credit the associate in this type of scenario, that's something to be discussed between the associate and her Manager in private. The Store Manager absolutely must ensure that employees 1) are aware of how to process transactions correctly and 2) realize that questions/discussions of this nature are for store employees ears only.

The point to be made here is this: Make sure your employees understand that discussions in front of the customer must never, never, never include any reference to employee commissions, bonuses, rewards, incentives, credit for the sale or anything similar. The internal operations of the company/store should never be discussed in front of customers.

Company Culture

 

Having worked for several prominent retail organizations I have seen the impact of both positive and negative cultures on the workforce, the customers and, of course, the success of the business. Have no doubt whatsoever, the head of the organization dictates, through words and actions, what the culture will be. I want to tell you about the incredible culture created by a CEO, and a gentleman, I'll call Sam.

For three years, I had the opportunity to work for the company that this man headed up before he decided to sell his successful enterprise to a large, old school retailer. We were all very happy for him. This sale was going to mean a lot more time for him and his wife to travel and generally enjoy life after a lot of years of hard work and dedication to their business. We were saddened to be losing such a great leader but we knew he deserved the rest and we wished him well.

Those three years were perhaps the most rewarding and educational years of my entire career, one that spans over twenty years. The company was managed in such a way that you had no choice but to feel like an important part of it. No employee was ever treated like a number, unworthy of receiving up to date communication on what was happening within the company. The executive were always aware of the impact their actions would have on store personnel and customers. In this company everyone understood where, and by whom, sales were made and every effort was made to include input from the field whenever important decisions were being made that would affect employees or customers.

The man I speak of did not always have a successful company on his hands. At one time, as I understand, the company had been on the brink of failure. He and his loyal employees managed to save it. It was quite a feat, requiring dedication, a new direction and a new way of being. Sam did many, many things to move his company in the right direction. To detail all of them would require a book, which I hope he will write some day, and a lot more information than I have available to me. I did not know this man as well as some of my colleagues did but I know, for certain, that he is a man with integrity. If he says it, you can take it to the bank.

By the time I came on board the company was doing very well. A brand new culture had been built. That's right...built. Culture is something you build with every word you say and every action you take. A positive culture does not come about by accident. It takes a lot of soul searching and checking with people and just when you think you have it all figured out you have to check again. It takes the ability and the willingness to know and admit that you don't know everything and you don't have all the answers. It takes a desire to get input and feedback from the people affected by a given situation. It takes the guts to take action to fix something that's not working. It takes coaching and loyalty and lending a hand to those who need it. It takes understanding that people don't make mistakes because they want to. It takes a firm, but kind, word to someone who messes up. It takes the ability to foster a feeling of belonging among those who are in your business family. Sam certainly did all of these things and he worked tirelessly to ensure his executive and management teams did also.

Store Managers were invited, and expected, to have an impact on the whole organization and not just their own store. If she made a request there were only two acceptable outcomes. 1) The request was granted and a date for completion was to be given or 2) The request was not granted and the reasons were explained. It did not stop there if the Store Manager was not satisfied with the outcome. She was never expected to settle for an answer that did not satisfy her. The process that ensued was one of open and on-going dialogue until either the Store Manager became convinced and was satisfied with the reason that her request could not be granted or she managed to convince her Manager that the request should be granted. It wasn't over just because someone said it was over.

And the company flourished. Following the news of the sale of the company, most field management stayed in place for some time. Unfortunately, as with all good things, the culture we had come to know and love ended. It was like a period of mourning. Executive and management moved on to new challenges and the business went straight down, at least for the short term.

The new owners will never understand what happened. There will be reasons and excuses but they all amount to nothing. The truth, that they probably do not even realize, is that the great culture was run out of town; obviously deemed unnecessary and not worth saving. It's that simple and it's such a shame.

Those of us who lived in Sam's environment clearly understand what happened when he and his carefully chosen team were no longer at the helm.

The key to sustaining a successful business is to RESPECT the culture - after all, the business is secretly thriving on it; OBSERVE carefully, for a time, and then ACT appropriately

Branding

Fortune Magazine says...In the 21st century, branding ultimately will be the only unique differentiator between companies. Brand equity is now a key asset.

Category Management is a process that involves managing product categories as business units and customizing them (on a store by store basis) to satisfy customer needs. Nielsen

Category management does more than contribute to the success of a retail organization. It is an essential component.

In fact, it's difficult to imagine a retailer winning in the marketplace without relying on the direction that this valuable process provides.

Expertise in Category Management is certainly a competitive advantage.

Some Category Management Benefits: (Source: AMR Research)

· Better In-Stock Rates: 2 - 8%

· Lower Inventory Levels: 10 - 40%

· Higher Sales: 5 - 20%

· Lower Logistics Costs: 3 - 4%

Retail Trends Driving Category Management Practice:

· Changes in Customer Behaviour

· Economic Environment

· Higher Efficiency Requirements

· Strong Competition

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Being the Retail Specialists, we have decided to post informative information about the retail sector, from training to trends to practices. We gather this information from a variety of sources as well as our own research and periodically we will offer our own personal opinions. We appreciate your input, comments and suggestions and hope you will spread the word and enjoy reading our interesting articles. Please also visit our website: www.mretailing.co.za.

We hope that this becomes your one stop source for interesting retail related info. if you are involved in retail in any way this blog is for you.

Beware of the condescending Sales Associate

 

Beware of the condescending Sales Associate - one of the 7 Deadly Sins of Customer Service.

A True story we recently sourced

Recently, a colleague of mine - who happens to be very much a 'techie' - went shopping for a new laptop. He had checked around and found the store with the best price for the one he wanted. All the Store Associate had to do to get the sale was be pleasant; answer a couple of questions and it was done.

During the conversation it became clear that my colleague undoubtedly knew more than the Sales Associate did. And he's used to that because he is very up to date on everything to do with computers, etc. - definitely above average in that area. The Sales Associate should have recognized that fact and adjusted his approach accordingly.

Anyway, my colleague was going to the cash desk to pay for his new laptop and the Sales Associate accompanied him and they chatted about a service agreement that could be purchased with the laptop. My colleague knew all about the service agreement and politely declined.

The Associate would not give in. He pushed and pushed. He made it sound like my colleague's entire life was going to be ruined if he didn't buy this service agreement.

Now, at first, you might think "good for him, he's really trying to sell the high margin service agreement" and, sometimes, we would agree with you. However, this situation went way off track when the Sales Associate started getting ugly. He simply did not want to take no for an answer.

Just a note here...my colleague has purchased many electronic items over the years and is very familiar with the service agreement add-ons. In fact, he was the National Sales Manager for a chain of electronics stores for a very well-known brand. He had plenty of experience with service agreements and, in this case, had already made a well informed decision not to purchase it.

Back to the story...After the purchase was completed, the Sales Associate - who had taken on a decidedly unfriendly attitude - smirked and waved good-bye. And he said "good luck with that." And, yes, he did mean it in an entirely sarcastic way.

He was basically saying that my colleague would have problems with the new laptop and he would be very sorry he didn't buy the service agreement.

Well, whatever happened to ...Let the Buyer Beware? My colleague was prepared to live with the outcome.

What a great experience. After spending several hundred dollars, he had to endure one of the Seven Deadly Sins of Customer Service: Condescension...from a Sales Associate who didn't know enough about the profession we call sales, or the proper behaviour we call courtesy.