20/11/2016 1 Comment I'll wait all day if you smile at me!I went to five different retail stores in my home town the other week to find an item I badly needed. I left the most obvious store until last – why? Well, because every time I had been in there before their customer service was non-existent – surly, rude, unhelpful and worst of all would keep me waiting while they were on the phone or talking to another customer without even a glance in my direction. Again, they met my expectations, but made a sale because I’d exhausted all the other options – but I’ll do my best not to go there again (and of course I tell my friends). I understand the art of queuing – I’m English and I learned to queue with patience as a youngster. But in a shop, where I have come in to spend money, I require, in fact, I insist (or I’ll probably leave) that you look up, give me a smile and mouth or say, “I’ll be with you soon” – or whatever the equivalent phrase is, which both acknowledges you have seen me and reassures me that I will receive all your attention when you are free. If you do this, it’s likely I’ll wait for half an hour without getting itchy feet or bad tempered! I was reminded again two weeks later, that not all retailers train their staff in the art of good customer service – and, in fact, some retailers could do with a lesson in it themselves. I went into another local shop where the lone salesperson was intent on assisting a customer before me. She never turned her head in my direction, didn’t acknowledge I was in her shop, until she had completed her transaction and the customer had left – she then turned to me with smiles and pleasant words – just a bit too late to give me an optimum customer experience. The customer is King – it’s the customer who pays your wages – and sure, some of them can be dreadful and then may not quite deserve royal treatment, but if you want to keep them coming back to you, you have to treat them right. This doesn’t mean heavy discounts or other bonuses – in fact, customers will come back to you again and again, even if your prices are not that competitive, just because they like you or your staff behind the counter. Customers also have a role to play, because in order to receive good service you also need to be a good customer – not one who shops in the same store all the time to the exclusion of others, but one who has pleasant interaction with staff when they do shop. As a customer you need to remember that shop staff may have been on their feet all day, missed a lunch or tea break and have had to handle disgruntled complaints. Retail is a give and take world, but when it’s done right, everyone wins. A smile and a pleasant word from both sides of the counter create a positive buyer experience.it.
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AuthorSilverpreneur, Nan Berrett - former rural journo turned businesswoman and loving it! ArchivesCategories |