A recent shopping trip to a store — one of many stores in a large, well recognized chain — indicated clearly, that a performance culture does not exist in that organization.
I have shopped at several of their locations to purchase things for my home and car, for camping supplies, for Christmas lights and decorations, etc.
I can’t say I have ever been really impressed with the service level offered, but I usually found what I was looking for and paid a reasonable price for it.
They sell major brands and can generally be counted on to stand behind the merchandise they sell.
It’s easy to determine, very quickly, whether or not a performance culture exists in a retail company.
If it doesn’t exist, some customers will not recognize it for what it is — they will just be dissatisfied and leave with a bad impression.
On this particular occasion I was looking for a small appliance for the home.
I found coffee makers and mixers and toasters and just about every small appliance you can think of.
What I was looking for, however, was not on the shelves — an electric can opener. That’s a pretty basic small appliance for the home, wouldn’t you agree?
This chain has been in business for many, many years and, in my wildest dreams, I could not imagine that they would not have an electric can opener for sale.
So, assuming that I was just not looking in the right place, I sought out an employee to help me.
To be fair, I must tell you that there was a lot of merchandising going on at the time.
Not that their merchandising schedule should be my concern because customers should never take a back seat to any task being performed in a store.
But it did add to the confusion.
Anyway, the associate I found to help me definitely tried to help me find an electric can opener.
He was somewhat embarrassed because he was certain they had them, he just didn’t know where they were.
He was communicating via headset and tried several times to contact someone who would know where electric can openers were merchandised.
He offered his apologies, for the delay and confusion, while I followed him around and around the small appliances department.
In the end, he said that he was pretty sure they had can openers but no one knew where they were. He was sorry.
This was an excellent example of the lack of a performance culture.
The associate was definitely a performance oriented individual but his colleagues and superiors — the ones he contacted for help — were not.
In a truly performance oriented company, they would all have been on the same page. They would all have worked to find the electric can openers.
The loss of a sale of one electric can opener will not break the company.
But you can be sure that this was not just an isolated incident. When the lost sales add up we all know what the result can be.
Retailers who had been around for years are now gone.
A performance culture must be well defined, well communicated and constantly nurtured.
Today, we’re going to look at an important, but often ignored, part of running a profitable business…
… using a couple of enlightening (and very brief) anecdotes from my recent shopping adventures.
Let’s call this lesson: Amazing Little Store vs. Sluggish Giant.
See if you can spot how the following short story may apply to YOUR business…
OK, here we go.
In my line of work, I am required to shop a lot! For everything.
Over the past few months I’ve been doing a study on two markets…or grocery stores…in a city of about 500,000 people commonly referred to as Forest City, although that is not its name.
In Forest City, there is an affluent area which is well served by many retailers; chains and independents.
Now, the Sluggish Giant is a huge place — one of a large chain of other Sluggish Giants — but we are focusing on just one in this story.
It was built with selection and one stop shopping in mind.
As with other huge places, they have a pharmacy, an electronics department, a house wares department…you can get bedding, pots and pans, and garbage cans.
In fact, as I am writing I am hard pressed to come up with anything they don’t have when it comes to everyday needs in the course of running a household.
This Sluggish Giant is clean and modern, well signed, well merchandised (for the most part) and is generally well prepared for the public.
Oh… and prices are reasonable.
They even offer cooking classes and have a fitness club attached; a dry cleaners and a little kiosk where you can purchase a bottle of wine.
So, one could say the ‘product’ was great; product being the building, the offering and the whole store environment.
And, as I mentioned above, the prices are reasonable. I might even say they were good, but not cheap….not a bargain or anything like that.
I do have complaints about the Sluggish Giant, though… but not because of the stuff they sell, the prices or the basics they deliver like a clean and tidy environment, etc.
And I’ll get back to the complaints later on.
Now, let’s introduce the Amazing Little Store.
What a place. Lots of good things to say about The Amazing Little Store, but it is quite small and limited in selection due to its size.
There is no pharmacy, no wine store, no dry cleaners, no house wares or electronics department…you get the picture.
In fact, you cannot buy bleach or pet food there. It is definitely not a one stop shop.
Mr. & Mrs. Affluent of Forest City shop regularly at The Amazing Little Store…often. It’s crowded most of the time.
The shopping carts are miniature versions of the Sluggish Giants’ shopping carts. And they have to be, or you’d never be able to maneuver in the place.
Prices are not over the top at The Amazing Little Store, but they’re higher than usual…for everything.
I forgot to mention they have a small flower shop (with higher priced floral bouquets and arrangements) and a ready to go Sushi stand.
The produce is fresher, bigger and shinier!
Here’s a biggie…they have so much staff in the store it’s almost inconceivable compared to any other retailer.
But they do so much business they surely will not have a wage cost problem. There are 16 people working behind the scenes in the salad area.
Those people are working all day long making fresh salads of all types…and they are selling them like they are going out of style.
A final small delight…you can enjoy a free cup of coffee while wheeling your miniature cart around looking at every square inch of shelf and counter space, lest you miss some new and tantalizing foods. ******************************************************************* No time to travel? Don’t want to incur extra expenses for accommodation, transportation and meals normally associated with top quality training? We’ve got a business changing solution for that. DMSRetail’s Ultimate Retail Success Collection ******************************************************************* Now… here’s where the lesson comes in.
While the Sluggish Giant shines as an overall supplier to the household shopper, the staff and customer service policies are disastrous.
It wouldn’t be possible for any customer to think highly of them.
Certainly, many people shop at Sluggish Giant because it’s a huge market that is close to home and has just about everything they need… but that doesn’t mean they would be loyal if they had another option that provided the same things.
So, watch out Sluggish Giant, your future is probably not so bright.
They want you to do everything for yourself. They want you to use self checkout — where there is always a long line up.
If you do want a cashier to check you through, you will wait in an even longer line up. And here is the kicker…even if you are not at self check out…you will self pack!
That is, they do not pack your groceries in the bags (yours or theirs).
No, they just let the groceries pile up on the conveyor belt waiting for you to get the hint that you are supposed to be performing part of their job.
I can’t go on about this or we’ll never get through this lesson.
They are trying to save labor dollars. Well, good for them. Any well run business would pay attention to costs.
But, even though they are not a ‘no frills’ environment with dead cheap prices, they believe that I am supposed to help them out in their quest for wage savings! Really?
Perhaps they need to do a little more thinking about their business. I’m not inclined to help them and I don’t think many other people are either.
Here’s just one small example — one of many similar things that happened to me in that store …one of my items being scanned by the robotic cashier at the Sluggish Giant was ripped open at the bottom (and it was clear that a customer could not have caused this particular damage) — I don’t want packaged food that is not properly packaged, so I asked the cashier to call someone to replace it.
He nodded. A few moments later, because no one came to the desk, I reminded him.
He said “you should just go and get another one yourself”. (Just so you know, I did not go and get it and there was quite the little upset at that young man’s cash desk.)
And all of this from a fellow with a smock that has “Need Help? — Just Ask Me” emblazoned in huge, bold, colorful letters on his back!
And it just ticked me off that the staff members seem to have taken classes in offending customers. The staff members I encountered all need attitude adjustments.
But, alas, there is no management person, working at Sluggish Giant, who will take care of that. They just don’t get it!
If it weren’t so sad and annoying it would be hilarious!
Hey — I realize this isn’t earth shaking stuff.
You may be saying ‘so what’ if I have to pack my own stuff and ‘so what’ if I have to replace a ripped package (because it’s my fault that it’s ripped???).
But that’s the point of this little story.
It’s the little, lousy ’so what’ stuff that actually leaves the biggest impression.
This got me thinking about customer service delivery.
Over at The Amazing Little Store, the staff members are like long-lost family. The cashiers are always smiling and always make you feel like they are glad you are there.
And, guess what? You’re not going to believe this. They have 9 cash desks and, when needed, 9 cashiers. And what might be the reason for all this?
Well, gee, it’s probably to ensure that customers don’t have to wait in line to exit the store.
They love me!!! They’re happy that I shop here. And… they respect my time!!!
The life-time value of a customer is what counts and this little store has got me for life…or as long as I live in this city.
Remember, it’s not that first sale. It’s all the repeat purchases that build a successful business model.
Good business savvy demands over-the-top excellent customer service… all the way down the line.
It costs you a lot of money to acquire a new customer.
Have you ever tried to figure out just how much it costs, to acquire one new customer, in advertising and other promotional costs? Probably you haven’t.
And you probably haven’t tried to figure out how much of your profit comes from your loyal customers.
Well, at least you should understand that your loyal, repeat customers are giving you most of your profit. Think about it.
Without the loyal customer, who would pay for the marketing and advertising to get the new customer??
I probably won’t shop at Sluggish Giant again. They have what I need but I don’t like to shop there — I don’t FEEL good when I shop there.
They don’t like me or respect my time. Even if I do shop there again, I could never be considered one of their loyal customers.
So it’s worth noting that even a great product, at a great price…can be nullified by rotten customer service.
And it’s also worth noting that another place — like the Amazing Little Store — can leave you with great feelings about the experience, making you want to go back again and again even if you have to stop elsewhere to pick up the other things you need.
Convenience is not top of the list, but that’s ok.
So the perfect mix is: Great product, great value for the money… … and great customer service.
It’s not brain surgery.
Apart from providing great service up front, if your customer has a problem, they better get personal service fast.
You will never make everyone happy, of course. You’ll always have unpredictable problems that just crank some folks so much it damages the relationship forever.
It happens.
And we’ll always see a very tiny percentage of strange customers who cannot ever be satisfied, because they’re nut jobs. Yes, some people are!
I came up through the ranks knowing that customer service can make or break a project; and a business.
Some businesses out there say “whatever”, and accept huge refund rates because they just don’t want to bother with good customer relations.
I don’t recommend that model. It’s a slippery slope all the way to bankruptcy.
Truly resilient success is built on having a killer product… supported by equally killer customer service.
The customer may not always be right… but that’s the right attitude to start out with when dealing with someone.
It’s a huge lesson. Great product, great service. Anything else just doesn’t make sense.
Highly successful retail managers (HSRM) are passionate about delivering exemplary customer service; they treat customers with the respect they deserve – role modeling on the sales floor so associates can see and hear exactly what exemplary customer service looks and sounds like.
The HSRM knows that every customer, in every situation, must be treated with the utmost courtesy and respect and, if he does not role model that behavior at all times, there is very little hope of associates delivering consistently.
Role modeling correct and proper behavior ensures that you are seen as the authority on how the customer is to be treated.
It also earns you respect as employees see how easily you deal with customers in every situation.
They see how you change your greeting and overall approach to different customers.
For example, you would likely treat teenagers looking at headphones differently than you would treat a mature married couple who are upgrading their entertainment system – not in any way better or worse, just differently.
Approaches are not generic and need to be tailored, just like the rest of the sales process.
Role modeling is an excellent way to teach and HSRM’s take every opportunity to do so.
HSRM’s know their customer and they insist that their team members learn as much as they can about them also.
By talking to customers, and through various types of analysis, the HSRM becomes an expert on his customers likes and dislikes; their shopping habits; what they will, and will not, accept in terms of merchandise and various other things.
For example, an HSRM would be able to speak intelligently about how the customer will react to a proposed visual display or a promotion.
They know their customer and their subordinates understand that maximum performance depends on knowing the customer also.
The HSRM teaches by showing – by role modeling as mentioned above.
This aspect of the job cannot be underestimated because it speaks volumes about you and your expectations.
Associates must sincerely believe in the importance of the customer.
There is no better way to instill this belief, than by having the manager demonstrate how important the customers are to him/her.
The HSRM knows what the organizations’ service strategy is, knows how to deliver it, never fails to deliver it and expects the same from everyone in the company.
Before any associate steps on to the sales floor, s/he must have been made aware of the customer service offering of the company and how the company expects it to be delivered.
For example, if the business model of a particular company is one of self service then associates may not be expected to actively engage customers in sales conversations.
However, to ensure that the business is still focused on revenue generation through excellence in customer service, they would still want to see customers treated in a particular way; perhaps they would expect an approach and an offer of assistance.
Whatever the company decides to deliver as far as customer service is concerned, that is what the associate must be trained for once the customer service basics are in place.
Many companies incorrectly assume that their new associates possess the basics of customer service.
This is a mistake because when it comes time to layer on training specific to the company’s customer service offering the new associate may become confused and will not perform well.
It would be like learning to run before learning to walk, resulting in a lot of falls or, at least, missteps.
The key, here, is making sure that basics are understood first. Basics consist of things like:
Presentation – dress and grooming
Physical posture
Good manners
Telephone etiquette
Knowing what is, and is not, appropriate behavior on the sales floor
Showing respect for the customers’ time
Showing respect for the merchandise
Understanding the company expectations and general workplace rules
The highly successful retail manager knows how to assess associates to ascertain their level of competence when it comes to delivering customer service.
This is usually done at the time of the interview and with well worded questions to past employers during the reference check.
Of course, observation is an excellent assessment method also.
Once the basics are clearly understood and the associate understands what the company customer service offering is, and how to deliver it, they are ready for the sales floor.
The HSRM knows that this training is critical and that it positively must be done before the associate interacts with customers.
After that, the manager must keep a very close eye on the associate to ensure that all interaction with customers is exactly as it should be.
Watch for eye contact, body language, facial expressions, what is actually said and tone of voice.
We said earlier that HSRM’s role model exemplary customer service at all times and that doing so was the best way to ensure associates realized the importance of customer service.
There is, of course, more to be done to ensure the on-going improvement of our associates and one of the major things is to have coaching conversations as often as possible.
After observing an associate the HSRM spends a few minutes talking to them to either praise or correct, or both.
Praise comes fairly easily. The HSRM praises the associate for specific behaviors that were correct.
Having a coaching conversation where you must correct behaviors can also be easy if you direct your attention to the specific behavior and make sure not to criticize the individual.
The HSRM knows that these conversations are an absolute must and that they owe it to the associate, the company and the customer to make the conversation as productive as possible.
The HSRM knows, intuitively, how customers should be treated and, in addition to modeling the behavior, HSRM’s teach all associates these golden rules:
Treat every customer like a valued guest – using only the best manners.
Never say the word “no” to a customer – even when you cannot say ‘yes’, find a way to handle any situation without actually using the word “no”.
Respect the customer’s time – always – if the customer has to wait, be sure to let the customer know why he is waiting and approximately how long he will have to wait.
Put yourself in the customers’ shoes and try to see things from their perspective – ask yourself “How would I feel if I were the customer in this case?”
Never assume anything – ask questions to gain information.
Recognize the customer’s lifetime value to the organization.
Smile and show your enthusiasm for your work.
For more on Retail Customer Service, Click on the banner below
Knowing how much a customer is worth to you over the long-term is the best way to convince yourself and your staff to become more committed and determined to treating your customers right and keeping them happy.
Calculating the lifetime value of a customer is reasonably simple. Take the example of your local supermarket. A typical family of four will spend approximately $200 each week on groceries and household items. Given that they are on vacation for two weeks a year, and say they are away for other reasons for another 2 weeks, that means they will shop at their grocery store for 48 weeks each year.
Over the course of a year, this single family will spend approximately (48 x200) = $9,600 at that supermarket. Now, let’s assume that the average family stays in their community for 15 years. Without taking into account inflation or the time value of money, that one family is worth $144,000 ($9,600 per year times 15 years) to that supermarket.
Now imagine the quality of service — be it speed, friendliness or special treatment – that family would get the next time they bought groceries if the store staff and the cashier knew they were worth $144,000 to the store (not just the $200 they were spending that day). It would probably be much better, wouldn’t it?
Suddenly, when you and your staff realize the lifetime value of customers to your business over the long-term, making decisions to benefit them (and not just your short-term interests or profits) become much easier. Take the time to figure out the lifetime value of YOUR customers. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Retail Success Accelerator is a product that is full of such practical, insightful and actionable ideas. Take a Look for Yourself-Click Here
All the Success! DMS Retail
PS. It is a combination of many little things that are done consistently which brings the ultimate success. Do yourself a favor and get a copy of the Retail Success Accelerator today.
You probably have seen the following before, but it is so valuable we just thought you would enjoy it again regardless.
Seven Deadly Sins of Customer Service
1. Apathy: A just don’t-give-a-damn attitude on the part of the salesperson or an impression conveyed to the customer in terms of “Do I look like I give a damn?”. Some people get this way when they get bored with their jobs and nobody is reminding them that their job priority is to serve the customers.
2. Brush-Off: Trying to get rid of the customer by brushing-off his or her need or problem; trying to “slam-dunk” the customer with some standard procedure that doesn’t solve the problem but lets the service person off the hook for doing anything special.
3. Coldness: A kind of chilly hostility, curtness, unfriendliness, inconsiderateness, or impatience with the customer that says, “You’re a nuisance; please go away.” It is amazing to find that so many restaurants carefully select the most moody, depressed, hostile person they can find for the hostess-cashier job, making sure the customer’s first and last moments of truth are good ones.
4. Condescension: Treating the customer with a patronizing attitude, such as many health-care people do. They call the doctor “Doctor Jones,” but they call you by your first name and talk to you like you’re four years old.
5. Robotism: “Thank-you-have-a-nice-day-NEXT.” The fully mechanized worker puts every customer through the same program with the same standard motion and slogans, and with no trace of warmth or individuality. A variant of this is the smiling robot who gives a permanent “star” smile, but you can tell nobody’s home upstairs.
6. Rule Book: Putting the organizational rules above customer satisfaction, with no discretion on the part of the service person to make exceptions or use common sense. Banks are famous for this; they usually do everything possible to eliminate all traces of human thought and judgement, with the result that no one is authorized to think. Any customer problem with more than one moving part confounds their system.
7. Runaround: “Sorry, you’ll have to call (see) so-and-so. We don’t handle that here.” Airline people have made this into an art; the ticket agent tells you the gate people will take care of it, and the gate people tell you to see the ticket agent when you get to your destination, and the agent at your destination tells you to have your travel agent take care of it.
All of us are looking for success in our retail businesses. Apart from and beyond everything else, sustainable success requires consistency. What do we mean by that?
We mean being consistently great in all aspects of our retail business.
Short term successes are possible due to some lucky combination of factors. But, we can not rely on lucky combinations. They are too far in between.
What we need to do is to set the foundations of our business right so that we can repeat our successes consistently.
This also has a profound impact on customer satisfaction. Your customers expect a certain level of performance from you on the basis of perception you created. By being consistent at your skill set and service levels, you at minimum, satisfy the expectations. And if you put a degree of constant improvement process in place, you created a winning combination for your retail operation.
At minimum, some of the areas you must deliver on a consistent basis:
1. Sales Skills (Trained staff on professional retail sales skills)
2. Good to Great Products and/or Services
3. Quick response to all sorts of customer issues (Rapid response procedures in place)
4. Clean, tidy and efficient store environment (Great visual merchandising and maintenance)
5. Streamlined and customer friendly checkout process.
Pretty basic right? Yet, just wander around the mall and see for yourself how many retailers are failing in consistent delivery of the basics.
Companies who understood this simple philosophy went on to create retail empires…
Anyhow, once you graduate from the basics and ready to consistently deliver on a more sophisticated and profitable level, you may need some solid resources… there is always Super Retail Success Bundle to give you all the hints, techniques, advice and the methods. There is also a powerful self study program on DVD for boosting your sales and customer service or satisfaction results called Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service YourTime Study Course
Retail Managers who took advantage of these resources scored very high on results in terms of sales, profitability and customer satisfaction.
You can order them risk free to see what they can do for you and your staff.
PS. Super Retail Success Bundle and Retail Selling Skills YourTime Study Course are must have resources for every retail manager or owner who are focused on improving their retail operations’ effectiveness. Get your copies of each resource today: http://www.dmsretail.com/superbundle.htm
Here are some examples of phrases that will sound like music to your customer’s ears. Pass them on.
Let me help you with that.
I’ll take care of that for you right away.
Consider it done.
We are always pleased to be of service.
Let us know what we can do to help you.
If you need help, you have come to the right place.
We’re at your service.
We aim to please.
Certainly, we can do that for you.
I have recently been subjected to three of the most unbelievably bad customer service experiences of my life. In all three situations, large well known companies were involved. One is a prominent, on-line travel provider; one is a monopoly in the telephone service industry and the other is a huge conglomerate.
I will not bore you with all of the details because I am sure you have been through similar experiences. Almost everyone has. It’s unbelievable, but true.
Being a Retail Management Consultant, I know my way around customer service issues and around company hierarchies so I managed to get my situations resolved, to my satisfaction, albeit many hours of my time were involved and my stress level was at a point where any Doctor would have administered medication on the spot.
Presentation – dress and grooming
DMSRetail 