January 16, 2008
Customer Service Tops NRF Agenda
When it comes to customer service in the U.S., no one does it better than L.L. Bean. That is the conclusion of the third annual National Retail Federation/American Express Customer Service Survey shared with attendees at the NRF’s Annual Convention in New York.
A mix of pure-play online merchants and multi-channel retailers found their way to the “top 10 list” that was compiled based on interviews conducted with 8,800 consumers by BIGresearch.
“Good customer service starts and ends with how the customer feels about their experience with a retailer,” said Kathy Mance, vice president with the NRF Foundation in a press release. “Retailers
are especially challenged because of the multiple touch points that exist between
the customer and their brand, but these companies have shown that great customer
service does exist.”
Glenda McNeal, senior vice-president, Retail and Emerging Industries, American Express Merchant Service, added, “Consumers who have a positive experience naturally spend more time and money in a store or shopping online. Excellent service is of the greatest importance as retailers work to retain and build upon their customer base.”
|
Top 10 U.S. Retailers for Customer Service
|
|
Source: BIGresearch;
National Retail Federation/American Express Customer Service Survey
When it comes to customer service outside the U.S., no one does it better than Harrods.
Earlier in the week, David Llamas, chief information officer at Harrods, spoke to an audience at NRF and described a culture where “anything is possible” and “the customer is king.”
Mr. Llamas discussed the importance of truly knowing the customer. Harrods has segmented its consumers into various groups to provide the types of products and services that will keep them shopping and returning to the store.
Among the segments identified by Mr. Llamas was the “jet set elite.” This group, he said, represents 5.7 percent of Harrods’ customers yet account for 55 percent of its total annual sales.
To help it connect with the elites and other big spenders who shop in its stores, Harrods instituted a tiered loyalty card program in recent years that escalates the lavishness of its rewards based on annual expenditures from its store in Knightsbridge as well as purchases made online. Since 2006, Harrods has achieved $20 million in additional sales tied directly to its loyalty program, according to Mr. Llamas.
Discussion Questions: How is it that some retailers talk about service and deliver it while others just talk? Where does the system break down at companies that regularly fail to meet customer service expectations? Is it in the hiring process (employing the wrong kinds of people) or in training (failing to give workers the direction and tools to do the job) or at the top of the company where executives talk about service but have no real idea what it means or how to provide it?
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Poll
Customer service is all about management’s expectations. The managements who excuse their high staff turnover by saying “Well, that’s typical for retail” are really saying, “We expect to be mediocre because most retailers are mediocre.” The managements who say, “We can’t be the best because we don’t have the money to be the best” are really saying, “We have no confidence that customer loyalty means anything.”
It’s no accident that 7 of the 10 BIGresearch customer service winners are primarily apparel retailers. It’s hard to pay for decent customer service if your margins are criminally low. Of course, there are many retailers with great margins who still achieve lousy customer service.
Poor hiring, inadequate training, and a lack of executive will all contribute to the problem. Executive passion for the customer experience is the starting point. The best companies have a CEO and other top executives who truly believe their purpose for existence is delivering great product to their beloved customers via engaged, equally passionate employees. This passion leads to decisions that continually move their service levels higher and higher: methods of hiring, developing and retaining talent; methods of engaging in meaningful dialogue with customers that fosters contagious loyalty. Most companies struggle with consistency. The secrets of success start at the top and are delivered consistently at every customer touch point.
Not one of the companies on the top 10 list can rest. The customer and the employee are ever-evolving and executives must remain true to their passion re-examine their cultures, their talent management, and their service delivery methods regularly.
Customer service begins at the top. If the CEO and top management aren’t focusing on service, who is? If a company doesn’t have a top level commitment where associates are trained to satisfy customers from day one, it just won’t happen.
Often retailers talk, more than they walk customer service.
When I think of those who ‘talk’ customer service, I am always reminded by the roadside billboards that commit to ‘Fresh Hot Coffee’ and ‘Clean Restrooms’. In most cases, you are likely to find neither one.
Retailers so often misunderstand even the term customer service just as they do with customer loyalty. They often forget that they own the customer experience and the customer owns their loyalty.
I remember years ago in my hometown market a supermarket retailer launched a campaign of ‘You’re next in line’. They backed up the guarantee with a free loaf of bread. They soon were out of bread and the campaign quietly disappeared. Yet even with this blunder, they continued to assume that you could make statements about customer service and that was all that need be done. Would getting a free loaf of bread change your experience? It wouldn’t change it for me. The experience didn’t change and I’ve never been one for cheap white bread.
When you want your customers to be next in line, you do it. You find ways to support your requirement. You work at it. You find ways to teach your employees and you re-teach daily–every day. You create a real experience. Whether it be next in line or anything else, it has to be a focus on the result, not on the message. You find ways to measure and you find new ways each day to talk about it internally. When you do it, your customers know it. You won’t have to tell them about their experience. You can’t tell them. They decide for themselves and then reward you with their loyalty. It never, ever happens the other way around.
In the workplace I grew up in, everyone, and I mean everyone, knew the importance of each and every customer. We dropped everything to take care of them no matter what our position. We sought to make everyone that entered our doors what we called a primary shopper. We did that through the experience that we created in products but most importantly in service.
Our express lanes were always open–always. Our service counter was always available–always. Service was primary in all departments and if you were a leader it was your primary responsibility above all else. You were led and led by example. You learned daily and got better daily no matter how long you had been at it.
So does it start at the top? Maybe. It really starts at the top and the bottom and all points in between.
Finally, I was once asked how often did I talk about customer service. I just smiled and said if it’s been 20 minutes, it’s been too long. You do get what you talk about. But, you also get what you do. You can’t help but join in when everyone is doing it–everyone.
As you know, having the right process, systems, technology and product are key drivers for any successful business. Having a leadership team with the right people, in the right seats on the bus are equally important to move all the strategies and tactics forward. With that said, having a customer as king culture starts at the C-suite and must be embraced and executed at all levels.
Many US retailers miss the marks as they believe ERP systems, supply chain management and IT is the answer to creating raving fans (my opinion). Those key drivers are critical for having what the customer wants, needs in the moment, however, the key touch points where the customer meets live interaction is where the training, coaching and consistent follow-up needs to occur. Those organizations where the CEO and Senior team inspect what they expect at all touch points get the opportunity to see first hand what David Llamas spoke about regarding Harrods.
Ironically, our team is presenting a customer service training workshop this evening for a small regional drug chain. Their goal? Delight their customers every time they enter the store.
Despite the size of an operation–or whether online or brick-and-mortar–the lasting impression of a great consumer experience can make all the difference. Identifying the needs of different types of customers and catering to their individual needs is the next stage of excellence. The small chain we are training tonight is actually identifying specific tactics and techniques to deploy for each and every customer type. This is heads-up retailing!
What is customer service? Is it fixing the problem for the consumer or is it not presenting the consumer with a problem in the first place?
I would bet L.L. Bean learned everything they know from Sears.
Sears has stressed service as a means of holding onto customers who are dissatisfied with products they have purchased. They know that bad word of mouth can kill a multi-category giant who wants business in your kitchen, bedroom, yard, garage, etc.
What confuses me is why Pals Sudden Service isn’t on the list. They are the only retailer (I believe) that has ever won a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The got the award for getting things right the first time, not having to make them right later!
I’m a Beanie Baby, I confess. I lubs that stuff like a pig lubs the mud (paraphrasing Edna Ferber in her classic 1941 novel, “Saratoga Trunk”). I received Bean’s Spring Collection catalog in the mail just a few days ago. They know me. They lubs my money.
I’m also a frequent Zappos shopper. My daughter calls me a “shoe slut,” and Zappos is my overwhelming choice for a regular footwear fix. I’m the Imelda Marcos of curmudgeons. So, I guess I’ve been exposed to the best.
I also not only frequently shop at Amazon, but I sell on their site, too. Now THAT’S an eye-opening peek into how Amazon coddles their customers. Every time one of my products sells via Amazon, the Amazon Customer Service department is all over me following up on the sale. I receive two or three emails from Amazon for every one of my sales, just checking to make sure I’m taking care of THEIR customer.
It occurs to me that the retailers listed by BIGresearch are primarily selling service rather than stuff. Perhaps that’s the common focus, and perhaps their honest, up-front approach to this unusual paradigm registers with their employees. First you sell your self, and then you sell your stuff.
I think it has mostly to do whether the company has a customer service program focused on the customer, or focused on employee performance standards. One must be really attentive and desire to service the customer in order to give them what they really need; respect.
Customer service lies with expectations. Expectations, however, are not set by the customers, they’re created by management.
Southwest is a great example. They have great customer service because customers expect less from them due to their business model. Great customer service starts with the expectations management allows the customer to create and it is then realized by the actions of the employee. Too many companies the role is customer service is undefined and that’s one reason expectations get out of control.
Where does the customer service system break down?
It starts at the top.
A successful and sustainable customer service/experience strategy must be grounded in solid and authentic support from the highest levels of executive management, downward through the organization. High performance companies are comprised of high performance people. In order for a company’s people to achieve their potential, they must understand and be aligned with the brand’s purpose, mission and vision.
High performance companies are keenly mindful of the relationship between employee satisfaction and the consistent delivery of memorable customer service.
The most successful brands in the world aren’t that way by accident. It takes a relentless dedication to understanding customer needs intimately, and to creating value in customer experience delivery–supported through brand culture, leadership and organizational focus.
It is that simple. And it is that difficult.
There are multiple directions to attack the issue of customer service in business. One could argue about which is most important. I believe it is an issue of culture and communication. It seems clear that the message of taking care of the customer does not often permeate the organization. Oh yes, it is spoken of from the top, but inconsistency of message and execution often paint a conclusion of consumer unhappiness.
One example; recently a very loyal consumer of one of our country’s finest retailers visited his local store to make basic purchases. While in the store his wife discovered “a major purchase” that she would like to make. This couple is known in the store and spends about $50k per year in the establishment. On this day they were about to impulsively spend $4,800 on cinema seating for this home. However, the store manager on duty decided that they could not have the value of a coupon for 1/2 of their purchase. The customer wanted to buy 2 but were not allowed. Offended by “not feeling special,” THEY BOUGHT NOTHING and left, feeling let down by the establishment.
While the manager was probably technically correct, he failed to realize that this couple spends $50k per year in his store and are evangelists as they tell many others about their positive experiences. Their extended value is several hundred thousand dollars. If this scenario is repeated a few times company wide and done so multiple times per year, well you get the point.
The hook? Let’s learn to extend all reasonable effort to make our customers happy. additionally, let’s go far above and beyond to keep your BEST CUSTOMER HAPPY AND FEELING SPECIAL. This communication is often spoken about, but often not executed.
Sorry George, but you got it backwards.
At L.L. Bean (and others who share their heralded image) they didn’t “talk about it and then do it.” They figured out it was important to customers and started “doing it” from the very beginning. They only started talking about it when they discovered (probably to their amazement) that their approach to customer service was differentiating versus other retailers!
I think all three factors come into play when companies fail at customer service. Not hiring the right person is commonplace in retail as sometimes we need to have have warm bodies at the till or on the sales floor. The first challenge for retail chains is having the right people in the right place.
So how does a manager hire quality candidates? Training (or read my article: Quality Hiring for Customer Service) and follow up are required. Sometimes we put so much pressure on managers to fill spots that quality is left by the wayside. Secondly, a strong customer service training program is needed to maintain service levels. Someone who is new and enthusiastic needs to be nurtured and given every resource possible to excel at providing customer service. Ongoing training is equally important in maintaining knowledge and technique.
Thirdly, quality customer service has to come from the top down. Executives need to embrace a culture of exceptional customer service. Front line employees need to know that they have everything they need, including empowerment, to provide the customer with outstanding service. If customer service becomes a company priority, it eventually filters down and becomes the company culture.
Good customer service begins with a fundamental commitment from management that customers count. That decision sets off a chain of secondary decisions including staffing, salaries and other compensation and training.
Too often, management pays lip service to customer service and fails to back up its words with actions and funds. Retailers with excellent customer service enjoy higher levels of customer loyalty. With greater loyalty comes the opportunity for higher margins.
The “customer is king” theme definitely dominated the NRF Show this week. With physical expansion slowing, retailers are realizing the need to identify and get closer to their best customers.
Online and direct models continue to dominate these customer service/customer satisfaction lists, in large part because they have measurable goals and results for every customer interaction.
Brick and mortar retailers are going to have build systems and processes that make the same management of the customer experience possible in their stores as well as their websites. This is not an easy transformation, but retailers like Nordstrom that have had success by providing sales associates with some of the Guided Selling and Clienteling tools that are intuitively built in the online shopping experience.
Mark is right, it is primarily a matter of mind-set and expectations. When your mind-set is that turnover is high in retail, your turnover will be high. Our thoughts are the cause, our circumstances are the effect. As Duke Rochefoucauld said way back in the 1600s: “We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears.” Retail is getting exactly what it fears.
It is, as others have said, the result of management behavior. “As we are managed so we will serve” is a truism we keep ignoring.
Part of current paranoid management is the over-reliance on policy and procedure to maintain control over sales staff. We policy staff into lousy customer service. As a nursing friend said: “Policies are just scar tissue over an error.” All policies are fear driven which means if you manage by policy you manage by fear. That is not how you get superior customer service. Jeffrey’s story about the high spending couple and the clerk who followed policy is a perfect example of this. “Work to rule” is a Union’s way of saying “follow corporate policies to the letter” and doing so brings an organization almost to a standstill. Set sales people free to think and do what’s right for the customer, not what’s right for the policy manual.
Finally, let’s not forget that not many customers come into a store filled with gratitude, joy and a sense of destiny. They often come in frustrated and dismayed about their own life and work and are braced for lousy service. To overcome the customer’s negative mindset the service can’t simply be “good”–it has to be extraordinary. I’m working with a Dr. Sue Morter on a process for dramatically and immediately changing the subconscious and self-sabotaging mindset of sales people that is the most remarkable scientific breakthrough I’ve seen in many years. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to contribute some of the concepts in this space if the right item comes along. I am convinced that the secret of our success lies in our mind.
I had another thought after submitting my first comment…one that may irritate some retail sales managers and maybe even a few commentators.
My friend, Larry Winget, recently wrote a ‘slap-in-the-face’ book titled “You’re Broke Because You Want To Be.” It got me to thinking that maybe a retail store has lousy customer service because it WANTS to have lousy customer service. All retail enterprises will vehemently deny that on an intellectual and conscious level but if you believe that our circumstances eventually match the mental energy we send out to the universe, this may be the brutal truth. We all self-sabotage the realization of our full and amazing potential in some way; there’s no reason to think retail managers are any different. Just a thought.
I am sorry that I am late to this discussion, since it has been my life’s work to help companies hire better front line workers. I have to admit that I think the last comment by Ian about self sabotage is closer to fact then fiction and really boils down the problem.
There are three key ways to differentiate any organization. One is operational efficiency. While this may seem to be the hardest it is probably the simplest. Two is product or technology. This is also easy but not long lasting in today’s world because of the speed of information and the ability to copy what anyone else is doing. Third is through superior customer service and–since people do not come with manuals–the hardest but most long lasting approach.
In the last couple of years I have finally come to the realization that most of the world talks customer service or customer centric but it is all just talk.
The key is really very simple: to be customer serviced focus you need to start by being employee focused. The simple one liner: “Employees treat your customers the way you treat your employees.”
“If you beat your competition to the best employees, your best employees will help you beat your competition.”
Hire right, Train, Reward, Motivate, and Retain.
It’s really about attitude and mindset. If a retailer is really in business merely to make money, then the business will be run with quantitative analytics and little else. The customer becomes just another variable in the equation. If a retailer is in business to help customers purchase the things they need and desire, their primary mission will be to meet and exceed their customer’s expectations.
Unfortunately, the vast number of retailers seem to be in business to merely make money, which they do sporadically at best, while the exceptional few who are in business to help and please their customers are the ones who are exceptionally successful.
It all starts with the attitude and mindset at the top of the organization, for that attitude and mindset will permeate throughout. For the vast many, the issue becomes how are we going to afford the money, time, people, etc. For the exceptional few the issue is how can we even concieve of not doing whatever needs to be done.
As I’ve written on this board before, customer service is where smaller and independent retailers often excel. Without the financial pressures of public ownership, with ownership that is usually in daily contact with their customers, smaller and independent retailers frequently set the standard which their larger competitors aspire to.
More Discussions
How Timely Is the Planned Lowe’s Website Renovation Focusing on Personalization?
Is Lowe’s being timely with its website reno, and is it right to be placed as…Should Costco Be Opening Members-Only Gas Stations?
Is this the right move for the warehouse club?As Boomers ‘Age Out of Peak Purchasing,’ How Can National Brands Retain Interest With Gen Z?
According to a recent First Insight study titled “Is Gen Z Still Choosing Your Brand,” while…
Customer service is all about management’s expectations. The managements who excuse their high staff turnover by saying “Well, that’s typical for retail” are really saying, “We expect to be mediocre because most retailers are mediocre.” The managements who say, “We can’t be the best because we don’t have the money to be the best” are really saying, “We have no confidence that customer loyalty means anything.”
It’s no accident that 7 of the 10 BIGresearch customer service winners are primarily apparel retailers. It’s hard to pay for decent customer service if your margins are criminally low. Of course, there are many retailers with great margins who still achieve lousy customer service.
Poor hiring, inadequate training, and a lack of executive will all contribute to the problem. Executive passion for the customer experience is the starting point. The best companies have a CEO and other top executives who truly believe their purpose for existence is delivering great product to their beloved customers via engaged, equally passionate employees. This passion leads to decisions that continually move their service levels higher and higher: methods of hiring, developing and retaining talent; methods of engaging in meaningful dialogue with customers that fosters contagious loyalty. Most companies struggle with consistency. The secrets of success start at the top and are delivered consistently at every customer touch point.
Not one of the companies on the top 10 list can rest. The customer and the employee are ever-evolving and executives must remain true to their passion re-examine their cultures, their talent management, and their service delivery methods regularly.
Customer service begins at the top. If the CEO and top management aren’t focusing on service, who is? If a company doesn’t have a top level commitment where associates are trained to satisfy customers from day one, it just won’t happen.
Often retailers talk, more than they walk customer service.
When I think of those who ‘talk’ customer service, I am always reminded by the roadside billboards that commit to ‘Fresh Hot Coffee’ and ‘Clean Restrooms’. In most cases, you are likely to find neither one.
Retailers so often misunderstand even the term customer service just as they do with customer loyalty. They often forget that they own the customer experience and the customer owns their loyalty.
I remember years ago in my hometown market a supermarket retailer launched a campaign of ‘You’re next in line’. They backed up the guarantee with a free loaf of bread. They soon were out of bread and the campaign quietly disappeared. Yet even with this blunder, they continued to assume that you could make statements about customer service and that was all that need be done. Would getting a free loaf of bread change your experience? It wouldn’t change it for me. The experience didn’t change and I’ve never been one for cheap white bread.
When you want your customers to be next in line, you do it. You find ways to support your requirement. You work at it. You find ways to teach your employees and you re-teach daily–every day. You create a real experience. Whether it be next in line or anything else, it has to be a focus on the result, not on the message. You find ways to measure and you find new ways each day to talk about it internally. When you do it, your customers know it. You won’t have to tell them about their experience. You can’t tell them. They decide for themselves and then reward you with their loyalty. It never, ever happens the other way around.
In the workplace I grew up in, everyone, and I mean everyone, knew the importance of each and every customer. We dropped everything to take care of them no matter what our position. We sought to make everyone that entered our doors what we called a primary shopper. We did that through the experience that we created in products but most importantly in service.
Our express lanes were always open–always. Our service counter was always available–always. Service was primary in all departments and if you were a leader it was your primary responsibility above all else. You were led and led by example. You learned daily and got better daily no matter how long you had been at it.
So does it start at the top? Maybe. It really starts at the top and the bottom and all points in between.
Finally, I was once asked how often did I talk about customer service. I just smiled and said if it’s been 20 minutes, it’s been too long. You do get what you talk about. But, you also get what you do. You can’t help but join in when everyone is doing it–everyone.
As you know, having the right process, systems, technology and product are key drivers for any successful business. Having a leadership team with the right people, in the right seats on the bus are equally important to move all the strategies and tactics forward. With that said, having a customer as king culture starts at the C-suite and must be embraced and executed at all levels.
Many US retailers miss the marks as they believe ERP systems, supply chain management and IT is the answer to creating raving fans (my opinion). Those key drivers are critical for having what the customer wants, needs in the moment, however, the key touch points where the customer meets live interaction is where the training, coaching and consistent follow-up needs to occur. Those organizations where the CEO and Senior team inspect what they expect at all touch points get the opportunity to see first hand what David Llamas spoke about regarding Harrods.
Ironically, our team is presenting a customer service training workshop this evening for a small regional drug chain. Their goal? Delight their customers every time they enter the store.
Despite the size of an operation–or whether online or brick-and-mortar–the lasting impression of a great consumer experience can make all the difference. Identifying the needs of different types of customers and catering to their individual needs is the next stage of excellence. The small chain we are training tonight is actually identifying specific tactics and techniques to deploy for each and every customer type. This is heads-up retailing!
What is customer service? Is it fixing the problem for the consumer or is it not presenting the consumer with a problem in the first place?
I would bet L.L. Bean learned everything they know from Sears.
Sears has stressed service as a means of holding onto customers who are dissatisfied with products they have purchased. They know that bad word of mouth can kill a multi-category giant who wants business in your kitchen, bedroom, yard, garage, etc.
What confuses me is why Pals Sudden Service isn’t on the list. They are the only retailer (I believe) that has ever won a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The got the award for getting things right the first time, not having to make them right later!
I’m a Beanie Baby, I confess. I lubs that stuff like a pig lubs the mud (paraphrasing Edna Ferber in her classic 1941 novel, “Saratoga Trunk”). I received Bean’s Spring Collection catalog in the mail just a few days ago. They know me. They lubs my money.
I’m also a frequent Zappos shopper. My daughter calls me a “shoe slut,” and Zappos is my overwhelming choice for a regular footwear fix. I’m the Imelda Marcos of curmudgeons. So, I guess I’ve been exposed to the best.
I also not only frequently shop at Amazon, but I sell on their site, too. Now THAT’S an eye-opening peek into how Amazon coddles their customers. Every time one of my products sells via Amazon, the Amazon Customer Service department is all over me following up on the sale. I receive two or three emails from Amazon for every one of my sales, just checking to make sure I’m taking care of THEIR customer.
It occurs to me that the retailers listed by BIGresearch are primarily selling service rather than stuff. Perhaps that’s the common focus, and perhaps their honest, up-front approach to this unusual paradigm registers with their employees. First you sell your self, and then you sell your stuff.
I think it has mostly to do whether the company has a customer service program focused on the customer, or focused on employee performance standards. One must be really attentive and desire to service the customer in order to give them what they really need; respect.
Customer service lies with expectations. Expectations, however, are not set by the customers, they’re created by management.
Southwest is a great example. They have great customer service because customers expect less from them due to their business model. Great customer service starts with the expectations management allows the customer to create and it is then realized by the actions of the employee. Too many companies the role is customer service is undefined and that’s one reason expectations get out of control.
Where does the customer service system break down?
It starts at the top.
A successful and sustainable customer service/experience strategy must be grounded in solid and authentic support from the highest levels of executive management, downward through the organization. High performance companies are comprised of high performance people. In order for a company’s people to achieve their potential, they must understand and be aligned with the brand’s purpose, mission and vision.
High performance companies are keenly mindful of the relationship between employee satisfaction and the consistent delivery of memorable customer service.
The most successful brands in the world aren’t that way by accident. It takes a relentless dedication to understanding customer needs intimately, and to creating value in customer experience delivery–supported through brand culture, leadership and organizational focus.
It is that simple. And it is that difficult.
There are multiple directions to attack the issue of customer service in business. One could argue about which is most important. I believe it is an issue of culture and communication. It seems clear that the message of taking care of the customer does not often permeate the organization. Oh yes, it is spoken of from the top, but inconsistency of message and execution often paint a conclusion of consumer unhappiness.
One example; recently a very loyal consumer of one of our country’s finest retailers visited his local store to make basic purchases. While in the store his wife discovered “a major purchase” that she would like to make. This couple is known in the store and spends about $50k per year in the establishment. On this day they were about to impulsively spend $4,800 on cinema seating for this home. However, the store manager on duty decided that they could not have the value of a coupon for 1/2 of their purchase. The customer wanted to buy 2 but were not allowed. Offended by “not feeling special,” THEY BOUGHT NOTHING and left, feeling let down by the establishment.
While the manager was probably technically correct, he failed to realize that this couple spends $50k per year in his store and are evangelists as they tell many others about their positive experiences. Their extended value is several hundred thousand dollars. If this scenario is repeated a few times company wide and done so multiple times per year, well you get the point.
The hook? Let’s learn to extend all reasonable effort to make our customers happy. additionally, let’s go far above and beyond to keep your BEST CUSTOMER HAPPY AND FEELING SPECIAL. This communication is often spoken about, but often not executed.
Sorry George, but you got it backwards.
At L.L. Bean (and others who share their heralded image) they didn’t “talk about it and then do it.” They figured out it was important to customers and started “doing it” from the very beginning. They only started talking about it when they discovered (probably to their amazement) that their approach to customer service was differentiating versus other retailers!
I think all three factors come into play when companies fail at customer service. Not hiring the right person is commonplace in retail as sometimes we need to have have warm bodies at the till or on the sales floor. The first challenge for retail chains is having the right people in the right place.
So how does a manager hire quality candidates? Training (or read my article: Quality Hiring for Customer Service) and follow up are required. Sometimes we put so much pressure on managers to fill spots that quality is left by the wayside. Secondly, a strong customer service training program is needed to maintain service levels. Someone who is new and enthusiastic needs to be nurtured and given every resource possible to excel at providing customer service. Ongoing training is equally important in maintaining knowledge and technique.
Thirdly, quality customer service has to come from the top down. Executives need to embrace a culture of exceptional customer service. Front line employees need to know that they have everything they need, including empowerment, to provide the customer with outstanding service. If customer service becomes a company priority, it eventually filters down and becomes the company culture.
Good customer service begins with a fundamental commitment from management that customers count. That decision sets off a chain of secondary decisions including staffing, salaries and other compensation and training.
Too often, management pays lip service to customer service and fails to back up its words with actions and funds. Retailers with excellent customer service enjoy higher levels of customer loyalty. With greater loyalty comes the opportunity for higher margins.
The “customer is king” theme definitely dominated the NRF Show this week. With physical expansion slowing, retailers are realizing the need to identify and get closer to their best customers.
Online and direct models continue to dominate these customer service/customer satisfaction lists, in large part because they have measurable goals and results for every customer interaction.
Brick and mortar retailers are going to have build systems and processes that make the same management of the customer experience possible in their stores as well as their websites. This is not an easy transformation, but retailers like Nordstrom that have had success by providing sales associates with some of the Guided Selling and Clienteling tools that are intuitively built in the online shopping experience.
Mark is right, it is primarily a matter of mind-set and expectations. When your mind-set is that turnover is high in retail, your turnover will be high. Our thoughts are the cause, our circumstances are the effect. As Duke Rochefoucauld said way back in the 1600s: “We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears.” Retail is getting exactly what it fears.
It is, as others have said, the result of management behavior. “As we are managed so we will serve” is a truism we keep ignoring.
Part of current paranoid management is the over-reliance on policy and procedure to maintain control over sales staff. We policy staff into lousy customer service. As a nursing friend said: “Policies are just scar tissue over an error.” All policies are fear driven which means if you manage by policy you manage by fear. That is not how you get superior customer service. Jeffrey’s story about the high spending couple and the clerk who followed policy is a perfect example of this. “Work to rule” is a Union’s way of saying “follow corporate policies to the letter” and doing so brings an organization almost to a standstill. Set sales people free to think and do what’s right for the customer, not what’s right for the policy manual.
Finally, let’s not forget that not many customers come into a store filled with gratitude, joy and a sense of destiny. They often come in frustrated and dismayed about their own life and work and are braced for lousy service. To overcome the customer’s negative mindset the service can’t simply be “good”–it has to be extraordinary. I’m working with a Dr. Sue Morter on a process for dramatically and immediately changing the subconscious and self-sabotaging mindset of sales people that is the most remarkable scientific breakthrough I’ve seen in many years. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to contribute some of the concepts in this space if the right item comes along. I am convinced that the secret of our success lies in our mind.
I had another thought after submitting my first comment…one that may irritate some retail sales managers and maybe even a few commentators.
My friend, Larry Winget, recently wrote a ‘slap-in-the-face’ book titled “You’re Broke Because You Want To Be.” It got me to thinking that maybe a retail store has lousy customer service because it WANTS to have lousy customer service. All retail enterprises will vehemently deny that on an intellectual and conscious level but if you believe that our circumstances eventually match the mental energy we send out to the universe, this may be the brutal truth. We all self-sabotage the realization of our full and amazing potential in some way; there’s no reason to think retail managers are any different. Just a thought.
I am sorry that I am late to this discussion, since it has been my life’s work to help companies hire better front line workers. I have to admit that I think the last comment by Ian about self sabotage is closer to fact then fiction and really boils down the problem.
There are three key ways to differentiate any organization. One is operational efficiency. While this may seem to be the hardest it is probably the simplest. Two is product or technology. This is also easy but not long lasting in today’s world because of the speed of information and the ability to copy what anyone else is doing. Third is through superior customer service and–since people do not come with manuals–the hardest but most long lasting approach.
In the last couple of years I have finally come to the realization that most of the world talks customer service or customer centric but it is all just talk.
The key is really very simple: to be customer serviced focus you need to start by being employee focused. The simple one liner: “Employees treat your customers the way you treat your employees.”
“If you beat your competition to the best employees, your best employees will help you beat your competition.”
Hire right, Train, Reward, Motivate, and Retain.
It’s really about attitude and mindset. If a retailer is really in business merely to make money, then the business will be run with quantitative analytics and little else. The customer becomes just another variable in the equation. If a retailer is in business to help customers purchase the things they need and desire, their primary mission will be to meet and exceed their customer’s expectations.
Unfortunately, the vast number of retailers seem to be in business to merely make money, which they do sporadically at best, while the exceptional few who are in business to help and please their customers are the ones who are exceptionally successful.
It all starts with the attitude and mindset at the top of the organization, for that attitude and mindset will permeate throughout. For the vast many, the issue becomes how are we going to afford the money, time, people, etc. For the exceptional few the issue is how can we even concieve of not doing whatever needs to be done.
As I’ve written on this board before, customer service is where smaller and independent retailers often excel. Without the financial pressures of public ownership, with ownership that is usually in daily contact with their customers, smaller and independent retailers frequently set the standard which their larger competitors aspire to.