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By Merchandise Concepts

Are You Driving Customers Away?- What’s Holding You
Back From Delivering Great Customer Service?
By Anne M. Obarski

According to a recent Conference Board survey, the single
biggest concern for CEO’s globally today is retaining their
existing customer base. As Ashok Gopal states in the Gallup
Management Journal, “It looks like companies are
rediscovering a basic tenet: no customers, no business.”

So what is driving customers away? Ask anyone you know
about the type of customer service they receive from any
company and you will more than likely get a story about how
horrible the service was or how unknowledgeable the employee
was, or how un-caring the manager was. It is more the
“norm” for any of us to talk about a “bad” service
experience rather than an exceptional one.

According to GfK Custom Research Inc., January, 2004, poor
service drove shoppers out of the stores in December 2003.
Customers were disappointed in their shopping experiences
in large and small stores nationwide in the following 3 key
service areas:

1.Ease of finding products 2. Ease of finding help
3.Courteousness of employees

I remember teaching these same basic principles to my
college students years ago in a Retail 101 class! Why is it
that we are not listening to our customers? Why are we
driving them away when we can easily offer what they are
asking for, if we so choose?

I recently did a consulting project for a large food store
chain in which we did a “mystery shop” to find out what
their customers really experienced as they shopped. My
favorite question out of all of the questions was the
following: “Would you return to this store based on your
customer service experience?”
I had to ask myself, isn’t that the goal of every business?

The first time we polled the customers, their response to
that last question was 65% of the customers would return to
that chain of stores based on their customer se!
rvice >experience.

We then conducted a large training program that addressed
many of the other areas that the customers deemed important.
Some of the areas that we addressed were: ease of shopping,
selection of merchandise, easy-to-understand signage,
helpful as well as knowledgeable employees and finally,
teaching the employees to say thank-you. Did your eyebrows
go up on that last one? Mine did!

During the training program, the employees were challenged
to see if they could “move” the 65% satisfaction rate, just
5%. We didn’t ask for the world. The most recent reports
showed that they exceeded that number and achieved a 74.6%
satisfaction rate, or in other words, almost 75% of the
customers said they would return to the store based on their
customer service experience. That number could prove to be
a huge addition to sales, and more importantly, as an
indication of satisfied customers who might tell others
about a “positive” experience!

Interestingly, the biggest changes came in the area of human
relationships. Ashok Gopal is again quoted saying, “While
about 70% of customers’ buying decisions are based on
positive human interaction with sales staff, companies
dedicate a miniscule 10% of their resources to ensuring that
positive human interactions will take place.” Where are
your priorities?

So, how do you bring customers in, not drive them away? The
3 simple directions that will help us not get lost!

1. A good roadmap! - Arrange the store or business so that
people can easily find what they need. Stock the shelves,
displays and counters with merchandise in such a way that
you look like you believe in your products.
Help the customer answer their own questions, when they need
to, by providing informative signage that looks professional
and not like something your first-grader did! Make it easy
to maneuver through your business. Unusual floor plans and
oddly placed shelving may look!
“trendy
“, but it serves only
to frustrate the customer.

2. Good directions! Train, train to retain! Maintain an
ongoing training program so that your employees are
knowledgeable about products, policies and people. Hire
them, schedule them and allow them to be the resource for
the customer. How many times have you been in a business or
on the phone and all you want is someone to help you! Why
are we making it so difficult for people who want to give us
their hard-earned money to do so?
Update employees on new merchandise, how it is used and the
best way to sell it. Teach your employees different ways to
use that product as an “add-on” to a sale, in which the
customer truly will benefit. Inspire your employees to be
more than just a “parrot”; “Thanks”, “Have a nice day”, “Put
that on your charge”, “Did you find everything you were
looking for?” etc. just means, pass the crackers!

3. Good Co-pilot! Buying and selling can be an “emotional”
business. Help make it a positive one for your customers.
It seems so trite to say, “Smile, make eye contact, listen
with both ears, think before speaking and thank them for
doing business with you” but that is exactly what your
customers are asking for and they are telling you in black
and white that it is a large part of what keeps them coming
back.

I live in western Pennsylvania and it always seems like our
roads are “under construction”. There are times I thought
it would have been nice to have been the person who thought
up those orange cones or barrels that are seen on highways
letting you know that there is construction ahead. I find
myself taking a longer route just to avoid those headaches.
Why is it so hard to get where I want to go? It seems so
easy, yet so frustrating at times.

I think that is how customers see businesses. You advertise
that this is how I can get what I need and then you put up
lots of roadblocks to make my journey long and difficu!
lt.
W
hat roadblocks can you remove to make your customers’
journey a quick and pleasant one? I think your customer is
looking for that “preferred” parking place. But you’re
going to have to move that orange cone first!


Anne M. Obarski is “The Customer Service Spy!” As a
professional speaker, Anne presents keynotes,
break-out sessions and training in customer service.
You’ll want her two new books, “Surprising
Secrets of Mystery Shoppers” and “Real World Customer
Service Strategies That Work”. Visit
www.merchandiseconcepts.com or
email Anne at anne@… .






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