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Category: Customer Expectations

Self Service is NOT Customer Service

The email read…

Hi Phil,

I noticed you missed our free webinar on Wednesday, How to Make Your Customers Fall in Love With Self-Service. No worries — I know how busy this time of year can be!

Gee, sorry I missed that. NOT.
Why would I want to make my customers fall in love with self-service? Why would I want to train my customers to love what my competitors are already doing and have far deeper pockets to do it? Why would I want my customers to love NOT interacting with my highly-trained sales staff?
No one has ever gone out and bragged to their friends about how wonderful the self-service is at XYZ store. No one has ever said, “Boy, I can’t wait to go back to that store. They have the best self-service.”
You cannot create word-of-mouth advertising with self-service. You cannot win customer loyalty with self-service. You cannot grow your business through self-service. At its best, self-service is neutral. At its worst, a deterrent to sales.
So with all that said, if you really want to grow, sink some serious time and money into creating the best Full-Service shop you can. Take it two or three steps above the gum-chewing clerks at Wally-World. Take it to the Nordstrom’s and Ritz-Carlton level. Do things that surprise and delight your customers. Go above and beyond their expectations.
Making your customers love Full-Service is a heck of a lot easier, more profitable, and more fun than trying to get them to love self-service.
-Phil Wrzesinski
PS Yes, there are times when self-service is good. But usually only when you’re in a big discount store buying cheap commodity goods and don’t want to wait for that the-world-sucks-and-I’m-underpaid-too-much-to-care cashier to ring you up. That’s not your store, not your market. You don’t even want to consider playing in that sandbox.

The Kind of Reviews You Want Your Customers to Write

Yesterday’s blog was an example of what not to do. Today is the kind of review you get when the front line staff knows how to make an experience wonderful…

“We’re always impressed with customer service at the Toy House, but yesterday was over the top. Our family was there because our son was picking out a gift for our daughter’s birthday. He asked me about a ride-along horse which I told him was fine, and he raced off, I assumed, to tell my husband. The next thing I knew a Toy House employee was asking me if I was Ruby’s mom. I said, yes, and she said that my son was asking if they could wrap the toy for his sister’s birthday. She wanted to know if it was okay, and they would go ahead, remove the tag, and wrap it for him, and we could pay when we were ready to go. I appreciated them taking the time to interact with my son (and tracking me down) instead of just brushing off his desires to get something for his sister. Thanks again, Toy House, for the continued hard work and great customer service!”   -Jen, Dec 2, 2013 (Toy House Facebook Page)

Every customer, no matter how big or small, deserves your utmost attention. When you learn to treat everyone as though they are world’s best customer, you will find you have a lot more of the world’s best customers in your store.
Your customers will get better when you do.
-Phil Wrzesinski
PS Work with your staff on this idea… How would you treat the next customer if you knew she had a credit card with no limit and eleven siblings? 

Your Front Line Staff is Selling You Short

I got this story from a fellow toy store owner who took her son to a different toy store and gave me permission to share her experience…

“My son had a doctor appointment yesterday that was really hard for him. I told him that we passed a toy store along the way and if he braved it, we would go there afterwards and pick up ANYTHING HE WANTED. Little sister could get a little something too, if she cheered him on and helped make him feel better.

After lots of tears and pain, I took him to the toy store as I promised. The one staff person working was very nice and greeted us. No other shoppers in the store. We had her full attention. I told her why we were there and what I had promised. Anything son wanted and “a little something” for daughter. When little sister kept bouncing a Crocodile Creek small ball, I suggested to her that maybe that could be her little something. The employee kindly interjected that it’s $9, basically wanting me to know that it’s not cheap. I told her that it was just fine. Then little sister went to a Melissa & Doug watering can and the employee said, “That one is 12.99.” The employee kept asking me and my son what we were looking for as well. The thing is we weren’t looking for anything. What we wanted was a magical/nice experience after a traumatic hard event, which is a very common reason for people to come to a toy store. I dropped 60 bucks but I really wasn’t paying attention to money. I would have spent more but I feel like the employee was trying to save me money. That was nice but not so for the storeowner/business — and it also did a disservice to me, in terms of the experience I wanted to provide my child.”

How often do you think your own front line staff is selling from their own pocket book and making decisions about what a customer may or may not be able to afford?

How often do you think your own front line staff is more interested in getting the transaction over instead of making the trip magical and helping it last forever?

Here are some of the lessons in her own words that my friend is taking away for her own staff…

  1. “Little” means a lot of different things to different customers. When unsure, ask the customer what something little means when they say that.
  2. Customers aren’t always “looking for something”. Switch gears when they say they are not and LISTEN to why they are there.
  3. Get down to the level of the child when caregiver says “anything they want” and start showing them some cool stuff. Interact with them. You know what I wanted for my traumatized son? I wanted that experience like Julia Roberts got in “Pretty Woman” when Richard Gere brought her to the clothing store. I wanted to be able to remind him about that time he got to go to the toy store after the Doctor visit for the next time we have to do something really hard. 
  4. Join the team. “Hooray you did that brave thing. I’m so happy for you.” “Wow did you really conquer that potty?”
Those are some mighty powerful lessons. I know her staff is going to rock it! Thanks, Katherine, for sharing.
-Phil Wrzesinski
PS You need to repeat this over and over and over to your front line people… ALWAYS assume your customer can afford anything she wants, until she tells you otherwise. Show her the Filet Mignon first.

Creating a Shareworthy Customer Service Culture

We all know Customer Service is our calling card. It is our path to success. It is the one thing where we can excel far greater than our competitors and kick their asses to the curb.

But how do you change the culture of your store to make Shareworthy Customer Service an every day event?

Tim Miles has a good starting point over on his blog. Make note of the Shareworthy events when they happen then try to deconstruct and learn from those events.

I want to take it a step further.

What gets measured and rewarded, improves.

Our Customer Service goal is smiley, happy people. Our marketing tag is, “We’re here to make you smile!”

At every meeting we start with what I call the Smile Stories – the Shareworthy Customer Service events. By sharing those moments with each other and making a big deal of them, we make a point of reinforcing what is important to the business.

You can even take it a step further and offer fun prizes such as gift cards to local restaurants and gas cards to the staff who has the best story. Not only will you get more stories each month, you’ll get a friendly competition of the staff each trying to out-shareworthy the other.

My staff keep notes for their smile stories. Some even keep notes for each other’s smile stories and remind each other of stories they may have forgotten. The culture is all about smiles – making them and sharing them.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS There is another huge benefit to starting your meeting off like that. Sharing your triumphs and victories first puts the staff into a much better frame of mind – less defensive and shutdown, much more open and listening – than the typical public flogging that most managers use to open meetings.

You are in the Job of Persuasion

Your job is simple – to persuade.

Persuade the best people to work for you.
Persuade those people to do more for you than they thought possible.
Persuade your vendors to give you good terms for the best products.
Persuade your customers to visit you in droves.
Persuade them to part with their hard-earned dollars.
Persuade them to bring their friends back.
Persuade your banker to give you a loan.
Persuade your local media to give you a plug.
Persuade your city council to pass laws and ordinances in your favor.

My friend, and one of the most amazingly persuasive writers I know, Jeff Sexton, posted this video that he got from another friend, Tim Miles (who you all know coined the term Shareworthy and is the smartest man I’ve ever met when it comes to Customer Service.)

This will be 11 minutes and 50 seconds you will start and stop often to take notes and watch over and over again. You’ll probably be using this at your next sales staff meeting (I am).

A couple million of your friends, colleagues and competitors have already seen it. You should, too.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS See if you can tell me which of the 6 techniques I attempted to use to persuade you to watch the above video. Yes, this applies to Sales & Customer Service. It also applies to Marketing & Advertising. It also applies to Hiring & Training. It also applies to Word of Mouth. You’re always persuading. You might as well get good at it.

For the Win – Best Customer Service Stories!

You’ve heard me talk about Over-the-Top Customer Service. See it in action in this article from Mental Floss.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/30198/11-best-customer-service-stories-ever

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Bring a tissue. A couple are real heart-string tuggers.

PPS If you aren’t willing to bend over backwards like these companies did, don’t go complaining that no one ever brags about your “great” customer service, because it isn’t all that good.

Getting Customers to Walk Those Last 20 Feet

“At the end of the day you’ll get nothing for nothing.” -Les Miserables

I’m on the planning committee for a new street festival that will happen this summer in downtown Jackson. It’s a big one. Artists, Musicians, Restaurateurs, Local Brewers and Wineries, a Color Run and more.

Some of the merchants on the streets that will be closed are concerned. I hear comments like…
“These events never draw me any traffic.”
“All these events do is close me down to my regular traffic.”
“Too many street closures and I’ll have to close, too.”

Five thousand people walking past your shop and you can’t do any business?!?

When you ask those who are complaining what they did to get those people the last 20 feet from street through door, the usual response is a blank stare.

Street closures for construction suck! Street closures for fairs and events can be a windfall… if you recognize that it is your job to get the customers from the street through your door.

If you do nothing, you’ll get nothing.

You have to do something.
You have to do something special.
You have to do something that will move the needle for someone who came down to look at classic cars or taste local cuisine or peruse amazing art.
You have to do something that gets their attention, makes them notice you, be interested in you, desire your products and services, and make the purchase.

You can’t reach them through radio or TV or email. They are 20 feet away. Right here right now. You have to go out and get them. You have to do something so amazingly wonderful that they drag their friends through the door with them.

That last statement could apply any time of the year. If you’re not getting the traffic you think you should be getting, whatever you’re doing to try to attract customers is pretty close to nothing in their minds. Time to up your game.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS One simple clue into what not to do to get them that last 20 feet… People at street fairs – especially ones involving art and food – spend like drunken sailors. You won’t win them over with a sale or special price or discount nearly as much as you will by offering them something that matches their world view. They are already over-paying for food and drinks at these events. Entice them with something impulsive and fun and in line with their (your) Core Values. They are ready to overspend. Don’t disappoint them.

Grow Your Business by Excluding, Not Including

“Without a doubt, networks yearn to be bigger and more inclusive. The challenge is to do that without losing what made them work.”   -Seth Godin (read the whole post here)

 As I was reading that statement from Seth, all I could think about was how this is probably the biggest mistake “networks” make – trying to be bigger and more inclusive at the same time. This may sound counter-intuitive, but one of the best ways to become bigger is to be less inclusive.

 What??

 Yes, be more exclusive. Exclude those people who don’t want something special, who only want to dicker and deal for a super low price. Treat your remaining customers as if they were your only customers. Treat them with the kind of special services you would give only to a select few. Treat them as though they were a celebrity, even royalty.

 What does that look like? It might mean offering exclusive appointments. It might mean extending your hours for special sessions. It might mean hiring an extra sales person and training him or her in the art of royal treatment. It might mean having food and drinks available. It might mean a concierge service, a coat check, valet parking, white glove delivery. It might mean doing different things, unique things, stuff that no one else in your category does or would even do. It might mean treating each and every customer uniquely, in the way she wants to be treated. It definitely means doing things that make your customers say, “WOW!”

 When you try to be more inclusive, you dumb it down and end up delighting no one. When you try to be more exclusive, you delight your customers to the point that they spend more and bring their friends back. 

 When you understand that, you’ll grow bigger. Just remember the last part of Seth’s quote – grow bigger without losing what got you there in the first place.

 -Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

 PS Can’t figure out what to do to be special? Start with this question… What would be the most crazy, over-the-top thing you could do to WOW your customer? Go there first and then dial it back until you get to something you think you can accomplish consistently that is above and beyond what she expected.

Negotiating About Price

This article from RetailCustomerExperience.com should be required reading of anyone working indie retail.

We all get told at one point or another, “Your price is too high!“

This article gives you clear responses that that anyone can use to handle such a situation.

(Reader’s Digest version for those lazy people who don’t want to read a five minute article… ask the customer, “What would you like to give up?” and put the ball in their court for why your price may be higher. You quickly learn what is important to your customer and you open the door for a discussion that makes your customer more informed.)

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS You really should read the whole article because there are a few more steps that anyone on your staff can follow.

Tired of Saying No?

Everyone wants a discount. Everyone wants a deal. They bombard you daily. Can you match this price? Can you give us this break?

You’re tired of saying no. Me, too.

What if instead you started saying Yes?

Yes, I can do that. Yes, I can offer that. Yes, I can do something.

What would it take to say yes? Higher prices and margins? Support from your vendors? Lower expenses? Guts?

There are certain aspects of retail that lend themselves perfectly to saying yes. Food service is one. If you sell food, whether a sit-down restaurant in a fancy part of downtown or an ice cream stand on the boardwalk, you should set your prices high enough that you can say yes all day long to whatever gets asked.

Don’t advertise that you say Yes. Just do it. Say Yes out of the generosity of your heart. You’ll feel better (Yes always feels better than No). Your customers will feel better. They’ll start telling everyone else about your generosity. New customers will flock to see you because of that generosity.

When you say Yes more than you say No you’ll get more customers. Period.

Those of you selling non-consumable goods are tuning out. Stay with me. There is something you can do, too.

Generosity is contagious. You will be surprised what you can give when you start looking to give. Can you give free delivery? Free giftwrapping? Free extended warranty? Free balloons with your logo on it? Free assembly? Free tune-ups? Free shoe laces? Free yard stick? Free gift with purchase? Free information? Free instructions? Free tips? All of that should be built into your business from day one.

When someone asks for something, rather than tell them No, tell them what you can do. Say Yes. It feels better.

(Once again, though, don’t advertise it. Just do it. Give, give, give, and let your customers advertise your generosity for you.)

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Yeah, you might be thinking that you can’t raise your prices enough to cover any generosity. I’m telling you that you can. The formula is in my first Freebie, the one that launched Phil’s Forum Publishing LLC, and it is still as relevant and effective today as it was the day I wrote it. If you aren’t using my Pricing for Profit tips, you’re leaving money on the table and not giving yourself enough room to say Yes.

PPS Notice I did not say “match prices”. You don’t have to match prices to give generously. There are other valuable services you can offer. In fact, you don’t have to give away anything. But if your current strategy isn’t working or you are feeling beat up by the requests, this is another way to go. If you’re in food service, this is one of the best ways to go.