Home » Customer Expectations » Page 16

Category: Customer Expectations

Many Happy Returns

Returns are one simple way to set your store above the rest in terms of customer delight. The more you can do to make a customer happy while making a return, the better.

Here is what I reminded my staff regarding returns…

MANY HAPPY RETURNS

Actually, we hope we have very few returns, but we do know we will have some returns. I want all of them to be as happy as possibly. Here are some ways to make them Happy Returns.

Yes, we will take it back! Don’t worry about the customer’s motive, whether it is opened/damaged/re-sellable, etc. First and foremost make the customer happy by saying yes. Some items we can re-package to sell. Some we will get credit from the company. Some we can steal parts from to fix others. Some we can use as demos. Some we can donate to places that take used toys.

Yes, we will refund your money! If you have a receipt. Otherwise we will gladly give you a store credit good on anything at any time. This is one area where you might get someone demanding money back even without a receipt. If they are being really pushy about it, just give them cash back and send them on their Merry Way. (Get them out of the store as soon as possible.)

Apologize! Someone is bound to come in saying we ruined their Christmas because we sold them an obviously used/broken toy. Well, no, we didn’t. Not on purpose. But that doesn’t matter. Apologize. Say, “I’m really sorry that happened. What would you like us to do to fix this?”

Fix it! This can be tough. We might be out of what they need. It might be a part that needs to be ordered. But do whatever is in your power to fix it.

If we have the item in stock—swap it out for them, parts or the whole thing, whichever is easier.

If we do not have the item, you can offer to order replacement parts. Often we can order them directly through the company and have them shipped to the customer. You can check online or on the phone while the customer is right there.

If we cannot order the part or replace the product, offer them a store credit or a refund. But most of all apologize.

Remember this order…

  1. Make the customer happy.
  2. Tell me later what you did.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS You might not make everyone happy. There are always unreasonable people and just plain rude people. If you have tried your best and nothing seems to be working, do whatever it takes to get them and their negativity out of the store as fast as possible before they infect anyone else. Take the loss if necessary. Handle it with professionalism, kindness and respect regardless of how they treat you. Remember that other customers are watching and judging you and your character. Show them what you got!

“No, We Don’t Have That”

In these final days, the most common phrase spoken by retail employees everywhere is…

“No, we don’t have that.” Or its cousin, “No, we’re out of stock.”

Make sure in tomorrow morning’s huddle that you remind you staff that there is a better response…

“Let me show you what I do have.”

Learn to say that instead.

Before you say no, lead the customer over to an alternative. Put the alternative in his hand. He doesn’t want to drive all over in these last couple days for something that might be hard to find. More often than not he will accept the alternative.

But only if you offer it!

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS This works well in January, too. In fact, you should always use this approach. Positive beats negative in the retail game.

You’ve Ruined My Christmas!

“You’ve ruined my Christmas!”

We’ve all heard it. You can’t be a retailer with 4th quarter traffic without hearing that a few times. The problem is that we often let that statement ruin our own Christmas.

Why do we give it so much weight?

Why do we let one customer ruin our day, ruin our holiday, ruin our year? Chances are we weren’t even the responsible party.

Most often that statement is said when the customer had an unreal expectation of what you could provide. Or maybe your vendor let you down. Or maybe the customer was just bat-sh#t crazy. Or maybe you did make a mistake, but because your steps to rectify the mistake weren’t perfect, you ruined their Christmas.

Why let that get you down?

Unless you’re a real f#@k-up, you probably only hear this once every few years. And you’re a stand-up person, so you made it right to the best of your powers. Yet you can still remember the day that mom screamed at you in front of six other customers. The hairs on the back of your neck go up every time you see a brunette in a fur coat just like hers. It colors your whole perception of the season.

Why don’t we instead focus on the people for whom we made their Christmas?

Go count how many transactions you had between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. Subtract from that all the ruinous statements. Now multiply the remaining number times ten. That’s how many Christmases you made last year. (Remember that people are in your shop not just for one person, plus, if you made their Christmas, you made the Christmas of those around them.)

Revel in those Christmases you made. Celebrate the Thank You’s. Exalt the I Love You Guys. Dance with the You Made My Day’s.

There are a lot more of those. Give them the weight they deserve. Pat yourself and your staff on the back. You all deserve that.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS This goes doubly for the staff. They are going to make mistakes. You really can ruin your staff’s Christmas if you don’t handle those mistakes properly. I remind all my staff that I expect them to make mistakes, just not the same one twice, so when they make a mistake, I say to them with a smile, “Good, you got that mistake out of the way. What are we going to learn from it?”

Make the Guys Happy This Week

Starting today, the guys are hitting the stores. We are last-second shoppers by nature. Ladies shop fifty two weeks a year. The men? Ten days tops. Although I won’t speak for all guys, here are three things you should do to maximize their transactions.

  • Limit their choices. Guys don’t want to make too many decisions. Bog them down with lots of options and choices from the get-go and you might not get them to go to the checkout. Show them the best in the category. If they balk at that option, find out why and show them one other option. Show them one option at a time until they buy. But always start with the best.
  • Make them feel smart. Don’t question their judgment. Don’t use big words or insider terminology. Explain things in a simple, but not condescending way. Ask only the necessary questions. Let them do as much of the talking as possible. Reinforce their statements and beliefs. You will win their trust and their wallets.
  • Offer them time-saving services. Do you giftwrap? Assemble? Deliver? Guys are willing to pay extra for time-saving services and conveniences. Tell them all that you can do for them. They won’t ask, but they will say yes when you offer. Guys are the reason the “convenience store” concept even exists. Anything to save a few steps, a few minutes, a few hassles.

Guys want their shopping trips to be smart, fast, and hassle-free. The best way to maximize these final days of the season is to be ready for the guys. They should start arriving this afternoon.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS One more thing you can do to help the guys – refresh your signage. According to Paco Underhill’s book Why We Buy, guys are the number one reader of signs. According to Rick Segal, signs increase sales by 43%. According to Phil Wrzesinski, Introverts (50% of the population) are the #2 reader of signs.

Corporate-Speak and Fifty-Cent Words

This was in a blog I follow…

“In the next three years, retail will reinvent itself as omni-channel leaders reach for customer relationship, relevancy, and reciprocity. A new replacement cycle of enterprise, planning, and commerce systems will anchor complex companywide business transformation for immersive experience and commerce. Quick-to-market leaders will improve same-shopper sales — fast becoming the most significant leading indicator of future performance,” said Robert Parker, IDC Retail, Energy and Manufacturing Group VP and GM. “We expect renewed investment in the narrower but transformative capabilities of PLM and sourcing, marketing and advertising, and big data and analytics.”

Let me translate that for you…

“In the next three years there will be a lot of upheaval and change in retail. Those who change the fastest and most in-line with the customers will do the best.”

You can apply that to any 3-year period you want. It’s true today. It will be true tomorrow.

Two lessons from that paragraph:

First, the more things change, the more they stay the same. You will always need to be adapting your store to meet the needs of your customers. You can take that to the bank (and if you adapt properly, you will take it to the bank!)

Second, never use big, fancy words when simpler words will do. Sure, you can show off your knowledge and prove what a big shot you are, but we don’t care about that. Use simple words. Make your ideas and thoughts understandable by the masses. Especially when you work with your customers. They often don’t know the terminology you and I use every day, and they don’t like being made to feel stupid. When I read the first paragraph up above I was immediately turned off – and I know what some of those words actually mean! I still had to read it three times before figuring out what they were trying to say.

Make your customers feel smart by keeping your words simple.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS This is especially important with your male shoppers. Guys communicate vertically – did what I say make you think higher of me or lower of me? They will walk out of any store that makes them feel stupid. And since these next two weeks are the male shoppers’ turn to shine, you need to maximize them to maximize your sales.

The Two Distinctly Different Customers

This video is a great summation of many of the ideas and thoughts I have shared with you. I want you to watch it and think about the Transactional vs Relational Customer. I want you to watch it and think about the importance of knowing and showing your Values. I want you to watch it and think about your products and services and policies and to which planet they are aimed.

There are powerful lessons contained in these eleven minutes. Block out some time when you can watch this without distractions.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS What does Planet Neo look like for indie retailers? Much of what we already do, but need to do more. Think words like Innovative, Cutting Edge, Unique, and Authentic. Think not just in terms of your products, but of your services, too. What do innovative services look like? What services are cutting edge? How can your services be unique?

The Mortar Between Your Bricks

They call us Brick & Mortar stores. Physical locations where you go to pick out and pick up your goods.

But many stores are simply Brick stores – no mortar. Those are the stores being Showroomed.

Bricks are the products. Bricks are the items you choose to put into your store. Bricks are the items you buy, hoping to sell for a profit. Bricks are the reason you believe customers will beat a path to your door.

Oh, but you would be wrong on that last one.

Sure, you better have some nice bricks. But everyone knows that just stacking a bunch of bricks will not build a sustainable structure. Anyone can come by and knock it down.

Mortar is the glue that holds the bricks together. You need a good mortar.

Mortar is the staff you hire and train. Hire the right people and train them well. Give them autonomy to do the job they are capable of doing, mastery to do it better each successive time, and a purpose greater than themselves that will motivate them to do their best.

Mortar is the way you service and take care of your customers. Build policies around your Values. Build policies around the Feelings you hope to give your customers. Build policies around Delight, around going above and beyond what your customers expect.

Mortar is the way you invest in your community. Mortar is the charities you support, the issues you champion, the involvement and commitment you make to the greater good.

Mortar is the special touches you offer. Mortar is turning off the overhead music when an autistic child enters your store because you know it bothers him. Mortar is carrying the heavy item out to the car – even though it is parked hundreds of feet away – so that mom can manage the stroller and the toddler who wants to walk. Mortar is calling that customer who really wanted your sold-out, discontinued science set because somebody returned one the next day. Mortar is saying Yes! when everyone else says No.

The stronger your mortar, the stronger your store, regardless of which bricks you use.

Bricks are everywhere. The bricks that make up your store can be found online, in hundreds of other stores, all over the place. They can be found right in your customer’s pocket, one click away. If you want to make it in this retail climate, you need some incredibly good mortar.

Tell me what is your mortar?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Mortar is also your financial strength, your ability to manage your inventory and cash flow, your ability to manage your expenses and cost of goods. The best retailers find ways to strengthen their mortar everywhere they can. If you are in the Jackson area and want to strengthen the mortar in your store, sign up for the Jackson Retail Success Academy class starting in January.

The Next Transaction

Do you know the real goal of each transaction? To earn the Next Transaction.

Unless you’re closing the store and selling off your inventory, you’re going to need that next transaction, and the one after that, and the one after that, and so on.

You always need one eye on the horizon, one eye fixed on how to earn that Next Transaction.

Last Saturday we had a huge event. LEGO Contest, Yo-Yo Competition, Toy Demos, Crafts, Scavenger Hunt, Cookies, Prizes, the whole works! We advertised heavily. We staffed heavily. We spent a lot of money to draw traffic and put on a lot of events to keep that traffic happy.

Did it translate into extra sales? A little. We had a slightly better than usual Saturday. Not enough to cover the extra expenses, but that wasn’t the point. The entire goal of the day was Wish Lists – pieces of paper that the kids took around the store and filled out with what they wanted Santa to bring them.

Since our competitors in town don’t stock the same items we stock, we wanted those kids to make out their lists with our toys. Every kid who went on a scavenger hunt to earn a cookie got a wish list. Every parent with one or more kids in tow got a wish list.

Our goal for the day was simple – focus on the Next Transaction.

  1. Give everyone something fun to do.
  2. Give everyone a Wish List to fill out.
  3. Treat them so well they can’t wait to come back.

It is a formula that serves us well.

There are a lot of businesses that put too much effort on maximizing this transaction – as if it will be their last. Make this one special for the customer. Delight her. Earn the chance to get another transaction.

If that isn’t enough to convince you, try this… Ask yourself these two questions:

  1. What percentage of my business is Repeat Business? (write that number down)
  2. What percentage of my business is Referral Business? (write that number down)

The remaining percentage is your advertising driven business – usually the smallest of the three numbers.

Put your energy into getting repeats and referrals and you’ll have all the Next Transactions you need.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS There are a lot of ways to earn the next transaction. Sometimes adding on and maximizing the current sale is how you earn another – especially if the add-ons are what is needed to “complete” the sale. Don’t ever let a customer walk out without everything they need. Sometimes you earn the next transaction because you didn’t get overly pushy. Sometimes you earn the next transaction because you planned it that way (like the wish lists). The best leaders are always looking beyond this transaction to the next one.

PPS Here is an email one mom sent me from our event that drives home the point…
“…and great event Saturday!   While I know you’re open minded and see the big picture, I wanted to let you know that your sales on days like that may not be all the sales you gain from the event.  I could barely manage the two kids let alone purchase anything, but I’ll be back this week to get everything.”

Do Something Over-the-Top

You still have time to pull this off. Christmas is still 48 days away. Do something Over-the-Top for your customers this season.

Is parking a problem for your store? Offer Free Valet Parking. Get some young motivated drivers to move the cars to the distant lot (hire the local cross-country team – they don’t mind running in the cold and their season just ended).

Offer a seating area with comfortable recliners. Coffee and doughnuts in the morning. Water and fresh fruit in the afternoon.

Do a coat-check.

Have servers walking the store with samples of local treats. Bonus – have them dressed in formal black tie outfits.

Forget the piped in music – have live performers from the local symphony. Get a trio or quartet every Saturday – pay them well (some of them will work for gift cards).

Give them labels to go with their giftwrapped packages.

Give out helium balloons free to every child. (As Winnie the Pooh said, “Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon.”)

Do a Santa Wish List – even for the adults – and keep it on file for spouses, parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles.

Offer a free sample, free inspection, free add-on, free trial, free upgrade, free whatever. Don’t advertise it. (Please don’t advertise it.) Just do it. Freely and with sincerity. Let your customers advertise it for you.

Have a couple doormen carry their packages to their cars – no matter where they parked!

Think about what your customers expect from you, then do something way unexpected and over-the-top. They will talk about you. A lot. To everyone they know.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Every fine restaurant in New York has a coat check, usually tucked away in the corner past the crowded bar. When I went to a Danny Meyer restaurant in NY fabled for amazing customer service the greeter took our coats without us having to shuffle through the crowd to the hidden coat check. Better yet, when our party got up to go, the greeter was already waiting with our coats and knew exactly who got which coat. That was unexpectedly cool. And I’m talking about it.

What’s in a Name (Tag)? Money!

Do you and your employees wear name tags? Are they hidden down at the belt level or on a lanyard so that they turn backwards hiding your name?

If your employees cannot be easily identified by name, you are missing one more chance to delight your customers.

It is one thing to introduce yourself, “Hi, I’m Phil. Thanks for coming in, today.” Some people will remember your name. Most will not. They are too busy thinking of themselves. They are expecting “sales-clerk-speak” and not paying attention. They are looking around, distracted by your superb merchandising.

If you have a name tag, however, they will look at that tag for confirmation of what they thought they heard.

Knowing your name connects them to you. Makes you more than a sales clerk. Gives you a sense of humanity.

Knowing your name makes you seem more friendly.

Knowing your name also gives your customer a feeling of power. She knows you can’t screw up because knowing your name means she can call you out to the manager. She also has the power to praise you to your manager. Without a name, she’s less likely to speak up. Without a name, she feels just a little less empowered.

A customer is far more likely to buy more from someone she knows by name. (bigger tickets)
A customer is far more apt to return to a store where she knows the employees by name. (repeat business)
A customer is far more likely to refer her friends to a sales person she knows by name. (referrals)

A great introduction is still worth its weight in gold, but the reinforcement of well-placed, easy-to-read name tag makes your job of delight easier.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS As I’m writing this, I’m realizing that my own staff’s name tags need an overhaul. If you serve a lot of Boomers like we do, make the font for the first name big and simple.