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Category: Customer Expectations

Perception or Reality?

Another toy store owner was interviewed recently for a local news story on shopping local. The interview was great. The store looked great. The troubling part was a simple comment made by the anchor after the interview was done.

She said, “The mom and pop stores, sometimes they don’t have flexible return policies should something not work out…”

Wrong!

Or is it?

Perception is reality for most people. If a news anchor feels that this is true enough to actually say it on the air, then enough people must think this is true. The general perception, therefore, is that mom & pop stores have strict, non-flexible return policies.

First, if you do have a strict return policy, go read this blog I posted about why that is a bad idea.

Second, if you have a liberal and customer-friendly return policy (and you should), make sure you have it posted prominently. Don’t leave it up to chance or your customers might think and believe otherwise.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I also cover Return Policies in the free eBook Customer Service: From Weak to WOW.

The Coolest Store in Town

I was walking out of the grocery store a couple nights ago and caught my reflection in the window. I had on my Toy House jacket and saw our distinctive logo staring back. At that moment it dawned on me.

I own the coolest store in Jackson.

Oh sure, there may be a few people who would argue that point. But there would be just as many who would argue for us. Of course, we have some distinct advantages.

First, we sell toys. Second, we’ve been in business a long time so there is a lot of nostalgia built up. Third, we have a lot of inclusive fun here. And fourth, we’re fairly unique to the toy industry. There just aren’t a lot of stores quite like us around the country.

But that got me thinking…

Are you the coolest store in your town?
Are you even in the discussion?
What can you do if you don’t have toys or time on your side?

There is an easy way to get into the discussion. Treat your customers better than even they expect to be treated. That’s cool enough to get you a seat at the table. Then do some truly unique things that no one else has even considered doing. You’ll be the coolest store in your town to everyone who knows you.

Best of all, they’ll tell everyone else.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Want some ideas on how to do the unexpected? Download my free eBook Customer Service: From Weak to WOW.

PPS Want more ideas? Sign up for the 2-day Shareworthy Customer Service class I’m helping teach at Wizard Academy. You’ll know about how to exceed customer expectations because Tim Miles and I are going to exceed yours.

Mixed Message

I was in Louisville, KY last week for the ABC Expo, the biggest trade show for the juvenile products industry. A trade show this big deserves decorations just as big. And sure enough, right outside the Expo Center was a twenty foot tall rocking chair…

…with an unfortunate sign in front of it.

This was the first thing we all saw when we arrived at the show.  This was our first impression.

They might as well have said “Go Home!” or “Unwelcome!” or “Stay Out!” 

That sign was not there the first day. My best guess is that someone tried climbing on the chair which prompted someone from the organization to draw this crudely lettered five foot tall sign. Don’t you think it could have been handled in a far better way? Maybe a couple small signs attached to the legs for anyone who got close enough to think about climbing on the chair? Maybe better wording like, “For display purposes only,” or “Do not try this at home,”?

There are two lessons in all this.

First, go outside and walk up to your building. Be a customer. Look around you. See where you might be giving off a bad first impression. Fix it now.

Second, make sure everyone on your team knows the message you want to send. Make sure everyone knows the Core Values that drive you. Make sure everyone knows the impression you want to make. Even the most bottom person on your totem pole should know enough not to make this kind of mistake.

Yes, the little things like this do make a huge difference.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Managing your Brand means managing the impression a customer has of your store. When you send out a mixed message, your customer gets the wrong impression. Control the message and you control the way people feel about you.

Two Days to Take Your Customer Service to Shareworthy Levels

I’ve written about Wizard of Ads partner – the incomparable Professor Tim Miles.

He wrote the e-book on Shareworthy Customer Service. He also wrote a book called Good Company. He’s tall. He’s smart. He makes up (really cool) words. And he knows more about how to improve your Customer Service than most people walking this planet.

In fact, he is teaching it to businesses all around this planet right now and they are posting growth numbers that would make you blush.

I’ve done my own writing about Customer Service. Most of you have already downloaded my free e-book Customer Service: From Weak to WOW! Some of you have seen the live presentation. Many of you have found new ways to raise the bar in your business because of it.

Tim likes what I’m doing to raise the bar.  I like what Tim’s doing to take the bar galactic.  So we are combining forces and taking what we know to Wizard Academy!

Announcing a new class!

January 29-30, 2013
Austin, Texas

Two full days of instruction from two likable guys who have been transforming businesses through better customer service for years.  (Click the link above to read a full course description.)
Two full days of a true Wizard Academy experience (which in its own right is more than worth the price of admission.)
Two full days of learning what, why, where, who and how to make your customers’ experience so memorable they write books about you and your company (and you don’t have to give either of us the credit!)

Go sign up.  The investment is deep.  The return is deeper.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  If you’re one of the first people to sign up for the class, you get FREE LODGING on campus at Wizard Academy.  That is soooo worth it! Soooooooo worth it!! Soooooooooooo worth it!!!

An Article You Should Read

I just finished reading a fascinating study done by Forbes on Middle Market Companies (click here to get the study – yes, you need to give your email to them, their rules, not mine.)

In spite of the economy, middle market companies are growing and they are creating jobs.

One telling statistic was when they were asked…

What do you think have been the most critical factors contributing to your organization’s successful growth?

The runaway number one answer was… “Focus on Customer Experience”.  Pricing was way down at tenth on that same list.

And when asked where they were focusing their resources, once again Customer Service was the number one answer.

What do these companies know that you don’t?

Oh yeah… nothing.

Want to grow your business?  Focus your resources on Customer Service.  Find ways to make a better Customer Experience.  Works great in a down economy.  Works just as great when the economy is rocking, too.  Just sayin’.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  For a start on how to make your Customer Experience better, download my FREE eBook Customer Service: From Weak to WOW!  You will learn changes you can make today that won’t cost you a dime (but will start earning you many more dimes!)

Don’t Know What to Do

My son is a freshman on the cross country team.  He needs to do running on his own over the weekend (which, of course, means running with dad).  Time got away from us and the sun was setting on our weekend.  We decided to go to the middle school where they have coin-operated lights on the tennis courts.

The courts were full and the lights on when we got there, but half way through our run the courts emptied and the lights went out.

No problem.  I had plenty of quarters.  I started feeding the machine and pushing the button.  Nothing happened.  I fed more quarters, still nothing.  I used the light from my phone to find a sign.  No sign.  A couple of walkers came by and asked if we needed help.  They had a flashlight.  No sign. No info.  They thought it was one hour for 50 cents, but there was nothing to tell us that.

Three dollars and fifty cents later we left the dark courts for the partially lit parking lot to continue our run.

Five minutes later the lights at the tennis courts came on.  Time delay? I don’t know.  They were on and probably going to stay on for quite some time – three dollars and fifty cents worth of time!

I owe an apology to all the residents nearby for the next seven hours of bright lights.  I’m only as good as the info I am given.

So are your customers.  Make sure they know exactly how to do anything and everything you want them to do.  Give them signs.  Give them info.  Give them clear instructions.  They’ll be happy because they accomplished what they wanted to do.  You’ll be happy because they are happy. (And the neighbors will be happy because the lights will go off at a decent hour – sorry ’bout that.)

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Our puppy didn’t mind running in the dark.  Then again, unlike your customer, she doesn’t read signs.  Your customer will get the info she needs somewhere.  Might as well be from you.

What to Do About Showrooming

We all have been showroomed.  The customer comes in, looks at your stuff, then leaves the store only to order the same items online.  Heck, maybe you have done some showrooming yourself.

I had a customer who came in, asked our opinion about car seats, had us show her how they all fit in her car, talked through options, how to install, how to keep the kid buckled in properly, and even how to clean up after a spill.  After several trips out to her car with car seats, she told us she would be back to purchase.  One week later she stopped in to ask if we could help install her car seat.  It was still in the box with the shipping label from the online site where she ordered it still attached!

Some of you are already hopping mad.  I understand your reaction.  I was telling this story to a friend who said her initial response would have been to refuse to install the seat, telling the customer to ask the online website where she ordered it to install the seat.

Here is what we did.

We gladly installed the seat.  We talked through all the options of where to place the seat, what is the safest way to travel with a baby, how to install the seat, how to adjust the straps, and then helped her get it properly installed in her car.  Then we invited her back if she ever needed help with that seat or any other seat.

Some of you might think I’m crazy.  We gained nothing from that customer, yet we spent valuable resources on her (our time, our expertise, etc).  She showroomed us.

The way I see it, she showed up.  She took the time to come to my store – twice!  Now it is my responsibility to make sure she has an awesome time at my store.  It is my responsibility that she gets phenomenal customer service whether or not she makes a purchase at that time.

Why?

Because I sell far more than car seats and she will need to buy far more than just that one car seat.  I may have lost the opportunity to sell that one car seat, but since she came back to the store, she has given me an opportunity to sell her other things she might need either today or down the road.

Because I treasure Word-of-Mouth advertising.  She may not have given me the sale, but if I treat her just as rudely as she treated me, she’ll bad mouth me to everyone she knows (conveniently leaving out her own behavior).  If I treat her well, at the very least she has nothing bad to say, but more likely she will say something positive about us.

Because I like the challenge a customer like this presents to us.  You have heard the phrase,

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”  

One of my staff told me the other day,

“You can lead a horse to water, and if you can get him to float on his back, then you really have something.”  

Customers like these are a great training ground for the staff.  If we can turn them from showroomers into customers, then we really have something.  If we don’t, at least we got valuable training on what doesn’t get work.

Don’t look at showrooming as a problem.  Look at it as an opportunity.  Get those customers to float on their backs, and then you really have something.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  If you don’t feel you have the resources to help them or if your resources need to be spent on other customers, then do what you have to do.  But never ever stoop to the rudeness of your rudest customers.  That’s a competition you can never win.

Changing a Customer’s Mind

About 40% of the population are going to vote Democratic in the next election no matter what.  Another 40% are going to vote Republican no matter what.  Their minds cannot be changed.  These people are easy to identify.  They are the ones posting sound bites and article links all over Facebook.

The real political battle is only over the 20% who may change their minds.  That’s it.  Twenty percent.

Aren’t you glad you’re in Retail?

The National Retail Federation did a survey that said 78% of satisfied customers would shop somewhere else they thought would be more fun (heard this in a presentation, but cannot find survey).  Seventy-eight percent are willing to change their mind on where to shop!  I think the number is much higher.

We all know that Transactional Customers will change their mind on where to shop.  They’ll shop wherever they can find the best deal.  But what about the Relational Customer?  What if you are first loser on a Relational Customer’s list?  How do you change their minds?

Make it Fun
Start by doing what the NRF survey told you to do.  Make your store more fun!  Sit around with your staff (and a six-pack of beer if you think that will help) and try to envision what “the most fun store” in your category would look like.  Sport Clips is a hair salon for men that figured out how to make haircuts more fun.  They have translated that fun into becoming one of the fastest growing franchises in North America.  Even if you implement just one suggestion from your sit around, you’ll probably be more fun than anyone in your market.

Care
We all know the saying, “The customer doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  Take that saying to heart and find new ways to care about your customer.  Find out what concerns she has about shopping at your store, why she might stay away.  Eliminate those concerns.  Find out what you can do to make her feel more welcome, invited, and treasured.  Do those things.  Find out what she expects and then exceed that expectation at every turn.

Seth Godin posted this blog earlier today…

Questions we ask before we trust your new idea
Who are you?
Do I trust you?
Am I afraid of it?
Will this work for me?
Who says it’s important?
What will my peers think?

Those are the questions a Relational Customer asks long before they will pay attention to your advertising, your sales pitch, or your staff blather on about facts and data.  You need to answer those questions first.

Two Reminders
You know this… The definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect different results.  If you are not happy with your results, then you need to do something different.

Roy H. Williams taught me that people don’t actually change their minds.  They make new decisions based on new information.  And since we all know that the heart wins out over the mind, give the heart of your customers new information so that they can make new decisions.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I was listening to an ad for a national retail chain that mentioned how they were focused on and committed to “customer service”, yet they never once told me how.  The rest of the ad focused solely on price.  Is it any wonder I cannot for the life of me remember which chain?  Don’t tell me.  Show me.

Self Serve Checkout Equals Poor Serve Checkout

I know why stores starting implementing Self-Serve checkout.  It was supposed to save them money and speed up the checkout process.  You could have six lanes open with only one cashier.

Some argued that not only was it more efficient, it also helped Customer Service.  You never had to have a customer leave unhappy because of a slow, poorly trained, surly attitude clerk.

Instead they left unhappy because they couldn’t get the self-serve kiosk to work, had to call for help twice, got frustrated and had only an inanimate object on which to take out those frustrations.

Self-Serve Frustration
I hate going to Kroger for that exact reason.  The scanner doesn’t recognize all the bar codes, the bagging area doesn’t recognize the items I placed in the bags (after finally pulling the bags apart) or doesn’t recognize my own bags when I don’t want to use their plastic ones.  The checkout won’t scan my loyalty card.  The lone cashier serving the four self-serve kiosks is busy with some other fool trying to checkout.  And the sign hanging from the ceiling mocks me with their bragging about having the best checkouts in the grocery world.

The reality of Self-Serve Checkout is that it encourages smaller transactions.  No one wants to go through the hassle with a cart full of groceries or toys or hardware or home decor.  Albertson’s Groceries found that their average transactions went down when they added Self-Serve.  They’re pulling those kiosks out.  Ikea is doing the same thing.

Customer Service Neutral
The other issue with Self-Serve is that at its best, it is Customer Service neutral.  It cannot delight a customer by making sure they have everything they need.  It cannot build a connection between customer and store, a personal relationship that makes the trip to the store meaningful.  It cannot offer tips or suggestions on how to use the purchased product better.  It cannot put a smile on the customer’s face.

At its worst, it sends customers away.  I don’t go to Kroger anymore, even though they sell three food items we love but cannot buy anywhere else in town.  My wife has stopped asking.  Why? Because they rarely have a regular checkout lane operating.  They give you no other option than self-serve.

Make Checkout a WOW
The Checkout is one of the more crucial steps in WOW Customer Service. Because it is the last interaction a customer has with you, it is the part they remember the best.  In my FREE download Customer Service: From Weak to WOW, here is how you can WOW your customers at checkout…

You offer specific suggestions for other products or services that compliment her purchase.  You reinforce her choices with compliments and reassurance that she made a good choice.  You give her tips or suggestions that will make the purchases even better such as creative ways to use the products.  Plus, you help carry her items out to the car, suggest where she can go to eat or to do more shopping.  You get her signed up for your newsletters, birthday clubs and for any special deals or drawings you offer.  And you get her in your Special Customers book.

Make Checkout memorable and your customers will checkout more often.  Even Ikea, the ultimate in self-serve shopping, is starting to think that way

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  When you’re done reading the Customer Service: From Weak to WOW download, check out all the other FREE downloads for retailers in the Freebies section of www.PhilsForum.com.

Thoughts From a Wedding

I attended my sister-in-law’s wedding last Saturday out in sunny San Diego and have some random thoughts for retailers from my weekend trip.

Hide the Backroom

The lovely couple did all of their own planning for this backyard wedding including doing all the food themselves (with the help of their families).  I was there to help out for the two days leading up to the wedding.  Although chaos seemed to ensue, and there were a few hiccups along the way, by the time the bride strode down the aisle, everything was ready.  The vast majority of the wedding guests never saw the chaos or mess.  They all had a wonderful time and enjoyed a beautiful event.

More importantly, no one talked about the mess.  We all just focused on making the event special for the wedding couple and guests.  Your customers don’t care what it took to make their trip to your store special, all they care about is that it was special.

Complete the Sale

We made numerous trips back and forth to the store.  A good sales clerk eliminates those multiple trips by asking questions, finding out why you are buying what you are buying and making suggestions of items needed to complete the sale.  If you are buying multiple carts full of soda, water and beer, even a minimum-wage clerk should be asking if you need ice.

Know Your Audience

The food, the entertainment, the location, even the service itself were planned not only for the wedding couple but also for what their guests would want.  They purposefully chose to delight their guests by planning a wedding celebration that fit the desires of their friends and family.

Build your store experience around your customers’ expectations more than your own and you will delight them more often than not.

Tell the Story

The bride and groom each wrote their own vows.  When the groom started his vows by telling the story of their first date ending with the phrase, “I told [Jason] then, ‘I am going to marry this girl,'” he had me hook, line and sinker.

Stories are more powerful than facts just as emotion is more powerful than logic.  Speak to your customer’s heart by telling stories that matter and you will make a deeper and more lasting impression.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  There are lessons for retailers all around us.  Keep your eyes open.  The next great lesson or idea may come when you least expect it.