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Category: Customer Service

What Your Employees Really Want

Don’t you love it when the keynote speaker tells you to do three things and you’re already doing them?

I had that experience last Wednesday at the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy.

Our closing speaker was Barbara Glanz.  You might remember her from the YouTube inspirational customer service video Johnny the Bagger.  Barbara talked about a number of topics, mostly on the culture you create in your workplace.  I had three basic takeaways from her presentation…

Create a Positive Culture
Barbara recommended that you start every employee meeting with what went right rather than what went wrong.  Share the positives first because it puts the staff into a good, high-energy mood.

Yeah, we’re doing that.

Recognize Your Employees Have a Life
One of the number one things employees want from their bosses is to be recognized as being human beings and having a life outside of work.  How often do we neglect that, worrying only about what they can do for us instead of what we can do for them?

Because my staff work retail, they aren’t exactly giving the 1% a run for their money.  I’d like to pay them more, but with the limited resources there is only so much I can do.  To give back, I focus on two things.

First, much of our staff trainings are on life skills more than Toy House-specific skills.  I want them to walk away with more than they brought to the job.

Second, at the beginning of the year I offered each member of my staff some money towards a goal they have set for themselves.  It could be used for dance lessons, for computer training, for a gym membership, or some other personal goal.

Make Their Jobs Interesting
People want to work where jobs are fun, where work is interesting, where they get challenged to achieve, where they know they are making a difference.  I think this is an area where all indie retailers can improve.

  • We definitely have jobs that are fun.  
  • Most of our customer base comes to our store by choice, not necessity, which makes for a much more pleasant time.  
  • We sell fun and unique products not found in every discount warehouse.  
  • We have the ability responsibility to have meaningful interactions with customers.

Sometimes, however, we neglect to show our staff how we do all this and why it is important.  Two things you can do to remedy this…

  1. Share all your customer reviews with your staff.  Let them know when they make a difference.
  2. Give your staff important tasks and let them run with those tasks.  They’ll take ownership, be more invested in the outcome, and see firsthand what a difference they make.

Three for three.  Heck, even I’m impressed.  Thanks, Barbara!

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Need help making the job more fun?  You can start by making your staff meetings more fun.  Culture takes time to build.  Make small changes and you will eventually see bigger results.

When and What to Change

Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender challenged me and a whole bunch of other toy store owners to change 10% of our store each and every year.  The premise being that what you do that is special today will seem ordinary and expected tomorrow.

The famous gymnast Mary Lou Retton tells the same thing.  What wins Olympic Gold this year will be the compulsory routine at the next Olympics.

But what do you change and when?

Let’s start with what not to change.  Don’t change your Core Values, your Character Diamond.   Not.    Ever.

But everything else is fair game.

Product
You should be changing your product by at least 10% each year.  Did you know that Mattel changes over 75% of its Barbie lineup every year?  A classic toy like Barbie goes through a major makeover every single year.  Look for new items that compliment your mix, too, not just the latest version of last year’s commodity.  Look for the latest and greatest on-the-edge products that fit within your Character Diamond.  You are the indie retailer.  People expect cutting edge from you.  Don’t disappoint them.

Services
Raise the bar!  Those special services you started offering a few years ago are now part of the expectation.  If you want to WOW your customers you have to go above and beyond their expectations.  Do things unexpected and wonderful.

Merchandising
Move things around.  Shake things up.  I know a store that paints one wall a new color every quarter and then merchandises that wall to match the color.  You think people notice?  Of course they do!  Take down every sign that has been up more than a year.  No one is reading it any more.  Make new signs to replace the worn and faded ones.  Change your window displays regularly.  Make them fascinatingly attractive.

Staff Training
I have more ideas on that than worth writing in this blog.  Download my free eBook Staff Meetings Everyone Wants to Attend and you should get enough ideas to change way more than 10%.

There are plenty of ways to make changes for the better.  After a little thought, I’m not sure 10% is enough.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Not sure that change is necessary?  Ask yourself what is different about the way you do retail compared to ten years ago?  A whole lot has changed around you.  Change with the times or they will pass you by.

A Tough Question

I have been asked to apply for a position on an advisory board for a new retail organization.  Part of the application process includes a questionnaire.  I am stuck on the last question…

Without regard for funding, what is one area of concentration or program you would implement today to help independent specialty stores survive? 

There are so many ways to go with this…

I could focus on vendor programs slanted in the favor of indie stores such as Minimum Ad Pricing policies, exclusive products, not selling to online discounters, etc.
I could focus on advertising and marketing to promote the value of shopping local and shopping independent.
I could focus on websites to help customers find their local indie store, or even website design for all local stores so that everyone would have that electronic presence required necessary to compete in today’s electronic world.

But the first place my mind went when I read that question was Training.  In many ways, we are our own worst enemies.  We undermine our own stores through weak customer service, bad inventory management, or ignorance of our financials.  We put out horrible ads that do nothing to attract customers.  We hire poorly, neglect training and wonder why our staff doesn’t get it.

Sure, most indie retailers do one or two things well, some impressively well.  But often that is not enough.

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli believes independent businesses need to be strong in three areas – product, marketing, and finances – to be successful, but most individuals have a passion for only one, maybe two of those.  It takes all three to be successful so his approach is to pair people with different strengths together.

I believe you can learn to be good at all three, but you have to first want to learn.  And that may be the hardest hurdle to overcome.  You can lead an indie retailer to training, but you can’t make him learn.

I guess in the end I will probably go with Vendor Programs in my answer.  But just imagine a world where every independent shop truly had WOW customer service, excellent cash flow, strong finances, and magnetic marketing…

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Yes, I was talking about you… and me, too.  I have a whole bunch of areas I need to improve.  Are you seeking yours out as actively as I am seeking out mine?

PPS Have you seen my 2-day Retail Success Academy course?  Get your business friends together and you can hire me to share what I know.  (The offer for 4 hours of training with the purchase of 60 books is still available, too)

From the Mouths of Babes

I’m on a field trip with my fifth-grade son to Washington DC.  I get to watch over three young boys this evening.  So I asked them after a full day of touristing… What would you consider to be the best and worst customer service you received today?

The best?  Happened in the Food Court at the Old Post Office Pavilion.  The guy working the Chick-En-Joy stand had a lot of enthusiasm and excitement and passion for his food.  Got the boys fired up for eating chicken nuggets better than anyone this side of Ronald.

The worst? Waiting in line.  We waited to get off the bus.  We waited to get into breakfast.  We waited to enter the National Archives.  We even waited to go through security to enter a food court.  A lot of hurry-up and wait.

Not earth-shattering revelations, but two good lessons, nonetheless.

Lesson #1
No matter what your age, you will always be attracted to the person who has passion and enthusiasm for his products.  If nothing else, you will stop and listen to his pitch for his tasty chicken strips and nuggets even if you opt for the adobe chicken burrito two stands over.

Lesson #2
No one likes to wait in line.  Disney and other theme parks have learned this and found diversions to keep you occupied during necessary waits and delays.

What can you do distract, divert and delight your customers whenever necessary waiting is required?  Do you offer them a chair while you look something up?  Do you hand them reading material?  My chiropractor does that, always offering a new brochure asking “Have you read this?” at every visit.  Do you give them something to occupy their mind to make the wait go quicker?  We didn’t get any of that today, and it showed.

The kids have spoken.  Listen to the children.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  My favorite customer service was our tour guide at Gettysburg (our first stop on the way to DC).  He combined history, storytelling, and passion into a rocked-my-world presentation that makes me want to go back with the rest of the family… soon.  The clincher was the stories.  He knew we were from Michigan so he told us about how the Michigan 16th Calvary held the line against a more powerful Texas group and changed the course of the battle for good.  The details were rich and powerful and credible.  The emotions were palpable.  Tell stories about your business. They will make a difference and make people want to come back.

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

You are not in business to make pennies.  You are in business to make dollars, lots of them, over a long period of time.

So why are you getting so upset at the customer who didn’t come in right away to use to the free gift certificate you gave her?  Why are you mad at her when she shows up a year later?  She showed up, didn’t she?

So why are you arguing with the customer over the return she wants to make because it wasn’t the right item for her?  Why are you making her angry just to save yourself from pulling a few dollars out of the drawer today?

So why are you fretting over the one customer who showed a few days after the coupon you sent her expired? Does the fact that 500 other customers showed up on time with their coupons give you a reason to make this one customer angry enough to post on Facebook about you?

Bob Negen of Whizbang Training came to Jackson to speak to our downtown businesses.  He told us a story that has stuck with me a long time.  He was buying an Apple Computer.  He had heard about how great they were.  Unfortunately, his wasn’t so great.  After three repairs, it still wasn’t working.  Never had worked.  They wanted to repair it one more time.  He wanted to start with a new one.  They said no.  And for the cost of one computer they lost his business forever.

Did I mention that his business had 5 computers at that time?
And he had 2 at home?
And he plans to be in business another 20 or so years?
And he needs printers, cables, mouses, too?
And he likes to upgrade to new stuff every three years?

Seven computers times seven upgrades equals 49 computers.  The Apple guy lost 49 sales because of that one sale.  Oh, but he saved the price of one computer (sarcasm intended).

Look at your horizon.  How long do you want to be in business?  When you take a long view of your business you see that every transaction is simply a means by which you get to earn another transaction.  Sometimes you will make money on this transaction.  Sometimes you won’t.  The goal of each transaction, however, is to delight the customer enough so that she will come back and bring her friends with her.  Nothing more, nothing less.

When you begin to look at it that way, you’ll be dollars (and sense) ahead of your competition.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS For more ways to delight customers and earn more transactions, check out my free eBook Customer Service: From Weak to WOW!.  

PPS  Thanks, Mary, for inspiring this blog.  Sorry that other toy store didn’t get it.

Grandfather’s Wisdom

Back in 2008 I interviewed my grandfather, Phil Conley, who, along with my grandmother Esther, founded Toy House, Inc. back in 1949.  Check out this exchange about Customer Service and return policies…

Phil Wrzesinski: But, as far as the competition, did you give them [competitors] as much mind or did you say, “We’re going to do our own thing and let them worry about them and we’ll worry about us”?

Phil Conley: Well, I was worrying about us. I wasn’t worrying about them. I didn’t worry about them. They can do what they want, but we wanted to do what we want, the right way, and that is give service, give price, good selection. The other thing, at Hudson’s, they had a very liberal policy. You could take stuff back and get credit, but you might have to go up a floor or down a floor. I wanted to do it better and so I empowered [the staff], in the early days, and it always went, that if there was a complaint the salesperson could make an adjustment then. The adjustment could be “refund the money” or… whatever would satisfy them.

PW: They had the empowerment to do that.

PC: Yes. It would be easier to return something than it was to buy it, because what I know, at Hudson’s [doing a return], it took you an hour or a half hour to go to the other floor, that’s when you’re not going to be spending money. You’re going to be trying to get money. It should be easier to [make a return].

PW: Don’t waste your time. We want you shopping.  You’re here at the store. We want you to spend as much of it shopping.

PC: Yes. That’s right. That’s right. That’s right.

PW: Wonder how many of these stores get that today?

PC: Well, don’t you?

PW: Well, I think I do.  We do our returns right up front at the register. A lot of other stores you’ve got to go to the back. You have to go wait in line.

PC: Do you empower your people?

PW: Oh, yeah. They take care of it. I rarely have to deal with any returns.

PC: Well, it’s just common sense, for Christ’s sakes.  Somebody comes in your store and they’re unhappy, make them happy quick! Then get on to sell them some more. Isn’t that right?

Now you know where I got all my retail smarts.  Thanks, Gramps!

Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Let me know if you would like more of Phil Conley’s wisdom.  He gave me a few good nuggets and a few interesting stories in our interview.

They Aren’t YOUR Customers

You know YOUR customers.  You know their demographics, maybe even their psychographics.  You know their shopping habits.  You know their likes and dislikes.  You talk about YOUR customers lovingly.

But they aren’t YOURS.  Even the evangelists.

Yes, they support you.  Yes, they spread the word about you.  Yes, they defend your good name.

Yes, they bought something you sell from somewhere else.  You know that, right?  You’ve done it yourself.  It was something you needed and it was convenient, or cheaper, or you needed it right away so you bought it from a different store than the one you usually support.

Customers are like that.  Fickle.  Changing.  Or more likely, Practical.

You don’t own any customers.  If anything, they own you.  They decide if you live or die.  They decide if you are worth the hassle to visit, to spend money with, to promote to others.

They own you.  And they can swap you for another store in a heartbeat.

Kinda changes the equation, doesn’t it?  What would you do differently in terms of Customer Service for the owner walked through the front door than you would for just some regular old customer?  Would you treat the owner better?  Would you court the owner harder, hoping the owner keeps you?

You don’t own your customers, they own you.  Treat them accordingly.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS For a great article on how quickly a customer can change click here.

Shareworthy Customer Service by Tim Miles

I wrote an eBook called Customer Service: From Weak to WOW!.  You’ve probably downloaded it already (it is free).

Tim Miles wrote one too.  His eBook – Shareworthy Customer Service – is definitely shareworthy.  I have read through it twice and I’m working on a third time.  I am going to use it in my next staff training (and a few more trainings after that).

Yeah, it is that good.  

Go check it out.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Tim and I think a lot alike.  If you have to choose between spending money on advertising or on raising the bar of your customer service, raise the bar every single time.  If you have enough money to do both, do the customer service first.

An Expensive But Effective Form of Advertising

I was doing my presentation Customer Service: From Weak to WOW! yesterday, talking about how to deal with unhappy customers.  Someone brought up the question…

“But what if there is a problem with the product and the manufacturer won’t back you up?”

I answered that I have taken a loss on products a number of times to make the customer happy. The only difference is that I did not look at it as a loss of money.  I looked at it as an opportunity to be her hero.  I looked at is an opportunity to be helpful, to make her smile, to turn her from unhappy into evangelical.

Do you know how much it costs to turn one customer from unhappy into evangelical?

Better to ask, how much more will it cost if you don’t?

The losses from that transaction are not losses. They are advertising expenses.  Think of it that way and you will never hesitate in doing the right thing.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Yes, I have then dropped a vendor for refusing to back me up.  But that is a whole different story.

How Good are Your Sales Reps?

Maybe I am biased.  My sales reps are for the most part pretty good.  Maybe it is because I am a big account in this territory.  Maybe it is because we just have good reps in our area.  Maybe I am just lucky.  But I get frustrated when I hear other retailers complaining about their reps.

Sure, there are some bad reps in my industry, probably in your industry, too.  But I believe they are only bad because you have not trained them well.

What?

Yes, it is your job to train your sales reps to do exactly what you want them to do.  Do you want them to straighten the department?  Do an inventory for you?  Make suggestions of best sellers?  Steer you away from duds?  Communicate quickly and efficiently?  Accurately place orders and follow up on them?  Handle problems with shipments, problems with defects, problems with billing errors?

Let me ask you.  Do you…

Explain in detail your expectations of your reps?  Reply to every one of their emails even if just to say, “Thanks, I got it.”?  Show them how you want inventory or merchandising to be done?  Explain your product philosophy in detail so that they know what products will and won’t pass your scrutiny?  Keep them informed of how their products are (or are not) selling?  Give them details of what you expect once an order is placed (confirmation of order? confirmation of shipping?)?  Keep them in the loop when there are problems by cc’ing them all emails to the company?  Make sure they get commissions on your show order when they stop in but you would rather drop off the order at the booth to get the special?

I work with rep groups, independent reps, and in-house reps.  For the most part I know our reps well.  We talk about family and life sometimes more than we talk about business.  And even though they may get paid by the vendors, I consider them to be employees of my store.  And since I am responsible for training my sales staff to do their job the way I want it done, I am also responsible for training my sales reps to do their job the way I want it done.

If you are not getting the kind of sales representation you want, you have every right responsibility to train your reps to do it the right way, your way.  After all, you are the customer.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  I challenge you to re-read this blog, only replace “sales reps” with your sales staff and consider “you” to be your customers.  Food for thought…  Are you doing things the way your customers want it done?