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Category: Customer Service

Is Somebody Trying to Screw You?

You think your return policy is quite liberal. Somebody still tries to take advantage of you.
You think your layaway policy is quite liberal. Somebody still tries to take advantage of you.
You think your giftwrapping policy is quite liberal. Somebody still tries to take advantage of you.

No matter what wonderful, friendly, customer-oriented, liberally-applied service you offer, there is always that one customer who will try to take advantage of it and you. Don’t take it personally. It isn’t you, it is her. She does that with everyone. She always pushes the boundary.

There are two ways to deal with her.

Either tighten up your policies so restrictive and enforce them so tough that she stops doing business with you altogether. Or simply allow her to do what she wants and chalk it up to the cost of doing business.

The first way, however, doesn’t solve the problem. The tighter your policies and the tougher you enforce them, the more boundary pushers you will have. Since these customers are a real pain the neck for your staff, all you accomplish is to upset more people including your front line workers who are the face of your business.

The second way is much better. First understand that the vast majority of your customers are not out to screw you. They love you. The few who actually take advantage of you are exactly that – a few. Embrace them. Love them. Shower them with affection for being customers and you very well might even convert them into partners who work for the mutual benefit of both of you.

Plus, when you make your policies so liberal that it is almost impossible for someone to try to take advantage of you, you eliminate much of the negative feelings your staff might have towards certain customers, feelings, by the way, that can be felt by everyone in the store.

Make your policies liberal, then make them even more liberal. Do you allow returns? Instead of 30 or 60 days, give them a year to change their mind. Give them a store credit if they don’t have a receipt. We once took back a large boxed item that had our competitor’s sticker on it. It was a product I knew I would sell quickly so it was a win-win. The customer was happy and I was, too.

Then empower your staff to make your customers smile by breaking the rules whenever possible. It makes your staff feel more important, makes them happier, too.

Most of your customers will have a receipt, will be in quickly, will not give you any hassles – no matter how you determine your return policy. So make your policy over-the-top liberal and you make everyone happy – except maybe the gal who really did want to screw you.

-Phil Wrzesinski
http://www.philsforum.com/

PS This goes for return policies, but also any policy you might have. Make it in the favor of the customer. Make it as easy for her to understand and use as you possibly can. The more restrictions and disclaimers, the more it turns her off. More than likely she will never use the most liberal part of that policy. But both she and your staff will be happier when you gladly give so much leeway.

The Customer is in Front of You

I just got back from the All Baby & Child Expo in Louisville, KY. This is the big show for the baby products industry. Thousands of vendors, thousands of buyers, millions of square feet of showroom space.

This was the first time the show had been anywhere other than Las Vegas. Louisville was a big risk. A little harder to get there for those flying. Not the same level of entertainment options. Not the same international cache. Add in the not-quite-stellar economy and the buzz was…

Would there be good attendance?

Apparently not. I lost count how many times I had to listen to vendors complain how the lack of attendees was hurting their business and it was all the fault of the board of directors choosing this location.

Fortunately, I also heard from a fair number of vendors who were having an awesome show, meeting new people, opening new accounts, writing serious orders. It wasn’t Vegas, but it was business, and they were doing it.

The difference? Attitude.

At one point, after listening to a lengthy rant about the show location and poor turnout, I looked at the person across the table and said rather indignantly, “I’m here and I’m writing an order. I don’t care about all that other crap.”

The point is that you can complain about the lack of customers for your business or you can embrace the customers that do show up. Complaining will not drive a single extra person through the doors. In fact, it will drive the few customers you have away. But if you focus on the positives of having a customer in front of you, she will bring you more business.

That is true at both trade shows and retail stores. We like to do business with happy, friendly people. Period. Keep your complaints to yourself.

When the attendance/traffic is not there, you have to maximize the business you do with the customers you have. You do that by being positive and upbeat. You do that by being friendly and helpful. You do that by making sure you focus on the customer in front of you. Make her feel special and welcome. Transfer confidence to her that your since your attitude is good, your business must be good, too.

Yeah, Retail 101. Amazing this past weekend how many people did not get it.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Is it any wonder that the people with the best attitude were having the best show? Your attitude is everything. You set the tone for your employees and your business. Make sure you put your best foot forward every day.

Phones Done Wrong

I’ve been beating the Customer Service drum for a few weeks now. It is the one biggest advantages we specialty store owners have over our competition.

Every now and then I see stores who get it right.

Every now and then I see reminders of how far we still need to go.

Just yesterday my wife had a moment that made her cringe. She wanted to find the hours of a local store. We needed to make a purchase.

They have a website, but their hours were not listed on it (mistake #1).

She called the store. The person who answered rattled off the hours so quickly that my wife could barely understand her (mistake #2).

Then the person never asked my wife if she had any other questions (mistake #3), if she needed directions (mistake #4), or even thanked her for calling (mistake #5).

Two minutes of interaction and five easily correctable mistakes.

If you do not have phone etiquette in your training program, you need to add it. You can turn a customer off before she even reaches your door with a poorly handled phone call.

-Phil Wrzesinski
http://www.philsforum.com/

PS Along with eliminating the four mistakes above, remind your staff to smile while on the phone. People can hear that smile in your voice. And always end the call with, “Thanks for calling.”

PPS A fun way to approach phone training with the entire staff is to play the telephone game where one person whispers something into the next person’s ear and so on around the circle until the last person relays the now-garbled message back to the beginning. Makes the staff laugh and gets them in the mood to accept the premise of clarity on the phone.

A Kid in a Candy Store

Actually two kids. My boys, ages 13 and 10.

After a day at the Michigan Renaissance Festival that thrilled my 10 year old because of the sword play, we stopped in the quaint little berg of Linden, MI to visit Linden Sweet Shoppe, owned by my toy store buddies Chris & Laura Mathews.

Chris & Laura weren’t in – good for them for getting a Saturday night off – but the two staff working that night were more than adequate replacements.

My boys were simultaneously in heaven and in paralysis.

My best estimate is that there were over 150 jars of candies from which the boys could choose lining the wall behind the counter. Every sweet imaginable from candy necklaces to pixie sticks to chocolate covered cake batter to LEGO-shaped, sweet-tart-tasting, building bricks.

The boys struggled to choose which candies would fill their bags.

Patience and Helpfulness
While they wandered up and down the aisle behind the counter (yes, the staff let them back there to get a better look) I was getting impatient. Make a decision, I cajoled them. Meanwhile, the staff showed amazing patience, carefully explaining each candy, giving them samples if appropriate, sharing their favorites, and overall treating these boys as if they were princes in their palace.

Other customers entered the store and the staff greeted them by name, asked about previous purchases, and made everyone feel equally important. Still, my boys dragged on the decision-making process. I had time to order and eat my ice cream cone (Deep Dish Apple – delicious and just the perfect temperature!) while the boys agonized over every jar.

And still, again, the staff treated them like royalty. All for a $17 sale!

WOW Customer Service still lives. I saw it with my own two eyes. (And that was before I introduced myself as a friend of the owners.) Here are some of the things the staff did right:

  • Greeted customers by name (when they knew them)

  • Talked about the product openly and honestly

  • Had helpful product knowledge

  • Showed amazing patience

  • Smiled constantly

  • Treated every customer like he or she was special

  • Treated every request like it was their delight to honor it

  • Acted happy to be there

Does your staff act that way at 8:30pm on a Saturday night? They should. Chris & Laura figured out how to get their staff to do it. You can, too.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS It starts with hiring and continues with training. The staff Chris & Laura hired have the character traits necessary to be helpful and patient. The next time you hire, choose the traits over the experience. You can teach them the rest.

PPS The Renaissance Festival featured some wonderful lessons, too. The attention to detail of the costumes, accents, and language added to the fun of the day. And there is nothing better than topping off any event with a turkey drumstick smoked to perfection.

PPPS My younger son went with the building brick candies, candy pumpkins, cake batter balls, and candied orange slices. My older son did a jaw breaker on a stick, a gigantic pixie stick, and building brick candies. Absolute heaven!

Right, Right, Right

Just read an interesting article on a discussion board (sorry, don’t have the source link) about the new wave in retailing.

Interesting because it talks about how big-box stores are downsizing to meet the needs of the new shoppers.

Interesting because it talks about how today’s shoppers (now being called Generation C for their connected, communicative, computer-savvy, community-minded outlook) shops differently than any previous generation.

Interesting because it quotes heavily an inventory management software company that uses a lot of 50-cent words like…

Deploying network inventory strategies that optimize stocking policies and maximize the availability merchandise, reducing stock-outs and eliminating excess inventory, in a forward-looking time-phased methodology combined with guided exceptions, and early warning signals to support root cause analysis.

The bottom line of the article is that today’s customer is using her phone, her computer and the Internet to do more research than ever before making purchases. She knows the products, the features, and the general price range.

She will only buy from you if you have the Right product in the Right price range and give her the Right kind of service.

Yeah, not really a new concept to retail. The only difference is that it is easier for customers to know what are the right products and right price range for them. So you have to be as savvy as them.

You have to be following trends in your area closer than before to make sure you have the right products. You have to be paying attention to price far more than you used to (although the Internet makes that easier for you, just as it is easier for her.) You have to be giving far better service than what is found in a typical retailer (and you cannot have an off day.)

The big box stores are in trouble because even with all their computers they cannot accomplish the first thing on that list because they cannot react fast enough when things change. And they never had a chance at Right kind of service. Yet all their focus has been on getting the Right price. They are downsizing because their sales are downsizing. Look at their same-store sales. Down for Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, Sears, and Toys R Us.

For the specialty stores, our biggest issue is having the right products, followed by having the right prices. We have to be careful we do not drive ourselves out of the market by dropping a line as soon as it gets discounted somewhere and thereby not having the right goods. Then we have to look at pricing and what we can afford. We don’t have to match but we have to be in the range. The one thing we do have Right is the customer service (most of the time:-).

The reason the Internet is having such a huge influence on retail sales lately is because it is accomplishing the first two Rights (product and price) and getting better on the third (service).

Retail hasn’t really changed. Customers haven’t really changed. If you have the right products to meet their needs at a fair price and you take really good care of them, you’ll have plenty of customers coming through your doors. Same as it has always been.

-Phil Wrzesinski

www.PhilsForum.com

PS Sure, you have to work hard to do all those things. But retail has always been that way. Ancient Chinese Proverb says, “To open a shop is easy, to keep it open an art.” Roy H. Williams said, “If making a profit were easy, everyone would be doing it.”

PPS Before you spend a penny on a software program full of 50-cent words, check out what I have to say for FREE.

Laughter and Delight

Do you remember the last time you laughed while shopping?

Of course you do. Those experiences are memorable. Those moments are what make shopping fun. The store that brings you those memories will easily be your favorite store.

It has to be someone. Might as well be you.

Bob Phibbs just wrote a fantastic post about the importance of laughter in the sales relationship. The more you hire fun, friendly people, the more laughter you will hear on the sales floor. Laughter leads to delight leads to confidence leads to sales.

And it isn’t just for retail. Service companies can use laughter and delight to make customers for life. Here is what a dentist friend of mine just did, told in his own words…

My aim is to delight people.

So I did.

I asked a patient how old her older son is and then we got to talking about how long she’d been coming to our practice. I started in 1988; her first appointment was in 1991. So, as of August, it’s been 20 years. A wonderful patient, stays healthy, comes in every 6 months, has referred friends to us.

So, I go,”It’s our anniversary! Happy Anniversary!”

She and my hygienist laugh, and she says, kinda kidding and without really thinking, “Does that mean I get my teeth whitened for free?”

I said, “You bet!”

And then gave her a hug, and got her scheduled for her whitening, on me.

Do you think she will be talking about him and referring him to ALL of her friends and family? Absolutely! She never dreads going to the dentist because he makes it so wonderful for her.

Engage your customers. Make them smile and laugh. Surprise and delight them. That, my friends, is WOW! Customer Service.

-Phil Wrzesinski

http://www.philsforum.com/



PS Yes, he gave away a free whitening. He did it on a whim and with the only aim being to delight his patient. That is a great example of generosity that will buy him more advertising via word-of-mouth than any advertising he could have bought traditionally. Chalk it up as an advertising expense if you have to, but never be afraid to give it away.

Is Self-Serve Checkout a Good Option?

Rick Segal posted a blog talking about the pros of self-serve checkouts. The cost for them is coming down. They never have a lousy attitude. They are cheaper to maintain than paying an employee. Rick even goes so far as to say that all retailers should be utilizing every option that saves them money.

Do you agree?

I don’t.

As a specialty independent retailer the one advantage you have over the competition is service. Incredible, over-the-top, WOW service. Sometimes that costs money.

The checkout is the final memory your customer has of your store. It is the takeaway, the lasting image they will have. Are you willing to give that over to a machine?

Sure, I get Rick’s premise that a bad attitude at checkout can be harmful. Equally so, an awesome experience at checkout can cement a customer for life. A machine cannot give an awesome experience.

At its best, self-serve checkout is neutral. It didn’t piss off the customer. But you and I have had plenty of experiences where self-serve checkout has been less than its best.

My wife has learned not to send me to Kroger. I will not go. I have had such horrible experiences with their scanners that I cannot stand the thought of shopping there. Yet almost every time I have gone the only lane open is self-serve. Apparently other people are complaining, too. Kroger is taking out their self-serve lanes in Texas as an experiment.

Albertson’s grocery is also removing their self-serve lanes. They have seen average transactions drop at their stores since they put those lanes in. I would venture to guess it is because people would rather buy less than have to scan so many items themselves.

To give WOW service to your customers you just need to train your cashiers the same way you train your sales staff. Get everyone on the same page with the same goal. Give the customer an experience so wonderful she has to tell her friends.

You cannot get that from a cold, impersonal video screen.

-Phil Wrzesinski

http://www.philsforum.com/

PS I outline exactly how to give WOW Customer Service at the checkout in my free eBook Customer Service: From Weak to WOW!



PPS I hate the Kroger experience so much that I have been begging my local grocery store to carry the three items we eat regularly that we can currently only find at Kroger. I know they can get those items for me. But they don’t. Hmmm… Might be another blog post in there.

“No” is Not Acceptable

“Do you carry this product?”

“No.”

End of conversation. End of interaction. End of sale. End of business.

There are millions of products out there. You have 5,000 in your store. The chances are pretty good that your customers will ask you for something you do not have. How your staff answers goes a long way towards your success.

Do they ask why?

“No we don’t. What exactly are you looking for in that product? Why do you want that product? What are hoping that product will do for you?”

Do they offer alternatives?

“No we don’t but we do have this other product that I actually like better because…”

Do they give explanations?


“No we don’t. We used to carry that product but had too many problems and switched to this other brand.”

“No we don’t. That brand is only mass-produced for large chain stores. Let me show you something of which you probably haven’t heard that does the job better.”

Do they offer help in finding the item?

“No we don’t carry anything like that. Would you like me to call this other store for you to see if they carry anything it or anything similar?”

If you are hiring friendly, helpful, caring people they might already do this just because of who they are. If they are not, then you need to train them that when the customer asks, “Do you have…?” they need to know how to respond.

-Phil Wrzesinski

http://www.philsforum.com/

PS You are probably thinking, “Aren’t we all hiring friendly, helpful people?” In theory, yes. But in practice most store owners tell me this is the hardest part of their job. It was for me, too. Until I learned a secret. Quit hiring for experience and start hiring for character traits. You can read all about it in my book Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel: Turning Your Staff Into a Work of Art. The book is $19.99 plus S&H. Far less than the cost of one more hiring mistake. You should buy it. You can read it in one sitting. Yes, one sitting. It will make a difference.

Growing in a Shrinking Market

Our market is shrinking.

The 2010 census showed that we have 3200 fewer children in the county than we did in 2000. For four straight years the number of births in the county has dropped from the previous year. Plus, people are spending less on toys than ever before thanks to the economy and the electronics market.

The toy-selling pie has shrunk considerably. (In fact, it is more of a tart than a pie right now.)

Yet, I still have all the same competition. More, if you include the explosion of ecommerce websites. My expenses like utilities, health care, and property taxes continue to go up. And my access to profitable lines of products gets smaller each year as vendors use discounting sites to move their products or choose to sell direct online.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

There are three ways to combat this disaster and stay profitable as a company.

Right Size Your Business

Rather than focus on growth, focus on being the right size for your market. Shrink your overhead by moving to a smaller location. Trim the fat out of your staff by letting the poorest performers go and training the remaining staff to do more. Bring some of the outside services like payroll and accounting back in house.

Rather than lament the losses, figure out exactly what the market will bear and what your take of that market should be. Then build your business around that size.

Grab Market Share

When the pie is shrinking, you need to get a bigger piece of it. You do that by hyper-focusing on your strengths. Carry exclusive brands that cannot be found everywhere. Ramp up your customer service beyond any level previously seen in your area. Make your marketing stand out so that it moves people to want to shop with you.

That last one is easier than you think. You can take greater risks with your marketing when your back is against the wall. Go ahead and be remarkable and memorable and moving. What have you got to lose?

Expand Into New Markets

You can do this two ways.

First, consider moving into a different geographical market. Go find a town that is growing or under-served in your category and move or expand your business there. Or add eCommerce to your website and see if you can grow sales all over.

Second, find new complimentary product markets into which you can expand. If you sell toys, can you sell books or hobbies or baby products? If you sell furniture can you sell decor, wallpaper, paints, appliances? If you sell jewelry can you sell scarves, hats, or purses?

Both expansions are tough and can be costly. You’ll have new competitors, new costs, new headaches. But when times are tough, you have to be tougher.

If your market is shrinking you can still grow. You just have to do it and measure it differently.

-Phil Wrzesinski

www.PhilsForum.com

PS For the last few years we have focused on grabbing a bigger piece of the pie through better customer service. Right now our market share is over 11% in both toys and baby products. This year we have been right-sizing, too. Next year? Expansion? Yeah, in some way, shape or form. Stay tuned…

Are You Google?

Yes you are! (or at least you should be)

Google is a search engine that helps you sort billions of pages of information into the most relevant answers to your question.

Just like a smart salesperson.

Customers now have more information than ever before. They have spec sheets, reviews, pricing, and a whole lot more. In fact, they are overloaded with information, some of which is not as helpful as it could be.

The smart salesperson works like Google to sort that information so that the customer hears only the most relevant and important information needed to make a decision.

Here is how it works.

The smart salesperson starts by developing a relationship with the customer, getting to know her. Then the smart salesperson begins asking questions to find out not just what the customer wants, but why she wants it. The “why” is the search box, the question that sorts the information. From there, the smart salesperson uses his or her product knowledge to find the most relevant reasons why a certain product solves her needs.

To find the why, the smart salesperson pays close attention to the underlying problem needing to be solved.

“I need a new curtain for my son’s bedroom. The sunlight in the morning is waking him up too soon.” (I need something to make a room completely dark.)

“I need a new TV for the man cave before the playoffs begin.” (I need a TV that shows off sporting events superbly.)

“I am looking for a gift for my seven-year old nephew that lives in California.” (I need something for a young boy I rarely see because he lives so far away that I can ship easily.)

When you understand the why behind the purchase you are better equipped to answer that why with the product and benefits of that product that are most relevant.

Google is only as good as the info you type into the search box. The salesperson is only as good as his or her ability to find out the why behind the purchase. The smart salesperson, therefore, actively seeks out the why.

-Phil Wrzesinski

www.PhilsForum.com

PS To learn more about the power of WHY check out this TED Talk video by Simon Sinek