A BIG thanks to all those who took my poll over the last two weeks. I was excited, but not surprised to find that the two leading course topics are:
- Service
- Service
Honorable Mention: Service also ranked a very close 3rd place!
Okay, I’ll stop messing around and share some more details. Customer Service (sales floor etiquette of greeting, engaging and assisting) and Service Department Operations were the two topics that had the highest requests for my next round of online education. Customer Service (retaining customers post-sale) was the close third place.
If you didn’t vote in the poll, but would like to, go here.
I am thrilled with the opportunity here and couldn’t agree more with the assessment my network provided. We’ve all been in retail environments where we weren’t well-served, weren’t thanked for our business or sometimes weren’t even greeted at all! You may vow never to give that experience to one of your customers, but are you delivering on your promise? Is every person on your team?
Customers are getting more and more fickle. 79% of consumers will take their business elsewhere within one week of a poor experience. Retailers are going to be more and more dependent on great customer service skills in the future. With the knowledge to hire, train and retain great staff and the tools and techniques to make every interaction a great experience, there is no reason a retailer will not thrive in the years ahead.
How do you define “Service”? Here’s two really good definitions of service.
1. Providing customers whith want they want want, when they want it, in good condition, at a fair price.
2. An opportunity to retain and build business; sacrificing short term costs for long term customer loyalty. All events are related to keeping customers.
By understanding what service is, can greatly increase customer retention.
Bruce Schofield
Both are excellent definitions of service! I look at bicycle retail in particular and think the future is bright when compared to their relatives in other industries. Bicycles are a complex product that requires attention/accessories AND are a product that is fun by its very nature. That is a recipe for great customer retention and the best of all marketing: word-of-mouth.
-Mike