The 2007 Christmas season was disappointing to say the least. And so far, 2008 seems to forecast a possible recession that may come more quickly than anyone anticipated. No one will argue with the statement that times are tough.

That’s why now, more than ever, it is vitally important for retailers to invest in the Customer Experience. Consider taking a page out of Apple’s book. They are spending more money to invest in a better, more highly customized experience for each customer, despite that fact that the economy is bleak. And they’re reaping amazing rewards. Is it a risk? Sure. But even though people may be spending less, they’re still spending. It’s your job to make sure they spend in your store. Doing everything you can to ensure a great customer experience is what will differentiate you from your competition…and help you focus on the selling behaviors that matter most.

This NY Times article highlights the issues faced by all retailers: Major Retailers Feel the Squeeze From Consumers. Some are faring better than others. The retailers willing to take a calculated risk and keep pace with consumer needs and their desire for excellent customer service are the ones most likely to survive.

This past holiday season saw retailers pulling out all the stops with discounts, BOGO deals and the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas to induce shoppers to buy.
But where was good customer service? Some retailers still don’t get it. Here’s what really happened in stores across America:

• One in four shoppers walked out because of poor customer service (America’s Research Group).
• 58% avoided stores they believed were understaffed. (America’s Research Group).

• 48% of shoppers refused to shop in stores where others claimed a bad experience (2005 study conducted by the Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania).

But what constitutes good customer service? That’s not so easy to define, because customer service means different things to different people. For example, grocery shoppers don’t expect a high level of customer service. Grocery shopping is a fairly self-service experience. Generally, if you have a question, there are store personnel available to answer. But send that same person to buy a mattress, or an automobile…and the scenario changes completely.
Thom Blischok, president of the Retail Solutions group for Information Resources Inc., a Chicago-based business-consulting firm, applauds any retailer that makes the extra effort.

“Customer service is not static,” said Phoenix-based Blischok. “It’s highly dynamic and constantly evolving. Customer-service excellence is achieved only after company’s truly listens to what their customers are asking for.”

The customer experience is driven by product availability, convenience, and service. The quality of employees, the way they are managed, and their ability to support the customer experience often means the difference between retail success and failure.

What’s one way to get there? The U.K.’s Somerfield grocery store chain is using advanced work force management technology across 920 stores to achieve improved customer service, lower labor costs and increased product availability.

Somerfield focuses on smaller supermarkets that offer a neighborhood feel, averaging less that 9,000 square feet per store, and offers a more upscale, fresh food appeal, while sister store KwikSave serves the discount grocery market.

Somerfield began in Bristol, England in 1875. After many manifestations, including several name changes, the first Somerfield store opened in 1990, positioned as an upscale market, with a bright and cheery atmosphere that emphasized fresh foods. Somerfield merged with discount grocer KwikSave in 1998, acquiring 900 stores. Today, Somerfield is one of the biggest U.K. retail employers, with 60,000 employees and more than 1,300 stores that attract over 13 million customers weekly.

Work force management technology has helped fuel this growth and overall customer satisfaction with the Somerfield experience. This customized technology makes use of integrated budgeting, forecasting, scheduling and attendance management functions, allowing Somerfield to more accurately match staff schedules to customer traffic.

Adrian Peace, Somerfield’s head of simplification, claims this focused technology increases productivity, while at the same time improving customer and employee satisfaction. He stated, “Somerfield required a fully automated workforce management solution to support our mission of providing the best possible customer service in the most cost effective way possible.” Peace believe managers need “simple, easy-to-use tools to improve productivity and focus activities on delivering excellent customer service.”

Work force management technology software positions Somerfield to create optimal employee schedules based on store-specific data that includes business trends and customer demand, ensuring the ‘right employee is always in the right place at the right time.’

Most retail businesses avoid risk, and it’s no mystery why. With daily announcements of divisions or entire retail companies shutting down, there is a fear of being next. Should companies invest more in their online presence? Lay off more people? Invigorate sales with some sort of contest? Some do nothing, hoping that the way they’ve always done business will continue to work. Others, however, know that thinking ‘out of the box’ to provide the best customer experience is the right choice.

One retail company with this ‘out-of-the-box’ concept is Sleep Squad. Rather than reinvent the wheel, owner Michael Cote applied the old-school models of pizza delivery and mattress sales, combined them with modern Internet salesmanship, and developed an innovative way of running his business.

Cote’s fresh approach typifies new thinking in retail. Having worked successfully in sales, he chose to focus in on mattresses and set out to uncover what people hated most about the process. He discovered:
• People disliked laying on mattresses in public
• They were turned off by walking into a store and confronting 30 or more all-white mattresses
• They wished they could buy mattresses effectively online
• They detested spending a whole day mattress shopping, then waiting for delivery

Cote realized he could address each of these concerns by bringing the store to the customers. Call them at 8 a.m., and they can deliver a mattress to your specifications by noon, along with two or three other comparable selections to choose from. With over 150 different skus and more than 45 different models,
inventory is no problem. In fact, their selection is greater than most physical stores.

So far, it’s working. Using only the power of the Internet — no traditional marketing– Cote’s company can set specific delivery times, give the customer exactly the product they want, make the awkward experience of shopping for a mattress comfortable and personal, and grow his business. And all of this simply from careful researching and thinking about what the customer wants most. Following in the footsteps of other highly customer oriented companies (think Best Buy, Starbucks and Apple) Cote is on the success track because he offers an excellent customer experience. In today’s atmosphere of beleaguered retailers, getting the customer experience right is the key to long-term success.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that Apple is enjoying amazing success. Their stock is up almost 135% for 2007, compared to Google’s 52%, and the NASDAQ Index, up 12%. While the iPhone and iPod deserve some of the credit, Apple’s ability to provide a great customer experience is at the root. Their
retail stores contribute $1.24 billion of Apple’s $6.2 billion in sales. That’s a 42% increase over 2006. And it translates into stores that generate sales at a rate of $4000 per square foot. All this amid statistics that show other retailers, like Dell, Nokia and Sony, are barely making it.

What’s the secret? To begin with, shopping in an Apple store is a complete ‘experience’. Bright lights and great acoustics fill the room with energy and help customers feel like they’re attending an important event, rather than simply shopping at a store. The overall design of the space also contributes to the experience and ties in closely to the products themselves.

But nothing makes the Apple store more appealing than its customer service. From smiling employees carrying handheld terminals for faster credit card swiping and experienced and knowledgeable technicians servicing customers’ problems from behind the ‘genius bar’ to ‘personal trainers’ offering customized workshops and training, Apple seems to have thought of everything when it comes to serving the needs of its customers. You can even make an appointment with a personal shopper, and recently, Apple began stationing concierge teams in each store.

(more…)

Have you ever visited a petting zoo? In most petting zoos, you can put a quarter into a device that resembles an old-time bubble gum machine, and out will come a handful of treats to feed the barnyard animals. But before you can even step foot in the yard, the animals are rushing you. They know the benefits of what is in your hand without any announcement from you.

How does this apply to customer satisfaction? When a customer comes calling, how quickly do you answer? How responsive are you to the benefits of that customer’s attention? Are you turning prospects away by simply ignoring them into silence?
Responding to customer inquiries is crucial to your success. That may sound obvious, but as we grow busier each day with increasing demands, we have less and less time to respond. Conversely, customers have less and less time to wait for us to respond. Before you know it, that customer has moved on to your competitor.

The company who can be quick, accurate, and helpful will likely be the one to win the customer’s dollars and loyalty. In a world filled with employees who simply don’t care, your company can really stand out by creating and implementing a superior customer response policy. People are impatient, stressed and expecting to be disappointed. Don’t miss the opportunity to shine and build your brand by surpassing the customer’s expectations with a speedy, honest response that simplifies customers’ lives and leads to your success.

If you don’t know what people are saying about your company, you may be at a disadvantage. What’s one way to find out? Blogs.

The blog is a phenomenon that has truly changed the way people communicate on the Internet. Some blogs, like this one, simply disseminate useful information. Some blogs are personal and include pictures from the last family picnic. But some blogs foster public opinion and can spread information about your company faster than the speed of light. And it’s quite difficult to change perceptions once the information is out there for the world to see.

Monitoring blogs and blog forums, therefore, is an essential marketing task. As well, participating in the right blogs can go a long way in creating the best customer experience.

Here are several steps you can take:
1) Determine your monitoring goals: Get started by staying focused on one area. When you become more adept, you can grow your monitoring objectives.
2) Pick two or three keywords from your web site: Determine the keywords and tags used on your web site. Ask your tech person if you don’t know, or go to www.iwebtool.com/metatags_extractor to find out what keywords your web site uses to position itself. Nothing there? That’s another problem you’ll need to fix.
3) Set up a daily Google Alert: This useful little tool will send you an email every time your product or brand name is mentioned.
4) Visit www.BlogPulse.com, offering a free conversation tracker and other cool components that lets you learn more about a particular blogger if that person is indexed.
5) Visit www.BoardTracker.com for a tool that allows you to search through discussion boards and forums for free.

Blog monitoring is only the first step in a series of moves designed to help you engage with your customers. By paying attention to what is being said about your company and participating in community discussions, you have the opportunity to create a positive atmosphere, and provide the kind of holistic customer experience today’s savvy customers seek.

What is the point of interesting research that cannot be put to good use? Unfortunately, most marketing research is not very useful. It doesn’t help the customer, who may answer surveys with the best of intentions without ever knowing whether her opinion has made a difference. And it doesn’t help district and store managers, who can’t make enough sense out of the numbers to effect any real change.

Here are some questions to consider:

• Is it possible to gather research that aligns with the realities of the front line and with financial objectives?
• Can retailers provide managers with research they can accept wholly, instead of picking and choosing the numbers they’ll accept and the ones they’ll disregard?
• Why do companies continue to order large-scale surveys in an effort to measure their success and guide decision making?
• Is it wise to let go of graphs and charts to focus on the customer’s voice?

All customer research relies on customer goodwill. But if the majority of customers refuse to participate in research, what important opinions could be missing from the study, and what does their silence say about their opinions?

The most useful research tells district and store managers what they most want to know, but often never get the chance to find out. It’s not only about gathering information. It’s about providing momentum. In order to create the kind of research that can truly be used, the research process itself must be viewed as just one of the many tools for change at the disposal of senior management.

Imagine the chaos that could ensue from trying to implement every suggestion your customers make. Sure, some of the ideas would be useful, but many simply wouldn’t fit with your company objectives or might require resources beyond your means.

These are just a few of the reasons why most companies shy away from the idea of a customer advisory as a way to develop a more customer focused organization. But what more important audience is there than your own customers?

While planning and implement a customer advisory program can seem like an overwhelming project, carefully charting your objectives and approaching the task under the direction of an experienced project leader can ease the pain of getting started.

Some of the questions companies fear when implementing a program include:
1) What happens when a customer-led discussion becomes a negative free-for-all, with customers simply using the time to complain?
2) How do we keep the program fresh year after year?
3) What if we can’t pursue the ideas our customers suggest?

There is not enough space here to fully answer these questions. Suffice to say there are some excellent ways to diffuse an atmosphere of negativity and keep your program on track. This is where the help of an experienced moderator comes in. And this is why it is so important to commit to the success of the program over the long haul to truly measure its success and reach your customer advisory program goals.

In Part 1 of this discussion, we discussed three excellent ways to sooth the angry customer and hopefully retain their loyalty. Handled properly, this is entirely possible. Now let’s continue on with several more ways:

1) Empower your Employees.
Often employees do not know what they are allowed to do to help the customer. They may feel obligated to pass the complaint on to their supervisor. But what if the supervisor is not available? This leaves the employee with no recourse to assist when the customer is most angry or unhappy. It means that customer may walk away from your store, perhaps forever, and worse yet might tell everyone they know about their experience. When planning your customer satisfaction policies, leave some wiggle room for frontline employees to soothe ruffled feathers before having to call in the higher-ups.

(more…)