Greg Stuart, former CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, stated, Marketers generally distrust research and data. The same can be said for retail managers and owners. Data is gathered and then sometimes skewed to suit the manager’s notion of what is really going on in the store. One of the reasons for distrust stems from the belief that consumers often do not tell the truth, or at least contradict themselves, in surveys.

The Advertising Research Federation, offers this explanation. There is a general belief that over 50 percent of the research done at companies is wasted. Often all we do is present numbers. We don’t present insights. Customer surveys measure what customers really think and feel about a company. Customer feedback determines if customer needs are being met. All-inclusive customer service assessments that include mystery shopping and customer surveys should offer data that largely reflects and supports the findings of the other. If a manager consistently dispute or ignores the findings, reevaluate your specific program, examining the data to ensure the criterion for measurement is appropriately capturing the results you desire, then use the truths of that data to meet customer expectations.

Business people always look for ways to gain an advantage for their company. It’s often the small (and sometime not so obvious) edge that makes all the difference in results. In the current economy, the typical apparel retail store has a conversion rate of 18%. That means 100 people walk through the doors and 82 walk out without having made a purchase. Just a small uptick in percentage can have a huge financial impact. An increase of just 5% – from 18% to 23% could result in $8,176,000 in sales per 100 stores. 5% = over $8 million dollars.

Could the Customers Who DON’T Buy Be the Key to Success?

We’re used to asking for feedback from shoppers. Most retailers focus their data gathering on customers who’ve made a purchase. Surveys on the sales receipt, in the shopping bag or on your website and email follow up are commonly recognized and effective tools. It’s important to know what your customers think and get a critical understanding of their observations and experience of your stores, your merchandise and employees. What if you could find out why the ones who didn’t buy left your store empty-handed? Asking the right questions of those shoppers provides insight you can’t get any other way. Understanding their perceptions of your stores and learning what they see, think and feel gives you the edge you can use to improve your stores, your customer satisfaction and your bottom line by turning shoppers into buyers.

Improvement Can be Quick

Sales increase in direct proportion to customer satisfaction. Much of the measure of customer satisfaction is wrapped up in customer perception. How shoppers feel in your stores. How they feel about your sales associates, about your stores cleanliness and your displays. Knowing what people experience, think and perceive – particularly those who don’t buy gives you a fresh perspective on the key drivers of an improved experience. Often the answers are simple and the improvements quick and easy. But if you’re not asking the right questions of the right shoppers, you’ll never gather the information that will give you the edge.

How Customer Intercepts Work Best

Start by asking carefully designed questions of the shoppers who leave your stores without buying. What if you learned for example, that a large percentage of your customers in a certain region just weren’t finding what they were looking for? Perhaps you’re an apparel retailer and you overlooked the fact that your customers wanted a greater selection of seasonal sweaters in the Northeast and brighter colors in the Southwest? Maybe you’re an electronics retailer who learns that your employees don’t have enough knowledge in various departments and without answers your customers lose confidence and don’t buy. Suppose you were to learn that customers’ ‘feelings’ caused them to leave you stores? They might tell you the displays are too crowded or the stores weren’t clean enough. Maybe you’ll learn that customers couldn’t find a salesperson to answer their questions and they didn’t feel properly cared for. Maybe they just couldn’t find what they wanted.

Asking The Right Questions Translates to Critical Improvement

When a national pharmacy chain needed to understand what was happening in the aisles of their stores they relied on shopper intercepts to find a solution. Specifically, their Market Research Manager wanted to know why so many shoppers came to the pain aisle, but didn’t make a purchase there. Intercepting customers in the aisles and asking the right questions resulted in the manager getting the data needed to improve that aisle; increase sales and to improve other aisles so their customers could more easily find and purchase exactly what they were looking for. The right answers from the right shoppers increased their bottom line. They just had to ask the questions.

Using the Data to Make Actionable Changes

It’s not an uncommon for retailers to gather data but be at a loss to understand and implement actions from it. An experienced provider makes all the difference. They’ll work with you to create the questions, determine what you need to get a workable, statistically valid sample. They’ll show you how to interpret the data gathered and translate it into the actions and improvements that convert more shoppers into buyers. It can be a big ‘aha moment’ when you realize that the best information can come from the people who aren’t buying. You’ve done the work to get them into your store. Finding out why they’re not buying by running a strong Shopper Intercept program can turn things around quickly and profitably.

Corporate leaders dramatically overestimate how much the customer wants to talk to a customer service representative. They believe customers value live service twice as much as self-service. HBR’s data shows customers are significantly indifferent to that claim, and they value self-service just as much as they value using the phone. More interestingly, that indifference doesn’t change across their demographic, issue type or urgency.

It’s an interesting predicament: what should your company do to improve its customer service when the customer prefers self-service? And what’s compelling the customer to repel real-life interaction? It could be argued that with the rise in social networks, people don’t like to engage in as many face-to-face conversations with others. Maybe fascination with technology has won out and the lure of fancy, powerful machines are more attractive than the sales associates. Or, now, everyone considers themselves a control freak and dislikes relying on other people to get something done.

Or maybe, customers haven’t wanted the relationships companies have been pushing all along and this rise in self-service finally gives them the easy way out. That’s not a comforting thought for retailers who build their company on the promises of quality customer service. So, what should those retailers do?

It’s a simple task in the world of automated customer service recordings, information computer stations and high tech self-service cash registers: have customer service reps be real people. Too often, customers blow off the sales associates because they sound like robots reading from a script. If customer service practices create authentic experiences by individualizing how each customer gets served, it’s a good bet that customers will again appreciate that friendly face that greets them right when they walk through the door.

Michigan’s Ross School of Business and American Customer Satisfaction Index conducted research on customer experience and stock prices. The research indicated the higher level of positive customer experience, the better stock prices.

A Twice article discusses the findings of the report. Retailers with improving customer satisfaction scores from ACSI witnessed a smaller market value decline in 2008. Retailers will a smaller ACSI score had market value decline up to double the improving ACSI retailers had. The article highlight more of the research findings to include how well online retailer did.

The research emphasis how important customer experience program is to a retailer’s business. higher levels of customer satisfaction can only be reached through a well designed customer experience program. Of course, measurement of success will lead brands and retailers to know where the improvement areas are. Customer experience programs are a shot in the dark without proper measurement initiatives. Certainly, retailer’s who dedicate resources to measuring and implementing effective customer experience programs are seeing a boost of confidence from inventors.

Wal-Mart executives have also witnessed a jump in sales for self-medication items. Pharmaceutical sales have not increased dramatically, instead over the counter and basic first aid medicine are a way consumers can “self-medicate” to save a buck on health care.

Increase in demand for frozen and canned items allows retailers like Wal-mart and Krogers to safely expand their store-brand items to take advantage of changing consumer demands. If consumers are buying the basic items to fill their kitchen, how are fashion retailer’s noticing a change in product demand. Will consumers extend their “safety buys to spend less on trendy items, and more on classic items in basic colors to get more bang for the buck?

If I owned a restaurant, I would consider taking out the $ sign on my menu. Let’s face it, restaurants are having a tough time making money with current economic conditions. With more customers saving money by opting to eat at home, restaurants need to maximize revenue opportunity with existing customers. If you told me all it took to make an extra $5.55 per table was to take out a $ sign on a menu, I would go for it.

What do you think?

For More Information Click Here.