The Real Customer Service Story

Upon entering a retail store, the customer knows what’s coming next: it’s the standard greeting, followed by the current sales promotion and then the question, “Anything I can help you with today?” According to recent research published in the Harvard Business Review, that answer is often, “No.”

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.

A Modern Day Customer Service Parable

Too often you hear stories about people’s customer service nightmares and commiserate with them as you talk of similar experiences. The Virgin Group founder Richard Branson recently shared a story about customer service himself, but the story ended with a satisfied customer and not a disgruntled one.

A Virgin Atlantic customer’s free limo failed to pick him up at his hotel (apparently the customer waited at the wrong door). So, he called a cab and arrived at the airport angry, running late and nervous he would miss his flight. A Virgin agent spotted him and tried to calm him down, apologized for the limo mix up and rushed him through the security staff lane to get him to his gate. She even reimbursed his taxi fare out of her own pocket. The passenger boarded the plane on time thanks to the Virgin agent’s ability to turn a negative customer experience into a positive one.

Unfortunately, when the agent later recounted this story to her supervisor and asked to be reimbursed for the $70 taxi fare, her supervisor asked if she had a receipt and refused to repay her without one. Branson pointed out that had any Virgin employees learned of the agent’s trouble with the supervisor, they would be unlikely to act in similar manners when other potential customer service issues arise. Agents would hesitate to steer from procedure to help customers if they knew their jobs would be at risk. That’s definitely not a good thing for Virgin’s customers, and therefore, not a good thing for Virgin.

Luckily, the airport manager heard about this story and intervened. He informed the finance team that he approved the reimbursement and educated the supervisor on the merits of “catching people doing something right.”

Branson writes, “Good customer service on the shop floor begins at the very top. If your senior people don’t get it, even the strongest links further down the line can become compromised, as the story shows.”

Train your employees well enough and instill faith in them that they can always act in a way where they’re “doing as they would be done by.” When your employees are happy, your customers are happy, and therefore, your company is happy as well.

Indifference vs. Difference

It’s pretty easy to spot poor customer service and even easier to identify trends because we see the same mistakes made in retail locations everyday. In an article on HospitalityNet.org, Steve Curtin points out three behaviors that we all see on shopping trips and gives a simple explanation for why these unacceptable practices live on.

The behaviors are 1) employees checking text, emails and social media instead of attending to customers, 2) employees smoking just outside of the entrance of the store and 3) employees holding conversations with co-workers while helping customers. These conversations generally involve complaining about work, another co-worker or even a customer right in front of other customers. Curtin chalks this behavior up to indifference and questions whether the employees would act the same if they knew a division president would be making an on-site visit. He uses the tale of the, “Emperor’s New Clothes,” as an analogy for the apathy that enables these customer killing actions to proliferate.

On the flip side, consider the case of the King of Prussia Mall as documented in the Pottstown Mercury. This is a case where the Mall, not the mall tenants mind you, has hired a corporate trainer to help the customer service desk, mall greeters and maintenance staff improve customer service skills. The resulting stories of extraordinary customer service are exemplary. After training, a series of “mystery shops” were performed to judge things like friendliness and courteousness. The staff received a close to 100% score.

The King of Prussia Mall put an interesting tag on the program. They called it “Concierge Training” and made sure everybody who worked for the mall including the maintenance staff know what the expectation are. As a side note, it turned out that the maintenance staff is especially adept at applying the high standards.

The King of Prussia Mall is not afraid to say, as Curtin suggests, “The Emperor is Naked!” and battles the indifference though empowered and knowlegible employees who make a difference.

Customer Experience Program: “Where Do I Begin?”

Through our blog and whitepapers we’ve discussed examples and methods on how to improve your customer experience but every program needs a starting point. Your starting point is typically with training and education.

Jay Goltz for the New York Times published a great piece on reforming your customer experience program. Goltz boils it down to what we know is the key to improving customer service: employee training.

Customer experience programs are not simply great ideas drawn on the whiteboard or brainstormed in the boardroom. Solid customer experience programs are formed through training and education. The retail industry is constantly evolving. Our customers are changing their shopping behaviors, the economy dips and rises, and new technology regularly unfolds, all of which require ever vigilant attention to our customer experience.

Goltz summaries the three essential areas of customer service: Desire, Hiring, and Training. We’ve spoken in depth on the internal company desire, staff training, and customer experience program development in several blog posts. As Goltz points out, they are all interrelated to form a whole customer experience program. You cannot do one without the other. Great service is dependant on staff training. Staff training is dependant on measuring your customer experiences through metrics (mystery shopping) and knowing what improvements are needed. You cannot hire great staff unless your company values the customer experience as the primary focus. Customer experience programs are full circle development that continues on through the life cycleyou’re your business.

The single most important aspect to take away from any customer experience article is the training aspect. It takes management training to understand where the customer experience metrics can be used to improve processes. Management needs a quality and knowledgeable industry leader to provide the proper metrics and mystery shopper program with valuable training on how to use the information. The training continues down the chain to the customer service staff. Superior customer service staff goes through continuous training that develops and hones their skills when dealing with customers. Training and education are the fundamental keys in having great customer service.

To go back to our original question “Where do I begin?”, the answer is simple. You begin with educating and training staff. Knowledge is powerful, especially when it comes to knowing your customer and establishing great customer experience.

Why It’s Important to Train Sales Associates During Hard Economic Times

The Retail Consumer Dissatisfaction Survey, mentioned in this stores.org article, reveals that 33% of customers are unable to find a salesperson, 25% are ignored completely by assciates, and 6% leave because of lack of trained help. Poor customer service results in lower revenue. During hard economic times, retailers need to do whatever they can to make maximize revenue. Retailers need to make even more of an effort now to train their sales associates accordingly.

Does Your Green Customer Loyalty Program Stand Out?

Tom Ryan of RetailWire.com recently started a discussion on greening loyalty programs. From chlorine-free diapers to recycled trash bags, brands are coming up with creative ways to join the green movement. How can you make your green customer loyalty program stand out? One way to make your loyalty program stand out is by having exceptional green customer benefits.

Green Customer Benefits

Many brands will offer reward points through a credit card or debit card. Customers can then use these points to donate to a “green project” of their choice that the brand supports. However, this only appeals to a select group of customers. The majority of customers would rather use the earned points to reward themselves. How can you provide a green reward system that can benefit more customers as well as the environment? Offer eco-friendly products such as green home products or organic pet toys.