When you work with customers in retail, whether face-to-face, online, or over the telephone, there is no underestimating the importance of good customer service. Even if customers need your products and are regulars at your shop, if you provide them with poor customer service, they will quickly take their custom elsewhere.
Not only would this be terrible for your reputation, but it will also quickly impact your revenue and your profit. The last thing you want is to provide your customers with is a bad experience, and if they stop shopping with you, you may quickly find yourself losing other customers as well.
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What is Good Customer Service?
Customer service means providing assistance and advice to your customers. This means assisting them at every stage of their buying journey, from when you first encounter them, when they are buying from you, and after their purchase. Building a strong bond with your customers, and making sure you provide them with the same level of support no matter what their interaction level is with you will ensure that you get repeat business and build a positive reputation.
What is worth knowing? The answer is knowing from experts. Watch the following video to get an idea of what is actually a good customer service–
Why is good customer service important?
There are few reasons or benefits to maintain proactive or good customer service. These are as follows-
- Customer retention is less expensive than acquisition
- Good customer service increases brand image and values
- Happy customers will help to boost your revenue
- Surely happy customers will help do marketing for you
- Customer service employees are able to receive feedback from customers
- People are willing to pay more who have better customer service
- Good customer service can reach the lifetime value for customer
- Marketing opportunities opens with proactive customer service
- Proactive customer service prevents business failure
7 Real-Life Examples of Good Customer Service in Retail
Business occurs deals with real-life problems. So, real-Life Examples of Good Customer Service is always help you to improve your customer service rather knowing theoretical knowledge.
With that in mind, in the retail sector can ensure good customer service are always doing the best to care for and assist their customers.
Let’s dive into the 7 Real-Life Examples of Good Customer Service in Retail-
1. Reward Loyalty
One quite simple example of good customer service is to reward your customers for their loyalty. Not only is this a nice treat for them when they do shop with you, but knowing that their loyalty will be rewarded means they are more likely to return to your shop again and again.
You can do this with things like coupons, which offer your customers a discount during a certain time period if they purchase something from your shop. Stores such as Lidl and Sainsburys send coupons to their customers to offer them discounts on their shopping.
Coupons can also be used to get customers through your door in the first place, as perhaps they haven’t visited you before but are interested in saving some money. Once they have shopped with you, if you have created a positive enough impression, there is a higher chance of them returning to you in the future.
You can also use loyalty cards to allow your customers to save up points or discounts which can be used against their purchases in the future. Stores like Superdrug use this method to reward their loyal customers with lots of additional discounts and exclusive offers.
2. Personalise Your Discounts
Offering discounts is a good example of customer service, but if you can take a step further and personalise those offers, it will make your customers feel special.
Shops such as Tesco and Boots send personalised coupons to their customers to ensure they are saving money on the things they buy more often. This data is usually collected by analysing their past loyalty card transactions and seeing what customers have purchased in the past, as well as what they buy again and again.
If you are an online retailer, you could use a similar approach by studying past purchases from customer accounts and sending them discount emails which relate to their favourite types of purchases.
3. Offer Different Support Options
Offering support to your customers is a vital part of good customer service. However, not all customers will want to contact you in the same way. Everyone prefers a different method of communication, and so it’s vital that you support this and give your customers as many ways to contact them about questions, problems, and order issues as possible.
The shoe retailer Schuh is a great example of this, as it offers a number of different means of contact for customers. First of all, they have an excellent live chat feature on their website, allowing customers to choose from text, one-way video, or two-way video chat so you can get direct help with your problem as quickly as possible.
Customers can also call them, email them, and contact them on various social media platforms. This means whenever a customer wants to get in touch with Schuh, they are able to pick the method that suits them best and provides them with the exact customer service experience they need.
4. Use the Personal Approach
Customers want to feel like they are being dealt with personally when they talk to your staff, rather than receiving a standard approach. Each problem and each customer is very different, and therefore you and your staff need to know how to approach customers on a personal level and address their individual needs.
Ethical beauty shop Lush is a fantastic example of personal customer service. Every customer in a Lush store is asked if they need any help or if they’re looking for anything specific. Lush employees are product experts, and if you have a question about which product is best for you, they are able to direct you to exactly what you need. They also dish out free samples or do bath bomb demonstrations, so you know exactly what you’re getting with the products you purchase.
This means that customers who don’t need help can simply decline and continue browsing. However, those who need some help are provided with a very thorough customer service experience.
5. Cut Waiting Times
Customers understand that sometimes shops are busy, and that can mean waiting to be rung up at a checkout. However, a good example of customer service is ensuring that you limit your customer waiting times wherever possible. Reliable Skip, a national skip hire company notices a 33% increase in order volume when their delivery times are next day.
Supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl are great at this because they will always ensure they open another checkout if there are more than a couple of customers waiting at any given checkout.
Not only will this prevent customers waiting for any longer than they need to, but it also allows customers to see that the store managers are going the extra mile to cut waiting times and provide customer satisfaction.
6. Utilise Technology
If you can make use of technology to improve your customer’s time with you, it can be a great way to ensure a positive customer service experience. This can be done by using things like apps or providing additional technology in-store to enhance the experience.
For example, the Sainsburys Nectar Card app allows customers to find their personalised coupons and use them in-store without having to remember to bring any physical coupons to the store with them.
Additionally, stores like IKEA provide a computerised access point for their Family Card which allows customers to log in to their Family account and print off any coupons they might have acquired. Not only does this mean their customers never miss a discount, but it also means they don’t have to worry about having internet access or a printer at their home in order to benefit from their loyalty card offers.
7. Offer Different Ways to Shop
In the retail management career, moving up means shifting to larger stores in larger markets with more management responsibilities. The sad part is, you might not find the promoted position within the same area due to the nature of the retail sector. So, you may have to move from your city to another city.
It could be annoying for you if you need to leave your friends and family to go to your new workplace. However, if you find fun in exploring new places, it will be enjoyable for you.
Related:
1. Things to Know About A Retail Management Career
2. Food Hygiene Rules and Guidance For Retail
Conclusion
Overall, these are just a few examples of good customer service. It’s vital that you always put your customers first and ensure that every interaction they have with you is a positive one, even if they are raising a complaint or coming to you with a problem.
Provide a good customer service to get full satisfaction of your customer. If you’re interested in building on your customer service skills, take a look at our Retail Customer Service – Level 3 course to ensure you’re building a strong relationship with your customers.
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