Customer service: Myth or miracle cure?

One of the great unvarnished truths of 21^st century retailing is that we have all this information about our shoppers and we are clueless about what to do with it. At this point, the consumer’s reticence to share personal information probably has less to do with financial security issues and more to do with not believing she can 'unsubscribe' from that looming barrage of 'today only!' email blasts she knows will flood her inbox if she becomes a 'member' of your website.

 

She comes by her fear honestly. Membership has very, very few privileges in this context – and comes with a steep price.

 

If Amazon.com could figure out the 'customers like you who ordered X also liked Y' algorithm more than 10 years ago, why is my email inbox flooded with offers of great deals on merchandise my nine-year-old and I are unlikely to ever need. We live in a Manhattan apartment. Are we really going to need a lawn mower, leaf blower or outdoor fireplace anytime soon? Or poolside furniture? If I ordered baby clothes eight years ago, how likely am I to still need to place frequent orders? Come on!

 

In these small ways of being sent information we don’t want, haven’t asked for and can’t use, we are being taught by retailers and manufacturers not to trust them. We feel their flop sweat. It’s easier for them to send me, and millions of other people, in the database a lot of things we won’t ever want than it is to cull the offers and send us a few things that might actually resonate. It’s like a retailer version of the lottery: 'Hey! You never know!'

 

But it’s from that perspective of harassment that the consumer is learning not to trust. And, it’s in that climate of mistrust that she views absolutely everything you have to say to her. Easy returns? I don’t think so. Contemporary sizing? Huh?Would you like a blouse to go with that skirt? Leave me alone.

 

In Passion Brands, I use 'know they know you need them' as one of the ‘laws of modern retailing.’ Yet in the emails and introductory chants I encounter when I engage with a retailer virtually or at the mall, there is little (read no) acknowledgement that today’s shoppers are savvy, cynical and often as not frazzled by the time they get to you. It might be midnight in front of the computer, once the kids are down. It might be 6pm on the way home from work as they try to squeeze in a quick fly-by to accessorise for tomorrow’s big meeting. Maybe one of the kids needs a blazer for the glee club concert and there’s just no time to really shop.

 

That’s the moment where genuine customer service would be a boon. Yet she does not encounter that. What she gets is a scripted greeting from a preternaturally enthusiastic sales person. (Or the email equivalent, the slow loading, ‘all about us’ website, which takes three screens to tell her that ‘your search has not been successful, please check your spelling.’).

 

In my work I’m privy to some retailer’s 'training videos' for the sales staff and it’s a terrible misuse of the term 'training' or 'customer service'. Basically, store personnel are being told to use any interaction with the customer as a moment to up sell. If they like this, maybe they’ll also buy that – and remind them there’s 10% off if they open a charge card.

 

It's easy enough to say 'service', but what does it actually mean? Not just ease of returns or accurate order fulfillment, but dedication and fashion (or whatever the product line involves) passion on the part of the sales staff.


So what to do?

 

Three rules of the (new) retail road:

 

1. Recruit, train and reward based on their obsession, and ability to seed and breed that obsession, with the details, the fine lines, the fabrications and finishes that separate the genuine article from the knock-off or cheap imitation. Then, train those folks to call and check on the purchase once the customer has taken it home.

 

 

In short, establish a personal relationship with the customer during the acquisition of the item – a relationship that survives beyond the cash register ring all the way through satisfaction (and corrects for dissatisfaction) and brings her back to shop and buy again. And, lets her know she’s got a friend in the business – an advocate who will shop the store for her and adjudicate grievances, quickly and fairly.

 

 

3. One idea nobody is capitalising on is alterations. Great stores have the 'alteration ladies' on standby; good stores have the ability to bring someone in for the occasion. Be a great store and acknowledge that many women are shopping their closets for basic necessities, like winter coats, while providing a fashion spark through the right, must-have accessory: scarf, bag, shoes, belt, you name it. What if a store offered free alterations of an old garment to bring it up to fashion relevance – as a gift-with-purchase of a new item of a certain value? That’s customer service. And one that keeps store staff gainfully employed during a tough economy.

 

Start looking at your business from a profit per-square-foot perspective. NOT sales growth in comp stores vs. a year ago. However the street looks at it, you look at it in a way that authentically grows the business for you, your vendors and your sales people. The street will come around once you've proven that moving goods at deeply discounted prices to raise the revenue line isn't the same as a long-term business strategy. And, you’ll have the money to reward and encourage great customer service.