How may we help you & us?

Published: 20 March, 2008

Customer Service is well recognised as key to the success of big stores to ensure customers are satisfied and keep coming back. But what about the smaller shops? How can an independent retailer with limited space and large overheads, hope to compete with such steep competition?

All major retail stores have significant Customer Care Departments with dedicated phone lines, website, email address plus a flurry of call centre professionals ready to listen directly to the paying public.

Customer Service is well recognised as a key add-on to most retail businesses and large sums of money are poured in to it's smooth operation and uniform policies. But the smaller you are the more important your relationship with your buying public. Even a single unit shop owner should consider what Customer service means and how to get the most out of it.

According to Paul Cooper of the Institute of Customer Service, personal service is key if independent retailers are to win business from the larger chains. He says owners and staff need to identify what it is customers want early on and personalise their approach much more :

'At it's most fundamental it's about having the right people and making sure they know the products you sell. Contented staff always offer better customer service, so it's also important to ensure that they feel fairly remunerated and valued in their work.'

Staffing is a major factor. In 2006 the Federation of Small Businesses reported that 38% of it's members found the lack of customer service skills with employees was a real issue.

People have changed. Life is faster, people more self-occupied and and less courteous than they used to be, so shop owners need to expect to have to train new staff in this vital area and include a training course and personal development plan for each memeber of staff.

Product knowledge is something suppliers will usually help with and even though this can mean valuable time away from the shop, it's will reap rewards early on in terms of sales. Many will also come up with special deals for independents. For example Petite Star offers quantity discounts on volume purchases, free stock deals, free accessories on selected products, Link saves - buy one product get a discount on a second and general discounted prices on one product. They also have exclusive colours planned for the smaller shops on the Zia stroller.

Finding out what your customers want is all about asking the right questions and listening carefully to what they say. And yes listening can be taught quite easily, provided it is rehearsed and put into practice.

One hour a week for staff training through role play really works. Draw up exactly how you want your staff to address someone who walks into the shop. Offer her a few leading questions that require more than a yes or no answer. For example

‘What is it you're looking for today?', ‘What style of nursery furniture do you like?'.

Encourage conversation by allowing staff to come forward to demonstrate products rather than hiding behind a desk. Don't stiffle natural personality with too many rules and restrictions. Your staff will enjoy feeling more confident about how to engage with customers and get a conversation going, but after this trust them to use their own product knowledge and suggestions. As long as they are talking positively about products, sales should rise.

There is nothing worse for the shop or the customer than when a sales assistant is negative about a product. If it's no good, say no!

Olimia, an independent baby shop in Reigate, Surrey was set up in 2001 by two friends Kate Wilson and Janine Yiannakis; new mothers who were trying to find a way of caring and feeding for their babies, Oliver and Mia. They wanted naturally and organically produced goods and food and were struggling to find what they wanted.

Kate says good customer service is vital to their success, ‘We think this is one of the main reasons people come to, and stay with us, as opposed to go to the supermarkets and larger companies.'

‘We make convenience for customers, both with products, the order process and delivery (for web customers) a top priority. Advice and support to mothers, helping them through the minefield of information and products is a real help. We spend a large amount of our time talking to customers.'

Before they agree to take on a new product at Olimia they gather lots of info from manufacturers and suppliers and have a filing cabinet in the shop full of product information. They regularly email our staff with any updates and take our manageress to trade shows with us and choose products together.

Janine agrees that it is the personal service and friendliness that make customers come back. ‘We know our customers names and go out of our way to help them. We do occasionally make mistakes and have problems but we make sure we deal with them fast and positively.'

Once we had a customer desperate for frozen baby food the day before Christmas Eve. We went over to the couriers depot with her food and all the packing materials and packed her food on site as the couriers had finished their collections for christmas.

For more see http://www.olimia.co.uk/

The Institute of Customer Service (ICS) is a memebership organisation that aims to lead customer service performance and professionalism:

Visit http://www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/