How to Have Employees Working at Their
Customer Best

– Marla Platt

As consumers grow more and more sophisticated, savvy retailers key in to the kind of service that sets them apart from their competitors. When the customer feels that he or she has been treated to a pleasant, memorable shopping experience, loyalty grows and great word-of-mouth follows. So doesn’t it make sense to lead with service-attuned personnel helping your customers? Here are ten powerful ways to ensure that your employees are giving customers their very best:

1. Don’t just teach employees what a successful interaction looks like, show them. Try communicating what good service is through a role-play with another employee. Doing this also reinforces for your more seasoned employees the practice of good service, contributing to a positive sales/service culture. Ask your employees : What felt right to you during this interaction?
2. Likewise demonstrate what an unsuccessful interaction looks like. Having an employee personally “experience” inadequate service is a far louder message than simply telling them what not to do. Ask your employees: If you were an actual customer, how would you be feeling now? Would you come back? What would you tell others about your experience?
3. Prepare your retail staff for a worst-case scenario, whether it is particularly heavy customer traffic, an angry customer, a customer returning something out of line with your return policy, etc. Make sure that staff has a strategy for ensuring that every interaction ends up a positive interaction. Have your employees ask themselves: What do I need to remember when difficult situations arise?
4. Reward staff when they deserve it. You know that your customers like to be appreciated. Well, the same goes for your employees. Management research shows that one of the top reasons people stick with their place of work (surprise: it’s not money!) is because they feel appreciated by management and coworkers. Other benefits that come along with satisfied employees include less absenteeism, better attitude toward coworkers and customers, and reduced internal shrinkage. Ask your employees: Choose from a menu of thank yous in appreciation for your good work (e.g. extra break; bonus employee discount, etc.)
5. Solicit employees for their opinion about important factors that make a difference in your operation. After all, they are the eyes and ears of the sales floor. (By the way, another top reason that employees stick with their place of work is they feel their opinion counts.) Ask your employees: What seems to make customers happy? What, if anything, displeases them?
6. Hire the right people. A wrong person on the floor can end up doing more than his/her fair share of putting off a customer, leaving a bad taste lingering with the customer who, most likely, has the choice of shopping somewhere else. Equally, an employee who lacks organization skills or attention to detail can wreak havoc with merchandise displays, accurate pricing, not to mention backroom systems. Ask your potential hires: What are the skills that you bring to (this place of business) that will make it an inviting place for our customers?
7. Sweat the details. Be clear about how merchandise is to be handled. If someone is buying something soft and delicate, the cashier should be treating it that way. No matter if the purchase is a low-cost one, offering the store a tiny profit margin, or one at the high end of your inventory, it is precious enough to the customer to take her time and money to buy it from you. If the item is a gift, then everything should be done to package and present it as beautifully as possible. Ask your employees: If you were presenting a gift to someone you care about, how would you like it to look?
8. Help employees to be actively aware about why customers really come to your store. Sure, they’re shopping, but shopping is a multi-sensory, multi-level experience, not just a transactional experience. Customers may be there to make someone else happy through selecting the right gift, reward themselves, purchase something that is new and trendy, or just browse for the sheer enjoyment of looking at what you have to offer. Questions like, “Are you looking for something for yourself today?” or “What may I help you with?” are friendly and service-oriented without being high pressure. No matter what the customer’s intention, the employee should be sensitive to it and behave in such a way as to make the customer feel that they made the right decision to walk into your store. Have your employees ask themselves : Why are people shopping here today, and what can I do to make their experience a good one?
9. Help staff to develop a sense of ownership. Retail employees should feel like the store is their home and that they are actively hosting customers whom they make feel at home. This attitude extends to children too. Shopping with children can be a challenge for parents, and parents appreciate when their children are made welcome, comfortable and even entertained. Customers phoning in should always be made to feel like welcome callers. The key is to treat others at least as well as you would want to be treated. Have your employees ask themselves : How can I make my customer feel truly welcome in my store?
10. The clear appreciation that you give to your customers is to be given to good employees too. They are, in every sense, just like customers who deserve to be treated well and appreciated so that they will happily come back with a smile and willingness to give you their best. You know that you have done something right when employees refer friends who are good workers. If you ask your employees, “Would you tell your best friend to work here?” and they say “yes” you are probably doing something right. If they say “no” find out why. Ask your employees: “Why do you want to work here?” and then listen carefully to their answers.

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