It’s always a special feeling when you walk into one of your favourite retail stores and you’re provided with exceptional customer service. That’s what can really make a retailer stand out from the ever increasing competition. It often produces brand advocates which are oh so important where user generated content and reviews are playing a significant role in shoppers’ purchasing decisions. There are a variety of different ways to provide great customer service; from having well trained retail staff with the right retail technology to empower them and offering easy payments to personalised buyer discounts.
That’s why the team of omnichannel retail EPOS specialists from Eurostop has collected some leading examples of good customer service for you here.
1. Putting a Positive Spin on Negative Perceptions
One of the important ways to provide great customer service is by turning any potential negative situation into a positive. Doing so demonstrates your brand’s dedication to its customer base and willingness to react and go the extra mile to figure out solutions to supposed pain points. Think of McDonald’s “Super-Size Me” campaign, which faced a deluge of criticism after the documentary Super Size Me demonstrating the fast-food chain’s negative effects on health came out in 2004. The company used this as inspiration to change its messaging and begin offering healthier alternatives like salads and milk.
2. Taking a Proactive Approach to Customer Service
In the case of customer needs, knowing your retail demographic and anticipating their wants and needs is always better than purely reacting.. It helps forge a stronger connection and allows customers to feel like you truly understand, care and connect with them. Find out not only what they think of your products and service, but how they like to shop and how they like to live their lives. Their shopping experience with you should complement their daily lifestyle, offering convenience and an enhanced experience. One great example of being proactive is UK retailer Debenhams who implemented an online buying guide, which allows shoppers to determine if a new item on their site will work with their existing wardrobe.
3. Being Transparent
Transparency helps develop trust in a brand and can make your business’s current and potential customers feel like it always has their best interests in mind. But what exactly does it mean to be transparent from a retailer’s perspective? It means updating consumers when there are changes to your products or services and responding to inquiries and feedback on social media. Take for example M&S’s commitment to transparency by making a yearly interactive supply chain map available,detailing all the raw materials the company uses and where they were obtained.
4. Taking Ownership
It’s no secret that things don’t always go perfectly as planned. Whether it be an inadvertently controversial social media campaign or another issue, when a retailer makes a mistake, one of the most important factors in staying true to your business’s customers is taking ownership. After all, nobody’s perfect, even the world’s largest retailers and brands make mistakes like Kit-Kat when they released a batch of their signature Bites without stating they contain nuts and peanut products on the label. This is a big no-no, especially for people with peanut allergies. So, what did the company do? They recalled all the batches and launched a full-scale investigation to ensure it never happens again.
5. Show Your Business’s Customers & Community You Care
Everyone likes a surprise once in a while and a random act of kindness from your retail establishment can go a long way. You don’t have to give the audience a free car like Oprah, but even something small that shows your business is paying attention to its customer’s needs and showing them you care is a great customer service tactic. This year, the sandwich retailer Prêt a Manger encouraged its chains to give away free drinks and food to customers, empowering staff to reward customer loyalty and give back to their community. According to the results, more than 28% of customers received free food or drink at some point and the company grew overall by 16%, which is quite a feat in a year.
6. More Examples of Good Customer Service
Before you go, we wanted to provide you with a few more examples of great customer service for retailers that are easy and effective. For those with repeat clientele, such as food chains or fashion stores, get to know customers so the next time they enter staff can greet them by name. Additionally, knowing your business’s products and services inside and out will ensure that you can answer any questions customers might have; it will also help you tailor your offerings to customers’ specific needs. When introducing a new product, don’t just analyse how it sells but also ask customers what they think by sending out a survey.
Contact us today for a no-obligation demonstration
Eurostop is committed to helping companies boost the retail experience for their customers by offering innovative and easy-to-implement solutions to streamline processes. Our customisable retail solutions include today’s leading EPOS systems and software, inventory control systems, business insights and reporting solutions, and much more.
For more than 30 years, the team from Eurostop has been providing omnichannel management solutions to fashion, footwear, jewellery, and general merchandise retailers all over the world. Our clients run the gamut from independent retailers to chains with over 12,000 locations worldwide and all our solutions are customised to suit your specific needs.
Contact us today for a no-obligation demonstration or call +44 (0) 208 991 2700.
