Opinion
How to... perfect customer service
Kathy Egan heads up Merlyn Showering’s award-winning customer service department. Here, she discusses the principles of customer service and how KBB retailers can get it right
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he high street is a completely different place from what it was 10, or even five years ago. Change is a journey, not a destination, and the world of customer service is part of this change. What makes the difference between shopping on the high street or online is the face-to-face customer engagement and with this must come exemplary customer service – and this
is at the forefront
of thinking for every company that understands differentiation through service.
Experiential retail is the way forward. Customer
experience is a key ingredient for success. Change your mind-set to see it as an opportunity to offer a competitive edge. You want your customer to buy from you today, return to you and, of course, to recommend you. They will do all these things if they have had a great customer experience. Create experiences customers love and define how you measure that. If you just focus on saving money, you will miss out, you also need to look at how you can deliver an even better experience. Your customer wants to be surprised. Random acts of kindness create the ‘wow’ factor.
Top tips to perfect customer service
Set your benchmarks high The attention and importance you give to your customer service should be equal to your product, pricing, premises or any other key component of your business structure. It has to be part of the overall mix when you’re considering how you grow your business. Talk to your customers, follow up on after-sales and set your benchmarks high. Look at every touch-point that the customer has with your company and ask yourself if you’re delivering excellence? Can a customer understand everything about your service and philosophy offering just by walking around your showroom? From your front door to your sales pitch, to your delivery and after-sales, does a customer feel special? Your customer should be top of your organisation chart.
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Develop a customer service listening programme
What do you think a customer would say about ease and access of parking, range and price of products, stock availability, friendliness and competence of staff, ease of getting a quote and communication? What are their unforgivables, the non-negotiables? What do they value the most?
3 4 108 kbbreview kbb Birmingham Special Edition March 2018
Define your customer’s journey How do customers interact with you? You have to consider all stages of the purchase and you have to ensure that your customer is satisfied along every stage of the process. Customers will always be impressed by proactive service, but we must remember it is not a one-size-fits-all fix. The beauty of meeting your customers means you can do your best to tailor their experience against their expectation.
Encourage a customer-centric culture Allow initiative and allow ownership, as these attributes will foster the perfect sales
environment. Hire people with the right attitude who will embrace the ethos that you want to deliver in your business and then coach, coach and coach to develop your team. Your friendliness and willingness to help is in direct proportion to your success. People want to do business with friends. How friendly are you? They also want to do business with experts. Have a training plan in place so that when a customer walks through your door, they are met with a friendly team who are the most competent in the world. Make sure your team share your customer- centric values and reward them accordingly. A happy
team makes for a successful team.
Consistency is key and the challenge is to drive this and not let the organisational stuff get in the way. Your culture of ‘how we do things around here’ has to be customer-centric.
5 6 Work with suppliers
Manufacturers can assist you in meeting the needs of your increasingly savvy consumers. Are their brochures and point-of-sale material easy to understand? Is your company/showroom easy to do business with? Are you working with suppliers that share your philosophy of making life easy for your customers? Are they offering you unrivalled after- sales care, so that you in turn can look after your customers and give them a memorable experience? Merlyn holds parts for all its products for a lifetime, so that we can offer our customers a resolution to any issues their customers have, for example.
Embrace technology Technology is likely to be part of your offering and, of course, you need to embrace it, but personalisation will win all the time. Use social media effectively if you want to engage with your customers.
kbb Birmingham 2018 Show Special
Hire people with the right attitude then coach, coach and coach
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