Customer service is a traditional concept in retail. In fact it may be one of the oldest discussion points when it comes to dialogue about producing a more successful retail store. But savvy retailers are beginning to realize that the accepted basic concept of customer service being simply about knowledgeable and friendly clerks is inadequate to satisfy a more demanding customer base.

The October 2009 issue of Hardware Retailing included an article titled Reality Check that very clearly exposed the disconnect between what hardware store managers and their customers regarded as the attributes of good customer service. While over 90% of the store owners stated that friendly and knowledgeable people were the more important elements in delivering a positive shopping experience, over 30% of the customers polled said that the most important elements were not employee related at all but rather included things like breadth of selection, ease of finding their way around the store and ease of entry into and out of the establishment. Based upon this information, it may be time to reevaluate the way you define customer service.

Search the Internet and you will find many working definitions of the term, but here is the one I think most fully describes the broad nature of what reports like the one cited above indicated: Customer service is the sum of the acts and elements that allow consumers to receive what they need or desire from your retail establishment. You may come up with one that resonates more with you, but the important part is to reexamine traditional customer service thinking. This is so critical, in fact, that I believe failing to do may leave a store's future in jeopardy.

To separate elements of customer service, I believe, requires the precision of a surgeon's scalpel. And in fact, they are better off not separated because each works so intrinsically with the others. So as you look around your store today or tomorrow evaluate the experience through a customer's eyes. Is the presentation interesting and does the store layout enhances the appearance of how much product you are stocking. Consider whether you have the human elements of customer service in place and at the same time consider your guiding signs and communication pieces. Is your store creating a shopping experience and not simply providing products?

In this ultra competitive age in which retailers are operating it will be the strong that survive. Sometimes strength comes from a simple evaluation. Make sure that you reevaluate the customer service experience that your store is creating.