Customer Service Training:
20 Annoying Practices To Remedy With Customer Service Skills
It is always amazing to me, after twenty-some years in retail, that I still encounter retail customer service skills practices that are mediocre, if not blatantly bad. Many common mistakes are easily remedied using basic customer service skills; unfortunately, many retailers are not even aware that they and their staff are exhibiting poor, or even dismal, customer service skills.
Here is a list of my top twenty annoying things that some retailers still do that show their lack of customer service skills:
1. You continue to talk on the telephone. (And ignore your customers.)
2. You don't stock the item I want; instead of offering to order it for me, you just insist that item is unavailable. You don't attempt to locate the item for me from another store, either.
3. You insist that you can't sell me the item in the display. You don't seem to care that it's the only item of its kind left in the store. Apparently, the store display is more important to you than me, your customer.
4. Ditto, the item in the window display. It is not for sale, and in fact you may not even stock the item. It was only put in the window display to entice customers into the store. (This means you are just "teasing" your customers. That's a real lack of not only customer service skills, but integrity and class.)
5. You don't recycle. You do not want the excessive packaging returned to your store. You do not recycle batteries. (Even though you sell them.) You do not encourage your customers to bring their own bags or offer reusable bags for sale.
6. You insist that the store must close at its scheduled time; you tell your customers that the store is closing shortly and that they will have to leave. (It's happened to me on a number of different occasions.)
7. Similarly, when a customer knocks on the door at closing (because you've locked it one minute before closing time), you ignore them and continue doing paperwork at the counter. (Because going home at the scheduled time is much more important than that potential sale.)
8. Your store hours reflect convenience to you and not your customers.
9. Similarly, you hold special events during normal store hours, and not at a more convenient time for your customers.
10. You tell your customer that the item will be in at the end of the week, and yet it does not arrive at that specified time. Your customer service skills are such that you insist that delivery times are out of your control. You consistently "under-deliver" and make no attempt at changing to suppliers who can deliver on time.
11. You don't accept checks (Who does anymore?) or debit or credit cards. You accept cash only. (Because you're not really seriously in business; it's just a hobby, right?) Making it hardse to pay is very poor customer service skills.
12. You insist that customers must come into the store to view an item, because you don't do telephone inquiries. You insist that you don't have the time to look for sizes or colors... because that task might take you two minutes, right? (And the twenty-five minutes that it takes your customer to travel to come into the store is much more convenient, right? Yes, for you!)
13. Your employees pounce on unsuspecting customers, or they hover annoyingly.
14. You employ staff but do not train them. Your staff is not knowledgeable, helpful or happy, and they have no customer service skills!
15. You employ family members who don't want to work at your store. They rarely get off the stool behind the counter. If asked where an item is located, they vaguely point to a general area of the store.
16. The same employee does not offer any information. Nor do they make any attempt to find out information for you. (Because the telephone is not close enough to the stool.)
17. When your customer is annoyed at their customer service skills (or lack thereof), your employee merely shrugs.
18. When your customer informs you that "I'm never shopping here again!"... you don't care. (That customer was an inconvenience to you anyway, right?)
19. You don't do refunds... even if the sale was made earlier on that same day. (You have rules, and you never break them.)
20. You have rules and you never break them.
All retailers can have a bad day and all of us make occasional mistakes, but that is never an excuse for poor customer service skills. If your competition practices are like any of the above, you are lucky! Ensure that your customer service skills are superior and advertise your own customer service skills with a list: Twenty Things We Do That You Will Love!
Source: Marilyn Cahill http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Marilyn_Cahill
Related: Customer Service Skills
Customer Service Training:
20 Annoying Practices To Remedy With Customer Service Skills
|
