Friday, August 31, 2012

How to Provide Excellent Customer Service in the Retail Industry

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Expert Author Ankan Bose
Providing effective and timely customer service is critical for any industry and the same holds true for the retail industry as well. Since, without effective and timely customer services a business is sure to lose a lot of customers.
So why do you need customer services that are efficient in handling customer queries?
To begin with, let's just say that you have just bought a product from one of the major retail outlets and later on have some issues with the product, and you visit the store to get a replacement. Now, the outlet has two options:
· They listen to your query and provide a solution.
· They come up with excuses and refuse to replace your product.
As you can see, that the first option is pretty effective in retaining you as a customer; whereas the second option will leave you disappointed and it is unlikely that you would ever want to visit that store again. That's the reason why the retail industry needs to have excellent customer services in place to maintain its position and reputation in the market.
Now, coming back to the main question, "How to provide excellent customer service in the retail industry?"
There are a few essential points to keep in mind here. Let's look at some of the more important ones...
# Training the In-store demonstrators or customer care associates
It is the most important point. Since, they are the ones who are going to deal with customers in the first place. Therefore, it becomes highly important that they are able to address any questions that the customers' might have and provide them with an answer.
Also, not every customer is knowledgeable enough and often at times turns to these customer care associates to help them choose a product and come with a final decision while buying a product.
# Grievance desk
At times, the customers might end up being misguided or mistreated by the in-store associates. That is why there should always be a grievance desk, where the customer can go and register his/her issues. Doing so, sends out a message that the store in question cares for its customers and they are more than willing to help, should an issue crop up.
# Listing phone numbers and other details of the higher-ups
Listing the phone numbers and other details such as official email ID's etc. of the higher-ups in the store can prove to be a good step in providing effective customer services in the retail industry. This becomes important as the customer needs to know whom to contact in case his issues remain unresolved or he has some suggestions or complaints regarding either the products or the staff.
The retail industry is a very competitive industry. And over the years, it has become clear that the outlets that generate the maximum sales are the ones that are able to provide a positive overall experience to the customers'. Having the latest products or stuff that is in vogue definitely helps in generating sales. But in the end, it is the level of customer care that the store has decides whether the customer returns back to the store in the future or not.
Channelplay Is a leading retail marketing agency and field marketing service provider and offers its services to major retail stores in India. The company features an exhaustive list of services, including retail intelligence, visual merchandising, product training, audit services along with a range of other services. Please visit http://www.channelplay.in to know more about how they can help you with their services.

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