Customer Service is important for the entire year, but during the holiday season you have to step customer service up a notch. You and your customer service team’s primary motivation should be to help your customers purchase what they came in for and have a positive shopping experiences. Giving customers what they want increases chances for repeat business after the holiday frenzy is over.
What Your Customers Want
Your customers want you to put them first and be flexible when offering alternative products when needed. By offering more than one solution to an issue, they have more chances to purchase what they came for. You can also try to locate products for them at other stores in your franchise or online if you don’t have the items yourself in stock. When you offer choices, the customer is more likely to find that for which he or she was looking. You need to go the extra mile and be a problem solver rather than just taking product orders and moving on to the next customer. By getting creative, thinking outside the box and looking for ways to make your customers happy, you’ll have return customers because of great shopping experiences.
Gearing Up the Team
Even when the holiday season is underway, you can still provide great service. You can have quick meetings with your staff every day and find out if there are any problems to resolve. Were there any unusual requests or customer service issues that need to be dealt with? Brainstorm with your employees to find solutions to pending issues. Remind your team to listen to what the customers are saying and fully focus on them, and encourage them to help each other to pay attention to clients. Ask your employees to establish eye contact and listen, as well as ask for clarification for anything they don’t understand. Remind your employees to step into the customer’s shoes and that everything is all about the customer’s shopping experience. The focus of team meetings needs to be on ways of helping your customers accomplish their shopping goals.
Helping Your Customers Achieve Their Goals
There are those customers who don’t like to stand in long shopping lines on Black Friday. They prefer their shopping to be less time consuming, less frustrating and done with ease. Your customers may be short on time, money, and patience, so you need to amplify your customer service to handle any complaints or inquires. If you have an item that is high in demand but low in supply, you can offer to keep the customer apprised of the availability by text, phone, or email. Offer to supply free gift wrapping, free shipping, and a phone call when their item has arrived at your store to save them time. You can also offer a wishlist for them to put together so their loved ones will find gift shopping made easier when they shop. Your customer will receive what they want for the holidays and their family is relieved of the stress of making a wrong choice, a win-win situation for both the customer and you.
If you treat your customers with the same courtesy that you would like extended to yourself, then your business holiday season will be a successful and happy one.
Image by Ambro / freedigitalphotos.net
Become a member to take advantage of more features, like commenting and voting.
Register or sign in today!