Customers Come First… Right?

When you opened your store, did you do so because you love people?

Retail is a business designed around customer service and supporting consumers, aka people. Yet many retailers open their store doors because they love a product or the idea of owning a retail store – not because they enjoy working with people and dealing with the many highs and lows that come with that experience.

With this mind, how can you better support the customers that walk in and out of your store? To start, you must recognize that the driving forces behind customer decisions DO impact your business, and their ultimate final choices on where they spend their dollars IS partly dependent on your actions.

Here’s what we know: 

Customers are TIME POOR.

Customers cling tighter to their WALLETS than ever before.

Customers like EXPERIENCES when they shop brick and mortar stores.

Customers want CLARITY in their buying decisions.

Customers will SPEND MONEY somewhere.

Here’s what you can do: 

1. Retailers  should train their staff to be INFORMED and EDUCATED on their store inventory & services.

This means holding regular store meetings that educate your team – including yourself – on new products, upcoming products and all the details that make up your store. You can introduce vendors to join you for select meetings, as well, to help support education for your team, as well as identify various strengths and weaknesses from your team and store at large that you want to improve.

2. Retailers need to identify EXPECTATIONS from their team and themselves to deliver strong, consistent customer service. 

Training your team and providing them tons of information is only worthwhile if you measure the success of these results. Factor in employee reviews into your quarterly schedule, then stick to them. This will give you one-on-one time with employees, helping you also strengthen your own store habits while you are at it. If you’re at a loss for how to deliver an employee review, consider using on of the templates provided here.

3. Retailers need to SUPPORT customers when they walk through their doors… aka stop doing anything else you may be doing.

We know you’re busy, and we certainly understand. But too often, customers enter stores only to be ignored because retailers are busy “getting things done”. Whether its posting something on social media, tracking inventory, reviewing products, prepping for a trade show or anything else, the reality is you need to hit pause mentally when a customer walks into your store. Focus on them and let everything else wait.

4. Retailers should be genuine, kind and actually LISTEN to their customers versus blindly sell anything to anyone.

We know you want to sell, sell, sell… but are you willing to sell something you absolutely, confidently know a customer does not need or want? If they’re going to get that product home and regret it, is it worth selling it in the first place? We’ll let you be the judge here, but our hope for brick and mortar merchants is that they are listening to their customers and supporting them with the right service, helping them find and purchase the right products. That type of customer service is the kind that is remembered, bragged about and rewarded with return visits and more sales.

5. Retailers should know when enough is enough, giving customers SPACE to enjoy your store on their own.

Some customers just don’t like the TLC you may want to offer, and that’s okay. Learn the cues customers give you – such as limited or no eye contact or them saying “I don’t need any help” – then back off. You can still support them through great store displays, signage and other interactive experiences in your store. And by doing what they want – not physically supporting them – you are actually doing your job well. Of course, don’t turn your eyes entirely away. Pay attention to where they move in your store, what they linger over, how they respond to certain items, etc. You can be a hawk without being a hawk, though. Make sense?

Ultimately, your goal as a merchant is to create a store environment that not only introduces great product and / or services to customers, but also introduces a great staff and team that consumers will feel welcomed by. Great people make great businesses, and this is a key contributor to keeping your customer service top notch. With this in mind, we’re challenging the idea that customers come first… because really, YOU do and your TEAM does. Without them, you won’t have any customers to support.