Customer Service – The importance of getting it right

Retail is as competitive as any industry and as the economy continues to recover after covid restrictions have been eased and lockdowns have ended, competition is as fierce as ever. There are many ways to distinguish your business from your competitors, product and price being top of the list, but there is one differentiator which is often overlooked and your retail management system has a lot to do with it – customer service. In fact, 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated and 84% of people say that customer service is one of the key factors helping them decide whether to buy or not from a company. To top it off, a customer is a whopping four times more likely to switch a competitor if they have a service-based problem.

Even if you think your customer service is already on point, there’s always room for improvement. And, when you consider the inextricable link between customer service and the success of your business, doing what you can to improve your service is a no-brainer. Here are our top tips on how to take your customer service to the next level.

“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” – Michael LeBoef

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Who doesn’t love a freebie? Whether it’s a free gift, a discount or coupon, or loyalty points, everyone likes to get something for nothing. And, when you have points to spend or a limited time offer, you feel obligated to use them and that can only mean one thing...shopping!

When you reward or thank your customers, they get a warm fuzzy feeling inside and this triggers a positive emotional response to your brand which keeps them coming back for more. It’s a great way to develop loyalty and repeat custom, not to mention reducing the opportunity for them to stray towards one of your competitors, so much so that 95% of shoppers say customer service is important for brand loyalty.

Whether you do this through a reward scheme, vouchers or free gifts, properly managing this type of promotion is crucial. A sophisticated retail management system will ensure that redemption is fool proof and leaves no room for error. Afterall, the last thing you want is to end up with a disappointed customer because your admin is inaccurate or your system just can’t cope, especially as about 50% of customers say they would switch to a new brand after just one bad experience!

Reward customers in-store or online with Saledock’s flexible point and visit based loyalty rewards.

Getting to know you

Being able to profile your customers by their purchase history and their preferences will enable you to better understand their needs and predict their shopping behaviour. This detailed business intelligence will help you to ensure your stock profile is healthy by accurately forecasting future requirements so you always have those best-sellers in stock. In fact, 63% of consumers now expect businesses to know their unique needs and expectations.

This level of detail also means you can interact with your customers on a personal level and design targeted promotions for specific segments of your database. This type of personalised marketing is one of the most effective forms of advertising there is!

However, to do this effectively you need to be confident that your retail management system is up to scratch. If you act on inaccurate data you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot. In fact, getting this wrong will actually cost you more in lost revenue as your customers begin to view your brand as irrelevant to them and switch off to your messaging.

Saledock's back office and POS app manages customer profiles helping you to personalise your customers shopping experience and target your marketing campaigns more effectively.

Add value

If you hold accurate and useful information about your customers, you can use this to add serious value to your products. This type of customer insight takes upselling to a whole other level.

No doubt you’ll have experienced the robotic ‘would you like a discounted chocolate bar today?’ sales patter at the till in your local shop. Now, get that out of your head because this is totally different. We’re talking about product recommendations which complement the products someone is already committed to buying. And, this applies equally in-store as it does online. It’s a bit like Amazon’s ‘often bought together’ upsell and the beauty of it is that it lends itself to just about any kind of product, whether an accessory to an existing purchase or as a nice little extra.

Smart upselling can seriously boost your revenue and, if done right, it’s an easy sell which leaves your customer feeling valued and supported.

Get to know your customers better with Saledock’s full in-store and online sales history linked to each customer profile so you can make meaningful recommendations.

Be the expert

Retailers don’t just sell products, they sell knowledge. And, if your knowledge surpasses that of your competitors, you’re already one step ahead. Just imagine you’re buying a new bike for your 12 year old nephew. You ask a salesperson which size bike you should buy and it’s clear they don’t know the answer. What would you do? Risk buying the wrong size, disappointing your nephew and having to return the bike – or go elsewhere? You wouldn’t be alone in changing your mind as 78% of customers have backed out of a purchase due to a poor customer experience.

Sound product knowledge is essential to building customer confidence. However, if you sell a wide product range or there are multiple versions of each product you sell, it can be difficult to learn the level of detail required to be the expert salesperson your customer needs. The good news is that a modern retail management solution can do the hard work for you so all you have to do is look up what you need to know. And, if you use mobile devices in your store, your salespeople can have this information readily available when it’s needed, literally at their fingertips.

With Saledock you can create product collections or size and colour variant products, all managed from a single view so you can answer any questions with confidence.

Conclusion

There’s no denying that customer service is an important differentiator and getting it right is essential to success. In fact, customer service is more important now than it has ever been because consumers have more choice than ever before. All things being equal, providing an excellent service will set you head and shoulders above your competitors as 89% of companies with "significantly above average" customer experiences perform better financially than their competition.

If your existing ePOS isn’t helping you to provide outstanding customer service, it’s probably costing you more than you realise in lost revenue. Why not set up your free 14 day trial with Saledock today and see the difference a sophisticated retail management system can make to your retail business.