I would like to improve customer service in my shop but how?

Question

I have already thought of the normal things to improve customer service - offering baskets, add-ons, etc but want to think of something even better that works and is more interesting for the staff (who always seem like they just can't be bothered)

Answer 1

Why not ask your customers? Put up an attractive sign with a postbox underneath and a shelf with paper and pens. Write the sign on the lines of " At this shop, we value our customers. Any suggestions to improve your shopping experience here will be greatly appreciated. ...And,any complaints will be taken seriouslyand dealt with......Your input matters to our output"............or something like that. Your customers will like the fact that you are thinking of them, and the feedback should give you ideas from their point of view. You will get a few smart@rses but I'm sure you can sort the wheat from the chaff As for the staff, if they are not pulling their weight, then give a warning, and if nothing improves...sack her/him. Other staff might get the message if they think their job is on the line, unless they improve. If any member of staff does well, give them some praise, and always try to be friendly and pleasant to them, but not over familiar where they could take advantage.. Small insentives can improve performance.

Answer 2

First off. Step back from the situation for a day and go out round other shops. While you're doing this ask yourself this one simple question.
"How do I expect these shops to treat me?"
Once you have an answer or answers to that question, go back to your own shop and make sure you treat customers the way you would expect to be treated.

Your staff can make or break your business.
They are your customer facing element, and every time they get it wrong, they're losing you money.

Incentivise your staff.
Make them understand that you are prepared to reward examples of good customer care.
It might be something as simple as a bottle of booze for every incident of good customer care that comes to your attention.
Or you could promise a Christmas bonus based on the business profits. So the better they treat customers, the more the company earns, and therefore, the higher their bonus will be.
Or you could offer a team outing once a year with a *sky's the limit* theme. So if profits are small, you'll take them to the pub, but if the profits are high, they could all end up heading off to somewhere like Dublin for a weekend.
Whatever you do, be consistent with it.
Eventually, it will become an instinctive habit for them to treat customers well.

Answer 3

We have all experienced situations where you walk into a well marketed well known shop with an excellent reputation and then all that multimillion pound marketing spending goes down the drain when some sulky little can't be bothered b*tch's attitude puts you off! My pard has a shop and we just cannot get the right staff - when he is in there for a week we make good money. The business is new but staff we have tried and given a lot of time to get used to the environment just don't get it right, even with a more then decent wage.

Answer 4

Sounds like what you need to do is first of all to improve customer service is motivate the staff- there's nothing worse going into a shop where the staff seem as if they don't care about the customer.

Answer 5

I work at Barnes and Noble and there are a considerable amount of books on improving customer service. I would suggest you do research through books and other sources for ideas. You can visit other stores that have have a similar clientele and check the methods they have for dealing with customers. If you have staff that are not willing to do their job to the best of their ability get rid of them and get staff that will. If you show that you intend to improve the business and hold some employees accountable for their actions they will shape up or ship out. Thus us YOUR business you have no time for people trying to mess up your investment.

Answer 6

Customer service is directly proportional to the interest the staff has in the company. If you have min wage employees that have no apparent vested interest in the success of the business, it's hard to motivate them to care about customers. The people that invariably show superior customer service are the owners of a business - they have a direct, and obvious, interest in the success of the business, which they know is directly tied to the happiness of the customers. Find a way to motivate the employees to take ownership for the business - profit-based bonus incentives, partial ownership plans (ESOPs), etc. have been shown to work well.

Answer 7

Get rid of part time 18 year old minimum wage earners. Make sure that everyone passes a literacy test. Get rid of the weird hair-gothic makeup-tattoo wearing help. Get rid of performance problem employees - if they can't get to work on time, the job means nothing to them. If they are a problem to you, then they are a definite problem to customers. Do not hire former mega store employees ( Wal-mart, Kmart, Target, etc ) because that is where they actually learned the attitudes and poor customer service. Do not hire single parents - the last thing on their mind is taking care of a customer, as their personal lives are ALWAYS a mess and they don't care about some 'job'. Finally, hired help is generally lazy, it isn't their business, it isn't their career. Today, paying a wage isn't enough. You have to find a way to make them sign on to doing a good job. And YOU can't forget to say 'thank you' or 'nice job'.

Answer 8

If you're looking to inspire your staff, offer incentives. Whether it's a monthly bonus based on customer feedback or sales, or a gift certificate for dinner at a nice restaurant for the staff member and his/her guest - something to let them know their effort is appreciated. You could do an "employee of the month" type thing, or setup a scale of sorts to allow more than one person to be rewarded in the same time period.

Your staff has an obligation to perform. They accepted that obligation when they took the job. If that, combined with some sort of incentive program, can't retain their interest, it's time for some staffing turnover in your shop.

Answer 9

What you need to do first is motivate your staff.

If they can't be bothered about serving your customers than any incentive scheme you design is doomed to failure.

Do you just employ students/part-timers/elderly on minimum wage ?

What interviewing techniques do you use when employing staff ?

What incentive/bonus schemes do you have for your staff ?

What fringe benefits do you offer ?

What qualifications/experience do you specify when placing staff required ads ?

What management qualifications do you have ?

Sorry if I seem to have answered your question with a list of questions but there isn't a 'magic bullet' answer.

Answer 10

Competition always makes people work harder. Think of a promo item. For example, chocolate bars, or little pots of nail varnish, and place them on the till. Basically something that relates to the products you're selling. Only charge 50p or £1 for the item but tell the employees that whoever sells the most get's a cash bonus.

Offer gift wrapping? If it ties in with the ietms you sell.