According to a recent survey of 10963 retail customers by uk consumer group Which? Customers are “ willing to pay extra for quality service and an enjoyable shopping experience “ and our favourite aspect is “ friendly , knowledgeable staff “
In 1960 Theodore Levitt famously said “the purpose of a business is to create and keep customers “and in 1984 W. Edwards Deming said “Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your product and service, and that bring friends with them”
The surveys highest scoring companies ( judged on convenience, customer service, experience, pricing and product ) were Waitrose ( 87% ), John Lewis ( 78 %) and local independent stores ( 77% ) whilst at the bottom of the table were Woolworths and JJB Sports ( 39% ) and JD Sports ( 33% ).
Interestingly discount supermarkets Lidl (69 %) and Aldi (68%) did relatively well reflecting that customers “don’t mind sacrificing service “ IF “ the price is right and the products acceptable “ . This is consistent with the well known approach to competitive advantage espoused by Michael Porter of either “low cost” or “differentiation” focus
So how do we ensure that our company is top of the table?
Consider some approaches via this self evaluation questionnaire
1. Do you survey your customers to find out how satisfied they are and ask for their suggestions for improvement.
2. Do you survey your staff to find out how satisfied they are with their working environment and ask for their suggestions
3. Do you have a mission statement or specific goals that focus on providing the customer with quality products or services
4. Do you collect information on what poor customer service costs you in terms of lost customers, wasted time and reduced morale
5. Do you train all your staff in telephone and face to face customer relationship skills
6. Do you train your managers in skills needed to support customer service ( team building, coaching etc )
7. Do you put new staff through an induction process that highlights the importance of the customer
8. Do you have an IT system that supports staff in providing effective customer service
9. Do you make changes to policies and procedures because customers or staff have given feedback
10. Do you reward and recognise staff for their efforts on behalf of customers
Nobody is perfect so grab the opportunity to improve one small thing today ... and another tomorrow ! Treat customers how you would like to be treated.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment