Unit 5 - Retail Selling And Customer Care

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To enhance their selling and profits all retail stores must ensure that they look after their customers and ensure that they receive good customer service. It is acknowledged that it is easier to keep existing customers than to attract new ones. Customers who receive good service are more likely to recommend the company to others and so help reduce advertising costs.

Different companies have differing attitudes to customer care.

The White Rose Centre looks after its shopping customers in a variety of ways. It hosts tea dances and offers mall-walking opportunities. It has also opened an education centre to benefit the community. The Centre also has a disability sub-committee to ensure that it looks after that sector of the community and always takes their needs in to consideration.

The manager of Sherburn Village Co-op prides himself on the standard of customer service offered to the store's customers. As it is a small store staff tend to know the customers personally. They understand their customers' requirements and they try to fulfil all those requirements. For example when a customer had commented that the store had recently been stocking only short spaghetti and that his preference was long spaghetti staff made arrangements for the longer spaghetti to be stocked. In the wider community, store staff are involved with local schools and healthy eating projects.

Customer service is also important to Debenhams. New staff are initially trained in customer service and further training is given in ongoing sessions throughout their career. A mystery shopper visits the White Rose Shopping Centre store every three months and spends half a day in the store visiting most departments, including the restaurant. The mystery shopper may buy and return products as part of the review and then report back to the manager about the level of customer service received.

Games Workshop staff have 10 customer service commandments to follow which are to:

1. Acknowledge all people who enter the store
2. Be aware of people and their behaviour in store
3. Show enthusiasm and be cheerful
4. Be attentive and listen carefully to customer needs
5. Promote the hobby
6. Establish a rapport with the customer
7. Display an in-depth knowledge of the company product
8. Maintain high standards of personal hygiene and appearance
9. Ask questions which obtain the best answers concerning customer needs
10. Show courtesy
11. (unofficial) HAVE FUN

Customers are very important to the company and staff. Staff advise potential buyers and pride themselves that they would rather advise a customer to buy what they need rather than another item, which may be more expensive. They are encouraged to play games with customers and hold special beginner's sessions which new customers are encouraged to attend. Staff also hold painting sessions and nights for veterans (aged 16+) and during school holidays regular themed sessions are held.

The Games Workshop company has a licence for Lord of the Rings merchandise and although the company does very little advertising it did run a national advertising campaign when the Lord of the Rings game was launched, which caused a surge in demand for products connected with Middle Earth. Individual stores do not undertake outside marketing and advertising. Most local universities and a number of schools have Warhammer clubs and therefore customers get to know about products through word of mouth or by visiting the store. Staff advertise their theme nights in the shop and Head Office provides posters and literature for the store to do this.

The Body Shop also places a lot of importance on customer service. The company considers customer service is about meeting a customer's needs and then exceeding them. Members of staff at The Body Shop are encouraged to look, feel and act the part by being friendly and approachable, passionate about the product, listening to the customer and helping them choose the products to meet their needs.

The store's environment is important because it affects the customer and all the senses are considered. Staff are encouraged to ensure that stores:

• smell good by burning home fragrance oils
• sound good, with appropriate music playing in the background
• look clean and well stocked

Team members are instructed how:

• to deal with customers from the moment they enter the store (with a friendly greeting),
• to establish the customers' needs
• to recommend appropriate products and to offer other products
• to ensure that customers leave satisfied.

As an organisation The Body Shop also places a long-term emphasis on issues directly relevant to its main customers - women. They are working with other organisations to support a 'Stop Violence in the Home' campaign.

At Harvey Nichols customer service is vital as assistants are frequently serving customers who are celebrities or multi-millionaires. Individual assistants have to get to know their customers very well. They need to know what lifestyle they lead, who they socialise with, what functions they attend, and how they dress during the day. Staff have to be diplomatic and also know who has bought which designs recently because many of their customers attend the same functions and socialise together and it would be inexcusable if two clients wore the same dress to a function.

The company will make slight alterations to garments to suit individual customer needs but will not undertake major restructuring because if this was done a dress, for example, would not look as the designer intended. The company also provides a personal shopper service to its customers.

In the menswear department at Harvey Nichols assistants try to keep both the customer and his partner happy. Staff understand that if a customer's wife or partner does not like the garment he will not buy it even if it suits him. The assistants use the time when a man is changing into an item, to talk to his wife/partner about how good the garment will look. Their customers are often very influential people and assistants need to ensure that they are happy in order that they will visit the store again and recommend it to others in their social circle.

PC World customers often know what they want to purchase, for example, a laptop computer or printer, but do not know exactly which specific model they want. Whilst customers are comparing models and prices sales assistants help them to decide and advise on purchasing extras such as software and peripherals.

Sales assistants at stores undertake a lot of training so that they are able to assist customers. The company has an electronic learning programme PC World Academy which all employees follow. There is a site map, which leads employees through the various components of the learning programme that they need to complete to learn about the business. Some modules are downloadable workbooks whilst others can be completed on-line.

Staff are able to see stock levels at other PC World branches and this means that if a customer wants to purchase a specific item that is out of stock at one store staff can find out which stores have the item in stock and can ask them to hold it until the customer gets there. This prevents customers making unnecessary journeys. In addition, following criticisms of extended warranties PC World have introduced a monthly cover plan that can be cancelled at any time. PC Performance Pay as you Go covers purchases for mechanical breakdown and breakdown due to mishaps. If the product cannot be repaired or the appropriate parts cannot be obtained readily it will be replaced. The company also offers installation and upgrade services, computer health checks and telephone help lines for their customers.

Customer Service is crucial to all successful businesses. All of the businesses mentioned value customer service and build it in to their corporate strategy.

1. Why is customer service so important to retailers?
2. What elements of customer service do these organisations have in common?
3. Make a list of ten elements of customer service that you consider to be important to a retailer of your choice.

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