3 Ways To Improve Customer Service In Retail Environments

Retail stores typically rely on local transactions for the majority, if not all, of their sales. If local customers aren't walking in to your store, you can't expect to run a successful business. The good news is that you can encourage more customers to visit your store by focusing on customer service. In this post, we're going to cover 3 simple and effective techniques for retail store's to improve their customer service.

#1 - Connect With Your Customers

Improving customer service in a retail environment starts by connecting with the customer. Don't treat your customers as business assets, but instead treat them as your friends. Taking the initiative to say things like "Hello, how are you?" to each and every customer walking into your store will set you apart from your competitors. People want to feel acknowledge and appreciated when they are shopping, so make sure you are greeting every customer who walks into your store.

#2 -Train Your Employees

Unless your employees are properly trained in dealing with customers, all of your hard work is for nothing. Employees are essentially a representation of your business when you aren't around. If they fail to offer good customer service, it will send the wrong message about your store. The damaging effects of poorly trained employees can have a disastrous impact on a business. If you haven't done so already, train all of your employees how to talk and deal with customers in a friendly manner. To make sure they are practicing good customer service, you can send some secret shoppers into your store to critique their behavior.

It's also not a bad idea to send your employees through a customer service retraining program on occasion. After a while, it's easy for employees to forget certain aspects of their training. Retraining them, however, will instill these elements so they'll be more adept at representing your business.

#3 - Go Above and Beyond The Call of Duty

What exactly does this mean? Well, there are countless different ways for store owners to go above and beyond the call of duty. For instance, if you see a customer waiting outside 10 minutes before the official store opening time, perhaps you can unlock the doors and let them inside. It's not going to harm you by letting customers shop early in your store, and doing so will leave a positive impression on the customer. Another idea is to run monthly giveaway contests for customers who signup to your Facebook page. This is a highly effective tool for gaining more exposure while the customer receives a freebie.