Exemplary retail customer service involves resourcefulness, initiative and strong people skills \u2013 as highlighted in our article on transferable skills<\/a> \u2013 as you\u2019re often required to think on your feet to maintain high levels of customer service. What\u2019s perhaps most important, however, is providing a seamless experience \u2013 caring for your customer before, during and after the sale to ensure their expectations are always met at all times, without exceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commendable customer service brings benefits to everyone involved in the transaction, including you, your customer and your business, making it something that shouldn\u2019t be ignored. Furthermore, many consumers often cite high levels of customer service as a reason why they would favour one company over another, or even pay more for the product or service on offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The overall customer experience plays a key role in determining whether shoppers will return to your business \u2013 or take their money elsewhere. In fact, excellent customer service in retail is no longer seen as an added bonus for many customers; rather, it\u2019s something they expect. So much so that, 9 out of 10 consumers<\/a> go so far as to say that they would pay more to ensure excellent customer service from a company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most recent UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI<\/a>) shows that organisations in any industry have the ability to provide exceptional customer service. A few examples of UK businesses proven to provide good customer service are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s clear that if you provide good customer service in retail, the customer is more likely to shop at your business again and also recommend you to their friends and family, or leave a positive review online. This word-of-mouth recommendation is vital in today\u2019s retail world, where shoppers often rely on reviews and testimonials from other customers before they make a purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our Retail Customer Service Training Course<\/a> ensures that retail staff are constantly and consistently achieving and exceeding their customer’s needs and expectations. You could also take a look at our Customer Service Training Course<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Looking for some examples of good customer service skills in retail? The following actionable tips and advice will help you to improve the customer service you offer, whether it\u2019s in-person, over the phone or online:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Always offer a friendly face (or avatar)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember to greet customers with a smile and a friendly hello when they enter your retail premises and say thank you and goodbye to them when they leave. If you\u2019re talking on the phone, smile whilst you\u2019re speaking, and on social media or live chat try to be personable and not corporate \u2013 or worse, scripted. Furthermore, ensure you\u2019re looking presentable if you\u2019re meeting customers in person: polish your shoes, iron your clothes and brush your hair. Obvious, maybe, but essential for a good first impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Be available, all the time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our instant, on-demand lifestyle means customers expect answers to their queries and problems quickly, if not immediately, and at any time of day or night. For retailers, this can be a challenge, especially if you only work 9-5. Having a social media page or a live chat facility that\u2019s monitored as close to 24\/7 as possible will help \u2013 could you take it in turns to check your company Facebook page on an evening, to ensure comments and questions don\u2019t go unanswered?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Know your product, service and company inside out<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Just as customers expect you to be there 24\/7, they also expect you to know everything. There\u2019s nothing more frustrating than having a question about a product and being unable to obtain an answer. In most cases like this, the customer will simply remove the item from their basket and take their business elsewhere. That\u2019s not to say you literally have to know it all but you should have a comprehensive knowledge of what you\u2019re selling. If it\u2019s something you can\u2019t answer straight away, or need to go away and look into or fix, then it\u2019s vital that you keep the customer in the loop about what\u2019s happening. The customer will tolerate a longer wait time if they\u2019re kept informed. If they\u2019re not, they\u2019ll abandon the transaction and head elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Avoid being negative<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You might not know the answer, you might be having a bad day or the customer might clearly be wrong, but it\u2019s part of your role in customer service to keep these less-than-positive thoughts to yourself. If you have to say no to a customer, phrase it politely and positively: \u201cI\u2019m sorry you\u2019re unhappy and I\u2019m not sure of the answer myself, but give me one moment and I\u2019ll do my best to find out for you.\u201d If the customer service you provide is worded negatively, rudely or unhelpfully, you can guarantee the customer will tell their friends or leave a bad review about your business online, and bad reviews can spread like wildfire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Fix problems and issues, immediately<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n People complain because they haven’t had their needs or expectations met and, in today\u2019s world of review sites, direct messaging and social media posts, it\u2019s unlikely that the issue will go unseen or unheard. Therefore, it\u2019s important that your organisation makes it easy for people to complain \u2013 if it’s hard, the customer will only get more annoyed. To ensure the customer service you provide is exemplary, a speedy response is also vital \u2013 don\u2019t leave people hanging for days, they\u2019ll only get more frustrated \u2013 and professional in tone. Be mindful of what you say in response to complaining customers, especially if it’s in the public arena and visible to the whole internet. This means being polite, apologetic and helpful, just as you would if you were dealing with a customer in-person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Remember your regulars<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n People love to be remembered. It makes them feel unique, cared for and valued as a customer. If a customer you\u2019ve seen before enters your retail premises, greet them by name if you know it or simply welcome them back \u2013 they\u2019ll be delighted you\u2019ve remembered them. If your retail space is online, then make use of personalised email communications that use customers\u2019 names at the start of them. This makes your emails or messages feel more human and less robotic. It can also be impressive to a customer if you can quickly recall details from past conversations \u2013 most live chat software will capture data from previous interactions that you can use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Good manners cost nothing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n First impressions play a significant role in good customer service in retail. Being polite, saying please and thank you, being respectful and smiling are small gestures but they all add up. Remember to always keep the focus on the customer too \u2013 don\u2019t be distracted by chatty colleagues, your phone or your pile of stock. Give the customer your full attention and your business will reap the rewards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. Stop, look, listen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t matter what you\u2019re doing \u2013 stocking shelves, writing an email or catching up with a colleague \u2013 your number one priority is to listen to your customers. This doesn\u2019t mean half listening to their query whilst you formulate the perfect answer in your head, nor does it mean getting ahead and saving some time by copying and pasting a stock response into an email ready to hit send. Listening means being patient, giving the customer time to speak without jumping in and ensuring you understand everything they\u2019ve said before responding. How often can you say you\u2019ve truly listened to what someone\u2019s had to say before interrupting with your own thoughts on the situation? Have you ever preempted what someone is going to say and then replied with the wrong information because you\u2019ve not waited to hear the whole story? This is called active listening<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9. Let the customer help themselves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Many people (especially us Brits) prefer to try and solve their own problem before asking for help, so empower customers to help themselves by giving them information upfront. For example, clearly display things like return policies, postage costs, payment options, shop locations and opening hours, etc. on your website. Similarly, it\u2019s a good idea to curate a frequently asked questions list to encourage self-service and reduce the amount of time spent answering the same queries. Empowering your customers in this way means you can focus on providing excellent customer service in other areas of your business where the time is better spent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10. Don\u2019t forget about the internet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Often, the feedback you receive from a customer will be in the form of a review online, whether on a social media page, a reviews website, an online forum, a local listings page or a comments section on your company website. If you work in a bricks-and-mortar retail premises then it can sometimes be easy to forget about your online presence, but a negative comment on the internet can be highly damaging to your business\u2019s reputation. Responding quickly to these online reviews shows your customers that they are the most important aspect of your business. Be empathetic and understanding \u2013 never use a copy-and-paste stock response \u2013 and do what you can to help. Although you might want to move the conversation offline or into private emails, it’s important to respond publicly as this is a great opportunity to show others just how much you value your customers and the effort you’ll put into fixing issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Retail customer service involves resourcefulness, initiative and strong people skills. Find our tips to help you improve your customer service skills here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":63503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-5861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-business-fundamentals"],"acf":{"schema_disabled":false,"schema_properties_FAQPage_question_answer":null,"schema_properties_HowTo_howto_tools":null,"schema_properties_HowTo_howto_supplies":null,"schema_properties_HowTo_howto_steps":null,"schema_properties_WebPage_cssSelector":null,"schema_sameAs_repeater":null,"schema_custom_json_repeater":null,"schema_custom_json_override":false},"yoast_head":"\n
\n\n\n\nWhat is the Importance of Customer Service in Retail?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div>\nLooking to Learn More?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\nHow to Improve Customer Service in Retail: Our Top 10 Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFurther Resources:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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