Tag Archive for: communication

The Hands-Off Customer: Who are they and how do you help them?

Every now and then someone walks into a store who does not want your attention. They’re not interested in your normal customer service tactics and skills; while they might appreciate all your efforts, they’ve no need of them. This is what we call a “Hands-Off Customer” in the sense that the customer service is not hands-on as it is with all the other stereotypes in this series.

Who is the Hands-off Customer & how to spot one…

The hands-off Customer can be a regular, but this isn’t necessarily the case. These are the people who come in knowing exactly what they’re looking for, probably where to find it in-store, and don’t want to be fussed or fluttered over. They’re on a mission and they’ve done the research; in sales-speak we might say that they are 90% of the way through the buyer journey and are now simply ready to grab what they need and pay.

It is essential for sales staff to learn to recognize a hands-off customer as soon as they’re greeted. The easiest way, of course, is to take a hint. When a customer says ‘no, thanks, I know I need’, it’s a good sign that they don’t need any staff hovering over them. As with the other types of customers that might walk into the store, learning to spot these hands-off customers becomes easier with time.

Correctly Identified a Hands-Off Customer, now what?

Having established that one of these types of customers isn’t open to the normal customer service tactics does not mean that they should not be serviced at all. After all, they’re still a customer and deserve to have the same great experience that all people who walk into the store get.

How then do we service customers who don’t want to be serviced? The trick lies in adapting your style. Just because a customer says they’re ‘fine’ and ‘don’t need help, thank you’ does not mean that staff has permission to neglect this customer. Rather than hovering, or actively up- or cross-selling items, staff might keep a vigilant – albeit distant – eye on this hands-off customer. Check to see if they do indeed find what they’re after. It’s always possible, after all, that they can’t find the exact thing they wanted even though they know that the store carries the product. The idea is to be helpful when needed; the customer is already inspired, that part of the sales trick is done but it’s important to keep them inspired.

When the customer has found the item they’re looking for and is at the cashier ready to pay, a small amount of customer servicing can be accomplished. A quick “did you find everything you were looking for?” will generate the correct experience – staff let them be, but they are always aware of the customer’s status and needs.

Don’t forget to say goodbye!

After the purchase has been made, the farewell is equally important. Don’t let the customer think that they’ve been dismissed simply because they didn’t ask for help. Make them aware of the fact that staff was aware of them. No one truly wants to be ignored – left alone? Maybe, ignored? Never.

What’s left to say…

Even though a hands-off customer doesn’t need help doesn’t mean that they should be dismissed out of hand. What’s more, the same customer coming back might not be a hands-off customer; the next time they might need some real customer service. Be ready for them.

Essentially, the rule of thumb is as follows: No customer should be ignored, all customers should be serviced to some degree.

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Window Shoppers: Turn them into Customers [Part 2]

One of the previous articles published concluded that it is possible to turn window shoppers into customers. It didn’t go into the how’s or the why’s, but it did explain the who’s. Window shoppers have a variety of reasons why they are not ready – or willing – to purchase. Determining their openness to a sales pitch – or indeed, further conversation – is the primary step to establishing whether or not they can be turned into potential customers. Once that has been determined, the question is then: how?

How to convert a window shopper into a customer

In essence, any person who walks into a store is a potential customer. It is the purpose of the customer service representative to close the deal.

This begins and ends with one term: connect.

Connect

Connect is the first stage in any customer journey. It involves greeting customers, engaging them, and building a rapport with them from the moment that they walk into the store. It is sales staff’s job to connect with potential customers. This is true for every type of customer that walks into a store, be they a regular, an unpleasable customer, or a window shopper.

As we have discovered, most people are willing to wait up to 2 minutes before they are offered assistance. Essentially, that means staff has 2 minutes to establish a conversation with customers the moment they walk in.

How to Connect

One of the first things that staff needs to learn is how to not give a prospective customer the option of shutting down the conversation straight away. This mainly means not asking the ‘Can I help you?’ question. Why? Because this is a closed question, all the window shopper has to do is say ‘No’ and that’s it. Not the best way to start a conversation.

Instead, train staff to ask open questions that enable the shopper to answer in more detail:

  • “Hi there, have you been here before?” leads to “Let me show you around!” or “Welcome back, let me show you our new arrivals!”
  • “Welcome to [insert store name here], how are you?” opens the conversation to further small talk.
  • “Hi, I noticed you looking at [insert products here]…” this sort of conversation starter allows for staff to talk about product benefits and features, opening the conversation even further and hopefully sparking interest in the window shopper.

Developing these types of conversational tactics will also impact the sales pitch. Pitching becomes easier when staff has established a conversation with a customer. Things can go wrong at any stage in a conversation, however, and it’s important for staff to realize how to make their pitches. If the conversation has been about purple socks, for example, it makes little sense to suddenly start talking about the specials on tennis rackets. Common sense rules supreme: it’s vital to adjust the sales script to the customer.

Another thing that shouldn’t be forgotten is your unique selling point (USP). Giving customers, window shoppers or otherwise, a reason why they should make their purchase with your business and not the competition is the best way to convert them. It’s not always easy to put your USP into words, but it’s important to do so.

So, what makes window shoppers different from other conversions?

Nothing. The big secret to converting window shoppers into customers is to treat them like any other customer that walks in. All the tricks of the trade that staff learn when talking with customers, closing deals with regulars, can and should be applied to window shoppers – after all, you won’t know if they’ll become customers unless you try it out, and at the end of the day, isn’t that they point?

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Window Shoppers: Turn them into Customers [Part 1]

Sales Staff: Hi! Welcome to Sample Store! Were you looking for anything in particular?
Window Shoppers: I’m just browsing. Thanks.

Many customer service representatives are familiar with this exchange. Many people come into stores just to have a quick look around. These window shoppers have a variety of reasons why they might only be browsing. Most of the time, sales staff will leave these people alone, preferring to service people who are actually interested in making a purchase; window shoppers are just a waste of time. Or are they?

What are window shoppers & why do they do it?

Window shoppers are people who browse a shop’s products and services without the intent to make a purchase. Their reasons vary, of course, but when narrowed down it can usually be assumed that it’s one of the following:

1. Wishlisting

Wishlisting involves people browsing products that they don’t actually need/want right at this moment, but they are looking at something they might buy in the future. Call it a daydream. It can also mean that the shopper can’t afford the products in-store at the moment, but is hoping to be able to afford them at some point in their life. These people are looking for inspiration, and are easy to talk to. They’re not ready to purchase now, but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored – there’s a potential future sale here, and the pitching should start now.

2. Comparing

A shopper might be checking on the quality or price of products and services to get themselves the best offer available. They’re looking for answers: why should they purchase your product/service over the competitions’? These are the window shoppers really worth talking to: connecting with these people will allow businesses to beat the competition.

3. Waiting

Perhaps the shopper is filling the time before another engagement – picking up their kids from karate practice, or before a dentist appointment. They could be waiting to meet someone, using your store a landmark; they could simply be waiting for a taxi or Uber. The fact is, they’re waiting, and it’s not for you or your sales pitches.

How to tell what type of window shopper you’ve got on your hands…

Window shoppers are easy to dismiss – after all, they’ve inferred that they would rather be left alone, and certainly some of them should be. The trick is to learn to differentiate between a definitive ‘I’m just browsing’ and an open-to-conversation ‘I’m just browsing’.

A lot of this will come from experience – customer service representatives who have been in the game a long time will be able to spot the different window shoppers from a mile away – but for the most part it’s all about paying attention.

We can learn a lot about a person’s openness to sales talk just by actively listening to what they’re saying, and how they’re saying it. Pay attention to the way a window shopper responds to the initial ice-breaker. Do they meet your eyes, do they smile? Is their body language open or closed? Closed would imply that they turn away from you, giving you the distinct impression that they want to be left alone and the conversation is over. Someone who is open to continuing the conversation is more likely to turn towards the sales representative, this should act as an invitation to continue the conversation.

Aside from body language, it’s important to watch window shoppers as they browse your wares. Are they checking for certain elements in particular? Colours, pricing, quality? Depending on the situation, you could attempt to approach them again once you’ve determined that they’re looking at particular things. (Note how I said ‘at particular things’ not ‘for particular things’, remember, they may not be ready to make a purchase just yet.)

Is it possible to convert a window shopper into a customer?

In short? Yes. Every person who walks into a store can be turned into a customer. That’s the purpose of having sales staff in play to start with. Even a window shopper who doesn’t express immediate interest in making a purchase can become a customer.

In Part 2 of this article, we’ll explore the how.

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Understanding Customer Service: A Social Media Tale

What does Understanding Customer Service mean?

I’m not talking about understanding them in terms of demographic or marketing terms. Here we will explore understanding them in terms of Understanding Customer Service.

Is the first thing that came to your mind after that sentence “empathy”? Well, that is right. Though, just the tip of the iceberg.  Let’s take a look at some amazing examples before we move on.

Here we have the tale of Salisbury customer Service Legend “Ross” (it’s even mentioned by the customer herself)

 

Understanding Customer Service - Salisbury

Understanding Customer Service - Sainsbury - Ross

Understanding Customer Service - Social Media

Understanding Customer Service - Social Media - Sainsbury - Ross

You can read the rest of the conversation here.

I hope you have a smile on your face after reading that.

Now, if you get “English Humour”, you can see from the first post from the customer that she was complaining in a very tongue in cheek way. This is very dangerous since it could have easily been misinterpreted. I’m sure you can tell that it could have gone sideways very fast.

 

Our legend, Mr. Ross, understood his customer. He was not afraid to match the humour, maintaining completely professional to resolve the issue. This isn’t something easily done. Of course, some training is required (at the beginning). After years of dealing with people, it becomes possible to understanding customer service and the reasons why certain situations are handled in a certain way, breaking away from that rigid structure. This is when fluidity happens.

 

Different situations call for different actions. In Ross’s case, it was probably one of the worst customer service situations that could have happened. Worst still that it all took place was on Social Media – which could have led to a PR nightmare. Ross kept his cool, dug into his customer service tool box, and pulled out humour as the main weapon. LEGEND!

Customer Response - Customer Service

If you want to see more of this Customer Service Fluidity, here is another great tale for you to check out.

The tale of “William the Worm and Tesco.” There is even a poem – as you can see below – and a Facebook Page dedicated to William.

Poem - Customer Service

 

Customer adaptability depends on understanding the customer. So what does that mean? How do you built trust in a bad situation? Can you mimic or match that customer’s humour (if any)?

If you’re able to understand your customer, then you can adapt to them, and provide fluid customer service.

Tell us you thoughts and what you would like to read from us in the comments or on our social media sites.

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A Brief On The Fluidity of Customer Service

Customer service is something we deal with every day, whether we want to or not. The history of customer service goes back decades, as long as there were businesses. We’re talking really long donkey years here. But essentially, here it is in brief.

Someone decided to start a business. A business relies on customers for its survival, and its essential existence. That meant providing service (go figure). Now when customer service first started, I can only imagine that there was no structure, or maybe there was. The evolution of what me now consider customer service started as early as 1793 in the United States, in the form of Loyalty programs. Sure, it has been around as long as there were traders, but let’s pick a point shall we.

Of course, this has evolved through the years, following technological advance. We live in time of amazing ease of communication. However, can you imagine when telephones first appeared on the scene? That’s right, that lead to the first customer service hotline.

Evolution of customer services aside. Have a look at the infographic for a little visual fun on that. The point is this. Customer service practices are an evolving thing. You’ve heard the terms before,:

“Business Need to Adapt.”

If you don’t evolve, you lose out.

How often have we come across often rigid, customer service structures? Business train their employees according to a structure according to possible scenarios, but here is where the ball is often dropped. They often don’t explain why certain things are done in a certain way. Expecting “people” to act like rigid “robots” to a particular situation will eventually cause a “404 error”. Customers are organic, living creatures, often looked at in terms of demographics when it comes to marketing. Yes, they do try to take this into account when it comes to customer service. But do they ever explain it in way that is assimilated into the working ethic of customer service personnel.?

With all the advances in modern tech, customer service can no longer be rigid. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (that’s seeing a resurgence thanks to current world situations), and so much more. Business need to be fluid in provide the best service possible. How personal can you get? How casual can you be? How do you turn a bad situation on its head, making it positive? Can you leverage social media?

The line between casual and stiff professionalism, is often blurred in most industries, this goes for customer services as well. The rigidity of the industrial age , no longer works at its best. This is the age of communication. So, shall we communicate?

Stay tuned for our next post on great examples of fluid Social Media Customer Service.

 

Customer Service Infographic

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