Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JANUARY 2020 50 T oday, small and large brands are realizing that the sell comes more reliably by giving customers an experience that incorpor- ates multiple touchpoints. This multi-pronged approach is pivotal to helping your brand and product survive. At the foundation are the basics of customer service – being polite and warmly pleasant, helpful and responsive. These are simple enough in theory, but difficult to master at a time when customers can make an immediate and very powerful connection to your brand through multiple platforms. Now that we're all plugged into instant feeds, live updates, breaking news and messages, we've gotten used to posting something and receiving instant feedback from friends and family. The speed of these interactions has brought about a widespread expectation that no more than a moment should go by before someone replies to a comment, post, or message. What does this suggest about the best way to market and sell your products? While "customer experience" has been the go-to phrase for a long time, the customer service representative (CSR) experience is rapidly growing in importance. Companies large and small need to provide a transformed and empowered CSR experience that will increase employee efficiency, build brand pride, and empower the CSRs to take ownership of the challenges – all toward improving the customer experience. Here are some factors that will help you build or modify your Service Level Expectation (SLE) policy in line with the expectations of today's customers: Advances in technology translate to a single-brand perception, and an expectation of personalized service. In plain words, today's multiple touch points and marketing vehicles have conditioned our customers to see just the brand, not the individual departments. Today's customer won't understand why the CSR on the phone didn't know they posted a question on the company's Facebook page a day and a half earlier, and why it hasn't been answered. With 80 percent of customers considering their own experience a key factor in their product choice, follow-up and customer care are critical! Consistent personalized service and experiences should be tracked and measured as a primary company barometer. Your customers will expect to be remembered and receive a unique experience. To put this in practice, even the smallest brands and companies must find ways to track and retain customer information, as well as high-level customer communication data, and customer preferences so as to provide the kind of continuous personalized service people expect in today's data-driven shopping environment. Regarding Service-level Expectations – if you don't have clear guidelines in place, start now and start simply: • Be consistent with service. Today's customers expect the multi- channel retailer to offer in-store returns of their online orders. Make sure it's a pleasant, convenient, easy store return experience. • Empower your CSRs to champion the customer's needs and make the right decisions. Give your CSRs the authority to make corrections and fix the customer's issue on the spot. Give them a scale that indicates which corrective actions they can make without higher approval (e.g., instant discounts, exchanges, future offers, etc.). Even a bad product can catalyze a great customer experience if it's handled correctly. When your CSRs take charge of making amazing customer experiences, your company will win – Every. Single. Time. Amazing customer service and support generates a ripple of positive energy that can outshine a customer's experience of poor products and manufacturing defects. We all have our favorite stories of exceptional service that endeared a product to us for life. Taking proactive steps today to revise or design your SLEs will bring solid tangible results in the near future, by turning returns and complaints into resales and retained customers. DEALING WITH RISING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS How exceptional service can boost your brand Dennis Shields Rent-to-Own Trends Dennis Shields is executive director of TRIB Group, the nation's largest owner/member buying cooperative serving the rent-to-own retail channel. For more information, please visit www.tribgroup.com or call (770) 451-4302. RO

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