Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
When customers walk into your store, they’re often coming with problems and they’re looking for solutions.
Depending on the problems they’re trying to fix, the shoppers may feel stressed, overwhelmed and discouraged. The level of service your staff provides can improve or worsen how they feel.
How can you work to help your customers feel less stressed? Entrepreneur suggests four strategies:
1. “Try on your customers’ psychological state.”
When helping customers, ask questions so that you fully understand the issues they are facing or projects they’re trying to complete. Try to pinpoint their exact needs, and make an effort to empathize with their frustrations. Then, do your part to help them solve the problem with the right materials, tools and advice.
2. “Hire for attitude and train for skill.”
Chances are you’ve hired lots of employees, so you know that energy, passion and attitude can’t be taught. When dealing with upset customers, a positive attitude can make a drastic difference. Keep this in mind while hiring. You can always teach an inexperienced employee about the home improvement industry.
3. “Painstakingly map your customers’ journey.”
How could you improve the experience customers have in your store? One way to find out is to evaluate every step of their shopping journey, and then pinpoint ways to reduce any hassle. Think about customers’ experiences from the point they start researching your store location to the point when they’re pulling out of the parking lot with their purchases.
4. “Spend more on customer experience than acquisition.”
When retailers think about marketing and advertising, they often set budgets with the goal of attracting more foot traffic to drive sales. But customer experience is another way to keep shoppers coming back. Independent home improvement businesses are known for delivering top-notch customer service, so they need to be constantly improving the experiences they give shoppers. Loyal and happy customers can be a business’ biggest advocates.
