Let's be honest here. There are days especially in late January that you want to look your customer in the eye and say, "I really don't care today" and walk away. You might even want to say something worse but since this is a family-friendly Weekly we won't go there. There are some days you simply aren't in the mood to do what you do.
Believe me, I can relate. Every now and then I want to publish a one-sentence newsletter that reads, "Had nothing to say." And I'm sure you've read a Weekly here or there and wished I had done just that. We all have a job to do, even when we're not in the mood to do it.
Wouldn't it be nice if, when you were in one of those moods, you could go up to your customer and tell him/her that you're mentally taking the day off? "Go ahead, look around and since I won't be helping you much it will be nice if you'll buy something to help me make my numbers." Then you could go back to thinking about that vacation you're planning or watching the clock tick so you can get on with your day.
Obviously we don't really say that to our customers. Or do we?
The biggest challenge for any retailer is consistency. It's difficult to deliver an extraordinary retail experience to every customer who walks in the door. We're all human. Call it biorhythms, moodiness, life's ups and downs, or whatever. The fact is that it is difficult to be Mr. or Ms. Retail Perkiness every minute of every day.
Unfortunately, customers don't plan their shopping around our biorhythms, moodiness, or life's ups and downs. We never know which customer walking in the door might be the biggest spender of the month or the most likely to tell others about their experience.
Think about how many times you've gone into a store in a good mood thinking you'll buy something and walked out empty-handed and in a foul mood. Yep, you got tangled up in some retail employee's biorhythms, moodiness, or ups and downs.
If your store is blowing away goal every single month then maybe - maybe - you can afford to have a "who cares" kind of day every now and then. Personally, I don't know any stores like that.
The biggest challenge for any retailer is to be consistent with every single customer who walks in the door. The key to success is to be consistent with every single customer who walks in the door. I think we know that it isn't easy to do.
There is, though, a list of actions you can take when "who cares" creeps up on you. It just so happens to be the same list of actions you should take with every customer or employee. There is only one fix for when we're not in the mood to give our best to a customer: trying to give our best.
So let me ask, do you attempt to deliver a great experience to every single customer no matter what kind of mood you're in?
It's okay to fall short in your delivery. It's not okay to fall short in the effort.
- Doug Fleener and Brian Sullivan
Believe me, I can relate. Every now and then I want to publish a one-sentence newsletter that reads, "Had nothing to say." And I'm sure you've read a Weekly here or there and wished I had done just that. We all have a job to do, even when we're not in the mood to do it.
Wouldn't it be nice if, when you were in one of those moods, you could go up to your customer and tell him/her that you're mentally taking the day off? "Go ahead, look around and since I won't be helping you much it will be nice if you'll buy something to help me make my numbers." Then you could go back to thinking about that vacation you're planning or watching the clock tick so you can get on with your day.
Obviously we don't really say that to our customers. Or do we?
The biggest challenge for any retailer is consistency. It's difficult to deliver an extraordinary retail experience to every customer who walks in the door. We're all human. Call it biorhythms, moodiness, life's ups and downs, or whatever. The fact is that it is difficult to be Mr. or Ms. Retail Perkiness every minute of every day.
Unfortunately, customers don't plan their shopping around our biorhythms, moodiness, or life's ups and downs. We never know which customer walking in the door might be the biggest spender of the month or the most likely to tell others about their experience.
Think about how many times you've gone into a store in a good mood thinking you'll buy something and walked out empty-handed and in a foul mood. Yep, you got tangled up in some retail employee's biorhythms, moodiness, or ups and downs.
If your store is blowing away goal every single month then maybe - maybe - you can afford to have a "who cares" kind of day every now and then. Personally, I don't know any stores like that.
The biggest challenge for any retailer is to be consistent with every single customer who walks in the door. The key to success is to be consistent with every single customer who walks in the door. I think we know that it isn't easy to do.
There is, though, a list of actions you can take when "who cares" creeps up on you. It just so happens to be the same list of actions you should take with every customer or employee. There is only one fix for when we're not in the mood to give our best to a customer: trying to give our best.
So let me ask, do you attempt to deliver a great experience to every single customer no matter what kind of mood you're in?
It's okay to fall short in your delivery. It's not okay to fall short in the effort.
- Doug Fleener and Brian Sullivan
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