Retail Contrarian

When a customer freaks out

While waiting for a flight the other day I watched a very stressed passenger freak out on an airline representative.  The passenger’s behavior was embarrassing and completely unacceptable, and of course I couldn’t help but watch to see how the agent handled it.

Overall she did a great job, but at the same time I saw things she could have done better.  I know you don’t have people freak out on you very often (thank goodness) but here are a few tips to remember when it does happen.

1. Remain calm.  Okay, as calm as you can.  It is easier said than done, but getting aggravated just doubles the drama and pretty much guarantees things will get worse.

Don’t take it personally.  The passenger was screaming that she was going to get the agent fired, but the real issue was that she missed her check-in time and her seat was given away to another passenger.  If whatever situation hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t even be involved.

2. Don’t blame the customer. The goal is to calm the customer and address the issue. When we inadvertently blame a customer for what happened they become more defensive.  The customer might have messed up, or doesn’t want to follow the policies, but making it about them will only make matters worse.

3. Say you’re sorry.  As I’ve written and said many times, saying you’re sorry doesn’t mean that you or anyone in your store have done anything wrong.  You’re simply expressing regret that the customer is upset.  That’s something I didn’t see the agent do, which only made the passenger freak out even more.

4. Keep the focus on finding a resolution.  As obvious as that sounds, it doesn’t always happen.  Extremely upset people have a tendency to keep going back to the issue and reiterating how much they’re upset. When the passenger screamed for the fiftieth time how upset she was I expected everyone at the gate to yell out, “We know!”  One thing the agent did very well was that every time the passenger did that she responded, “I understand that. Now let’s work on getting you to your destination.”

5. Bring in another person if it gets too personal.  This poor agent wasn’t going to do anything to escape the customer’s wrath. When she finally realized that, she had another agent step to handle the situation.  At that moment the passenger completely stopped freaking out.  It was like someone had unplugged her.  There might just be times when an owner or manager needs to ask an assistant or associate to work with the customer.  I know that some owners/managers may not agree with that approach, but I’ve personally used it twice to bring resolution for a very unhappy customer.

6. Last but not least, don’t accept unacceptable behavior.  I thought the agent showed great restraint with the customer who was freaking out, but she was probably pretty close to calling the airport police. If the customer crosses a line into unacceptable behavior then you owe it to your staff, the other customers, and yourself to remove the customer.  Of course if we do the first five thing listed here that probably won’t have to happen.

Let’s hope you never have to apply any of these tips, but if you do have a customer who freaks out I hope you’re able to remember to apply them.

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create an extraordinary experience and results.

Reading and exceeding the customer's expectations

One of the keys to meeting and, we hope, exceeding a customer's expectations is to first determine what they are.  How do you know if you've met or exceeded expectations unless you know what they are?

Unfortunately, many retailers and sales people take a "one size fits all" approach.

They assume a customer wants to be left alone. That may or may not be true.

They assume a customer wants to chat and look at lots of products. That may or may not be true.

They assume a customer is in a hurry or not in a hurry.  That may or may not be true.

They assume a customer is interested in features.  That may or may not be true.

I could go on and on, but you get my point.  What is important to one customer doesn't mean a thing to another.

How do you know what someone is expecting from you and your store?  The easiest way to find out would be to ask your customer when he/she walks in the door.  Although some people could easily answer that question, many (most?) would struggle to verbalize it.

And there's our answer.  Almost every customer will give us non-verbal clues about how we're doing towards meeting or achieving their expectations

Some are very clear, like the customer who is in a hurry.  Others aren't as easy to read, like the customer who is more interested in fashion than features.

What's the key to reading body language?  Be observant.

Where is your customer looking when you're talking to him?  If he's looking away, then something else is important to him.

Is your customer smiling?  I have enough retail experience to know that not every customer smiles...but I do know that when someone is smiling, they're having a good experience.

Does your customer's smile look forced or fake?  If it does, you're clearly missing your mark. Experts say you can tell a forced or fake smile because the eyes don't change as they do with a real smile

Is your customer shuffling her feet, or leaning back and forth between the left and right foot?  Usually, but not always, this means she wants to get moving on to something else.

Is your customer reaching out for the product, or are you having to hand things to her?  If someone reaches for the product first it's a clear sign she's interested and is a potential buyer. Well, that or maybe a shoplifter, so stay close either way.

Is your customer answering in short abrupt sentences?  That's right, it means he doesn't want to talk.  That may seem obvious, but I have seen retail salespeople run customers off by talking too much to someone who simply didn't want to hear it.

You may not be able to read or understand all of a customer's non-verbal cues, but I guarantee that if you work at this you'll deliver a better experience and sell more products.

So let me ask, are you meeting or exceeding the customer's stated and unstated expectations?

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create an extraordinary experience and results.

Bragability

Bragging is usually regarded as a less-than-admirable quality in a person, but I actually enjoy hearing people blow his/her own horn. Excessive self-importance turns me off, but I like to hear people share their pride in their accomplishments. It can be a fine line.

Hearing people cross that line when they're bragging about the company they work for or the stores where they shop is music to my ears. There is no better advertisement, or more effective recruiting method, than a bragging customer and/or employee.

When someone is bragging about your store(s) you can be sure you're doing a lot of things right. As a matter of fact, getting the people who work for you or shop with you to want to brag about you is the result of the same actions. Here are five elements that contribute to your store's bragability.

1. Making an emotional connection. People take pride in being a part of it. It's not "a" store, it's "my" store. When your employees and your customers feel that connected, it's easy for them to extend your mission and experience beyond the store. If you want your customers and employees to brag, you need to first show the love.

2. Surprise and delight. As humans, our ability to remember things helps us to survive. If you don't believe me just forget your spouse's birthday or your anniversary. The downside of our memory is that new things quickly become old or the routine. That's why constantly finding new ways to surprise and delight employees and customers is so important. Never underestimate how much small wows add up to a WOW worth bragging about.

3. Consistently exceeding people's expectations. Surprise and delight aren't the only ways to exceed an employee and customer's expectations. Things like anticipating needs, simplifying work and shopping, and remaining focused on delivering the best possible work and shopping experience are vital to creating bragging moments.

Remember this: You rarely exceed a customer's expectations unless you set out to do just that.

4. Don't disappoint them. People are disappointed when you fail to meet their expectations. It sometimes happens that people's expectations are higher than you can or are willing to meet but more often than not, disappointment results when you take your eye off the customer or employee experience.

Let me give you an example. An employee might be disappointed he has to work on a holiday. But if you do something particular to make working a holiday more special, the person is no longer disappointed and ends up bragging to others about how working on the holiday was made special.

5. Regular communication. It's your job to keep reminding your customers and your employees why you're bragable. I know that's not a real word, but it's a real state of mind and it's a great thing to strive for.

You don't want customers to have to come into the store to remember why they brag about you. Remind them with newsletters, social media, cards, and calls. When done well, that results in even more bragging!

For employees, communication is an essential part of keeping connected and reminding them what's so special about the store/company they work for. Many owners and executives underestimate the power of communicating directly to frontline employees and depend too much on store management to deliver the message to their team. Remember, all company meetings, blogs, memos, and online videos can help create a bragging organization.

So let me ask, how much bragging is happening in your store or company? In which of these five elements can you and your team improve?

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create an extraordinary experience and results.