Without question, retail today is an enormously complex field and rapidly evolving reality. Globalization, technological and manufacturing advances, and vastly increased competition require companies to revise traditional customer practices. In plain terms, price and item quality are no longer sufficient in attracting consumers; today, some form of positive relationship between retailer and customer is necessary (Recklies, 2015). However, and as untold numbers of retailers confront, such relationships are by no means easily created and sustained. The complexity of customer relations relies on effective customer service, which in turn demands a trained and committed staff. Fortunately, the modern retailer has technology at their disposal, which literally translates to unlimited service opportunities, just as management efforts may be redirected to enhance the customer’s experience. In the following, I present my own views on how technological investment, management priorities, and a human resource-based approach in training combine to create the necessary retail strategy addressing the most pivotal factor in commerce today: customer service.
Discussion
Before the specific factors of communication technologies and staffing concerns are explored, it is first essential that today’s retailer comprehend the modern reality that increased competition translates to increased consumer options. Arguably, today’s manufacturing processes are so pervasively available, quality of merchandise is no longer the customer’s primary concern, and if only because that customer is more educated, and goods are more uniformly created to meet or exceed reasonable standards. Then, consumers now fully enjoy the advantages of online shopping which, if damaging to businesses still reliant on brick-and-mortar presences, offers an inestimable opportunity for retail success. These realities then support that how the customer is treated, and how they perceive the treatment, is vital to retail in any form. In retail markets packed with similar purveyors, from clothing to automobiles, that consumer perception likely equates to failure or an increasingly strong business.
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Some of the above is known in the retail industry. Unfortunately, many strategies intended to facilitate customer service fall short, as in the scripted scenario. This occurs both online and through the phone, as retail representatives relate only the pragmatic elements of the product or service. On one level, any such information is valuable, just as the retailer is obligated to honestly relate the facts of transactions. On another, however, the customer is usually very aware that they are being “read to,” and no authentic connection with the customer is made: “Scripted encounters are likely to be characterized by more contractual, economic terms, which invariably limits social exchange implications” (Nguyen et al, 2014, p. 1099). Informational value notwithstanding, scripted interactions likely encourage the customer’s sense of the retailer as uncaring on any real level. The same, impersonal exchanges are frequently seen in online chat situations, and the effects of these lacks of genuine contact cannot promote the customer loyalty and support so necessary to a retailer, in commercial environments wherein the consumer has so many alternate choices. If, as the traditional retail assertion that the customer is always right still has meaning, then nothing is more crucial than satisfying that customer and thus generating favorable response and loyalty.
What then becomes evident is that customer service may not be only an ancillary component to the business; it should be the fundamental concern. To that end, management and human resources should develop processes of training and supervision focusing on it. To begin with, the most commonly expressed complaint from customers relates to communication, which includes slow response times either online or on the telephone (Moltz, 2015). Every customer who feels neglected because of this is easily a customer lost, so systems must be designed eliminating response lags. Employee training should encourage those in customer service to learn and apply more “humane” styles of communication, as well as commit to doing whatever is necessary to address the customer’s inquiry or concerns. This in turn relates to the need for employee education; workers should be taught and tested on product and service knowledge, rather than rely on scripts. Connected to this is the retailer’s need to invest in online technology, from creating an effective and attractive web presence to instructing employees in its functioning. Beyond these considerations, moreover, management must commit to actively assessing how the customer service is being implemented. It cannot be overstated that, in modern retail, the customer dictates success more than ever before, so attention to establishing positive relationships with customers, in either isolated sales or ongoing interactions, should be the retailer’s primary focus.
Conclusion
Diligently and successfully applied, the customer service strategy or emphasis presented above creates exponential benefits for the retailer because the customer perceives him or herself as part of the retail process itself. When, for example, the experience is highly positive, the customer becomes an advocate for the retailer (So et al, 2016, p. 172). This is no minor consideration in a world so reliant upon social media, and the universal sharing of personal information. This consumer power, nonetheless, translates to advantage, provided the retailer comprehend its import. Resources invested in employee training, online technology as superior, and a retail culture centered on consumer gratification are not risk or questionable actions; they are instead rational means of promoting business success, if not survival, and particularly in a world where literal distance separates the customer from the business. As has been reinforced, then, investments in technology, management priorities, and a more empowered human resource-based approach in training combine to enable the necessary retail strategy addressing the paramount factor in commerce today: customer service.
- Moltz, B. (2015). TURN MORE CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS AROUND WITH SMART
TACTICS. Retrieved from https://www.americanexpress.com - Nguyen, H., Groth, M., Walsh, G., & Hennig‐Thurau, T. (2014). The impact of service scripts on
customer citizenship behavior and the moderating role of employee customer orientation. Psychology & Marketing, 31(12), 1096-1109. - Recklies, D. (2015). Understanding and Managing Customer Perception. Retrieved from
http://www.themanager.org/2015/01/customer-perception/ - So, K. K. F., King, C., Sparks, B. A., & Wang, Y. (2016). Enhancing customer relationships with retail service brands: The role of customer engagement. Journal of Service Management, 27(2), 170-193.
