UNIT 29 JACQUELINE FARROW
Sales Techniques &
PRODUCT FEATURES BENEFITS
Customer SERVICE
TASK 3
Mystery Shopper
THE
BOUX AVENUE LIVERPOOL
Selling Process
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W
ithin the selling process there are 5 different steps which staff within the retail environment use. They will meet and greet the customer and build up a customer rapport. This may be as soon as they walk into the store or after the customer has had a few minutes to look around, it depends on the type of store. The staff will then use different types of questioning to find out what the customer needs and will also offer their own product knowledge to help them close the sale. Staff members will look out for buying signals from the customer to see what stage they are at. To research how the selling process works, I visited a few stores in Liverpool to see how customer service and the selling process differ from store to store.
There are different types of questioning that you can use when you speak to customers including closed questioning, open questioning and probing questioning. Closed questioning will be answered with a single word or just a short phrase and so it is most suited when you are looking to get quick and easy facts from the customer and to enable you to keep control of the conversation. It could be used effectively when you are looking to close a sale or to encourage add on sales. Questions you could ask could be “would you like to pay by cash or card?” or “would you like one of these products to go with your purchase?” Open questioning allows the customer to think about the question and respond with their opinions or feelings. It gives the customer to take control of where the conversation is going to go. This is best used at the point in the sale where you are trying to get to know the customer better so that you can recommend products for their needs. It is especially useful for personal stylists who will need to know about their customer’s wants, needs and problems. Probing questioning will be used for customers that are experiencing some form of difficulty or dissatisfaction and you need to find out what the problem is and find a solution. Every question that you should ask the customer needs to be relevant so that when they answer you find out more specific information that you need to solve the problem. The questions you ask could lead to a solution for the customer and turn their problems into a positive experience. A good example of this could be if the customer has bought a faulty product and is now complaining. You can turn their dissatisfaction into a positive one by saying “I am sorry that you received a faulty item, I will exchange this for you right away. Can you show me where the fault is on the product please?” This shows the customer that you are interested in their problem and that you are looking for a way to solve it. Good customer service will encourage the customer to think highly of the brand and to shop with you again. Having staff fully training on up to date product knowledge can promote sales, as they are able to fully inform a customer on the features and benefits of purchasing it over another. If a customer enters a store and is unsure what products to buy they are likely to ask a staff member for help, but if that staff member does not know anything about the product it can look unprofessional and the customer may be put off shopping with the brand. It is unhelpful for both the customer and the brand by not training staff with up to date product knowledge and it gives the brand a bad image. The product feature and product benefit are actually two different things that the…
ONE TO ONE SERVICE
CLOSING THE SALE
GIFT WRAPPING SERVICE
…staff member could promote to the customer. The feature of the product is a tangible thing that can be seen and can be pointed out by the seller. For example, if the product were a Lancôme foundation the features would include a pretty glass bottle that looks nice on a dressing table. The features could also include long lasting wear and a flawless complexion without needing to retouch it throughout the day. The benefits of the products are the intangible thing and the result of the feature to the customer is that they will save money on the product over time, as they will not need to use extra foundation to touch it up all day. They will also feel more confident to speak to people and make new friends with the new and improved look that this gives them. People may find the person using this product more beautiful than before and they will appear more attractive and confident to them. We can keep up to date with product knowledge by offering staff training so that they are fully informed. We can also use the knowledge we have learnt from reviews of the PRODUCT FEATURES EXAMPLE product and people who have already purchased the product previously. So online blogs, Twitter and forums can be a good way to find out more information on a product. The manager can provide the staff with learning resources too which they could take home to learn in their own time. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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uying signals are what the customer is different products in the store without focussing on sending out all the time while they are anything in particular. If you ask the customer if they shopping and when you see the customer need any help they will probably make an excuse that you should be able to pick up on these signals. Some of they are ok and don’t need any help and walk away. the signals a customer will send out could be that they are When a customer is ready to buy a product their buying just wandering around with no real interest in any of the signals are very different, as they will spend more time products and no intention to buy. They could give out looking at individual products and taking in closer details. signals that they are interested in the products but They may look around for a store advisor to help them currently they are not very anxious to buy. They could and may be carrying an item to go and try on in the also be signalling that they are very interested in the changing rooms. A customer who is ready to buy may ask product and if they have a few questions answered they about the price of the product if it is not already labelled may well buy it today. The final signal is that the or even ask your opinion of the product. While the customer is ready to purchase and they want to buy it customer is speaking to you they may use possession now without asking any questions. When a customer is language in the form of “I” which shows that the customer not ready to buy, they will tend to avoid eye contact with has already bought the product in their mind. In previous the advisor and move around the store quite quickly experience customers who are ready to buy a product will picking up different items and putting them down. They ask what the returns policy is just in case they have any will handle the products quite casually and will not take problems. time to inspect them properly. They will look at lots of _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Customer service has certain goals to try and add AN EMBELLISHED SERVICE FROM O2 value to the whole experience for the customer. Some points that add value include embellished services, increased convenience and enhanced image. Embellished services could include body-‐scanning technology to enable customers to get a better fit when they are shopping online. They could also offer new credit arrangements or loyalty system for regular customers. Browse hubs could be installed in stores to enable to customer to shop online and also check in store stock. Increased convenience for customer services is how the store makes their shopping experience easier or possibly faster for the customer. Some stores are now developing into hybrid stores that may include in store restaurants or coffee shops. This is an added convenience for the customer who may wish to stop off for a refreshment break. Stores like this will generally offer toilets too so the customer can spend a long time in the store knowing that they do not have to leave to find toilets elsewhere. Large department stores such as John Lewis in Liverpool offer car-‐parking services to make the store more accessible in…
…a busy city centre. If the customer parks in the John This development in modern retailing is not just Lewis car park they do not have a long walk to access the happening with high-‐end brands like Burberry but also on city centre and will likely browse the John Lewis store as our high street. Click and chat is a service available online soon as they have parked. Self-‐service tills are now to many brands and is essential for customers to installed in most supermarkets for those who are only experience a good level of customer service. Just because buying a few items and do not want to queue for staffed a customer is shopping online and not in store does not tills. You will find them in Asda, Marks & Spencer’s, Tesco mean that they do not need any help from staff, it is likely and Sainsbury’s but very rarely in a clothing store. that they may require more help, as they cannot physically According to the telegraph.co.uk, Zara is considering touch the products. From experience I have found that the trialling self-‐service checkouts for future use without the Very.co.uk online chat is very helpful as you speak to a need for sales assistants to remove the security tag from human being and not an automated system. It gives a your clothing. Not only is Zara trialling a self service personal touch and the advisor has access to your account tilling system but a digital mirror which allows you to try and can give you personalised recommendations based on on clothing without actually taking them off the shelf. The your previous purchases. More languages are being added technology is already set up in the Zara headquarters in to websites to allow more accessibility for customers and Spain and so this futuristic way of shopping may be on our can easily be changed at a click of a button. Multi channels high streets sooner than we are also developing with most think. An enhanced image retailers having not just an also adds value to customer online website but also mobile service for example how the websites and apps. Some staff look, their presentation, retailers allow you to the store cleanliness and purchase in different ways layout, the presentation of too, either by credit or debit the products and the visual card, PayPal or credit account promotions. Staff in a allowing customers full uniform will come across as flexibility. Staff are often more professional and equipped with iPads in stores presentable to a customer which ensures more accurate “Studies around the world have and it will also be easier for a product knowledge and allows proven that multichannel customers customer to spot a staff the staff to check availability of member in a busy store if they an item without having to leave are more loyal and more profitable are wearing a uniform. The the customer to check stock in than single channel customers.” layout of the store will also the back. It increases the speed enhance the customer service, of the sales advisors and NZ BUSINESS as an easy to navigate store will convenience for both staff and prevent people leaving in frustration. Large department customer. Some stores will often use the iPads to organise stores may have a map or directory of how to find the a queuing system for a particular service. Within modern items that you need. Promotions can also add value to retail, unhappy customers must also be given a fast customer service as a well-‐placed promotion sign can solution to any problems they are experiencing as attract more customers and make them feel more valued websites such as Facebook and Trip Advisor are easily as though they are getting a great deal on a product. A accessible to leave bad reviews very quickly. Any bad beautiful well-‐lit store will make customers feel welcome reviews from an unsatisfied customer can reflect badly on the business and its reputation and so speed and accuracy and valued. is essential in modern retailing. CRM systems are also put An article from Drapers magazine talks about the in place in many retailers to store customer information Burberry success story and how Burberry has credited for their convenience when they next return. For example their recent success to their investment in marketing, a makeup store may log your usual foundation colour on technology and customer service. Burberry invested in their systems for ease of repurchasing next time you shop. their customer service team and increased the staff by It makes it more convenient for the customer and also 30% that enabled them to improve their “click and chat” makes them feel a little more special as though the retailer service. They also provided the sales staff in store with understands their needs. CRM systems are also beneficial iPads enabling customers to register in store and then for the retailer as they can use the information stored to purchase online later. With multichannel transactions target specific customers on any upcoming promotions increasing the retailer also rolled out three more based on previous purchases. For example in a languages online to include Russian, traditional Chinese department store, if you bought baby products in the past and Brazilian Portuguese. This whole article suggests that 6 months then the department store may consider investment in your customers and what they want from whether to send you a promotion to let you know that their shopping experience will allow your brand to grow. there is a sale on baby products. It allows the retailers to It is also essential these days as customers have access to personalise their promotions to a customer and not try to the Internet and have many more choices available to target customers who will simply not be interested. them.
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or research into the customer experience I watched a video from the London Business Forum with Mary Portas. She suggests that in previous years businesses have lost touch with their customer and were only interested in
MARY PORTAS TWITTER ACCOUNT
image are your staff. If you have unhappy people that do not enjoy their jobs, it reflects on the business. As a person who may be buying a product from a retailer you do not want to be approached by an unhappy person who is disinterested in your needs, you would like to speak to a happy person who is enjoying their job and is willing to help. Mary Portas says that customer service starts from the people every single time. An article in on theguardian.com has five suggestions for improving customer service in modern day retailing. The modern retailer must understand the value of service to a customer. Customers want to be able to interact with their chosen retailer through any channel at any time of day or night and so the role of the retail assistant both online and in store is essential. Staff must create a positive customer service experience and the best way to do this is to have
WAYS TO IMPROVE
Customer Service
the profit they were making while people were spending. They cut back on customer service and real people experiences and focussed on profits and growth. Then came the crash with people having less money to spend and business closing down which hit the way businesses looked at their futures. People began to think about where they made their purchases and businesses had to look at ways to attract a customer to
“People are the
point of all this.” MARY PORTAS them over a competitor. Retailers are now looking at ways to connect their business with people in the right way. Mary Portas suggests that business should stop thinking of customers as a customer but as a person as the word customer is too transactional. Businesses need to understand what people want from them as a retailer and what makes them feel special. Whether your brand has online chat availability or social media links, they all give off a brand image and at the base of that brand
fully trained staff with good product knowledge. The second suggestion for improving customer service was to meet the modern service requirement for shoppers. Shoppers can now source products they want and arrange them by price, range, review and recommendation. Customers now expect a more sophisticated and flexible set of components that meet their individual needs when and where it is convenient for them. To meet this need the retailer must grow the business around the customer by putting them first. The third suggestion for improvement is to give the store assistants the right tools that they need to satisfy customer needs. For example real-‐time stock availability, loyalty programme data or the fastest way of sourcing the item the customer wants. These points are some ways to create better outcome of a retail interaction. The next point to improve customer service is through the supply chain. The supply chain must now be flexible enough to react to consumer demand through all sales channels. As retailers face many challenged in providing consistency they must optimise the planning, merchandising and supply chain operations possibly through one integrated platform enabling a full view of the business. The final point to improve is to create omni-‐channel integration through all sales channels allowing the customer a seamless experience whether it is in store, mobile or online.
Mystery SHOPPING
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ To test out how customer service can differ, I decided to conduct my own mystery shop on a few retailers within the city centre. The first shop that I visited was Boux Avenue that is an underwear store for women. On entering the store I was greeted by a staff member who said hello and asked if I had shopped with them before? She then went on to show me what the store offered and that the store kept different sizes in all of the drawers and that I was welcome to in them and pick out my own size. The lady seemed happy and cheerful and I instantly felt at ease browsing through the different drawers of products. After browsing for a few minutes, I picked up a few items and asked a different lady if I could try them on. She showed me to the changing rooms and offered me a bra fitting service if I was unsure of the size I needed. The changing rooms had lighting settings so that you could change the lighting in the room to your preference and a button to call the concierge for extra help if you needed. I did call the concierge and ask for a different colour in an item and the lady was very polite and very happy to go and get it for me. I decided to test the ladies knowledge to see if she had a product that would suit a particular dress I was hoping to wear and she was able to offer a suitable item and pointed out some of the features so that I knew how it worked. I noticed that she asked open questions and asked what the dress was for in an attempt to get to know me better which I thought was a nice personal touch. After picking out a few items I left the changing room where a lady took my items from me and offered to pack them up for me. Whilst at the till she offered me a store loyalty card where I could build up points every time I shopped in store. She also wrapped up my items in a box with tissue paper and offered me a scented sachet for my drawers for £1. This must be one of their add-‐on sales techniques but it was very effective as the box was laid out ready with the tissue paper and it looked very professional and made you feel special and valued. I noticed that the staff in store all wore a uniform of black dresses but they were able to wear tights and shoes of their own choice and each girl wore jewellery and was well presented with nice makeup. I did not notice much use of technology in store with iPads or browse hubs though. I felt the whole experience was quite relaxed and encouraged you to take your time and for the staff to interact with you on a more personal basis. BOUX AVENUE LAYOUT
________________________________________________________________________ The next store I went into was Zara that is known for its “fast fashion” approach. A staff member did not greet me when I went in as I was in Boux Avenue but I did not expect this, as it is rare to be greeted when you enter a high street store these days. I took my time browsing the products on display and picked up a few items as I walked around. There was a sale on and so I found it to be quite disorganised and hard to find your size. There were not many staff members walking around tidying up, and those that were on the shop floor seemed to be very busy with something else. I did ask a staff member if they had a pair of shoes in a different size to what was out on display and she said that as it was the sale, they did not have extra stock in the back waiting to come out. She did however
TYPICAL ZARA QUEUE
suggest that I try online, but did not help me in any other way. After picking up a few more items I went to the changing rooms to try them on. I had quite a pile of items and was struggling to carry them, but when I went to the changing rooms the lady asked how many items I had. I was not sure as I had not been counting on my way around the store but she did not proceed to help me count and left me to stand there and count them for myself. In my frustration I gave an approximate amount that I’m sure was wrong but she did not seem bothered and gave me a tag to go into the changing room anyway. In the changing rooms, there was no buttons to call for help from concierge if you needed it which I felt was a bit disappointing but I did pick out 2 items which I was happy with and took the rest back to the lady. She did not check how many items I had given her back or how many items I had taken and asked me to leave anything I didn’t want on the counter. She did not seem happy in her job and it made me feel as though I was an inconvenience to her. I proceeded to the till which was not a long queue at all with only 5 people in front MESSY ZARA STORE IN SALE of me. The speed of the queue was very frustrating though as I stood there for just over 10 minutes waiting to pay for 2 items. The staff on the tills seemed to be in no rush and even stopped to have a chat between themselves in between customers. Other people around me in the queue were also feeling very irritated by this and the queue by the time I reached the till had grown much longer. There was no effort made to connect with me at the till as a person and I felt that the whole experience was very transactional. The staff in store did not wear a specific uniform but were dressed smartly in Zara products. ______________________________________________________ I also chose a different type of retail store to mystery shop and this was the mobile phone retailer O2. On entering the store I noticed that it was very easy to distinguish staff from customers as the staff wore blue hooded tops with the O2 logo on them and had name badges attached to their lanyards. There was a staff member to greet me as I walked in and asked what I was visiting the THE CUSTOMER RECEIVES store for INFORMATION ON THEIR today. I PHONE TO TELL THEM WHERE explained I THEY ARE IN THE QUEUE was just browsing and so I proceeded to browse some of the mobiles on display. After a few minutes I went back over to the lady who greeted me and asked if they had any prices for the new iPhone. She was holding an iPad and explained that all the advisors were busy at the moment but if I would like to give my name in then someone would be able to help me in approximately 5 minutes. I agreed and the lady showed me to the waiting area that had a large sofa. My wait actually wasn’t even 5 minutes long and staff member came over to me and introduced himself and asked me to come over to his desk so he could pull up some prices on his computer screen. It seemed very professional and friendly as he already knew my name and knew what I was here for. The advisor asked me a bit about what I want to use the phone for and if I used it to make many phone calls so that he understood what prices would be best for my usage. He also gave me some information on the product and a magazine to take away with me while I made my decision. I did ask the advisor some questions about other products, some of which he was not 100% sure of and so confirmed the details with one of his colleagues. I thought this was good of the advisor as instead of fobbing me off with the wrong information in an effort to not look as though he did not know everything, he asked to make sure that I left feeling satisfied with the service.