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Lousy Customer Service – It’s Our Own Fault

We’ve settled for too long in this country.

Settled as customers to accept inferior customer service.

Settled for employees who couldn’t give a damn about our business.

Settled for products that are just rehashes of other products – made on the cheap for a price point.

We kid ourselves into making an excuse, “You can’t find a good (name of widget) anymore when we chose one for $20 and avoided the one for forty.  We make the excuse, “Good help is so hard to find and she’s the only one who I could get.” And the worst, we accept poor service as the norm and make the excuse to ourselves, “It doesn’t matter.”

We’ve got to stop settling because it breeds more of the same!

All this settling has allowed us the luxury to settle for despair. I mean, here we are in the 21st century being told that the worst is still ahead for kids, states, pensioners, unions, taxpayers, governments, stocks, neighborhoods, you name. Almost as if to make us lose hope. And many have.

But if you are in business, you don’t have the luxury of a disparaging thought.

Why are we settling?

Because we’ve forgotten what got us here. Innovation, hard work, drive.

The cause of lousy customer service starts well before we meet the bored employee.

Why are employees bored and allowed to still work? Because we as leaders aren’t excited enough to lead. We’ve settled into routine and settled for third or fourth best when the best is out there.

Why are so many customers and employees’ lives boring? Because we love to whine and feel bad?

No, I think human beings are innately drawn to the positive. But when they are surrounded by hopelessness they begin to think that hopelessness, fear and being anxious are the norm. They settle.

It’s like Superman believing he’s Clark Kent, Spiderman believing he’s Peter Parker, or Susan Boyle believing she could never sing.

It’s up to you readers to demand more. Of the stores we shop in. Of the employees we hire. Of the products we purchase.

But that all starts with demanding more of ourselves.  Your employees are desperately hoping someone will lead them to a better way.  If you are challenged how to do that, bring me in and let’s get going. Life is too short to settle.

Please comment below how you’ve settled or how you aren’t going to anymore.

Selling Is Not A Bad Word In Retail – It’s The Only Word

I am on the RetailWire Brain Trust and we received this story for comment, “Is ‘Selling’ a Dirty Word in Retail?’ In retailing today, “selling” is a dirty word. “What?!” you may be asking, ”How can that be? Isn’t retailing all about selling?”

Not really. Do you agree that customers today do not want or need to be “sold” or “told?” 

I had to know more…

The author, Alyson Anderson from Retail Concepts said, “Traditional sales models involve selling things that customers do not want — by convincing them that they do. The goal has been to essentially generate more dollars for the store at the expense of a customer who does not want to spend those dollars but gets coerced into doing so by a “great” salesperson.Today’s consumers are increasingly disinterested in dealing with traditional sales people. They’re not looking for friends or relationships in stores and don’t care if the staff knows their name. They want to get what they came for and get out.”

What a bunch of rubbish! Sales is the only way you get your return on investment (ROI.)

You can read the full article and comments here. Continue reading Selling Is Not A Bad Word In Retail – It’s The Only Word »

Biz Tip: Rising Tide Lifts All Boats-Balance Cutbacks

The headlines are full of quotes that no government or public service has any money.

We need to cut spending!

We need to draw in our belts!

We need to trim like every family is doing in America! Continue reading Biz Tip: Rising Tide Lifts All Boats-Balance Cutbacks »

Retail Sales Tip: How To Add-On To Any Sale

Once the customer has selected the main product, you have three options to get additional product out the door:

  1. Make them see something else that makes the first purchase better.
  2. Scare them they may need something else.
  3. Fold your tent.

The first is a great one if you sell flooring, apparel, window fashions or anything where there are substantial ways you can make it perfect. Use the cake analogy.

“Have you ever seen someone make a chocolate cake?” (wait for answer.) “Its pretty good all on its own. What I’m going to show you is the frosting on the cake.”

Simple, sets the expectation, feels easy.

The second is great if you sell hardware or project-based items.

“Have you ever gotten home, ready to do a project and found you didn’t have everything you needed so you had to go back to the store?” (wait for answer.) “We’ve got everything you need right over here to save you a trip.”

The third is what you hear in stores, restaurants and service providers day-in and day-out. Its what I call folding your tent.

“Anything else?“

What did you see in that interaction?

Nothing.

Know what you’ll get in additional sales with that line?

Nothing.

You have not created a picture either good or bad. After all the work it took to get the customer in and for them to buy, you buckled when you needed to stand tall.

Think about being in a restaurant…

You’ve just finished a great meal. The server comes over and says, “Anything else?”

Quick, what did you see?

Nothing.

What if the server said, “Do you want some pie or cookies or ice cream with that?” What did you see?

Nothing.

But what if the server said, “We have a fresh-made apple pie just out of the oven. I could drizzle a little warm caramel on it and top it off with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.”

What did you see? I bet you saw the pie. Don’t care if you opted to order it. You saw it.

You want to add-on to any sale? Make us see it – good or bad but don’t fold your tent.

Bob Phibbs is the Retail Doctor®, helping businesses of all sizes grow and deliver an exceptional experience for their customers since 1994.  Want fresh advice how to grow your business? Order a copy of his new magazine, Prosperous Retailing here

Should You Franchise Your Business?

Phil Town, author of “Rule #1,” and I answered several viewer questions on franchising, adjusting prices, and advertising on MSNBC’s Your Business.

While you can watch the whole clip, here is the answer about franchising and what you should be aware of:

Bob Phibbs and Phil Town

Q. I’m interested in franchising, what are some of the steps to do that?

  • Franchising can sound like a dream come true with hundreds of franchisees paying your for the concept you pioneered but first you must have a profitable business in a couple locations to prove it works and scales well. Having a single location that is successful is great, but it isn’t really proof that your system works.  Even after opening a second location in the same town, it is not proof that you could open one say in Des Moines, IA or Nashville, TN and meet with that same success. That’s because your exisiting customers in your original trade area are making you successful. Continue reading Should You Franchise Your Business? »
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