Traditionally, retail outlets have relied on 'footfall' as a recognisable benchmark for measuring success. But as consumers become more sophisticated and discerning, and alternative shop 'windows' such as the Internet or even mail/phone orders become more popular, the average retailer needs to consider the impact of brand values beyond the walls of the high street store.
However, because footfall statistics have been the primary yardstick for so long, despite signs that the high street is facing pressure from other forms of retailing such as the web (this is expected to account for 16 per cent of total retail sales by 2011 Source: Gartner), there still remains complacency when it comes to considering other forms of customer communication such as telephone or web. For example, it is not uncommon to walk into a shop and hear the phone left ringing while staff deal with a customer query. This occurs firstly because it is considered natural for them to treat the in-store customer as a priority, but secondly because there is no dedicated provision for stores to consistently handle calls within acceptable service levels.
Part of the problem is that it is often typical for retail chains to manage telecoms and/or IT on a shop-by-shop basis. But the drawback of the adopting this strategy is the negative impact it can have on a brand, as customer calls are neglected at the expense of footfall. Major supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsburys are good examples of retailers that have grasped the importance of forging long-term relationships with customers with initiatives such as loyalty cards and even diversification into non-food areas such as financial services. The idea that a customer is for life, not just for Christmas, is something that is finally registering. This is why it's so important to give the same service and brand values, no matter what medium the customer is using to interface with your company, whether it's face-to-face or on the phone.
With increasing competition, retaining customers is becoming more challenging and retailers must face the fact that they can't afford to let calls go unanswered, whether it's to an individual store or a customer service line. One way of addressing this situation, is to centralise your telecoms provision for all stores. With advances in technology such as VoIP, it is now possible to put voice across a central network, along with point-of-sale, till data, stock information and even IP-based CCTV. This means that not only does the retailer have a single supplier to deal with, they can also structure their telecommunications so that calls are handled according to set SLAs (service level agreements), and because it's IP-based can be distributed to any location. So for example, an incoming call should be answered within a certain number of rings and/or re-routed to another resource to manage.
Embracing technology can help support your customer service goals. One method of centralising the management of calls is to use non-geographic numbers for particular brands or products. This approach means that individual stores will not be deluged by calls and alternatively can be answered by a centralised resource or automated service that can then distribute calls according to the nature of the enquiry. You should also consider an 'overflow' facility whereby if no one is available to take a call, or the caller has been waiting too long, there is the option of leaving a message or even having the call re-routed to an outsourced contact centre.
As the diversity of retailing continues the need to have someone on the end of the line becomes even more important. Although web-based transactions provide extra margin for retailer, they can also generate additional queries. In a shop environment these would be handled by a sales assistant, so it is important to give the on-line buyer the same treatment with a facility to speak to a 'live' person. If not, buyers who are extremely fickle will become frustrated and simply switch to another supplier. The effects of customer churn should not be underestimated. Returning to the supermarket analogy, if you have always shopped at Sainsburys but decide it is more convenient for you to buy your weekly groceries online, then a potentially bad experience with their site, without the option to speak to a live person to resolve it, could mean you try a competitor instead! They say it takes years to build up a good reputation, but only seconds to lose one. If you don't make the effort to talk to loyal customers within acceptable response times, then don't be surprised if they shop elsewhere.
Key requirements for effective customer care: centralise telecommunications to maintain high quality response handling; employ non-geographic numbers; install call recording for both quality control & on-going training; introduce SLAs for call answering; call routing and forwarding can ensure that calls are directed to available resource; use IVR to intelligently direct calls to correct department.
