Personlized Customer Service

1149 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: WHAT ARE IMPORTANCE OF SMALL BUSINESS

The old saying, “it’s not personal, it’s business” comes to mind when thinking about how to effectively run your business in this, and any, economy. What we should be thinking, and how we should be approaching our customers is, “it’s personal, it’s business”. People want to feel that extra touch of personalized service, and indeed, expect to be “wooed” in order to remain a customer. Regular customers want to be remembered when they walk into your store, they want to feel they belong. Consequently, calling them by name and making them feel welcome will set their shopping experience apart from all other stores they frequent. Essentially what we are trying to achieve is to get back to the way things were done before the obsession with big box stores, profits above customers, and measuring our successes by the bottom line only.
In the early 1900’s customers were waited on by formally dressed staff members and shown individual products. They were guided through their shopping experience, and staff was trained to pick up on the small nuances of focusing on the customer’s needs.
After WW I that changed, people started waiting on themselves and taking their items to a teller for checkout. Staffing costs prevented retailers from employing enough staff to cover their store’s needs, plus cutting back staffing costs meant more money in the store owner’s pockets. This step towards customer autonomy, and less employed staff, removed the personalized service from the retail environment and it’s time to get it back!
We know why we are in business, it is to make a living, but in order to make a living it is important to remember the people that keep us in business, and those people are our customers. How can this return to customer focused servic...

... middle of paper ...

...ing new in our store, sending out appreciation letters to frequent visitors, or providing extra discounts on birthday’s.
These are but a few suggestions to begin the process of thinking about the details that make the shopping experience special.

WRAPPING UP
This adjustment is about getting back to a time when people treated their customers like the treasured gifts they are. Customers are your lifeline; they provide you not only with financial gain but are the very purpose you are in business, to provide a specialized service, so make it specialized by using these customer focused skills.

Works Cited

Agathou, Amalia. The next web. 14 December 2010. Web. 28 May 2014.
Gogoi, Pallavi. Bloomberg Business. 22 November 2006. Web. 28 May 2014.
Hyken, Shep. hyken.com. n.d. Web. 28 May 2014.
Now Possible. n.d. Web. 28 May 2014.
Wordpress.org. n.d. Web. 29 May 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Ethnography of Shopping: Scoop versus Century 21

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shopping is not simply a chore; it is also an experience. Shopping for clothing is a particularly personal decision, and various motivating factors can cause one shopper to choose a particular store over another store. Some consumers go to the store to confirm that they belong to a certain social stratum, others because they enjoy the thrill of a bargain. According to Daniel Miller in ‘Making Love in Super Markets’, the behavior of consumers in supermarkets tends to fall into two categories: ‘treat’ shoppers and ‘thrift’ shoppers.

    Read More

  • Customers For Life By Carl Sew

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    Carl Sewell’s book “Customers for Life” is devoted to teaching the businessperson of today ways in which they can turn one-time buyers into customers for life. He states that every customer has the ability to be worth 332,000 dollars to your business if you can keep them for life. Mr. Sewell is the number selling luxury automobile dealer in the country. He started from the bottom and manipulated his automobile business into a 250,000,000-dollar business. In his book he explains the things that he has found to work for his business in great detail so that you may also apply them to your business. The entire book revolves around these 10 commandments to customer service:

    Read More

  • History of the American Department Stores

    3093 Words  | 7 Pages

    Over the years, the American department store has developed and evolved as not only a commercial business but also a cultural institution. While it has weathered many storms and changes since its inception and throughout history, its most predominant enemy has been a change in the lifestyle of the American people (Whitaker, 2013). As the customer’s needs and wants have shifted, department stores have struggled to keep up with demands. It has been argued that the decline of the department store has been ongoing for the last 50 years (Whitaker, 2013). This dissertation aims to understand how the department store has historically played a role in consumer culture and spending, and additionally, how this has evolved and changed in today’s retail market. Although department stores may not be able to take all the credit for inventing modern shopping, they certainly made its conventions and conveniences commonplace. They set a new standard for the way the consumer should expect to be treated, the type of services that should be provided, and the convenience that should attend the process of acquiring the necessities and niceties of life all in one place. They made shopping into a leisure pastime. This environment meant shopping was a means of freedom to look around, pick up objects with no obligations to buy. As one historian remarked, department stores: “encouraged a perception of the building as a public place, where consumption itself was almost incidental to the delights of a sheltered promenade in a densely crowded, middle-class urban space” (Whitaker, 2006). Although this perception and view of the department store has changed over the years, this paper aims to follow the trail of how and why that happened.

    Read More

  • Customer Service

    340 Words  | 1 Pages

    The customer support and customer service functions are more than departments; they are part of an essential strategy for growing your business. In the modern business climate, customers expect answers to their questions immediately. When the right information is available anytime, from anywhere in the world, customers are more likely to have a positive experience, thus customer loyalty will be increased. It is a known fact that the cost to obtain a customer is ten times higher than to maintain and keep existing customers. (Gouran, Dennis, W.E. Wiethoff, & J.A. Doelger. (1994). Mastering communication. 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.) Not in Reference Pg.

    Read More

  • Comparing HEB And Wal Mart

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    First, when shopping, a big factor that will impact a customer 's experience is the customer service. Whether it’s from a simple “hello”, or an employee going out

    Read More

  • Swot Analysis Of Louis Vuitton

    2594 Words  | 6 Pages

    Also the checking out process has been technologically advanced as it was observed that iPhones and iPads are used on the sales floor to see what items are in stock at the location or other locations and to help customers in making a purchase. Using these items help with the communication among staff and customers. After making a purchase, the associate that assisted them will more than likely follow up with a personalized thank you note and invite them back to the store. Customizing the product for the customer also increases the use of technology. The customer chooses what product they want and they ask an associate to engrave their name on it, making it their own personal

    Read More

  • Shopping Behavior In The Article: Why We Buy The Science Of Shopping

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ultimate goal is to increase product sales. They have to depend on the customer to reach that goal. Making the customer feel comfortable and encouraging them to buy more goods is a process toward that goal.

    Read More

  • Case Study Of Reson

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    -Customers: The company felt the importance of being customer-centric and innovate by adapting to customer

    Read More

  • Customer Service Recovery

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    Providing great customer service and having the ability to retain customers require consistency in delivering the anticipated services. Customer service encompasses having the ability to provide a service or product to customers by means in which it was promised. However, there are times when unforeseen circumstances may occur, resulting in customer service breakdowns. Understanding the effectiveness of customer service relations provides the assurance needed to handle complicated service related issues. A well qualified customer service representative has the acquired skill to effectively defuse a potentially damaging service related matter. Service recovery influences customer retention and improves customer satisfaction.

    Read More

  • The Way Life Goes

    3273 Words  | 7 Pages

    With the national economy stronger than it has been in decades, 1999 was a peak year for good old American consumerism. Timely for a generation of consumers. Nordstrom Inc., one of the nation’s oldest retail legends, approaches its 100th anniversary with over one hundred department stores across the country. Nordstrom profits by targeting untapped consumer resources in cities such as Providence whose shoppers previously crossed state lines to fill their closets and empty their bank accounts. The opening of one of their shiniest new branches, the first in Rhode Island, boasts milky marble floors, the latest in escalator design and Providence’s highest class of designer clad shoppers. Whether you are in Nashville or Anchorage, the quality of merchandise, service, and shopping environment at Nordstrom is set at a high standard. The air is thick with expensive perfume, sales clerks are smartly dressed and excitable, pink cashmere hangs delicately from the racks. Nordstrom Inc, which has done well in the stock exchange and on the internet, attempts to provide a pleasant shopping experience for customers. After a white chocolate mocha at the Nordstrom Café and three expansive floors of warm overhead lighting, most agree. People come for the atmosphere, the fashion, and if they happen to know about Leroy, they come for the music. Sometime in November, a young man from East Providence wandered into Nordstrom with a group of friends, noticed that the black Steinway on the first floor was silent, sat down, and began to play. As his fingers rolled an eclectic mix of gospel, jazz, and blues across the ivory keys, a crowd of shoppers abandoned their purchases, literally dropped their bags, to surround the piano, drawn by the music to this magnetic musician. No one had heard anything like it, especially in a department store. Stephanie in jewelry dialed Merideth on the third floor. Nineteen year old Leroy Robinson landed himself a job.

    Read More

  • Angelo's Pizza Case Study Answers

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    One area to be addressed by HR in order to achieve this is there need to be a HR strategy to build and retain an engaged and committed workforce. Employees would have to exhibit great skills and behaviors in how they treat customers. Firstly they will have to formulate

    Read More

  • An Effective Online Customer Experience

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    A few decades ago, businesses considered customer service as an unnecessary expense. Now, companies view it as a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Customer Service

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    It's very well known that a companies success is not only dependant on the possession of a good product or service, but the key aspect to a successful business is excellent customer service. As the market grows, now more then ever companies are emerging, they are offering very similar types of products and services. Successful customer service can be a way a business becomes original and unique, it can be the key to attracting and maintaining loyal customers. Good customer service can start-up a business while bad customer service can harm a company. An average customer that experiences an issue will complaint to 9-10 people about the problem. A customer that received support to their problem and a potential solution will tell at least five

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Customer Service

    1518 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Excellent customer service is defined as service that treats customers with a friendly attitude and tries to resolve their problem or question as efficiently as possible.” (Reference). Employees also need to realize that providing excellent customer service will provide positive word of mouth recommendations for the business that they work for in the community. A business wants their customers to say that I am coming back to this location because of the customer service that I received from this employee. “You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied. -Jerry Fritz”.

    Read More

  • Management of Customer Service at Senheng Electric

    1392 Words  | 3 Pages

    Our company are facing customer service problem now. Customer service defined as the process to ensure customer satisfaction with a product or service, and it is an important part of maintaining ongoing customer relationships that are key to continuing revenue (Investopedia, n.d.). We have received many customer complaints about the attitude of our staff. Customers commented the promoter always stand at a corner and do not serve them. When customers asked some information about the product, the promoter gave stand-offish attitude.

    Read More

More about Personlized Customer Service

Open Document