As the retail industry has undergone dramatic change in the last decade, so too has the definition of “customer service.” While good customer service means different things to different people and different locations, bad customer service is usually much easier to define.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) clearly recognizes the changes the retail industry has undergone along with the redefining of the term customer service. The organization recently released a set of customer service competency standards it would like to see used in future training centers, schools and colleges. It offers a professional certification in customer service at its new NRF University Web site and has even opened retail skills training centers in several states.
In a statement the NRF released late last month, Kathy Mannes, managing director of workforce development at NRF, said, “This industry traditionally churned our employees. Now we’re trying to make them aware that it’s not just an industry you pass through. We haven’t been thinking enough about the skills needed for retail, and that’s obvious when customers walk out the door.”
While the news that the NRF is busy developing guidelines for customer service in the new millennium is encouraging, we thought we’d ask a sampling of folks what the term means to them to get a feel for where the definition stands today.
“It’s about what’s important to me when I walk in the door,” began Christina Myers, a 36-year old mother of three from Dobbs Ferry, New York. “Old standards like courteous staff and a clean environment are still important but you want your specific needs tended too and I want my eyes opened to what might work best for me in my life.”
“There really isn’t a specific blueprint today for good customer service,” added retail analyst Martha Refik. “It’s about overall in-store experience and that differs dramatically depending on what a particular location sells and to whom they cater.”
Eighteen-year-old consumer Jesse Woods, from Babylon, New York, had an altogether different take, explaining, “There’s just certain stores I enjoy walking into and that I feel good about visiting. There’s a certain vibe that the interior and atmosphere gives off and the sales people give off that I find enjoyable. That’s my generation I guess, I think we like lingering around a while if the place is cool.”
One thing is for sure, especially in the CE/Imaging retail world, the customer is significantly smarter than they were years ago. The Internet and technology in general have empowered shoppers today, making them more knowledgeable, demanding and resourceful than in the past. Unlike years ago, they usually know what they want before they enter a retail location and they are looking for the retailer to fill in the blanks and personalize the purchase.
“The idea today may be the customer thinking that they want a large screen TV or a DSLR. The retailer has to show them how it will work perfectly in the customer’s life and even how it will greatly enhance their life,” Refik added. “People often times want to feel that their life is a little better off because of something they just bought and the retailers who can actually make that happen will be the big winners.”
The customer isn’t simply “always right” anymore – today they are always more well informed and usually far more prepared to buy when enter your store. Just show them, “how your products fit into and enhance their lives and the rest may just fall into place,” Refik concluded.
