This is a story from my personal experience that showed me that caring for customers can lead to customer loyalty.
I had only been in the store for about 10 minutes before a friendly shop assistant caught my eye. “Can I help you?” she said, smiling as she walked towards me. “Yes, can you tell me where the changing rooms are please?” I replied.
The next thing I knew the shop assistant was guiding me to the changing rooms and offering to change the size of my choice of clothes if necessary. The trousers I had chosen were a bit too small for me so I called out to the shop assistant and she immediately came to my aid. She then proceeded to find the correct size for me and returned to the changing rooms within minutes.
I finished trying on my new clothes and decided to buy everything I had chosen. I got chatting to the shop assistant and she informed me that if I opened a store account that day I would receive a 20% discount on my purchases.
I told her that I didn’t really want to store card as I like to pay cash. She told me that was not a problem, I could apply for a store card, receive the discount and pay off the balance right there and then. She was going out of our way to get the best deal for her customer.
As I left the store, I reflected on how easy it had been for me to make my purchases that day. If the friendly shop assistant had not come up to me it is quite possible I would never had made the effort to find those changing rooms and left the store without buying anything.
I wondered if the staff member had ever had a customer service job description and if that had made the difference.
The conclusion I came to was that not only does great customer service leave customers feeling happy but actually results in them buying more. The bottom line? Train your employees in the art of giving great customer service, and not only will you gain loyal customers, but you will see your sales and profits grow.