by Christmas trading and upcoming holidays are for many businesses one of the most important revenue times.
How do you maximise this opportunity not just for the immediate opportunity but for the long-term.
Below are some key facts from research of 1000’s of customers:
If customers get a 10 out of10 experience, then a massive 91% said they would definitely return to that business the next time they needed the product or service they provide. If they rated 9 out of 10 then that guaranteed figure dropped to 67% and even lower if they rated 8
(45%) or 7 (30%).
What is this telling us? You have to stand out, near enough (score of 8 or 9) is not good enough.
My experience of many businesses in these busy times is that they are just transactional, it does not stand out, they just get you served.
What a missed opportunity.
5 actions you could take to give an experience that stands out to your customers:
- Recruit people who like your product and enjoy serving people.
- Train them in your service standards.
- Have a daily set up to ensure your team are fired up and ready to go before they start serving.
- Make sure you (The leaders) are modelling the service you want them to deliver.
- Give feedback, particularly positive feedback when they are doing what you want.
If you are not convinced that this is worth it, below is some more customer data.
This time it is about how many customers will actively recommend you to their friends and colleagues, again you can see the impact of 10/10 experiences. 80% have recommended. Once the score drops below 8 there is no positive word of mouth.
You have to stand out!
3 more actions you can take to ensure you deliver 10 out of 10:
- Have your aces in the right places:
The most friendly person greets customers on arrival (Your Host). The team members completing the sale are fast on the till but still give attention to the customer, they greet everyone with eye contact and a smile, they farewell everyone in the same way. - Roster to ensure you have enough people on at the busiest times.
- Apply the principles of S.A.P.P
Space: Can get a carpark, easy to enter the business – wide open entrance, layout is logical and is easy to more around, room for people to queue.
Ambience: Its well-lit, nice smells, colours, appropriate music for the feeling you are trying to create.
People at a distance. See below explanation.
People close up. See below explanation.
Service: Distance and Close Up
Customers form many impressions about your customer service before any direct interaction with staff takes place. By the time they arrive at the counter, customers have nearly always made several important evaluations of the service, perhaps even prejudging it.
Customers assess staff in two ways:
From a distance (e.g. as they approach the counter) and closer up (e.g. while they are being served). From a distance they form a number of impressions. These initial impressions may be even more significant than the service itself, which can be very brief.
Initial evaluations certainly create expectations of the service that will follow. Good or bad impressions can effectively form the basis of customers’ judgements of staff performance, as well as your own.
You can make a difference right now by taking the time to think about the experience you want to create for your customers.
Take action now to reap the short and long-term benefits.
If you would like to have a chat with me about “How to maximise this opportunity not just for the immediate opportunity but for the long-term“ contact me I look forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards,
Craig