Hiring the Smile

When it comes to good customer service there is nothing more important than hiring the right person. A favorite colleague reminds me all the time about how and why Nordstrom’s is so successful with creating the ideal customer experience; they hire the smile and train the skill.

So how do you hire the smile? First and foremost look for individuals who have a positive attitude and are genuinely excited about the prospect of working for your company. When interviewing a candidate I appreciate it when the prospective employee has taken the time to research and understand what we do as a company and demonstrate knowledge about our clients, culture and our business in general.
Being a customer service specialist is not for everyone. While we would like to believe we get everything right, part of the reason you have someone answering your calls is because you are sometimes dealing with unhappy customers. I believe in trying to do as realistic job preview as possible. I have interviewed candidates for various positions and there have been times that I intentionally try to scare them away so that I can see firsthand how committed they are to the opportunity versus just looking for a job.

Hiring the right candidates is not the responsibility of Human Resources. The entire team has the responsibility for hiring the right candidates. Coworkers, fellow team members as well as managers should participate in the interview process. Listen closely in particular to what the fellow team members have to say about the candidates ability and passion to do the job. They are the ones, who do the job on a daily basis and know better than anyone what it takes to be successful.

Everything I have talked about here is not just geared towards your customer service associates but should apply for every position you hire for within your organization. Every employee acts and serves as a face to your brand.

Stay tuned for my next entry which will be all about what to do once you hire the right person and to treat them the way you want your customers to be treated.

Locate My Nearest...

A common customer interaction for many retailers is locating the nearest store. How easy or difficult is it for your customer to find this information? Is there a store locator clearly shown on your website? Does the store locator show hours of operations, is there a local phone number, are directions easily accessible? If you answered no to any of these questions what do you think your customer does when they cannot find the right answer. Generally they have a choice,

(1) Keep looking for the information they need with increased frustration
(3) Call your 800# to find the required information
(if they can find a number on your website, that experience is for a whole other post)
(4) Go to a competitor

All of these options cost you money. If you are a consumer (which all of us are) what experience do you want to have? The easier and more accessible we make information, the better the customer experience will be. It may take a bit more time and effort but this simple transaction can say so much about your brand.

Now, how do you turn this very simple transaction into an ROI for your business? Let's say that in a particular market you spent $20,000 on local advertising and promotion and you expect that advertising to generate 50 new customers. The cost of aquisition is $400 ($20,000 / 50). If in the process of trying to find your actual store location 10% of your targeted customers gave up and went somewhere else your cost of aquisition just went from $400 to $444 ($20,000 / 45). In the first scenario if your average retail ticket is $100 it will take 4 visits to your store to receive an ROI on your initial investment. In the second scenario it would take 4.4 visits.

What if when the customer looked for a nearest location, the information requested is quickly provided increasing the liklihood of achieving your target of 50 new customers? What if you could also increase their average ticket price from $100 to $120 by providing a coupon or special promotion related to just that store? You now have decreased your ROI from 4.4 visits to 3.3 visits ($400 / $120).

See the attached article on best practices for improving your store locator usability.

http://bit.ly/thwvv0