Why are your salespeople leaving you?

The December quarter has ended on a happy note for many Indian retailers. Some retailers have reported growth in top-lines of over 25% and growth in net profits of close to 50% over same quarter last year. That is indeed a very loud reaffirmation of the strengthening consumer sentiment across the Indian subcontinent. Thankfully for wise economic governance; the Indian economy has remained largely isolated from the global meltdown, and even the whimpering cries of slowdown have been silenced by the rapturous excitement in our malls and high-streets.

When retailers begin focusing on same-store growth; one of the challenges they are bound to face is being able to assign clear and unambiguous levels of ‘Accountability’ across their retail operations.

Corporate vision and strategy will always determine annual goals. However, those goals can be reached only when there are right behaviors demonstrated across the entire retail value chain. Loosely translated, a ‘Right behavior’ is any and all behavior that is required for the moment. A sales person – no matter how tired he or she is - walking the customer to the back of the store to identify what the customer wants, is the right behavior for the moment. Just as the store manager having to make a trip to an other branch or to the warehouse to get the promised merchandise for a customer - instead of hiding behind disrupted warehouse delivery schedules to justify why he is letting the customer down on the promised delivery.

Whatever the growth that retailers are aiming for in the next fiscal; they have to find ways to assign goals ‘fairly’ to their ‘responsible owners’ at all levels – both at the back-end and the front-end. ‘Fair allocation’ of goals at the store level could mean that the store is given sales goals commensurate with its location and performance history; while ‘fair allocation’ at the individual sales person level would take into account an individual’s inherent and trainable strengths and his or her commitment to the store’s goals. In fact, it is the ‘willingness’ of the sales associate to do whatever is required of him to meet the store goals; that determines whether he is being a ‘responsible owner’ or not.

In their anxiety to reach goals, the ‘corporate’ often believes that an individual sales associate’s innate capabilities are adequate; and in this false belief, overlooks the need to equipping them for accomplishing it. It is like an army general issuing instructions to his battalions to charge into uncharted territories of their enemy and pitch the flag of victory – in barefoot; with no arms and ammunition and with no protective gear; only to later moan the shameful defeat and occasionally mourn his dead jawans!

Executives at the national level will have to arm their teams at regional and store levels with skills required to reach their goals. A wise investment in training – to overcome the limitations of innate talent and unharmonious application of wisdom, is a good place to begin.

After all, only right behaviors will beget right results. Any shortfall in reaching goals, under closer examination, will reveal either the ignorance (lack of training) or negligence (lack of willingness) to apply the right behaviors. And the extent to which the team remains farther from its goal is in direct proportion to its excessive and brazen use of wrong behaviors. Numbers, in and by themselves cannot be changed. And numbers will not eternally continue to look encouraging in spite of the limitations of retail staff.

Poor numbers have their levers in store staff either not being ‘capable of’ or ‘unwilling to’ perform as desired. The store staff’s ‘inability’ can be overcome by transferring the skills through proper training and strengthening the right behaviors through constant practice.

However, there is not much that can be done about a salesperson’s ‘unwillingness’ to perform. People who are unwilling to perform despite training, are a liability. In fact, they are a bigger liability than people who leave the organization after training – the latter being one of the major concerns of retailers.

Store managers and team leaders will have to take on the responsibility of not only reaching their own numbers but also helping their teammates achieve theirs. Positive and regular coaching is indispensible in this collective responsibility towards delivering numbers. Retailers should train their managers to become responsible coaches of their teams. Just as professional sports coaches are always on the field watching their wards; store managers have to make themselves available to spend more and more time on the sales floors observing their teammates. They will have to either be ‘praising’ right behaviors demonstrated by their sales teams or be ‘coaching’ them for right behaviors. In that spirit, ‘coaching’ becomes a ‘duty’ more than a responsibility.

In the back-end too, ‘Merchandisers’ should realize that their accountability is never complete without their proactive ownership of what they choose to carry in their stores – the styles, the colours, the designs, the quantities - in short, the whole assortment and merchandise mix of any retailer, is the sole responsibility of merchandisers – until every single unit is sold, preferably at full-price! ‘Buyers’ own the responsibility of ensuring that right quality of the defined SKU are bought in right quantities and in collaboration with the ‘Sourcing’ teams, will ensure that they are bought at the right prices from the right sources. Together with ‘Logistics’ and warehousing, the onus of reaching the desired quantities to the right places at the right time are all different components and degrees of accountability shared across the back-end of the value-chain.

The cycle of accountability for the customer-facing end, thus seems to complete itself when store managers begin to coach their sales staff; and in turn be coached by their area or district managers; who in turn are guided by their national level executives.

Leaders on both sides of this ‘infinite 8’- at whose cusp the ‘Corporate’ it its magnanimity and wisdom meets its ever-demanding and hard-to-satisfy ‘Customer’- have to ensure that accountability is clearly defined; fairly allocated, meticulously managed and generously rewarded.

Turkish Delights

I spent most part of November and December in Istanbul, Turkey; training about 80 sales associates, store managers and retail managers in our customer services skills and store management strategies. It was a rewarding experience, both for my client and me. The client, a chain of Health and Beauty stores; has a rich pedigree and is committed to staying ahead of competition by offering superior customer service in an increasingly competitive market. Organized retail in Turkey is mature and one can see international brands and home-grown labels jostle for market share blurring boundaries between mass merchandisers and niche retailers. Our client’s appetite for growth is supported by their burning desire to excel in all aspects of retail and customer service.

We began with the fact that my trainees were not conversant in English. But the seemingly obvious reservations about the language barrier – was demolished from the word ‘go’ as the simultaneous translators did a fantastic job of seamlessly conveying my English words to the ears of my Turkish listeners and effectively relaying their thoughts to me in English – all in miraculously real time. My jokes resulted in instant ruptures of laughter as the deep insights found their ready adaptors. Every single role-play turned out to be lively and each batch of trainees left fully motivated, determined and eager to put their new skills to practice. I never once felt that I was in a foreign land training people who don’t speak the same language….and yet understood every word I spoke and reciprocated by sharing their real life experiences serving customers.

I came back with many fond memories and strong validation of some of the inevitable requirements for success in retail - A clearly defined retail offering; peopled by retail staff with an attitude to serve; mature in their understanding of customer service and willing to learn and sharpen their skills to excel in their roles. This was set in an ambiance conducive for bringing about individual accountability with objective performance management systems.

This unique experience also validated the fact that right attitude coupled with right skills can work wonders when used appropriately. Each of the 80 odd sales associates and managers went back to their respective stores fully inspired and committed to accomplishing their goals – both individual and store goals. What followed was some spectacular outcomes from each of those stores – sometimes glaringly obvious; and at times, supremely magical.

Yasemin was mostly silent during training and spoke only when asked to. She never volunteered for any of the role-plays either; maintaining a low profile over the three days when she was in my audience. Little did I imagine that she would go back into her store and create history? Her store, all of a few hundred square feet, is situated in a largely residential locality with limited traffic of customers unlike a highstreet or a mall.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon in early December and Yasemin had come in for the second shift. A customer in her mid-thirties had walked in with no intention to buy, and was perhaps browsing the store to get some ideas for a gift for her expectant sister. Yasemin had approached her with a warm smile and a gentle greeting complementing her hand bag, thus striking a friendly conversation with the customer. She had made the customer feel so much at home that the customer had dropped all her resistance that most customers harbor against sales people. As they spoke, Yasemin took the customer around the store, helping her understand the different product categories. They instantly bonded like friends and Yasemin had successfully built a person-to-person rapport with her customer as she continuously probed to understand her customer’s needs.

Knowing the purpose of her visit – to get some ideas to gift an expectant mother - Yasemin helped her customer to baby shampoos, creams, moisturizers and everything else that a mother would need for her first child and things that she would need for herself before and immediately after child birth. Yasemin didn’t miss the opportunity to make the would-be aunt feel special. She reminded her that the arrival of a new member into the family is also a wonderful reason to celebrate her ‘aunthood’. Not to mention, the aunt-to-be ended up helping herself to some goodies. The customer had not broken into a sweat even after 60 minutes and four baskets full of personal care products for her expectant sister; the baby and herself.

When the bill was made, Yasemin had created history. She had created the single highest transaction in the history of the chain – a transaction that came to be twice as big as the highest single sale ever - a sale equivalent to $550.

The customer not only had left the store singing praises of how Yasemin had bonded with her and indulged her in the moment, but also had helped her choose the right products.

Stories such as these abound in the weeks that followed; individuals and stores, out-performing their earlier highs in all key statistics - total sales; average ticket sizes and number of transactions. Another store beat its highest number of transactions by 30%; while a sales associate in a different store has bettered her average ticket size by 20% and consistently maintained it.

Obviously, we are continuing to work with the client; helping them create such magic in their remaining stores.

Accountability in retail begins with giving each customer service associate a reasonable goal and giving her the required tools and techniques to achieve the goal. For all this to happen at a systemic level, it is essential for the retailer to imbibe fair and objective ways of setting goals; measuring performance by rewarding the right behaviours and correcting the wrong ones through dedicated coaching.

Success Sutras for Retail 2.0

The monsoon showers will hopefully help wash the red off retailers’ balance sheets! It’s time to cheer. Cheer that EOSS for most retailers has gone well; and for those that pretended to be giving away a lot but meanly held back; their customers just showed them who is smart. It’s time to ship all their unsold merchandise back to their warehouses. Make way for Autumn Winter ’10.

Retail has come a full circle; hasn’t it? I mean, look at what happened in the last three or four years – Retail catches the imagination of large corporations; they hire some big names in consulting who tell them that retail will grow at 35% -40% annually and create some two million jobs. Some large business houses go all out and devote a few thousand crores; they assemble armies of people who could barely spell ‘retail’. Blue prints are drawn; executives from different industries are poached with the lure of obscene salaries. Having put their money; retailers go berserk in signing up real estate. Developers and landowners lord over their fiefdoms; extort insane rents and go put all that money in stocks. Retailers fill their stores with container loads of ‘made in china’ and recruit thousands of warm bodies to populate their mushrooming stores….and both, retailers and their employees, all wait in feverish anticipation of that elusive customer! The going is good for a while and then suddenly, our banker friends across the Atlantic belatedly realize that they have been financing non-existent assets and suddenly all their balance sheets are soaked in blood. Every street from Wall street to Dalal street is in the red! Credit dries up; Banks refuse to lend, let alone restructure the mess. Some retailers become history. Curtains close on Retail 1.0.

Welcome to Chapter 2; to all those lucky ones that survived the cloudburst and some that barely made it by the skins of their teeth! You deserve a place in this world. It’s time to pitch your tents; hoist your flags and blow the battle horns once again.

Now that the curtains are up again, is there something that we need to do differently that will certainly spell success in retail? Yes, there is.

Sutra # 1: It is important for retailers to establish ground rules for every single activity or process that is critical to their business. Beginning with getting the merchandise mix right to sourcing and buying the right products. Having ground rules here means to resist the temptation of creating standard ‘one-size-fits-all’ merchandise mix across stores. A sharp focus on localization is inevitable. Moving on into store operations; retailers will do well to establish store policies related to receiving goods; VM; replenishment; exchanges and returns. Who does what, why, where, when and how? It is equally crucial to keep these policies both customer and employee friendly as possible. In trying to please the customer, retailers often err on the side of over-complicating policies making them almost impossible to practice. When policies exist in writing and are communicated widely; there is no scope for individual interpretations and attendant inconsistencies. Any retailer desirous of giving their customers a consistent experience across its chain of stores has to invest time and resources to getting the first sutra right. Put it in black and white, because you don’t want to see any grey!

The second sutra is the most critical of the three. In fact it has two parts to it. 1) To indentify; hire and recruit the right people at all levels. It is common thinking in retail that regardless of how unsuitable or untrained the rest of the sales staff is, it is important for the store manager to be ‘seasoned’. ‘Seasoned’ frequently translates into someone who’s been doing things (not necessarily in the right way) for a long time. Therefore, an ideal store manager candidate typically is someone who’s been on the sales floor for long as a senior supervisor or department manager. Remember; practice does not necessarily make a man perfect; it makes the ‘practice’ more ‘permanent’! So, if your manager is someone who’s been doing things a certain way – his/her way in most cases - because he/she has not been educated on how to do something, then that’s the only way you will get it. So, teach your store manager what is important for your business and how to monitor it. 2) A fact that cannot be over-emphasized is the need for the store staff to be adequately and periodically trained. My organization has studied patterns in individual and store performance over the last 30 years and we’ve been able to conclude with certainty that trained staff are consistent in converting ‘shoppers’ into ‘buyers’. They are confident about their product knowledge and their abilities to communicate benefits to suit customer needs and are often found selling higher priced products in any given category, over their untrained counterparts. Trained staff also add-on successfully in at least 60% of selling opportunities and the added product is often of significant value that takes the average basket size up by 15% to 20%. I’ve heard some retailers site attrition to be the reason for not training their staff or making a perfunctory ritual of any little training that they undertake. I have just one thing to say to them. Every garment we wear gets wrinkled by the end of a few hours and that is no excuse to wear wrinkled clothes! Untrained staff have been found to lose more selling opportunities that would otherwise have been converted to sales. Often the opportunity lost is bigger than the investment required to train them. Panic not. Help is at hand!

The third sutra for success is to instill a sense of commitment in every customer service associate that their roles as sales persons is two-fold; a)to help every customer buy (buy more and more often) and b)to consistently sell, thereby moving the store inch-by-inch towards its goals. Any salesperson who has difficulty accepting this fact of their lives; is no salesperson! That’s easier said when individual contribution is not being measured on an equitable and fair scale and/or not being rewarded fairly and adequately. This is why it is important for retailers to have an enterprise-wide system that helps set fair and consistent individual goals; track them consistently; reward the right behaviors and coach the inconsistent behaviors towards meeting the desired levels.

For some retailers, it is a question of life and death to have good ‘mystery shopping’ scores that they have outsourced agencies perform periodically. They believe in doing everything possible to get a favorable score. So much so that, they have uniform incentive plans for their store staff, lest disgruntled staff get de-motivated and offer unacceptable customer service. They are also wary of setting individual goals and rightfully rewarding each sales person for his or her contribution; as they suspect that competition to achieve individual goals will cause conflicts between staff. Well, think of it; each time all sales people in a store get rewarded equally; the non-contributors feel encouraged to just piggy back and not make any efforts to contribute; On the flip side; contributors feel frustrated that their efforts rewards laggards while they themselves are not adequately so. Missing the forest for the trees, if you will!

It is strange that while retailers are ready to compete with one another, store for store; they shy away from instilling a spirit of healthy competition among their staff.

In the next three to five year horizon ‘store profitability’ and ‘same store growth’ will be the only two factors that will make a difference between a successful retailer and the one that isn’t. What that means is that the first surest way to go out of business is to open stores just to add to the store count without aiming for breakevens and profits. The second surest way is to be under the fond illusion that one is on the growth path when most of the growth is coming from new stores and not from existing ones. It’s a classic ‘catch 22’ for retailers. They ‘should not’ expand if they are not sure that each of the new stores will themselves be profitable within a reasonable time frame. And yet, while new stores are set in the profitability orbit; they ‘ought not’ take their eyes of exisiting stores to ensure they are sweating the daylights out of competition to consistently grow at or over industry growth rates.

30% or 40% overall growth will mean nothing if each store is not in and of itself profitable and that, stores that have been in existence over one year are showing healthy growth from their last year numbers. That’s all that matters. And the only certain way to ensure this is to devote company time and resources to getting the three sutras of Retail 2.0 right.

Welcome aboard!

The Perfect Sales Pitch

THE PERSEVERANCE AND CONVICTION OF A SALESPERSON CAN TURN A USUAL WINDOW- SHOPPER INTO A BRAND LOYALIST. I EXPERIENCED THE POWER OF THE STATEMENT WHEN I VISITED A GYM, AND WALKED OUT CONVINCED OF PUTTING MY MONEY IN IT. THE ARTICLE IS A LEAF FROM MY DIARY AND DEPICTS THE QUALITY OF GOOD SALESMANSHIP, WHICH ONE USUALLY DOES NOT COME ACROSS EASILY.

After a four-month break from the gym, it was time for me to regain the lost health. And so, keeping my options open, I went to a fitness centre close to my workplace to see what it could offer me. “Good evening, sir,” said a young and cheerful attendant, Mohit, ushering me into the lobby. “Please have a seat,” he said, sitting opposite me on the sofa. “Can I get you something to drink – tea, coffee or soft drinks?” he enquired. And while my tea arrived, he fetched his notepad and pen. “Have you visited our centre before, sir?” he asked politely. “No, this is my first visit,” I replied. “Then, please allow me to show you around,” he suggested, getting up from his seat and guiding me in the direction of the cardio section.

It was indeed a pleasant and genuine greeting. I kept registering in my mind and couldn’t help relate to what we train retailers in – a good opening line and a quick tour. I found the mannerisms of the attendant impressive and began to feel at home. Perhaps, my long search for a fitness centre had ended.

There were many other factors that could go wrong, and so I chose not to decide so quickly. “We are a UK- based fitness centre, operating over 500 fitness centres in 20 countries. In India, we have four centres – two in Delhi and one each in Bangalore and Mumbai,” he said as we embarked on the quick tour. “We have the best of equipment, sir,” he pointed as we passed the cross-training section, which looked like an assembly of stationary robots with handles and pedals at odd angles.

As I walked past, I couldn’t help but admire a few determined souls who were wrestling with those equipment with their hands pulling bars, their complaining legs pushing pedals, their foreheads filled with beads of sweat and almost all of them panting for breath.

“To our right is the lounge where members can relax,” he said. Some, who had finished their workout for the day, were watching TV or flipping through magazines.

When we reached the cardio section, all I saw was another assembly of equipment – treadmills, cross-trainers, cycles, steppers and other equipment. They were all facing a glass wall at the far end, which gave a rather unsightly view of the road below. Suspended from the ceiling against the glass wall were half-a- dozen 48-inch LCD TVs. After returning from the cardio floor, Mohit took me into the inner recesses of the centre. On the right we passed other equipment. They were all facing a glass wall at the far end, which gave a rather unsightly view of the road below. Suspended from the ceiling against the glass wall were half-a- dozen 48-inch LCD TVs.

After returning from the cardio floor, Mohit took me into the inner recesses of the centre. On the right we passed a small room, whose floor, walls and ceiling resembled that of a dance floor in a discotheque. It had several stationary cycles and an elevated platform at the far end. “This is our RPM studio,” he introduced.

To the left we passed the weights area, which had a sound-proof soft flooring, as against the wooden flooring in the rest of the centre. In front of us was a larger studio. On the stage at the far end was an instructor with a microphone, who was making 20-odd enthusiasts move their bodies to her instructions. “This is where we conduct aerobics, kick-boxing, pilates and yoga sessions, sir,” said Mohit, as I stood admiring their synchronised steps. He then pointed to a wall behind us that had a huge display of the schedule for the month, featuring various sessions at the large studio. Our next few stops included the locker room, sauna and washrooms – all very clean and hygienic.

The fitness centre was indeed well- equipped, a main criterion for making the ‘buying’ decision. But many times, a good product is not enough to make people buy it, understanding the customer’s needs is equally important, if not more.

As we returned to the consulting table, Mohit began to know me and my needs better. “Sir, do you live close by?” he had begun to probe amiably. “No, I work close by,” I replied and added “I’d like to work out after office.” Trying to help me in suggesting the right fitness solution, he made me provide him more information. “You see, I have a long drive back home,” I felt encouraged to say, “and it does not help one bit that I end up very late at the gym near home where I used to work out earlier.”

“As a result, I’ve been very irregular, and I’d like to fix it,” I said, feeling rather guilty about the hiatus from the gym. “I can see that you are very determined to keep yourself fit. That’s very good, sir,” he said, half complimenting and half reassuring me that I was being clever about wanting to choose a gym close to office. All this was only making me more convinced that this could indeed be the right place for me. However, I still didn’t want to jump to any conclusion.

“What is your motive for working out, sir?” he asked. “I’d like to keep myself generally fit and it would also help if my fitness helps me play better golf,” I said. “That’s very interesting. We have some golfers as our members and you would love to work out here,” he said, letting me know that I would be making the right choice if I enrolled at their centre. He was not just reassuring me, but was also preempting my “post-purchase dissonance” if I decided to enroll there.

“Sir, now that I understand your requirements, let me explain how we help people with their fitness needs,” Mohit said, slipping into demonstrating various options. “I’d like to offer you a two-day no- obligation trial that lets you use our club and all the services. You can then decide which membership plan you’d like to enroll into,” he said.

Although it sounded like a bait, it was equivalent to a test-drive and so I accepted it. “What are the different membership plans that you offer?” I asked. And he explained the four, six and 12-month membership plans and how much they were priced. I told him that I felt the joining fee was unnecessary, but the administration charges were understandable. I had begun to raise objections and it was his turn and really his last opportunity to save all the good work he’d done so far by overcoming my objections.

“I’d like you to use our facilities today and decide for yourself, sir,” he repeated and continued to highlight the benefits of their membership that he’d shared with me during the quick tour – unlimited access to using the gym at any time during working hours, renting DVDs, using sauna and the lounge, etc at no additional costs.

And, as if showing me around the fitness centre and highlighting the benefits of the membership weren’t enough, he enticed me with free personal training sessions. “If you enroll today, in addition to all the benefits that I have just mentioned, I can offer you five sessions of personal training for free,” he said, adding, “personal training is a charged service in which we assign you a fitness expert, who assesses your fitness levels and designs a personal training programme to meet your fitness needs.” Now, that was a clincher.

I had been evaluating Mohit for his behavior and salesmanship. He had been very cordial to me from the word go, and had made me feel comfortable. He had taken me on a quick tour of the centre, explaining all the different services and their benefits to me. I was convinced by now that this was meeting my needs and I was seriously considering enrolling the same day, although I had the two-day free trial available. As I got lost mentally weighing the pros and cons and calculating the ‘value’ I was deriving for the ‘price’ I had to pay to access the benefits…Mohit timed his ‘closing the sale’ appropriately. ‘I think this is one of the best deals you will get and I think you should enroll today to avail the offer Sir’ he said, persuading me gently to make the purchase. ‘Why don’t I introduce you to a personal trainer, who will assist you in using our facilities for today and I will wait for your decision after you are done with your workout’ he said with his charming smile.

Mohit indeed had put up an excellent sales presentation by connecting with me more like a consultant who’d help me make the right decision on the choice of a fitness centre. He knew about their services well (product knowledge) and kept continuously probing to uncover my needs and arrive at the right solution for me. He had demonstrated the value both, in his behavior and the physical tour of the centre. He had handled my objections well and I believed he had offered me a good deal, although the price I was willing to pay was quite significant for a six-month membership...of course, I didn’t need too long thereafter to sign on the dotted line.

Listening ain't enough!

I was checking out of a hotel in Delhi recently and as I had a meeting at 4.30pm before my flight at 9 pm, I requested the hotel that I’d like to check-out only an hour before, at 3.30pm as I had no intentions of basking in the Delhi sun! The staff at the front-desk was tentative at first, and then tried to tell me that I’d have to pay extra if I decided to extend my stay by three hours! For God’s sake, I had stayed there for three nights and was happy with the facilities that I’d even requested their sales department to get in touch with my office for a potential corporate tie-up. I wondered if I’d made a mistake!
I objected to their intention to charge me extra as I believed it was not fair. I reasoned that most hotels world-over accommodate a few hours of additional stay, especially when the occupancy rates are low, as it was the case at this hotel and considering my situation, they should not charge me extra. The front-desk staff then tried to educate me that their systems would automatically charge half-day tariffs for all check-outs after 12 noon. Now, that was the stupidest reason they could’ve used to overcome my objection. I then wished to escalate the matter to their manager, who tried repeating the same reason for having to charge me more. While I sat the manager down and explained to him how he should be controlling his computers rather than them controlling his behavior” several questions kept cropping up in my mind to be answered…. “Why do businesses always feel the urge to hide behind policy to justify not acting in the interest of customers?”; “What makes managers insensitive to their customer’s needs”; “Do they in fact empathize with their customers at all?” etc.
Are businesses missing out on something very vital to their very existence – being ‘Customer Centric’?
In another incident, I was convincing the HR head of a popular retailer to make certain investments in training their staff and he said “I don’t want to spend more than a lakh of rupees training my new recruits” “They will be gone in a few months and then I’ll have to spend on the new bunch of guys again…” he reasoned. I was only reminded of what Harry Friedman says “What if you don’t train them and they stay?!
That added a new question to my list. “Are businesses, particularly those in customer facing industries such as retail and hospitality, investing in enabling their staff to act in the interest of their customes?”
For starters, they need to start viewing things from the customer’s perspective; listen to their customers closely and align their product or service offerings in such a way that causes minimum dissonance between what the customer wants and what the business can lawfully yet profitably offer. In short; put the customer in the ‘Centre’. Make their business ‘customer centered’. I found this really simple yet practical definition of ‘Customer centricity’ on the internet. “Being Customer Centric is about an ability for everyone in the company to continuously learn about customers and the market. It is also the responsibility of everyone in the company to respond appropriately to what they learn.”
Therefore, how can retailers be more customer centric?
Retail businesses I’ve known have been slow in adapting a holistic approach to ‘learning about customers’. The least (or the most) some retailers do is to launch a loyalty program. Now, the problem with loyalty programs is that rarely if ever, do they go beyond acquiring and redemption of points for transactions made at the retailer’s stores. At times, customer information is used to invite loyalty card members to special product launches or offer them privileges such as assured parking or assured discounts. Retailers have been assuming that throwing such practical privileges will win them a permanent place in the hearts of their customer’s and absolve them of the ‘crime’ of not serving the customer in ways that matter (having the right product or the right size of merchandise etc. and helping customers make the right choices)
Are businesses listening?
Beyond loyalty programs and CRM, retailers should ask themselves the question – are we listening to our customers? It is good to have customer feedback forms – that has now become a ritual at the end of every shopping experience at a high end store; or a restaurant or an airline. I’m yet to receive a feedback from any of these sources – either thanking me for the feedback or acting upon suggestions I’ve made! If businesses have no intention to act upon what their customers are saying to them, they have no business wasting their customers’ time.
What are the various listening posts? (touch-points)
Apart from the many inanimate ways of knowing about customers – either through information from loyalty cards or from feedback forms – retailers can tap into what their sales associates find out while serving customers. I’m not sure whether retailers have formal mechanisms of capturing what their associates know. I’d believe it will certainly be a wealth of information that can yield competitive advantage when acted upon appropriately – for example; I’m sure I was not the first one who’d objected to being charged extra for a late check-out; had the hotel management been tapping into experiences of the front-desk; they should’ve long done away with such an ‘un-welcome’ policy. Budget permitting, retailers can also invest in Business Intelligence (BI) tools – both manual and digital -to capture and stream information to decision makers within the organization.
Next comes the task of ‘responding appropriately’ to what they learn.
My colleagues and I mystery shop regularly at retail outlets. Many a time, when we encounter a situation when we don’t find the right size or color of a piece of apparel; rarely do we get appropriate responses from staff – seeking to take down our contact details to inform us when they receive shipment etc.,
Excuses such as ‘out of stock’ or ‘size not available’ or ‘price not updated in the system’; ‘goods not dispatched from warehouse’ etc. are common on shopping trips. ‘Out of stock’ or ‘size not available’ could mean that the merchandisers did not anticipate demand for the style or size; or the sourcing and buying department did not release purchase orders well in time for the stocks to reach the stores. ‘Price not updated in the system’ could mean that although the merchandisers and buyers have done their job; the IT or the supply chain guys have not updated the system and hence the product cannot be billed out. ‘Goods not dispatched from warehouse’ could mean that although stock is available at the warehouse; either indents were not made on time or the warehouse has not been able to pick and dispatch the stocks as required.

Therefore,’ responding appropriately’ means, aligning the entire value chain – Sourcing; Buying, Merchandising; Supply Chain; Operations; Finance; Marketing; Information Technology and Human Resources -to meet or exceed customer expectation.

In the case of the hotel’s excuse for having to charge me excess; it is a matter of making changes to the billing software (or to the company values to begin with)
When all these functions are well equipped to meet the business demands; now comes the supreme task of enabling people within the organization to optimize utilization of resources. And ‘enabling’ begins with ‘Training’.


Training is required at all levels of a retail organization – be it a product or a service retailer - to remain consistently ‘Customer Centric’. Training store staff; that represent the brand and reputation of the company is key to superior customer service. Customer Service Associates and all other front-end staff; that comprise more than half of any retail operations team; requires a focused training on selling and customer service skills. Team leaders, floor and store managers - that may not perform active selling but are customer-facing in nature – need to be trained in not just meeting sales targets; but also running store operations smoothly deploying people efficiently. Managers with responsibilities of managing a cluster of stores need to be trained on optimizing resources and building efficient and profitable retail operations.
While ‘customer centricity’ is a key differentiator; it can be brought about by making right investments in enabling the workforce to serve customers with a heart and not merely by a policy!

Go (mystery) Shopping

To the acute jealousy of my friends and colleagues I found myself recently in Las Vegas to attend a ten-day long training program at our Corporate Headquarters. I had trouble getting across the purpose of my visit to my friends and colleagues as they understandably got distracted at the very mention of Vegas! It also did not help one bit that I was supposed to travel with two female colleagues!!
My first visit to the United States - is in itself somewhat an act of eluded destiny - as I had ducked many invitations from family based there for close to two decades now. So much so that I was the sole family member who had not set foot on the US soil so far. Now that I’ve lost that distinction, I set out to do what I’m helplessly addicted to as I extended my trip to visit family. Go (mystery) shopping.
On one such occasion, I found myself at a large home improvement store in San Jose, California, with my sister-in-law as my local guide. After realising it was not a crime to click pictures inside the store, I proudly pulled out my Kodak and set my index finger loose on the trigger. No sooner was I in the ‘Lights and décor” section and had clicked pictures of a few well-lit aisles, did I hear…”Hey, you gotta be doing up your bedroom or living room if you were clicking pictures of our lights…” said an almost celestial voice. I turned around to see a store associate with a bright smile. “There you go”, I thought to myself…”a very good non-business opening line; with all the promise of a continuing conversation”…Now it was my turn to be taken aback and I unwittingly realised that I was getting a taste of my own medicine. “Well, I’m just checking out” I retorted sheepishly. “Guess what, if you are doing up your house, I can have an expert interior designer come over and give you some valuable tips…at no cost” he said; “these guys usually charge $200 an hour” he finished. “Well, I have no definite plans” I asserted. And my sister-in-law was silently enjoying the unfolding drama. As I tried to wriggle out of the unaccustomed level of professional customer service, I was already in the ‘Sanitary ware’ section of the store. “Now”, said this associate having followed us, “here’s something we can do for your bathrooms as well”. “I’m sure you have your home here?” he questioned. And I wasn’t in a mood to reveal that I was just a tourist visiting my brother. “Yeah” I said. “How old is your home?” he asked..and I looked at my sis-in-law, more for help rather than for the answer. And before I could find the legitimacy within me to answer that question, he had spread in front of me a brochure that had pictures of bathroom fixtures and bathtubs. Now, before you get ideas. He was trying to sell me a service at their store that would have bathrooms and bathtubs refurbished without breaking down walls or pulling down tiles. He said, he could check whether there was one of their architects in the vicinity of where I lived to see if he could come over and assess the bathroom of my (brother’s) house (that I was visiting!).
When I knew that I couldn’t continue anymore answering his questions with a straight face, I said “Well, thank you for the information, but I’m not looking at doing up my bathroom just yet..and when I do, I’ll remember you guys have this really fantastic service”. That should have indicated to him that I was just window shopping and he disappeared from the scene…or so I thought! I instantly slipped into mentally pumping my fist with a great sense of achievement, having warded off even the most persuasive salespeople. The associate showed up behind my back in a few moments with the same brochure in his hand. This time, he handed it to me and said “if ever you think of doing up your bathroom, you should call me. Here’s my name and number” he said pointing to the scribble on the brochure. “Thank you Alex. I shall do that” I said pocketing the brochure. Only my sis-in-law seemed very amused!
I’ve always believed Nordstrom was a heaven to customer service. Not surprisingly, I had my brother, this time in Minneapolis, Minnesota; drive me to the world’s biggest mall – the Mall of America. In the Nordstrom store there, I set the awestruck kid in me loose as I visited one section after the other. In the gifts section on level 3, I found drawn into an alcove of interesting gift ideas – made from brass, copper, porcelain etc. The charming associate Peggy, in that section was not only very cordial and warm but was very helpful in her assistance. She answered my questions on what certain products were made of; displaying excellent product knowledge and at times going the extra mile to find me a convincing answer if she didn’t have one ready. Like the unique bag I discovered on one of the counters; that, when folded looked like a ladies handbag, but would open into a nice shopping bag! It was a pastel green colour that did not particularly appeal to me and noticing that it was the only piece left, I asked her if they had any more colour choices. This was one of their impulse buy items and was sitting next to the cash till in that section. “I’m sure I had seen other colours in them and they must be there in other sections. I shall check for you in a minute if you’d kindly wait” she said, disappearing from the scene. As I browsed through the gift section, admiring the products and visual merchandising; she appeared in no time with two other colours – a light grey and a light blue. I was planning to buy one of them for my mother who was shopping with me; but she seemed unexcited about the really cool bag. I instead picked up a set of tomato shaped porcelain ‘salt and pepper’ shakers. And as I checked out my purchase, I couldn’t help impulsively adding a copy of the “Nordstrom Guide to Men’s Style” for an additional $20. I have heard stories of how Nordstrom associates are told to “use their best judgement at all times” while serving customers and I found that being lived upto in front of me.
As I slipped down to Level 1, to immerse myself in the men’s section of the store; I was awestruck at the immaculate and colourful display of men’s apparel. John, the associate in that section - in business casuals worn with a tie and checked brown blazer - was truly warm and friendly. He never tried to sell anything to me. There was no “Can I help you, Sir” either here or in the gifts section above. John appeared genuinely happy to see me in his section and he opened the conversation. I couldn’t help asking him how it felt to be working for one of world’s best retailers and he said it was really very gratifying and cool! And how they all love being part of the brand and mentioned how the Nordstroms themselves come to the sales floor from time to time, to not just mingle with the associates but to even serve customers!
I had no intentions of buying anything here; but like it always happens with me when I’m mystery shopping, I felt tempted to look at the light blue dress shirt, that looked well crafted. I had no hesitation at the $49.50 price tag as I was truly happy being there and being treated well. When I asked John what size I should pick up; he immediately pulled out a measuring tape from his pocket and, with my permission, had the circumference around my neck measured. “15 ½ would be good for you” he said and I suggested that I’d rather pick up a 15 ¾ just in case I decided to wear it with a tie. John liked my reasoning and happily packed a 15 ¾ for me. I continued to stray into the men’s footwear section, before I finally decided to join the rest of my family who were kind enough to wait for me in a restaurant on level 3.
Be it Alex, Peggy or John or any other retail store associate; Steve or any other cab driver or airline staff; I experienced a minimum credible level of “customer service” across the United States, that is so intangible to explain; but not too difficult to define and execute; as we, in India help most of our clients define theirs.