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Customer Service
By: Adam Bonilla

Table of Contents

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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... iii Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 1 Introductory: Say Hello ...................................................................................... 5 Greeting the Customer ............................................................................................................ 7 Chapter 2 Introductory: Helping Out ................................................................................. 9 Assisting the Customer ........................................................................................................ 11
Helping Carry Their Items ............................................................................................................ 11 Finding Items for a Customer ...................................................................................................... 12 Exchanging Items ........................................................................................................................................ 12

Chapter 3 Introductory: Intense Situations ................................................................. 13 Facing Agitated or Dangerous Consumers .................................................................... 15
Broken Item ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Asking for Management ................................................................................................................ 15 Unreasonable Customer ........................................................................................................................... 15 The Shoplifter ................................................................................................................................... 16

Index........................................................................................................................................... 17

Introduction

Introduction
Any business, no matter what product it sells, will have to eventually deal with a consumer. You can have the best marketing campaign, the lowest prices, and the best deals around, however if youre unable to communicate and handle a customer properly will still suffer greatly. The relationship that every business forms with their consumers is the key for their future prosperity. The amount of day-to-day interactions with customers between different businesses varies greatly, with retail stores at the forefront. This manual will give a step by step process on how to effectively deal with several situations one might experience with a customer in the retail market and make sure the customer has the best experience possible.

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Chapter 1 Introductory: Say Hello

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Greeting the Customer

The first and greatest part of interacting with a customer is the initial interaction that the employee and customer will have.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Be sure to make eye contact with the customer. Always smile and say the greeting with a welcoming tone of voice. Make sure the greeting determines the mood of the customer. The customer may reply by asking you how you are doing, respond cordially and do not ignore the customer Follow up on asking the customer if he or she needs assistance in finding a product. If the customer replies yes be sure to take the customer immediately to the location of the product. If you dont know where to find the product, ask a supervisor or another employee that might know, do not lead a customer aimlessly. After all the needed steps are taken care of, be sure to tell the customer to have a good day. Try not to have a long conversation with the customer; while this does improve relations with that customer, it will slow down the rate at which other customers are being handled.

Chapter 2 Introductory: Helping Out

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Assisting the Customer

It is crucial that an employee be proactive with helping a customer in any situation, not just waiting to be asked for help, but also offering outright.

Helping Carry Their Items

1. Whenever walking through the store or bagging for a cashier, always check for the size of the load each customer is bringing outside, the customers age, and the amount of customers helping to carry the shopping items. 2. If the customer has a very few light bags or is accompanied by friends then the employee shouldnt help the customer. 3. However it is always polite to ask the customer in the prior if he or she needs help in order to increase customer-employee relations. 4. If the case however, is that there is a single customer who has a medium to heavy load and is either very old or generally weak in stature, then the employee must take initiative to help that customer. 5. The employee must be proactive in asking the customer if he or she needs help. 6. A more effective way of getting the customer to let the employee help them is to phrase the question not as a yes or no question such as which way to your car? which makes it more difficult for the customer to reject your offer. 7. If the customer initially declines your offer, ask in such a way that makes the customer think that action is not a hassle to the employee such as claiming Im about to go outside anyway or I have gather carts outside so its no hassle. 8. If the customer refuses the second offer then let the customer go, any further offers will be seen as overbearing. 9. If the customer accepts your offer, then be courteous to the customer as you walk out with them, do not ignore the customer, always travel at the customers pace and do not rush them if they are slow. 10. After the employee finishes store the items in the customers car, say farewell to the customer and return to your post.

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Finding Items for a Customer

1. When purveying the store, make sure to look for customers who are wandering up and down the aisles, or just look confuse, these customers are probably looking for item and have no idea where too look. 2. If you notice a customer like this, approach them immediately and ask if they need help finding something. 3. Most often though, a customer will also approach you for assistance, if they already know that they need help finding something. 4. Only help the customer if you know exactly where the item he or she is looking for is located. 5. Never say, No I cant help you, if you dont know where the item is located find a supervisor or another employee to help the customer instead. 6. If you are able to help the customer, make sure you are able to find the item quickly, this not only helps the store have more employees freed up, but also makes the customer happier 7. When you are finished make sure to say good-bye to the customer and return to your original post. Exchanging Items 1. If a customer has gotten the wrong object he or she was looking for, but hasnt paid for it yet, it becomes a priority for the closest employee to take the wrong item back and get the correct item. 2. This situation is very similar to the previous section, it requires knowledge of the item location and expedience, however it should not be delegated to another employee or supervisor because the general location of the correct and wrong products should be known because of the customer already finding one of the objects. 3. In this situation it is more imperative to be quick in replacing the items, because prolonging the situation will clog up the register causing longer waiting periods for other customers.

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Chapter 3 Introductory: Intense Situations

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Facing Agitated or Dangerous Consumers

In many situations customers will often lose their tempers or seem unreasonable to deal with. However even in these situations an employee must be able to handle the situation delicately and not antagonize the situation any further.

Broken Item
1. Occasionally a customer will find that an item of theirs was damaged after they bought item or discovered that it was broken after they purchased the item and demands a replacement. 2. Now first off this section should not relate to high end products that have warranties or are very durable, but to grocery like items that are fragile and can be easy be damaged without notice. 3. If this situation were to occur it is important not to immediately deny the customer, any sort agitation could possible cause the customer to abandon shopping at the store. 4. The employee should replace the object, the cost of replacing the object will be paid for when the customer returns to shop at the store in the future.

Asking for Management

1. For a vast number of reasons an agitated customer may ask you if they could speak to the manager of the store. 2. If an employee is asked for the manager the employee should never say, sorry I dont where the manager is, ask someone else. 3. Even if you dont know where the manager is, the employee should stay with the agitated customer until a manager can be found. 4. When the manager is found, stay in the general are unless told otherwise, you may still be needed depending on what the customer wants. Unreasonable Customer 1. A time may come when a customer starts yelling at you for no apparent reason about a something that may not even concern you. 2. In this type of situation in this type of situation, you must be cool and try not to say anything that might antagonize the customer any further. 3. Immediately call the manager or closest supervisor to help handle the situation. 4. No matter how bad the situation becomes, do not be impulsive.

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The Shoplifter
1. Shoplifting is a very common crime in stores and any employee will experience it during their time working for that store. 2. To identify a shoplifter look for key traits: the person will repeatedly check behind them and look around suspiciously, the person will hide items in their pockets, purses or other concealed places, the person will try to avoid other employees. 3. It is important that any employee that finds a shoplifter follow them instead of immediately confronting them. 4. A more effective and peaceful way of diffusing the situation is too offer your service to the shoplifter before he or she leaves the store, this will cause the person to believe that they have been found out and abandon shoplifting. 5. If the shoplifter continues and leaves the store, the employees must avoid confronting the shoplifter and instead call authorities to handle the situation any further. 6. If you are able to, you will be required to give a description of the situation and the shoplifter to aid authorities in apprehending the suspect.

Index

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IndexNo index entries found.