It’s a fact of life that modern retail environments are becoming increasingly competitive. In the craft sector, not only are there large chain stores, but also competition from superstores offering these items and, more menacingly, the internet. With such a variety of choices available retailers have to find ways to differentiate themselves and hold onto every customer that walks through the door.

Although the internet has the advantage of being convenient, easy and quick, there is one area where it can never compete with bricks and mortar shop, and that is customer service. Whether it is helping a shopper to find something, answering questions, giving personal recommendations, or just smiling warmly when they arrive. Customer focused staff often make a bigger impression than price discounts or product selection. In fact, we have found that by implementing a customer service improvement programme, loyalty increases by five percent on average, in addition to increases in sales.

But how do retailers go about improving their customer service?
Training is an important tool, however, it is only part of the equation. The first step is to find out how you are doing in terms of service, then identify areas of improvement and take steps to better them. However, evaluating this can be a difficult task. The methods available include comment cards, surveys, monitoring staff, exit interviews and, of course, mystery shopping. Arguably the most effective of these techniques is mystery shopping, due to its anonymity. Shoppers are compensated for their time and trouble and therefore have an incentive to do a thorough job. It is the only way to evaluate employees in a completely natural situation.

It is important that any mystery shopping programme is not only detailed, but also highly responsive. One that only produces findings after four to six weeks may not provide a suitable timeframe to adapt. So much can happen in a month and findings based on visits weeks ago can be out of date, making it difficult to implement effective changes. By utilising web-based systems, that deliver reports in days or even hours rather than weeks or months, retailers can immediately identify what they are doing right and wrong, and find ways to fix problems.

The feedback retailers get from mystery shopping is truly unparalleled. For a company to be able to identify that staff are treating customers well and have a good depth of product knowledge, but that the shelves are constantly under stocked or floors not adequately swept is invaluable information. These are issues that you can remedy immediately, greatly improving the experience for your customers which, in turn, makes them more likely to return. A good scheme of evaluation will not just tell you what is good and bad, but also help identify ways to accentuate the positive, and improve on the negative. Not just tell you staff are not smiling enough – It will help you discover what steps can be taken to make staff happier, so they will want to smile more.

The benefits of a high level of customer loyalty are obvious. The more they return, the greater your sales figures will be, which of course results in higher income. There are other benefits, satisfied consumers refer friends and family, and word of mouth is one of the most effective forms of marketing available. Additionally, they are more likely to make purchases at full price, rather than a new or occasional shopper who may only come in seeking a bargain.

By taking advantage of the benefits offered by evaluating the service levels, you will be able to improve the quality of the service offered and make your shop more attractive. By setting a higher standard, you set yourself apart from competitors, whether they be other stores or websites, and most importantly, keep the customers coming back.