We have all been to those affordable furniture stores where the “customer service” is nothing but an apathetic, angst-ridden teen who could not care less about the job that they are assigned to do. Heck, it does not have to be just affordable furniture stores, you can find those types of employees everywhere. The problem today is that companies are failing to hold their employees accountable for their customer service.
But because of this, when we do experience exceptional, or even just good, customer service, it is an amazing experience. As that is the case, it behooves every company out there to provide their customers with that exceptional service. It is not hard to do, when compared to all of the bad service, so just a little extra effort can make a big difference in the customer experience and the company reputation.
- Customer Trust and Loyalty
- Popular Furniture Stores
How can a business be deemed successful? Whether it refers to restaurants or to affordable furniture stores, success is not always just about net sales. You must also consider return traffic, repeat customers, and inspired brand loyalty. If you make one begrudging sale, but that customer leaves your establishment unhappy, never to return again, and ready to complain to all of his friends, that is certainly not an example of success, even though you did make that sale.
When your customer comes in looking to purchase a sofa, before you even think of making a sale, you must first create a relationship. A rapport must be established, and a working, back-and-forth communication needs to happen. Once your customer sees that you are invested in getting them the perfect sofa for their needs, then they can feel like they are actually a valued customer, and can trust you and your company for something more.
And it is important to really solidify the relationship aspect. It is not just an interaction that can last minutes. A relationship requires work to build and maintain, but it also gets you a customer for life. When they leave your store with the perfect sofa, a huge smile on their face, and a sense of satisfaction in the sales process, you can be confident that they will be back in three months when they need to buy a new bedroom set.
If you are not sure of what best practices should look like, just head on over to some high quality furniture stores to see what they do. There is no guarantee that they will have best practices. Who knows? They may be terrible.
But you can learn from it. Put yourself on the side of the customer and learn to recognize what makes you feel satisfied, what inspires customer loyalty in you, and what makes you trust that store and that salesman.
Customer service can be a tricky business. There is no 100%, guaranteed-to-work answer that can be applied to any customer service situation. Every person, every day, is a different case. But if you and your employees can keep this in mind, and strive to be the best customer service, no matter the situation, it may not be so difficult to wow them and see them come back. More like this: Directbuy