Why does The Container Store pay its 6,000 employees an average of $48,000 a year, more than double the average for retail sales worker? According to CEO Kip Tindell’s recent book, Uncontainable, the company gets a huge return–highly satisfied employees that are three times more productive and a turnover rate of less than 10% compared to a whopping 75% industry average. We all know that turnover is expensive. Hiring and training drain resources and lower productivity. Happier touchpoint employees give consistently great service. Customers who are delighted by happy and engaged employees will return and spend more money. Tindall is...
Everyone talks about Nordstrom extraordinary service. Are the extraordinary deeds the stuff or myth? I had a chance to see for myself not too long ago. A friend recently told me about an experience he had at the mall. His shoes hurt his feet so we stopped into the shoe department at Nordstrom. He struck up a conversation with the sales clerk, explaining the Cole Hann shoes he was wearing seemed too tight. On the spot, the clerk offered to swap the shoes out for a larger pair even though he confessed he had not purchased the shoes from Nordstrom originally. The...
A friend of mine shared extreme frustration after a trip to the mall this weekend. She needed to purchase a new bottle of make-up brush cleaner. Being a life long customer and make-up aficionado, she knew exactly what she wanted. A quick trip to the counter would have been sufficient, instead it turned into a marathon waste of time which resulted in no purchase. So how does a life long customer leave without their product of choice? Great question. My friend was whisked into something I like to call “The Process”. Salespeople have a process they are supposed to follow during...
For working parents, Saturday mornings are often the time to run errands. Many times, they run those errands accompanied by their young children. Taking kids in and out of car seats to make quick stops at the dry cleaners, bank, or pharmacy can be exhausting. Kids get tired and bored and parents lose their patience creating unpleasant scenes in businesses. As a business owner, you can do a few simple things to make your business more kid friendly. Is your business “kid friendly”? Busy working parents trying to get a slew of errands crammed into a short weekend, with kids in tow,...
Getting and responding to feedback should be a big part of your customer service routine. Let people know how to get in touch with you, and make it easy for them to use those channels. Respond quickly and efficiently.
