Tips For Small Retailers

These tips may seem obvious, but believe me, some of the most basic customer service principles are often forgotten at smaller establishments. The sad part is that people have become resigned to accept poor service in larger less personal stores, but when they shop at a small boutiquey type shop, they expect everyone to be on and are far less forgiving when you're not.

1. When customers see your clerks chewing gum or with chipped nail polish they often expect poor service. When this (usually unconscious) assessment is made of your business, they tend to spend less or deem your products not worth the price you’re asking.
   
2. When a customer says thank you as you hand them their bag or change, the only acceptable response is something along the lines of, “You’re very welcome and thank you for stopping in.” When a clerk says, “no problem” or “no biggie”, a huge mistake has occurred. Serving a customer should never be a problem. This tends to be a habit of high school and twenty-something clerks, but if informed, they usually understand why it’s not a good practice.
   
3. Train your staff to be polite on the phone. If they have to ask someone to hold, they must do it politely. “Hang on a second” is rude. Likewise, when they come back on the line, they should thank the customer for waiting. And chit-chatting with friends while customers are in your shop is totally unacceptable.
   
4. If a customer calls and asks if you carry a certain product, you either say “yes”, “no” or offer to find out. Saying you’re not sure and then half-heartedly asking if they want you to check and see is considered poor service.
   
5. You have to trust that you own a competitive business in order to not get caught up in competing with shops in your area. Set your prices, arrange your merchandise and plan your sales according to the plan best for your business. You cannot panic when you see a shop has the same soap you sell or just purchased an ad in the paper twice the size of yours. If someone calls and asks if you still have lemon body wash in stock and you happen to be out, it is your duty to refer them to the shop down the street. As long as they're on the phone, they're your customer and you're giving great service if you help them find what they need, even if it’s not in your store. They will remember. People are much better about this than you realize. Be generous of spirit and you will reap customer loyalty beyond belief.
   
6. Never let anyone overhear you saying, “She’s a good customer, she spends lots every time she comes in.” It may be true, but the person who comes in once a week and treats herself by spending four dollars out of her already tight budget is likely to consider herself a good customer and your comments may sting.
   
7. Samples. Either everyone gets one or no one does. There cannot be exceptions to this rule, unless the store is empty and you just have to shower a regular customer with the extra treats your supplier sent along with your order. Women notice if the woman ahead of them in line gets something extra slipped into her bag. We then get a little boost thinking that we’re going to get that cute little bar of soap too, when we don’t, we wonder why. When I had my shop, we gave away samples to everyone as long as we had them. To the two hundred dollar spender and to the person buying a two dollar pack of incense. Kindness and generosity distributed evenly creates loyalty.
   
8. Counting back change. Teach your employees to count back change correctly and not just drop the money into the customer’s hands. Counting back change is old fashioned, but it prevents mistakes and usually ensures that both the clerk and the customer are certain the transaction was completed accurately.
   
9. Do not have ridiculously high minimum purchase amounts to use a credit card. Yes, as retailers, we hate those fees, but as customers who tend to carry less cash these days, it’s frustrating. In my opinion, anything higher than five dollars is offensive and if you can avoid a limit, you’re better off. There's a shop in town with a fifteen dollar limit. Considering a four ounce bottle of their lotion is thirteen dollars, the limit is ridiculous.
   
10. Pricing. If it’s for sale, price it. If it’s for display only, mark it clearly. This trend of not pricing items in order to encourage customer/clerk interaction is for the birds. Fine jewelry stores can get away with it, but boutiques and smaller shops should avoid it.
    
11. Your clerks should greet customers immediately when they walk into your shop, offer assistance if needed and then let people wander freely without pressure. When I had my shop, I was advised to maintain a certain level of contact and eventually apply subtle pressure to boost my sales. NO WAY. My philosophy was service before sales. I posted product information on shelves, trained my staff rigorously on all items, and made sure that customers realized help was there if needed. This worked well for me. My products basically sold themselves and the service came in during interactions at the counter and when customers needed something specific. No one felt neglected, no one felt pressured and natural conversations developed because they weren't lead-ins to sales pressure. At my shop we blended perfumes and in that case, the service and interaction was high, but there was no pressure to buy. It worked.
    
12. Don’t charge for gift wrap unless you go above and beyond. Either you gift wrap or you don’t, but unless your gift wrap is a lot different than your normal packaging, you cannot expect to please customers by charging extra. Tissue paper and pretty bags are the norm and adding some curled ribbon to the handle doesn't justify an extra charge.
    
13. If you own a shop usually frequented by women, but often swamped during the holidays by men, and you also happen to offer free gift wrapping…never let a man tell you it’s not necessary. Many men are at your shop because their wives have raved about it. They come in hoping to find a gift that will make an impression. When asked if they want it gift wrapped, there are two types. The first is the man who’s so grateful the gift shopping is done and that you can take care of the wrapping, they practically throw themselves at your feet in gratitude. The second is the man who feels kind of sheepish about having someone wrap the gift for him. He might need a little coaxing. However, when you make him look like an absolute Super Hero as his wife oohs and ahs over the pretty paper and whatever little baubles you include, you will have two customers for life. A tip; House of Marbles is a company that makes the tiny glass hearts, stars and moons we sprinkled over the tissue with a few rose buds in every gift we wrapped. They cost about six cents each and while they added a little to the cost of our complimentary gift wrap, they were worth it. There is nothing more personally satisfying and lucrative than having your shop completely packed with men on Valentine’s Day all joking with one another about how you make them look like heroes. If you make it easy...they'll keep coming back. Believe me.
    
14. Never ever complain to customers that business is slow. They come in expecting to shop, maybe chit-chat, browse, and enjoy what you have created. Never make them feel uncomfortable. I was once in a shop and the owner told me that I was her first customer of the day and if the trend continued she might have to close. Wow! I couldn’t find anything I really wanted, but bought some note cards. It was a charity purchase and yes, I should have more backbone, but I felt bad. Though, not bad enough return. It was too uncomfortable. When asked about business…if it's been slow, just say “Well, we’re getting a break, it’s not as busy as last week and now we can catch up” or something positive. You don’t have to gush or lie, just don’t complain.
    
15. If you have a bathroom for customers, for God’s sake, keep the door closed. No one wants to look at your gourmet jams and mustards in full view of the toilet. Plus it's considered bad Feng Shui.
    
16. If you have a small parking lot, instruct your employees to save the spaces close to the door for customers.