The subject line is a question I have heard time and time again. And my answer to the question is a resounding ‘NO!!!’ The retailing world is changing so much, that if you have not acted by now you really need to get your skates on and get yourself onto the Internet and create a Social Presence for yourself.
Now I can’t make a statement like that and not back it up. I too was very sceptical about all this internet malarkey plus Twitter, Face Book, Pinterest etc as it has certainly increased my workload and it is very hard to calculate the ROI (Return on Investment) from using it. But believe me, it definitely does work! In just the past week I have made two good sales and have two great stories for you.
Story 1 - I had a customer ring me up last week. He had bought 5 shirts from a department store and needed 2 more for his wedding. He was stressing big time and sounded really anxious on the phone. He had already contacted the original department store. But they had made no effort to look for those 2 extra shirts because to them 2 shirts is not a big deal, though to the customer it was important as it was for his wedding day. The customer found my store on the Internet and saw I was a stockist for the shirts. He told me what he wanted and I said I would ring the supplier directly and try to sort it for him. I managed to get the 2 shirts and had them posted directly to him. He rang me up yesterday and said (in his words) ‘That was the best bloody customer service I have ever received…thank you so much. I will never shop at a big department store ever again’. As you can imagine it made my day!
Story 2 - A customer emailed me over the weekend using a link from my Internet site. Now all the emails from the Internet go directly to my phone as I think this is important as you still should be in touch with your customers whenever and wherever you are. The customer explained that she was in South Australia and really liked some shirts she saw in a store there. She wanted more and had hunted around the shops – but no joy, and definitely no help was to be found. She had decided to do a bit of surfing online and came across my internet site. After she got in touch, we got the shirts for her and posted them directly to her door. She was delighted and said she would definitely keep shopping with us.
This all happened in one week. Both customers mentioned our Face Book page and how useful they found our You Tube video tips. So put your fingers in your ears at all these doom and gloom stories about retail. Keep shining and dig deep for all those customers you come into contact with – on the phone, walk in, internet or social media. These are the customers who will get you through these tough times so make sure you look after them. Do what the big stores are not doing…SERVICE!
Q for you
1. What great customer story do you have to share?
