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How to ensure stellar customer engagement for 2015

Getting retail employees to engage with customers is tough. Here are four things you can do to help them succeed.

December 16, 2014 by Jeannie Walters — Chief Customer Experience Investigator, 360Connext

The Retail Future Trends Report from Retail Customer Experience provided many valuable insights on both consumers and retailers and how they're feeling about the way we are shopping today. The retailers, while discussing technology and mobile and concerned about subjects like bitcoin and beacons, listed their second and third biggest challenges as those related to people.

When asked about current operational challenges, retailers answered this way for their #2 and #3:

2. Employees engaging with customers

3. Finding/keeping employees

This is revealing because as much as the main topics of conversation seem to rotate around technology, the bottom line is how people are still a critical part of the business.

I find the operational "challenge" of employees engaging with customers particularly telling.

This challenge is probably around worries about how employees don't engage with customers, or engage with them the wrong way. Combine this concern with the following challenge around finding and keeping employees, and the sum is a most likely terrible customer experience for any shopper.

What can retailers do to confront this challenge?

It's a really difficult question, but this should be a top priority. Here are a few ideas:

Hire better.

In-store retail is all about those personal interactions. Employees have to be able to interact naturally and think on their feet. If you don't have the right person, you can't train this. Hire the person who will make the right decisions. Then train them on the skills and tools they need to make those decisions.

Catch people doing right.

A lot of strife around these types of jobs is how the guy who does a great job interacting with customers, understanding the products, and delivering an exceptional experience gets the same pay and rewards (or lack thereof) as someone who grudgingly shows up just to grumpily ring people up at the cash register. Make a big deal out of the folks doing the RIGHT thing.

Walk the talk as a leader.

Leaders in retail get involved in the actual retail experience, and this helps their teams understand they are invested in their experiences, too.

A recent example of how effective this can be was how the ousted leader of Market Basket, a chain of grocery stores, was defended by the workers loyal to him. In some of the stores, they posted his picture in the aisles and protested outside stores, demanding his return to leadership. Interviews from employees ranging from managers to stock boys declared loyalty to "Arthur T." because they often saw him in the stores and interacted personally. They felt rewarded and recognized by the big boss. It's a great lesson.

Communicate more thoughtfully.

A lot changes in retail every day. Communication tends to trickle down in dribs and drabs. Ever check out the bulletin board in an employee lounge? It's typically full of corporate memos and extra manager notes, written as if the reader has done something terribly wrong. "Don't wear your uniform outside." "Always wear our brand in the store."

In a recent example, deli worker Shane made us laugh by posting notes from the management. Shane seemed to have a pretty great sense of humor, but it went largely unappreciated.

Retail, especially as the peak holiday season, is a tough business. Understanding how important people are to that business is a really critical step. What else do retailers have on their list of challenges? Find out in the report!

Image credit: m01229 via Creative Commons license.

About Jeannie Walters

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