What Is An Example Of Customer Service

Adept client service is vital for retail businesses to succeed. In fact, 93% of customers are more likely to make echo purchases with companies that offering excellent customer service. And around 80% of consumers say they would rather practise business concern with a make'southward competitor following more than than one bad experience.

As yous already know, in that location are many factors that contribute to the in-store experience, including merchandising, sales staff, and the overall atmosphere. But shoppers' perception of your business is highly influenced by how good your customer service is.

That'due south why it's important to always strive to provide the highest level of service and wow your customers each fourth dimension they interact with your business. The best office is, you have full control over the quality of service you lot provide.

But how exactly can you better the customer service feel?

In this article we'll take a look at what good and bad client service wait like, every bit well as applicable real-life examples of retailers succeeding at providing good customer service.

What is adept customer service?

Practiced client service in retail involves meeting customers' expectations in a pleasant, efficient, and timely fashion. The strategy may vary from one retail concern to some other, just the fundamental ingredients are:

Providing a quick response when customers ask a question or bring up a problem, showing them that their opinions are valued
Empathizing with the customer to show them y'all understand their perspective and appreciate them
Offering self-service options and so customers tin discover solutions to their problems on their ain time (for example, an FAQ page on your website or a tablet where they tin await upwardly information in-store)
Streamlining customer service across all channels, including social media, live chat on your website, email, and phone to make customer service convenient
Going to a higher place and across client expectations to provide a positive experience and encourage customer loyalty.
Serving multiple customers at the same time when you get a surge in visitors without sacrificing the quality of each interaction.

Download The Time to come of Retail Report: Trends for 2022

In 2022, client service expectations are higher than always before, which ways more responsibilities–and opportunities–for the part of store associate. Download our full written report to learn more than about this important retail trend.

Download report

What is bad customer service?

Failing to meet client expectations for response time, service quality, and the overall service feel can damage a customer's opinion of your retail store. And information technology can lead to lost sales—78% of customers have backed out of a buy due to a poor experience.

That's why it's important to avoid doing things like making a customer wait also long for help, using negative language, beingness rude, and offering no empathy.

12 examples of skilful customer service in retail

As we already learned, skillful customer service in retail entails building a connection with local shoppers, educating people about the products yous sell, rewarding repeat customers, and more.

Here are 12 existent-life examples of good customer service you can attempt today.

1. Add a personal touch

Your advantage every bit a local retail business is that you lot can offer a level of personalized service that ecommerce giants like Amazon tin can't. Customer service is an opportunity to add a human being touch on to your business concern.

Putting personalization into action

Give more than attention to customers in need by helping them discover the right product.

For instance, if the customer is looking for a pair of blackness skinny jeans, walk with your customer to the table where they are displayed instead of merely saying, "They're over there on that tabular array." Then you tin concord up the various options and talk through the different product features to help them compare the jeans and make a decision.

Know your customers meliorate with Shopify

Utilize Shopify's customer profiles to become a complete view of your customers. Collect contact information, meet what they buy online and in-store, how many orders they've placed, which channels they prefer, add notes to their profile, and more.

2. Exist transparent and educate customers

Providing education virtually the products y'all sell tin as well aid you lot cross-sell or upsell products.

At first, information technology might feel pushy or bad for client service, just if y'all're transparent and spend time educating shoppers before they purchase, they're probable to go out happy. Starting a chat tin can likewise assistance y'all accommodate your recommendations to their needs.

You tin utilize the "FAB" formula. FAB is an acronym for features, advantages, and benefits and tin can aid you and your sales staff easily recollect the details of each product yous sell.

Features are the characteristics or components of a product.
Advantages refer to what the features can do.
Benefits are what the customer can get from the product and its features—it's the near important part.

To attain the all-time results, make sure you lot pitch benefits that are unique to each shopper.

For instance, if y'all're selling a raincoat, the features could include the material and how water repellent yet breathable information technology is. The advantages could be immovability and piece of cake care instructions compared to other raincoats. And lastly, the benefit could be staying dry on the rainiest of days.

Putting transparency and education into activity

First, make sure you're knowledgeable about the products y'all sell. If you're not designing and manufacturing them, ask the brands you stock for product knowledge guides explaining the features, advantages, and benefits of the merchandise. Getting familiar with your products and bestsellers will ensure that you always accept items to recommend.

Then when a new shopper comes into your shop, you can pay close attending to their body language. If it looks like they want to appoint with yous, it's a great fourth dimension to enquire what they're looking for and so educate them about the products that match their needs.

Exist transparent about how and where the products are fabricated, equally well equally the benefits of each item. Showing the merchandise that can be used together is a cracking style to cantankerous-sell or upsell.

Past educating customers, y'all'll avoid coming off as pushy, and instead, you'll be helpful.

By informing customers about exactly who fabricated their products, how it'due south made, and how long it's going to take to reach them helps them connect better to the production procedure. In the handmade earth, things piece of work slower, and while people don't heed waiting for their products, information technology'south of import to educate them as to why it takes that long.

3. Respond quickly to all client feedback

Responding to positive and negative feedback in a timely manner shows that you're listening to customers and value their opinion, regardless of whether information technology'south good or bad.

Respond to all client feedback, and fifty-fifty faster to the negative comments. People value it if you lot reach out to them speedily when they take trouble, accept a question, or need a solution. If you lot tin can prioritize your customer queries into levels of importance and reach the virtually urgent ones inside two hours—those experiences which are likely to take an affect on your brand—you have a winning formula.

Putting quick response fourth dimension into activity

Let's say you sell activewear and you recently added a new brand to your retail floor. Customers purchase information technology up with excitement so they tin can be the first in your expanse to rock the new gear. Only when they go to their next yoga class, the inseams of the leggings unravel, and in a few more wears they'll exist showing off a lot more than they'd like during their next downward dog.

You get-go to get calls, emails, and online reviews well-nigh this issue. The all-time thing you tin do is respond immediately. Fifty-fifty though you'll lose coin accepting all the returns, it'due south the right matter to exercise. And y'all can answer to public online reviews by saying something like, "Thank you lot for the feedback. Nosotros value your back up, and we are addressing this issue with the vendor right now. Bank check your e-mail for return and refund instructions."

This shows that you're responsive and willing to correct issues quickly.

In a case similar this, you can also go back to the supplier and tell them nearly the result. Hopefully, they'll let y'all return the stock and refund your coin.

4. Use creative and unexpected return policies

If a customer makes an order online and then decides they don't like it or it doesn't fit, recommend that they requite it to a friend or family fellow member and offering to send them a new product for the same value. This way, you lot'll make them happy, and you'll get your products in the easily of another potential customer. Or the customer may make up one's mind to use the item anyway.

Also, this tactic is unique and probable will effect in the customer telling other people about the experience.

A nifty example of a brand using this type of return policy is Thinx period panties. This is not the brand's standard return policy, merely information technology's worth mentioning.

The only reason why I know about it is that a friend told me how amazing she thought the feel was. She emailed Thinx to process a return, and instead, was told to give the products she didn't want to a friend. In the finish, she kept everything and shared the experience with me, making me more inclined to as well effort Thinx.

Thinx benefits because it doesn't take to pay for return shipping, plus it's building brand awareness and customer loyalty.

Putting creative render policies into activity

You may decide to simply apply this strategy for your almost loyal customers or first-time customers to promote loyalty. Or you can pick a random shopper each month to test this strategy to avoid spending too much money.

Whatsoever you decide, you tin can put information technology into action past creating an email template that gets sent to certain customers who contact you lot for a return. Or if a customer is making a return in-store, you tin explain it then.

Your electronic mail could read something like this:

Hello [First Proper noun],

We're sorry to hear that y'all don't love your recent buy. We'd be glad to issue a refund, but if you'd prefer, you lot can besides give the products to a friend or family unit member, or proceed them to attempt again at a later date.

If you lot choose this option, nosotros'll still ship y'all new products (of your choice) of the same value. Or y'all can request a total refund and still proceed your society.

Let usa know how you'd like to go on.

Cheers,

The team at [Your Shop Name]

5. Find a workaround when items are out of stock

If a customer is shopping in-store or online and runs into an out-of-stock product they really want, here are a few recommendations to work effectually this effect:

Recommend an alternative but similar item.
If you accept more than one retail location, encounter if you can find the stock at one of your other stores.
If the product is from a brand you conduct, contact them to see if they have extra stock for immediate delivery so yous can fulfill your client'south order.
If you manufacture and besides wholesale your products, see if one of your retailers has stock available of the particular detail.

Some other out-of-stock issue that tin happen online is that the customer places an gild, merely you don't really take the stock available to ship. This happens when online inventory isn't updated or synchronized with your total available stock.

💡 PRO TIP: What do you practice if a customer wants to buy a product yous don't have in stock? Utilise Shopify POS' buy in-store, send-to-customer feature to complete transactions in shop, ship orders to shoppers from your warehouse, and give your store credit for making the sale.

Putting out of stock workarounds into action

When I had a Shopify store selling women'southward activewear,I had a very popular legging design called Jungle Fever. All of my retailers were stocking inventory and my direct-to-consumer sales were likewise growing.

At one point, a customer contacted me on Instagram request almost sizing. Once we verified her size, I realized I didn't have whatever stock left to fulfill the order. Rather than losing a potential customer, I offered to contact one of the retailers I worked with to run across if they had any stock left. Once I confirmed they did, I coordinated having stock sent to the customer and asked the retailer to bill her directly. This mode, the customer was happy, and I helped my retail partner move inventory.

Here'southward a screenshot of that email.

half dozen. Build a connexion with local shoppers

You lot're more likely to remember a cashier that strikes up a conversation with y'all versus store staff that don't say a word. Finding something that yous have in common with shoppers is a dandy way to build a connexion and offering a memorable experience. Even if it's something small.

Putting relationship building into action

Be observant when y'all're chatting with or ringing up customer orders at the checkout counter. Expect for commonalities then y'all can find a way to connect with people. So get-go a conversation based on those commonalities.

For example, if yous detect at the checkout counter that the customer is carrying a lawn tennis racket and you as well play tennis, ask them where they play and also talk about your favorite local courts. In this type of scenario, the customer is prepare to pay, only yous tin can however make an effort to chat with them. It shouldn't but happen when you're trying to brand a sale.

Connecting with shoppers during all stages of their ownership journey is a great way to build relationships.

7. Call back and reward repeat customers

Add an chemical element of surprise and delight by remembering and rewarding repeat shoppers. Keeping the 80/xx rule in mind can assistance you grow your business—80% of business generally comes from xx% of customers. That's why encouraging customer loyalty is key.

You can practice this by letting frequent customers know you're grateful for their support.

Putting rewards into activeness

Use a POS software that lets you proceed track of repeat customers, build client profiles, and synchronize data so y'all can offer personalized shopping experiences. Yous'll take quick access to notes, past orders, and the full amount a customer has spent with your business.

Then put your customer data into good utilize by adding loyalty apps to your indicate-of-sale arrangement. You'll be able to reward customers for shopping with yous both in-store and online. And you can accept it a pace further past personally thanking them at the checkout counter or sending a personal note with their side by side online order (more than about handwritten notes below).

Reward loyalty everywhere customers store

Only Shopify's integrated loyalty apps let customers collect and redeem loyalty rewards when shopping with you both online and in store–no complicated workarounds or required.

8. Proactively accost online store shipping issues

Naturally, ecommerce businesses face up occasional issues with aircraft and delivery. Whether information technology'due south a missed delivery, delay, lost package, or damaged goods, in that location's a scattering of problems that could occur.

In near cases, these incidents are not your fault, but you're still responsible for providing a good customer feel. That's why it's crucial to carefully track customer orders and guarantee that the packet arrives on time and intact. If something goes wrong, exist proactive by getting in touch with the client immediately to set the situation. Don't await for them to contact y'all.

Putting shipping best practices into action

If you also have an online store, create a organisation that helps yous closely track the status of online orders and shipments. If y'all run into whatever cherry flags, go ahead of the state of affairs past taking initiative to contact your customer instead of waiting for them to reach out to you because they never received their order.

9. Offer "try before you purchase" for online shoppers

If you're able to manage the logistics, letting customers attempt on items at dwelling house before they buy is a great way to build relationships with them. Also, one time you lot take the extra footstep to provide an outstanding shopping feel, they'll be more than likely to purchase at least one product from the trade yous sent them to endeavor on.

You may already know companies like Stitch Fix and Birchbox that are pioneers in creating try-earlier-you-buy programs, only you can also test this strategy on a smaller scale.

Putting "endeavor before you purchase" into action

Call up the example I mentioned earlier virtually out-of-stock workarounds? During that same situation, my customer as well wasn't certain which size would exist right for her, so I offered to transport ii sizes to her to try on at home. I also included a render shipping label, then she could hands return the size that didn't fit.

This made the buying procedure easier for her and likewise meant that I didn't need to transport the merchandise dorsum and forth twice. I started the conversation past sending her a straight message on Instagram after she commented on a recent post. Then we continued the conversation via electronic mail. In the stop, it cost me more to larn her as a customer, only she became a repeat buyer and too spread the discussion about my brand via her Instagram profile. It was worth information technology.

10. Perfect your in-store greeting

Excellent customer service starts the infinitesimal potential customers walk into your store. Coming upwardly with a unique in-store greeting will assistance you make a solid first impression. Steer articulate of expected lines like "What can I help you with today?" by testing different greetings to grab attention and get to know shoppers better.

Y'all could say howdy, ask for the customer's name, introduce yourself, and offering to place their bags behind the counter then they're more comfortable equally they peruse. Try to make every customer experience special with a friendly greeting that isn't immediately associated with making a sale.

Putting in-shop greetings into activity

To become started with improving your in-store greeting, create a list of five to 10 unique ways to greet customers and test a few each day. Make certain your sales staff is familiar with the greetings and approach customers in a friendly and welcoming manner.

Here are three options to get yous started:

Example #1

Yous: Hello, welcome to [store name]. My name is [your name]. We have a lounge on the left side of the store, so feel costless to take a break from shopping and take a drinking glass of water. I'm here if you lot need annihilation.

Instance #ii

You: Howdy, welcome. My name is [your proper noun]. And what's your proper name?
Customer: Hi, my name is Jane.
You: Howdy, Jane. Nice to meet you. Would you like me to store your bags behind the counter while you look effectually?

Example #3

You: How-do-you-do! How are you doing today?
Customer: Bang-up, thanks.
You: Lovely. Take your time looking around. I'm here if you demand annihilation.

xi. Ship a handwritten thank-yous note

Sending handwritten thank-you notes are not but a kind gesture, they're also a surefire way to stand out from other retailers (especially larger ones). It may feel like an antiquated way to greet customers, but information technology's a memorable feel. Case in point, I nevertheless have this handwritten note I received after making a buy from Comme Ça Skincare over a year ago.

Thank you notes are most normally used to thank customers for an order, just at that place are more reasons why businesses should send handwritten notes, including:

Making customers experience special by proverb happy birthday
Recognizing a milestone similar a wedding ceremony or graduation
Edifice a stronger connection with customers

Putting handwritten notes into action

Utilize a printing company like Moo or Vistaprint to create branded give thanks you cards. Then each fourth dimension you ship an online social club, include a cursory handwritten note. Chances are, people volition go on your annotation and it'll boost loyalty and turn customers into brand advocates.

12. Streamline customer service across all channels

Roughly 16 hours a day are now spent online by the boilerplate US adult. This is upwards from a pre-pandemic record of twelve and a half hours a day.

Every bit people spend more than fourth dimension online, they've grown to look more from businesses, including a consistent customer support experience across all platforms. It's also a mode for local retailers to differentiate themselves: 53% of Canadians and 42% of US consumers see customer service as an of import factor in choosing to shop local over buying from an online retailer.

To successfully build lasting relationships with your customers, it's crucial to deliver a steady customer service experience via email, phone, live conversation, social media, your website, and your store.

Putting omnichannel client service into action

Here are three immediate means to streamline your customer service communications.

Send direct letters via social media. If a customer leaves a comment on 1 of your Instagram posts asking for more information about your products, respond straight in the comments section or send them a DM to answer their questions. You tin can too provide your business organisation e-mail address and let them know they tin can electronic mail you if they prefer.
Add together alive chat or a conversation bot to your website. Live conversation is a great fashion to engage with site visitors while they're browsing. It's likewise helpful for customers who want to purchase online and pick up in store. You lot'll be available to respond questions quickly while they're shopping online, and this can improve client experience and conversion rates. Visit the Shopify App Store to discover live chat plugins that you can easily add to your online store.
Create a client service electronic mail address. Electronic mail is a quick and easy mode for customers to contact you with questions. It also lets you lot respond when you have time, although I do suggest responding within 24 hours. You lot tin apply a full general company email accost, like hello@yourcomany.com, or create a dedicated client service email address, such equally customerservice@yourcompany.com, and list it on your website and social media channels. This way, customers know they tin contact you anytime via email.

PRO TIP: If it usually takes you 24 hours to respond to customer emails, make it known. This way, when a customer tries to contact you via email they accept a rough idea of how long they can wait to wait before they hear dorsum from y'all.

Hither'south an example of a simple automatic email response that will but take you a few minutes to set up:

Moving forwards with providing first-class customer service

Consumer behavior is constantly irresolute. This includes marketing preferences, buying habits, how people interact with businesses, and more.

Your customer service strategy may evolve as well, but the customers' demand for good customer service and support is constant. That'due south why it's crucial to ever come up up with the all-time ways to evangelize an outstanding customer experience and adapt to meet your customers where they are.

To recap, this includes:

Making sure you and your staff are knowledgeable about the products you sell
Being available for client questions and responding promptly (even if it'due south negative feedback)
Doing what you can to get in a higher place and across and make customers happy and feel special
Winning at client service by using an piece of cake-to-understand POS system

Know your customers better with Shopify

Utilise Shopify'southward customer profiles to get a consummate view of your customers. Collect contact information, see what they buy online and in-store, how many orders they've placed, which channels they prefer, add notes to their profile, and more. Then, sync your sales insights with your customer profiles to get the full motion picture.