STORIES FROM THE FRONT: What we learned at retail

Been a regular devotee of Communicating By Design?  Then you’ll know we’re passionate, even batty about visual therapy; we go shopping often to get a regular dose of ideas and (in)sanity.

No kidding.

Our latest Eureka! emanates from the year-or-so-old retail tempest, called “showrooming.”  It’s an activity by a consumer who visits or calls a bricks and mortar outlet to check out products, then goes home, clicks, and buys online. 

At least one august b-school research claims that move is all about price.  Sure:  “Who’s got it cheapest” is definitely a motivator for many would-be buyers.  Other surveying institutions attribute the trend to less-than-satisfactory in-store customer service.  [And who among us can’t throw a stone, even at some of the best in the business?]

Target, for instance, has countered by pulling Kindle Fire and other Amazon products from its shelves. Some merchants add services or special deals to entice in-store buying.

Now it’s time to turn that topic inside out and relate it to our issues:  How many candidates or potential employees showroom your Web site?  Or surf the Web, even read print media and ask friends and family to check out your company and the deal it offers to its associates?  What does vault.com (or other online evaluators) say about working at Company XYZ?  What kind of “customer” service do prospects receive when contacted about a position … even when they’ve advanced to being a high-potential candidate?  How well do they understand what the company’s all about … if they’ve only clicked through your Web presence?

Yes, countering this slightly different form of showrooming is the province of human resources.  It should also be the territory of marketing and branding and design and communications, in partnership with the CPO.  Because no one function, no one department owns 100 percent of the real estate that attracts (or not) new employees. 

We all cover the front.

ONE BRAND, NO BLAME

Pity today’s customer service agent.

 We do.  Regardless of the industry or the nature of the complaint, whether we’re in an IVR system or face to face, many of us now routinely game the system by “zeroing out,” asking to “escalate, please,” and following up with nasty-grams to media ombudspersons and even the CEO.  [Yes, we’ll admit to grumbling rather loudly about product and service and billing issues.]

 In other words, those on the corporate frontlines must have the patience of a Job, as well as continual training and reinforcement. 

 It’s the reinforcement that intrigues us.  Delta Air Lines, for instance, is sending its 11,000 agents back to school to counter a very bad year in ratings, arrivals, and baggage handling.  Their five ways to wow customers range from being present to listening and empathy exercises.  “It’s all in how you say it,” explains one of the company’s training facilitators.

 That’s a great start.  How much more powerful would the learning (and reinforcement) be if those lessons were linked to the brand?  At its ultimate, customer service expresses the brand, resulting in well-defined behaviors, engaged customers, and emotionally-connected employees.    [Not to mention increased brand equity and higher profits.] 

 No doubt, branding frontline service requires time, both in its creation and execution.  To work well, it must also be integrated holistically into everything every employee says and does, not just those handling customers. 

In addition to educating all on branding abcs, there are champions to identify, teams to assemble, and, most critical, foundations to put into place:  goals, strategies, tasks, behaviors, measurement, and compliance.   That process needn’t be filled with jargon or too many steps.  Nor overly complicated in words and design.   Or burdened with a ton of rules and regulations.  After all, the best customer service is about doing the right things in the right ways for the right reasons.

 Hmmm:  Common sense and customer service share more than a number of letters.  Adding the brand to that mix equals success for businesses today – and tomorrow.