Chapter 12
Customer Services and Retail
Selling
Customer Service
High-quality service - A service that meets or
exceeds customers’ expectations.
A way in which retailers provide the high-quality
service expected and reduce customer defections
is through relationship retailing programs.
Relationship retailing programs - The activities
designed to attract, retain, and enhance long-term
relationships with customers.
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LO 1
Customer Service
Retailers can develop long-term relationships with
their customers by offering:
financial benefits
social benefits
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LO 1
Exhibit 12.3 - Three Basic Tasks of Retailing
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LO 1
Customer Service
It consists of all those activities performed by the
retailer that influence:
the ease with which a potential customer can shop or
learn about the store’s offering.
the ease with which a transaction can be completed
once the customer attempts to make a purchase.
the customer’s satisfaction with the transaction.
© 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
LO 1
Customer Service stopped
Transient customer - An individual who is
dissatisfied with the level of customer service
offered at a store or stores and is seeking an
alternative store with the level of customer service
that he or she thinks is appropriate.
Gives another store the opportunity to convert
them
 What are some of the stores you know which actively
work to avoid losing customers – and how do they do it?
© 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
LO 1
Customer Service
It must be integrated into all the following aspects
of retailing:
Merchandise management
Building and fixture management
Promotion management
Price management
Credit management
Examples of good and bad?
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LO 1
Common Customer Services
Pretransaction services - Provided to the
customer prior to entering the store.
Convenient hours – Examples of those which don’t?
Information aids – such as?
See p. 442
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LO 2
Common Customer Services
Transaction services - Provided to customers
when they are in the store shopping and
transacting business.
Credit
Layaway
Gift wrapping and
packaging
Check cashing
Gift cards
 Personal shopping
 Merchandise availability
 Personal selling
 Sales transaction
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LO 2
Common Customer Services
Personal shopping - An individual who is a
professional shopper performs the shopping role
for another; very upscale department and specialty
stores offer personal shoppers to their clients.
Dwell time - The amount of time a consumer
must spend waiting to complete a purchase. Want
to minimize this.
See pp. 448
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LO 2
Common Customer Services
Posttransaction services - Provided to customers
after they have purchased merchandise or
services.
Complaint handling
Accepting Merchandise
returns
Be careful of fraudulent returns
 Renting, not buying
 Fraudulent employee actions
 Shoplift returns
 Price switching (harder now)
Servicing, repair, and
warranties
Delivery
Postsale follow-up
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LO 2
Exhibit 12.4 - Six Rules to Follow When Handling a
Customer’s Complaint
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LO 2
Exhibit 12.5 - Factors to Consider When
Determining Customer Services to Offer
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LO 3
Exhibit 12.6 How the Retailer’s Sales Force Meets
the Expectations of Both Vendors and Customers
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LO 3
Retail Sales Management
Types of retail selling
Salesperson selection
Salesperson training
Evaluation of salespeople
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LO 4
Retail Sales Management
Types of retail selling
Retailers that concentrate on the sale of shopping
goods want their salespeople to both get and take
orders.
In lines of retail trade where predominantly
convenience goods are sold, the role of the salesperson
is that of an order taker.
It is generally true that retailers with high margins and
high levels of customer service place more emphasis
on order getting; those with low margins and a low
customer service policy tend to emphasize order
taking.
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LO 4
Retail Sales Management
Salesperson selection
Hiring criteria
Predictors
Demographics
Personality
Knowledge and intelligence
Experience
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LO 4
Retail Sales Management
Salesperson training
Retailer’s policies
Merchandise
Customer types
Customer choice criteria
No active product choice criteria
Inadequate or vague choice criteria
Choice criteria in conflict
Explicit choice criteria
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LO 4
Exhibit 12.7 - Various Customer Types
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LO 4
Exhibit 12.7 - Various Customer Types
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LO 4
Retail Sales Management
Evaluation of salespeople
Performance standards
Conversion rate
Sales per hour
Use of time
 Selling time
 Nonselling time
 Idle time
 Absent time
Data requirements
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LO 4
Retail Sales Management
Conversion rate - Percentage of shoppers that
enter the store that are converted into purchasers.
Sales per hour is computed by dividing total
dollar sales over a particular time frame by total
salesperson or sales-force hours.
© 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
LO 4
Exhibit 12.8 - Selling Process in the Retail
Environment
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LO 5
Exhibit 12.8 - Selling Process in the Retail
Environment
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LO 5
Exhibit 12.8 - Selling Process in the Retail
Environment
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LO 5
Exhibit 12.9 - Some Closing Signals the
Salespeople Should Watch For
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LO 5
The Retail Sales Process
Prospecting - Locating or identifying potential
customers who have the ability and willingness to
purchase your product.
Closing the sale - Action the salesperson takes to
bring a potential sale to its natural conclusion.
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LO 5
The Customer-Service and SalesEnhancement Audit
The objectives of the audit
Identify the service, salesmanship, and salesenhancement methods that will produce more sales
from the existing shopping traffic.
Target the methods by store and selling area that will
produce the most significant improvements.
Determine the added sales that can be generated by
improving the accepted service level, salesmanship,
and sales-enhancement programs.
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LO 6
The Customer-Service and SalesEnhancement Audit
Advantages of the audit:
Provides management with a detailed analysis of
current sales activity by location and by selling area.
Identifies how and where additional sales volume is
available.
Measures, analyzes, and reports on the specific factors.
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LO 6
The Customer-Service and SalesEnhancement Audit
Basic service
Customer contact
Salesperson-initiated contact
Customer acknowledgment
Salesmanship
Merchandise knowledge
Needs clarification
Active selling
Suggestion selling
© 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
LO 6
The Customer-Service and SalesEnhancement Audit
Sales enhancement
Impulse purchasing
Walkouts
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LO 6