Managing your
Business, Managing
your Customer
Workshop Programme
Workshops
Proposed Date
Introduction workshop / The Food &
Drink Sector
PR, Social Media & Events
31st October
Pricing & Profitability
9th January
Best Practice Visit
21st January
14th November
Product Evaluation / Product & Market 20th February
Testing
Product & Business USP
6th March
Managing your business, managing your 27th March
customers
Packaging & Labelling
24th April
Investment, Grants, Funding & Business 15th May
Growth
Creating Development Plans
5th June
Knowing your
customer
50% of UK companies
• Are not sure who their most profitable customers are
• Therefore, don’t know which ones matter most to their business
• Don’t know where tomorrow’s competition is coming from
Knowing your
customer
What do customers like?
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Good service – are we catching on?:
Service
Emotional connectivity
Energy
Integrity
Spirit
Creativity
Exercise 1: What do you expect as a
shopper?
• As a private shopper, note down the top five basic
requirements that you require from your prospective
supplier e.g. retail store, restaurant, hotel, garage
showroom etc
What do you expect as a
shopper?
1. Everything to be clean
2. Good product range
3. Polite attentive staff
4. Helpful, well trained staff with excellent product knowledge
5. Value for money – benefits must out-weigh the sacrifice
6. Good atmosphere/ambience
7. Efficient service and attention to detail
8. Good first impression
9. The feeling that I as a customer matter
10. Accessibility of product
Knowing your
customer
What do customers dislike?
• Empty gestures
• Lack of energy
• Lack of connection
• Example: Caledonia Bank
• Your own good examples – what characteristics did you use /
display
Personal Relationships
• Communication said to be
• 7% content
• 38% vocal
• 55% physical
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Personal Relationship
What you say
How you say it
Appearance
Impact
Personal Relationships
• Importance of the Customer
“A customer is the most important
visitor on our premises, he is not
dependent on us. We are dependent
on him. He is not an interruption in
our work. He is the purpose of it. He
is not an outsider in our business. He
is part of it. We are not doing him a
favour by serving him. He is doing us
a favour by giving us an opportunity
to do so.”
Personal Relationships
• Scenario planning
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Do you have a strategy for the following?
Customer at the till and phone is ringing
Customer queues
E-mails
Returning a call
• What is your best customer’s preferred method of
communication?
Personal Relationships
• Expectations
• Are you listening?
• How do you know?
• How does your customer know?
• You cannot listen while talking, or while distracted
• Can you summarise what they have said?
• Allow silence, empathy and patience
Personal Relationships
• Four elements of customer care
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Attitude
Skills
Approach
Knowledge
• Think about a checklist for your customers. What would you do
under each heading
Personal Relationships
• Four elements of customer care
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Attitude
Skills
Approach
Knowledge
• Think about a checklist for your customers. What would you do
under each heading
Exercise 2: Complaint
Handling
The facts about complaints
• A typical business hears from only 4% of its dissatisfied
customers; the other 96% just go quietly away and 91%
of them will never go back.
• A typical dissatisfied customer tells more than eight
people about his or her problem.
• Seven out of ten complaining customers will do business
with you again if you resolve the complaint in their
favour and, if it is resolved on the spot, 95% will do
business with you again.
Reasons why retail business customers
are unhappy
- Indifferent treatment
- Poor quality
- Poor service
- Grievances not settled to customer’s satisfaction
• In a market where customers are surrounded by choice, it is
vital that we do not allow manageable irritations to drive
customers away
Customer Complaint Handling
• It is almost inevitable that, at some stage, you will receive a
customer complaint.
• Don't assume that a customer complaint is a negative
experience because, if handled well, it can be a valuable asset.
• It’s a great opportunity to turn an unhappy customer into a
loyal customer.
Customer Complaint Handling
• Some businesses believe that if they don't receive many
complaints, their customers must be satisfied ~ Wrong!
• Only a few customers will complain to you. The majority will
not return to your business and will tell others of their bad
experience.
Customer Complaint Handling
• Whether you win or lose customers can depend on the way
you handle their complaints
• Put the following points into practice:
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Train your staff to handle complaints well
Make it easy for customers to complain
Welcome customer complaints
Deal with complaints promptly.
The Good News
• The benefits an efficient complaints handling system can
include
• Fewer mistakes and less time spent fixing them
• Improved product quality
• Better understanding of customers' needs
• Happier customers
• Greater customer loyalty
• More customers through word-of-mouth advertising
• Less time and money spent attracting customers
• Improving business reputation
How to handle complaints
• Take time to handle complaints when they are first made.
• Prompt action will be more likely to satisfy the customer.
• The faster a complaint is resolved, the less time you'll need to
spend on it.
Be sympathetic and calm
• Acknowledge there is a problem and that it may be annoying,
inconvenient or unfortunate.
• You may not believe the complaint is justified but
remember that, although they may not be ‘right' in your
opinion, they are telling you because they are unhappy.
Their complaint is an opportunity to retain their custom.
• Stay calm. This may be difficult if the customer is angry
or has an irritating manner, or if the complaint seems
trivial, but getting angry will only make it worse.
Identify the problem
• Find out the exact problem.
• Listen carefully to what the customer is saying, empathise with
them and make sure you understand by checking it out with
them.
• Ask what they want you to do for them.
• Don't assume.
• Write it down.
Decide what can be done
• Where the complaint may be unjustified, you still
need to make the customer happy again to keep
their business.
• A simple explanation may be all that is needed.
• Sometimes, even if you are not legally required to do so, it may be
worth doing more to keep the customer. E.g. If a customer is entitled to
replacement, you may be willing to offer a refund if that is what the
customer wants.
• Consider how important these problems are to customers. Try putting
yourself in their place!
Fix
the
Problem
• Tell customers what solution you can offer and make sure
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they understand.
If they accept your proposed solution, act on it straight away.
Make sure there is always someone available to speak to
customers about their complaints. If a customer is promised a
return phone call, make sure it happens.
If it is not possible to do anything immediately, tell the
customer when it will happen and keep a record of your
commitment.
Do what was agreed and finalise the matter with the
customer.
Never make promises you won't be able to keep.
Keep a record
• Keep a written record of the complaint and what you
have agreed to do.
• Record all contact about complaints, including whether
they were face-to-face, by telephone or in writing.
• Remember that simply filling out a complaint record
form does not solve the problem.
Thank you
See you on the 24th April