Customer relationship management fundamentals and practices

Customer Relationship Management

Dealing with a Short-Staffed Retail Store

The dilemma a retail store manager faces when two of the four cashiers are sick the day of a major sale needs to be solved from the customers' perspective, despite the tendency to make the decision to please managers inside the company. A sale, it is assumed, has been heavily promoted and advertised, with advertising inserts in local newspapers and possibly even radio or television coverage. All of these investments in marketing to drive customers into the store need to be responded to as quickly and professionally as possible. It is common knowledge in retailing that the highest level of frustration customers have is in the check-out process, waiting for pay for their selections and get on with their day. To be as responsive and service-oriented as possible in the store after all the investments in marketing have been made to get customers there is the most critical contribution the store manager needs to concentrate on. There is also the added pressure of word-of-mouth from the customers and their experience shopping in the store. If they find the experience fulfilling or even exceeding their expectations, there's a good chance they will tell their friends and family as well. Conversely, the same is true. Not having enough staff during a sale would lead to many customers potentially not having their expectations met.

Instead of just focusing on the immediate shortage of two cashiers then, the manager needs to think more strategically about how the stores' sale is a major part of the company's strategy for the year to increase sales company-wide, and most critically, to make absolutely sure the customers who come in to buy products during the sale have their expectations exceeded. This sale needs to be seen as an opportunity to not only just sell products at reduced prices for the day, but for an opportunity to introduce customers to the store and the experience they will receive there. In this respect, all the marketing and promotional efforts to drive customers into the store have already created expectations that the store is now going to need to fulfill. The expectation already exists of prices being low, matching advertising messages, and that the processes that occur in the store including service, checkout times, pricing assistance, and product returns are going to be customer-centered.

From the context of CRM, the definition of mutually satisfying goals between the store and its customers began when the sale was initially advertised, and was continually established and maintained through customer rapport with visits occurring both before and during the sale, and thirdly with the building of customer loyalty as a result of a positive experiences occurring during the sale all contribute to solidifying relationships with customers. The quickest path to strong customer relationships is the ability to consistently set accurate expectations and exceed them. Surprising customers with exceptional service is one of the best strategies to both earn new customers to a specific product category, and also capture customers from competitors. All these factors regarding customer relationships must be kept in mind regarding the decision to either stay with two of four cashiers, allowing customers who specifically came to the store for a sale to see two vacated check-out lanes and no one to staff them, or worse, see the store manager frantically working a register while trying to serve the customers with questions. There is also the issue of regular transactions occurring at this time, including returns and other business the store must attend to, so that further will make the managers' job challenging and complex. In keeping these many demands in context, it's useful to also look at the definition of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) from research and advisory firm Gartner Group. (Gartner 2001) defined a series of eight building blocks for CRM that are based on several excellent assumptions including the fact for CRM to be successful it requires being considered a strategy that encompasses all areas of a company at the enterprise level vs. just an isolated or siloed strategy. Gartner's definition is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Gartner Group's Eight Levels of CRM

Gartner has defined CRM using both purely technologically-based approaches and the processes that occur in any company looking to serve customers. Yet the most important area of this graphic is the interaction of the valued customer experience and organizational collaboration. At the store level of the example of the manager short two cashiers, its' clear from looking at this graphic of CRM in Figure 1 and also considering the significant investment in building demand that it is unthinkable to do nothing and just try to make the sale work with the two cashiers and the manager working the entire store.

What needs to happen is that the manager needs to immediately call, instant message or e-mail their manager and tell them that given the two cashiers being out sick there needs to actually be four more employees brought in. The reasons for asking for a more than doubling of the existing staff in the store include the following reasons:

For many shoppers this will be their first experience with the store given how heavily promoted the sale has been. it's critical these customers get exceptional service and also find assistance in the store when they need it. The store, the manager needs to remind their manager, is just as much about selling products as it is about building relationships. Erring on the side of spending during the sale to build customer relationships is even more important than having enough associates on hand to sell the products. The manager needs to think "relationships: and not so much "transactions."

The need to have the fastest and most accurate cashiers the store has on staff on the registers during the sale is critical. The pet peeve of many shoppers is to wait in long lines to check out. Instead, the checkout lanes should be kept as clear as possible to make sure customers get out of the store quickly and on to the rest of their days once they have made their selections.