Need a quick tool to help ensure your year-round and seasonal team members are working from the same playbook on Valentine’s Day?
Teach everyone who will be interacting with customers to be FAST.
That’s, “Friendly to customers, Accurate during transactions, Sympathetic to customers’ emotions about waiting and Thankful for customers’ time and patronage,” according to Julie Lamski, a marketplace practice manager at Gallup.
The easy-to-remember acronym can help ensure customer interactions are smooth, particularly during a busy holiday rush when employees are likely juggling multiple tasks and keeping track of a long mental to-do list.
Other tips from Lamski on how your team can help make customers feel like the store’s No. 1 priority:
- Be the expert. Anyone who helps a customer should be knowledgeable about products, specials and store policy. Sounds like a no-brainer, but with seasonal hires and temporary help in and out of your store, make sure you prep everyone in advance and provide guidance on frequently asked questions.
- Pay attention. The downside of a busy holiday from a customer experience perspective: people have to wait longer to get the service they need. That wait time can lead to bad feelings and lost sales. Resist the urge to multi-task and instead “demonstrate that customers’ business is appreciated by making them top priority when it’s their turn,” Lamski says.
- Be thorough. Your goal should be to “meet every customer need before ending the transaction,” Lamski writes. One way to make sure you do that? End transactions with a cheerful, direct query: “What else may I help you with today?”
