I was driving past another Tattersalls billboard promoting their online offering yesterday and was thinking about how we can compete against their lure of customers from retail
Customer service is the best way we have of competing with the growing online lottery business.
I can hear people yawning or reaching for the back button already. Hear me out.
If you are like me, every time you are at the counter you have someone wanting to check a ticket or ask a lottery question. No sale, just the service. No website experience can match an exceptional retail experience. However, it will come close if we provide poor customer service. We have an obligation to each other to provide these free services – ticket checks, answering questions and the like – for lottery products as if our future depends on the customer satisfaction.
The less we remind people of the benefits, through service, of face to face retail the less they will think of us next time they need to purchase.
I am not happy about the various lottery agencies pursuing growth online. I cannot change their decision. I can, at my counter, stop giving customers a reason for looking elsewhere.
About a year ago I posted somewhere that the only thing different between my newsagency and the local supermarket (ie they have everything I have) was the lotto machine.
I remember that you Mark fired back at me with that I provide better customer service. A year on and you have proved your point to me immensly. It is a huge advantage to be able to interact with your customers, having a joke, sharing a story etc. We’ve built up the goodwill of our shop dramatically.
Thanks for that tip, in all my reading here it is probably the best one.
Agreed Michael!