A blog on issues affecting Australia's newsagents, media and small business generally. More ...

Customers

Your local newsagency is not a child care centre

A mum a child, around 6 or 7, entered the newsagency the other day. Mum took the kid to our toys area, said something and left. We saw mum walk towards a nearby supermarket. We told the kid to go after their mum.

Mum came back with the kid and ripped into us telling us that we should not have told their kid to follow them, that it was none of our business. The admonishment went on for a bit.

We explained that we are not a child care service and that unattended children are reported to centre security, who will attend and remove them for their safety and our safety. The mum responded with even more choice words and admonishment.

This happens every could have weeks in the newsagency in a large shopping centre. Parents seem to think it is okay to leave their young kids with us while they shop elsewhere.

Our position is no, we’re not a child care service. Any child found in the shop alone is reported to security, for their own safety.

All that would need to happen is that a kid left alone trips or otherwise injures themselves in the shop without a parent present and we would be in a legal minefield.

Or, what if someone noticed a parent leaving a kid and the kid was taken by them? What then?

Parents leaving their kids don’t seem to have thought through the consequences of something going wrong in the shop while their kid is left without supervision.

It is frustrating that we have had to say on social media that our newsagency is not a childcare centre.

There may be some reading this who think it’s okay. We all have to made decisions on matters like this in the context of our own situation. The shop I am writing abut today is in a large Melbourne suburban centre. We are near two exist. Abduction would be easy. The kid drifting off to other shops would be easy, too, as would getting lost in a crowd.

The risk for the child and for us and those who work in the shop is too great. hence our zero tolerance policy.

Back to the kid who was left, given how the mum spoke to us, we feel for how life might be at home for the kid.

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Customer Service

Managing challenging customers, and selling products

I have noticed more retailers using humorous signs at the counter to encourage less stressful encounters terms with customers. In some cases they are signs specifically for that purpose whole in others they are signs that are actually sold in the store. Here is one example I saw in a card and gift shop earlier this week.

I like this sign. It’s sharp but fun. It is part of a larger range that has been popular in the US for a couple of years now.

I saw first-hand that this sign work as a talking point with customers, which can lead to them looking at other signs in the range.

The key with using any signs like this, which are part of a range in-store, at the counter is to keep the counter clean of other distractions. This means no other signs. Plus, you need a quick response to any customer comment or query, to maximise the opportunity. The other thing I would do is change the signs regularly, thereby not focussing on one like this the could offend customers.

How we win some customers today is different to a few years ago. Just as what can constitute a gift today is different to a few years ago. Winning at both requires in playing outside what has been usual in our businesses.

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Customer Service

How one retail business takes shoplifting seriously

IMG_5812This photo shows how my local independent bottle shop tackles shoplifting. There is no beating around the bush here.

One newsagent was recently told by the police to take down a photo they had of someone stealing. When the police did say it was okay it was too late.

Since the shop where I took the photo is opposite a police station I suspect they were advised it was okay.

The rules vary state by state. I am not endorsing newsagents do not – rather, noting how one bottle shop confronts the situation.

I have certainly put up photos, identifying the shopper of the week and seeking their details so I can give them their prize. While I didn’t find them it at least made me feel like I was doing something practical.

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Customers

Money wallets the most stolen Christmas cards

moneythiefThe irony of money wallets being the most stolen Christmas cards is not lost on me. We have responded by adjusting placement to make capture of those involved easier.

Theft by customers is part of retail. While the figures vary between stores due to local factors such as placement and management, the overall average for the Australian newsagency channel is that theft costs us between 3% and 5% of turnover.

Reducing the cost of theft starts with knowing for sure what is being stolen – like the Christmas money wallets.

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Customers

Day four of a five-day back to basics newsagency management challenge: customer service

This week I am shining a light on five back to basics areas of our newsagency businesses over which we can make a difference for the good of our business and the benefit of our customers.

By back to basics I mean parts of our business that define us and can separate us from others.

Today, I want to challenge how you on customer service.

When I speak at conferences and workshops I often ask newsagents what their most important points of difference are. The two most common points of difference voted by newsagents are community connection and customer service. These responses reflect the perception of newsagents. Today I want to challenge whether, when it comes to customer service, what we really offer is a point of difference.

  1. Do you greet shoppers? More and more of our competitors are doping this. While traffic, labour cost and average spend may challenge the financial model of a greeter, the service is a customer service benchmark.
  2. Do you reward loyalty? If not, you’re not meeting today’s minimum customer service standard.
  3. Do you offer a gift wrapping service?
  4. When a customer asks if you have something do you tell or do you show?
  5. Do you bring back-office challenges to the shop floor?
  6. Do you provide product service and care info? If you sell gifts this is becoming essential to good customer service.
  7. What’s better about what you do compared to those who compete with you?

This last question is the most important when comparing our customer service offering with retailers offering greeting cards, magazines, newspapers, lottery products, stationery and gifts.

There really is nothing truly unique that we sell as a channel so customer service is crucial in attracting customers back. hence the question: What’s better about what you do compared to those who compete with you? Answer this through positive actions in your shop and you will be known for excellent customer service and return visits will reflect your commitment.

Newsagencies losing customers could be doing so because of poor customer service. It’s something to think about.

We have to challenge ourselves more than our competitors if we are to grow our businesses.

The goal of this series of back to basics newsagency management advice is to get you revisiting parts of your business that you may not be paying enough attention to. This should help improve basket size, drive traffic and get you better engaged with your newsagency business.

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Customer loyalty

Newsagency social responsibility tip: help job hunters

With unemployment on the rise, think about how you can help people looking for work.

Consider offering discount copying and discount faxing for those looking for work. Get known as they place they can come to copy and send resumes. Show yourself off as a business person seeking to genuinely help those looking for work.

Promote the service, welcoming job hunters with open arms. Show them you care. Let your Facebook and Twitter followers know. Your goal has to be to get job hunters talking about your service. Be generous in your giving.

I first pitched this idea to newsagents twenty years ago in my book, Marketing Your Newsagency.

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Customer loyalty

Retail staff hiring advice: only hire and keep happy people

In a newsagency recently I heard a staff member complaining to a colleague behind the counter about the roster, the weather someone at home. I was several metres from the counter. Shoppers in the newsagency could hear too.

Unhappy staff are a turn off for shoppers and for the leaders of the business keen to create a happy place where people enjoy themselves.

We need to hire happy people and train them in their tasks rather than hire skilled people and hope to train them to be happy – if that is a choice you face.

Being happy in a newsagency can be a challenge some days with customers complaining about the smallest thing, some suppliers treating you appallingly, you discovering how much theft has cost you recently, your bank rejecting you banking a fake $50 note … and so on. Yes, there are many opportunities for us to be unhappy. This is another reason we need to surround ourselves with cheerful / happy people.

But there is plenty we see and hear in our newsagencies that makes us happy – if we look for it. If our natural disposition (as the owner and leader) is to be unhappy, we need to push back on that urge, we need to choose to be happy. Surrounding yourself with happy people is key to this.

We need to show unhappy people the door and encourage them to go work somewhere else.

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Customer Service

Do you check shopper bags in your newsagency?

Security people at one of the shopping malls where I have a newsagency returned around $65.00 worth of products stolen from us a couple of days ago. A team of a young girl, a lady in a wheelchair and another lady bought an item, distracted us and lifted a bunch of other product. Watching their action back on our security system was instructive as it showed where we were weak.

The only way we could combat them would be to introduce a greeter / security role responsible for bag checking. So that’s a question I have for this morning:

Do you check shopper bags?

I recall a newsagent in Hobart brought in a security officer for twenty or so hours a week and was able to fund the cost of security out of theft savings. I don’t want to go that far but I am curious what others do.

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Customer Service

Companies don’t deliver customer service, people do

I had an awful experience with Jetstar Tuesday and experienced exceptional customer service as a result.

My usual expectations of Jetstar are that I arrive alive and that the service does not totally suck. It’s a cheap airline and you get what you pay for.

Briefly, I had to get from the Sunshine Coast to Auckland Tuesday afternoon and the only option was Jetstar to Sydney for a connecting flight to Auckland. At the Sunshine Coast airport Jetstar announced a 10 minute delay due to operational requirements and then another. Operational requirements? It’s airline speak for we’re late and not going to tell you why.

After the second delay announcement I explained that I had an internatipnal connection. The person at the gate told me the truth of what had caused the delay and gave a believable estimate of the new departure time. A passenger departing the incoming flight has dislodged and broken an exit sign cover. A replacement was being driven from Brisbane.  I was going to miss my connection and was not happy but kept that emotion internal as this person was not responsible and was honest with me.

I was sent back to the check in desk where the duty manager took on sorting something out for me. It’s this person who showed me what great customer service is all about. She was on the phone navigating Jetstar and Qantas to find the best way to get me to Auckland.  The only option was to get the delayed flight to Sydney and then SYD-AKL Wednesday morning.

The customer service was good because I saw her efforts for me. This Jetstar representative was transparent about the situation, clear in her communication and doing everything in her power to help me. Despite the delay and missing the connecting flight, the customer service experience was far better than I had ever expected from Jetstar.

I was thinking about this when sitting on the delayed flight to Sydney a few hours later and realised that the excellent customer service was not delivered by Jetstar but by the person representing them. Sure companies can have staffing levels and processes to deliver the customer service it is commercially prepared to deliver, the actual experience comes down to the individual, the customer-facing person working on the issue you bring to them. The right person can make even a mediocre company look good. The wrong person can make an exceptional company look bad.

Indeed, my inner glow about Jetstar was adjusted during the flight to Sydney when I saw a member of the cabin crew act rudely to a passenger, treating them differently to others and publicly rebuking them in an offensive way and then openly complaining about it to a colleague on-board. Thud! I was back in this is Jetstar mode – all because of unnecessarily poor customer service delivered by an individual most likely acting outside the requirements of the company.

What our customers think about our businesses depends on the people we employ, train, manage and motivate in customer-facing roles. Our role as business owners is to create an environment that encourages our people to serve customers above and beyond what we want delivered in our name.

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Customer loyalty

Buying a Valentine’s Day poster

srvalposter.jpgA customer has asked to buy one of the Valentine’s Day posters we created for our Sophie Randall businesses.

This is the second time we have encountered this in the last few months at Sophie. Apparently, the customer loves the image of the girl kissing the frog and they want it for their bedroom.

The requests which pass across the counter some days are odd – maybe we should be in the poster business?

For those interested, we went with the traditional looking poster as it more accurately reflects the Sophie experience we try and create – calm, subtle and emotional.

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Customer Service

The privilege of serving

When I asked the customer yesterday if they would like to renew their about to expire Tatts player card yesterday they said no and looked away.  Noticing a tear I asked if everything way okay even though I could see it wasn’t.  (Why I asked such an obvious question is beyond me.)  My customer had earlier in the week found out she did not have long to live so renewing the card was not an option and the question reminded her of what she is facing.

It was a sad moment made all the more difficult because of a line of customers behind her.  It was a busy Saturday.  She picked herself up, smiled and said she was off to treat herself to a new hairstyle.

I’m not the only newsagent with a story like this from yesterday or any day for that matter.  Our businesses are very personal – in part because we are local and in part because we are small.  That we (the owners) spend time behind the counter also makes them personal.  It is a privilege some days listening to and talking with customers.  The confidence they show is moving.

While running a financially profitable business is important, being emotionally profitable – if I can put it that way – is more so.  I find that it is this emotional connection with our customers, those we know and those we do not know, where newsagents make a real difference in the community.

Thinking back to yesterday, call me soppy, but I should have renewed the Tatts card and paid for it myself.  Ah, hindsight… 

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Customers

The things customers say

In the space of five minutes last week, one customer told me about his blind wife and that he fills in crosswords for her even though he has never done one in his life, and another customer told me about the challenges his daughter is facing living with MS – he was buying some women’s monthly magazines for her and was embarrassed to ask for it.

I’d not met either customer before.  Within seconds of offering help on the floor of the shop they were sharing their personal stories.

I bet that every day across Australia newsagents and those working in newsagencies have similar personal conversations with people they have never met before.    Some days I don’t get enough and crave such a moment with a customer.  We are are privileged to have this type of personal interaction.

Sure there is a business imperative to providing good customer service.  There is a personal imperative too.  Ours are personal businesses and if we forget to be personal, we forget what retail and, in particular, small business retail, are about.

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Customer Service

Saliva and browsing

I watched a customer browser Woman’s Day, New Idea and the Herald Sun earlier this week. Browsing is not the right word – she read these almost cover to cover over twenty minutes, tucked away in a corner of one of our shops. I thought she was up to no good so I watched her, the whole time. She licked her fingers prior to turning each page. When she was done, she dropped all three titles near where they are displayed, but not quite right. No manners at all.

I’m okay with browsers, even those who appear to never buy anything. What I don’t like is browsers who leave their saliva behind for paying customers to touch. Who wants that?

Some days, customer experiences are wonderful. Other days, they are frustrating.

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Customers
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