Retail Customer Service Training (Attitude and Communication)

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Available in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Australia Wide

Many of the first images we have when it comes to retail can be negative. You might see a distracted employee or a customer shouting at the employee and asking for a manager. No matter what, it is important to maintain a professional attitude in retail. This course will help your retailer become more professional in their customer care.

The smiling, customer service agent with the most heart is the best retailer customer service agent. Customers should be treated as if they were customers when they walk into your store. These methods will help you train your team to be enthusiastic about their service, be proactive in providing service and treat everyone with the same quality service. This course is crucial in developing a team of customer support agents that can greet and serve customers well. This course is well suited for sessions on customer service, dedication, and retail business. Contact us to learn more about our training courses and other services.

Retail Training Outcomes

• How to use questions effectively
• How to disarm angry complaints
• How to build rapport by mirroring
• Body Language signals: How to read
• Powerful presentation techniques
• Closing techniques
• Telephone skills
• Building a positive outlook
• Creating a YES customer
• Complaint Handling
• Emotion and Motivation
• Providing Solutions to Difficult People

Specialized Retail Training Courses

Our courseware is customizable to fit your company's products, services, and teams. If the content you see above doesn't meet your requirements, or you have other training objectives, contact our editors to request sample material or customized modules. We have experience in many retail areas and can help you deliver in any retail environment. For more information, please call us.

Retail Customer Service Training Outline

Smile!

Happiness in service is one of the most critical things to have when you are working in any kind of customer service, and not just retail. Customers can always tell when you aren’t happy to be of service, and that can really make your shop lose customers and income. Smiling when you accommodate the customer and his or her requests or demands is always the best first step to take towards convincing the customer that they are welcome and that you are ready for service. Smiling can help you sound happier to serve, and this applies even when you are performing customer service over the phone. Your customers can always tell when you’re not happy, even if they can’t see you. For example, if Kent is the standing retailer meant to be taking delivery orders over the phone, he can’t afford to frown or sound sullen when someone calls. If he smiles, and tries to sound upbeat, that feeling can be infectious to the customer over the phone, and then the sale might go that much more smoothly. We show participants how important it is to smile.

Be Proactive in Service

Proactivity in service is largely about taking the initiative to be of service. A good example of this is asking sincerely how you can be of service to the customer. When you are in customer service, the entire point of your job is to serve the customer’s wants and needs. A good retail customer service agent must always be seeking the best way to help the customer and grant their requests. Doing the extra footwork may seem tedious, or small and unnoticed, but it can make the difference between being of good service, and overlooking a mistake that can damage your store’s reputation. It is advisable, for example, to check for yourself if the items the customer is buying are deficient, or the wrong items. Yet another is to actually check the stock room. We’ve all had it happen to us; we will ask about an item we want that is not on display, and the customer service agents will tell us it is out of stock instead of actually checking the stock room to see if they have any left. Do not do that; if you have to stay where you are, send someone else in the staff to check and make sure that they report back to you. It might make the customer wait for a little, but some will appreciate that you actually tried to look for the item they wanted. While we are on the subject of unavailability, sometimes, the customer service agent might not know something that a customer is inquiring about. It seems like the honest and understandable answer is “I don’t know,” but it should never be your answer unless you end it with “but I can fetch someone who does.” Saying you do not know might be understandable, but it will never fulfill your target of serving the customer’s need. Keep it in mind to always look for the best way you can be of service, even in the small things in interactions with customers.

Never Judge

Never, on your life as a retail customer service agent, judge your customers or potential buyers based on how they look, how they dress, or how old they seem. You are built for service, and service never discriminates. Retail customer service agents serve all people, of all shapes, all sizes, and all walks of life. Another thing to never, ever do, as a retail customer service agent is to discuss customers with the customers, especially if you are saying bad things about other customers. That is the biggest mortal sin of customer service. As soon as they leave, that customer will wonder what you are saying about them to other customers. Your first, and most important priority in this position is to provide the best, most sensitive service you can provide. You should not kick out customers or potential buyers violently; you really don’t want your store to look like a company of judgmental elitists. Always treat everyone who enters your store, no matter who they seem to be, as the most important person in the store right now. Activities for participants will illustrate the issue of being judgemental.