CUSTOMER SERVICE

CUSTOMER SERVICE

• Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of an in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means.

• All interactions between a customer and a product provider at the time of sale, and thereafter. Customer service adds value to a product and builds enduring relationship.

“To over-deliver in service to a customer is by far the most valuable thing to a business. Because there are only two ways to improve the operations of a business: increase sales or decrease costs.”

You will find it very hard to decrease costs, but you can offer better customer service and that allows you to increase sales. If that’s not enough to convince you, though, here are five reasons customer service is more important than anything else in your business.

1. The Best Customer Service Builds Trust

These days, people will only stay loyal to a company if they have very good reason to. Otherwise, there is plenty of competition available they could choose to move to. As a result, you have to work even harder to keep customers and build their trust in your brand. By providing the best in customer service, you will increase trust, and that could mean the difference between customer loyalty and customers who jump ship.

2. Customer Service Matters More Than Price

When studies and surveys have been completed, they continue to find that a large group of consumers say that customer service is much more important than price. To get the right experience, they are willing to pay more.

3. It Will Build Brand Awareness

If you don’t already know this, then it is time to learn. Word of mouth is the most powerful ally you have on your side. What your customers say to others could make or break your business. When you provide the best in customer service, guess what happens? People will talk about you. They will remember your brand. If they hear someone else talking that they need a specific kind of company, they are much more likely to say, “Oh, go to this place. They are great!”

4. Good Customer Service Reduces Problems

Problems are always going to arise for any business no matter how hard you try to avoid them. While you can’t run a perfect business with all the perfect customers, you can ensure friction doesn’t become an issue. If customers know that they can voice complaints and those issues will be handled properly, they will feel more comfortable doing business with you.

5. It Appeals to the New Customer

Once upon a time, business was all about closing the sale. It didn’t matter how you got to that point. These days, you will need to cater to the New Customer. This is someone who expects to be treated as a person, who wants more from the experience, and who does not want to be just a number. Better customer service will ensure you are providing them what they want.

When it comes to a business, nothing matters if you offer poor customer service. Keep these five things in mind so that you can understand just how important it really is for your own success. So, make sure you are offering the best in customer service, and enjoy the positive results.

Reference

http://www.daymondjohnssuccessformula.com/five-reasons-why-customer-service-is-more-important-than-anything-else/

STORE LAYOUT, DESIGN, VISUAL MERCHANDISING

Store layout and visual merchandising are factors that contribute to the uniqueness of a store. The exterior and interior of a store convey several messages about the store to the consumers. The building that houses retail store, (whether new or old) and the exterior design of the store are important aspects of the design of the store. Marquees, walkways, entrances, doors, display windows, the height and size of the building, colors and materials used, and theft prevention are some of the key factors to be kept in mind while developing a store's exterior. 

Managing space is the first and foremost concern of almost every retailer, when it comes to designing the store's interior. Space is always an expensive and scarce resource. Retailers always try to maximize the return on sales per square foot. Planning a layout for the store's interior is the first step in designing the store's interior.

There are three kinds of layouts - grid layout, race track layout and free form layout.

Allocating space to various merchandise categories in a store is very important. Allocation of space can be based on many factors like historical sales, gross margins, industry averages and strategic objectives. Apart from allocating space to various merchandise categories, space has to be allocated for carrying out some essential functions. Such space includes the back room for receiving the inventories and sorting them out, office and other functional spaces, aisles and customer service desks, floor space and wall space. 

The interior of a store influences the purchasing behavior of the customers to a great extent. Designing the interior of a store in such a way as to influence customer behavior is referred to as visual merchandising. It includes optimum and appropriate use of fixtures, displays, color, lighting, music, scent, ceilings and floor, and designing all of these properly. Merchandise presentation is the most significant aspect of store design, because it helps attract customers' attention. A retailer can resort to many forms of presentation such as idea-oriented presentation, item-oriented presentation, price lining, color presentation, vertical merchandising, tonnage merchandising and frontal presentation. 

Prevention of losses due to merchandise pilferage is a major cause of concern for all retailers. This issue should be addressed at the initial stage of store design. The retailer can use many electronic security systems like CCTV and EAS for the prevention of such losses. Thus, by appropriately integrating the various elements of store design (both exterior and interior), a retailer can create an excellent image of itself in the target customer's mind.

Reference

http://fitsmallbusiness.com/planning-your-store-layout/

RETAIL COMMUNICATION MIX

PROMOTION MIX

• A specific combination of promotional methods used for one product or a family of products. Elements of a promotion mix may include print or broadcast advertising, direct marketing, personal selling, point of sale displays, and/or merchandising.

The description about the promotion method.

•Public Relations 

~Communication that fosters a favorable image for the retailer

•Nonpersonal or personal

•Paid or nonpaid

•Sponsor-controlled or not

•Publicity 

~ Non-personal form of public relations whereby messages are transmitted by mass media.

  The time or space provided by the media is not paid for, and there is no identified commercial sponsor.

Reference

http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-promotional-mix-target-markets-buying-decisions-more.html

     https://www.bayt.com/en/specialties/q/143185/define-communication-mix/