People and the retail encounter

1
People and the retail encounter

• The lowest paid staff do the most important jobs

2
Sources of differentiation in marketing

• Product
• Image
• Service
• People

3
Retail jobs

• Too many job types to mention but about 2.5
  million of them in the UK
• Consider who interacts with the customer within
  different retail environments
• Who provides customer service and how?
• How can retail sales staff influence consumer
  perception of value?
• How does service drive satisfaction?

4
The service encounter

• Periods of contact between the retailer and the
  customer during which transactions are determined
  or take place
• Consider the role of quality service as a
  strategic element in the retail product
• How do various retailers provide service? (Argos,
  John Lewis, Borders, IKEA, Tesco, Aldi)

5
Defining quality

• Quality is conformance to customer requirements
• Depends on customer perceptions
• Depends on customer expectations
• The retailer must determine customer requirements
  and build them into the retail process
• Customer satisfaction is derived from the service
  outcome and the service process

6
The customer service flow chart for a discount
grocer
Takes trolley
Enters store
Selects goods
Returns trolley
Checks out
CUSTOMER
MEMBER OF RETAIL STAFF
Greet Scan payment
Greets customer
Helps customer
LINE OF VISIBILITY
RETAIL STAFF AND SYSTEM
Provide Trolley facilities
Provide Store environment
Display goods
Process Payments Order stock
Provide Trolley facilities
Supply chain management
7
Blueprinting the service process (Shostack
1984)

• Identify the customer activities
• Sequence the customer activities
• Identify the retailer activities required to meet
  customer requirements
• Identify where the customer interacts with the
  retailer/retail staff
• Identify those activities which are
  visible/invisible

8
Using the blueprint

• Identify critical control points
• Set tolerance standards
• Look for improvements
• Plan service recovery procedures

9
Service quality dimensions (Zeithaml et al 1990)
10
Service gaps and retailer action
11
Making the service encounter memorable

• Pleasant greetings
• Identify customer needs
• Good product knowledge informed opinions about
  brands and competitors
• Sensitive attention to detail
• Ability to demonstrate alternatives
• Take the burden of responsibility
• Sincerity

12
Organising for customer service

• Focus on customer based transactions
• Create a system of internal suppliers and
  customers anyone who isnt serving a customer
  should be serving someone who is.
• Empowerment to do whatever has to be done for
  the customer
• Importance of customer facing personnel in
  satisfaction-loyalty-profit chain
• Staff recruitment and motivation

13
Good retail staff are an important asset

• Over 33000 Tesco staff shared in a 123 million
  share option windfall when two SAYE schemes
  matured in 2000. Thirty people who put away the
  maximum 250 a month for 5 years received shares
  valued at 53000. Tesco chief executive Terry
  Leahy was proud to say that staff have again been
  able to share in the companys phenomenal success
  with a record number of staff signing up for the
  scheme

14
Job satisfaction and customer service

• Motivation
• Role clarity
• Role conflict
• Job tension
• Job specification
• Choosing the right people
• Induction
• Training

15
Customer service and organisational culture

• Organisational culture (values, characteristics)
  impacts on behaviour of managers and staff
• Coercive (McDonalds),calculative (Arcadia),
  normative cultures (John Lewis) (Jarvis 2000)
• Leadership style action centred leaders (Archie
  Norman/ASDA, Terry Leahy/Tesco, Sam
  Walton/Wal-Mart) charismatic (Anita
  Roddick/Body Shop, Richard Branson/Virgin, Ingvar
  Kamprad/IKEA)