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Category: General Information

Be Kind To Teens – They Are Your Future Customer

 

Teenagers are an interesting breed – they are learning to become independent and are well on their way to adulthood, yet, if you’re a parent of a teen, you know that they still have toddler-like moments.

 

I’m sure retail or restaurant employees cringe a little when they see a group of teens enter a store or restaurant. In some cases, this may be warranted, but in most, it’s a good idea to treat them as you would any other customer, especially when your business caters to this age group.

 

Teenagers today are very savvy about knowing what they want and are already starting to show loyalty to certain businesses. Just like adults, sending the wrong message through employee interactions can stop that loyalty in its tracks.

 

My 15 year old daughter started me thinking on this path. For her birthday she received gift cards to her favorite retail store. We frequent the business often, but as she is getting older, she is starting to spend time with her friends rather than me.

 

She recently went on a shopping spree with gift cards in hand, very excited to be shopping for summer clothes. When she returned home, she showed me what she bought, but I noticed that she didn’t shop as much where she usually does. At the time I chalked it up to changing preferences or not finding something she liked and didn’t think too much more about it.

 

A couple of weeks later she asked to go shopping again with her best friend and asked for money. Remember her last purchases, I asked how she spent all of her gift cards based on how little she purchased. She said she had gift cards for her favorite store, but didn’t want to go there anymore. Surprised, I asked why, and she shared her story with me.

 

It turns out that she did go to the retailer on her last shopping trip. Instead of the cashier taking the gift card and swiping it to complete the transaction, which is typical, she was asked to swipe it on the credit card reader. Since she doesn’t have a debit card and has never done this before, she wasn’t sure what to do. She swiped it the wrong way at first and it didn’t register. The cashier told her to do it again, but didn’t explain that it needed to be turned over. So, she swiped it again with the same results.

 

The cashier sighed heavily and said she probably didn’t have a balance on the card, and asked her (in a condescending tone, or at least that’s how it was perceived) if she knew gift cards “ran out” at some point. My daughter knew what the balance was and said maybe she swiped it wrong, mentioning that she never did that before.

 

The cashier pulled the card out of her hand and finished the transaction in an abrupt manner.

 

My daughter was embarrassed by this and said that there were customers waiting in line behind her, which added to her embarrassment. She shared that the cashier made her feel like she was a stupid kid and didn’t take her seriously, and she didn’t want to shop there for a while.

 

So, for now, the gift cards sit in her room. I’m sure she’ll go back at some point, maybe not to the same location, but it’s a shame that this experience is keeping her from going back, not only for her, but for my pocketbook.

 

Sometimes it’s hard to keep it in perspective, but teens are customers too, and, especially when your target demographic is teenagers, it’s important to have a little patience and treat them as you would an adult customer. With many teens shopping at the same stores they may be frequenting as they get older, it’s a good idea to build brand loyalty now.

 

 

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“Our Customer Service is Broken”

 

These were the words shared by McDonald’s last week during a webconference with franchisees. The company has been struggling as of late, and an increase of complaints has not helped.

 

While there were some complaints related to food quality, these were overshadowed by the other complains related to customer service and employee attitude. Namely, the most complaints revolved around:

 

1. Rude or unprofessional employees

2. Orders taking too long to be prepared

 

These are some major factors in customer service, and while McDonald’s continues to be a frontrunner in the industry, continued complaints and service related issues can hurt them in the long run.
One of their challenges lies in the franchised based system – it’s difficult sometimes to ensure all franchisees are holding the same standards as corporate does, and to make sure that all operational procedures are being strictly adhered to.

 

This increase in complaints has definitely gotten their attention, and they will be working hard to overcome the challenges, improve service levels, and get back to where they used to be as far as customer service and satisfaction.

 

What can a company do when this happens? Since an increase in complaints signals concern, there are some steps that can be taken to pinpoint, address, and fix issues:

 

1. Determine if it’s a company-wide or regional problem. It might be there are only some locations that are showing signs of concern, or it may be a particular region. Start with these areas and talk with district managers who are responsible for these locations; has there been a change in any way? Is the manager seeing similar issues when visiting locations? It’s time to work with management for a clear review and observation to pinpoint issues.

 

2. Look for training opportunities. There may be a slew of new staff that may not have been trained properly, or a similar issue causing the decreased service levels. Determine if additional training is needed.

 

3. Ramp up your mystery shopping program. Check to see that you’re measuring the right aspects of the business. With franchises especially, it can be difficult to get buy in, especially if corporate offers mystery shopping services at the franchisee’s expense.

 

If you’re not doing so, it might be time to incorporate an incentive program tied to the mystery shopping program. Rewarding good service can increase its likelihood.

 

4. Talk to your employees. if you’re seeing a decline in service across a particular location, region, or even company wide, implement an anonymous employee feedback survey to ask employees for their thoughts and opinions regarding their work, their satisfaction, and ask for suggestions for improvement. Based on responses, this could be a great starting point for additional conversations with your employees, or signal the need for more or different training to give your employees a chance to be successful in their work.

 

Employee morale and work satisfaction have a direct correlation to customer service levels; when your company is seeing an increase in customer complaints, it’s time to start paying attention.

 

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If it’s Tuesday, I have brown hair, and was born in the 70’s…..

 

Sometimes it feels like this when using loyalty cards – it can be difficult to get points, rewards, or incentives, and this can prove frustrating to customers.

 

I myself have been frustrated at times with loyalty programs – no matter what I do, it seems that I can not accumulate points to earn anything. In other cases, it is very easy and I find myself happily surprised when I have incentives coming that I didn’t even realize were waiting for me.

 

I was in line recently at a retail location and overheard a conversation between the customer and cashier. She handed over her loyalty card, making the comment that this time she was sure to get points because she was purchasing items that were noted in this week’s flyer. To her dismay, the points did not accumulate. She asked the cashier about this, and in looking at the flyer, the cashier noted that the customer needed to purchase three of the item in order to receive points. The customer was clearly frustrated and vented to the cashier, explaining that while she knows it’s not the cashier’s fault, she’s frustrated because she shops at the store often, but can’t seem to buy anything that falls into the required purchases. She made the comment that it seems like this is one of those programs that you only get points if “it’s Tuesday, I have brown hair, and was born in the 70’s.”

 

While the comment made me giggle, I completely felt her frustration. I shop at this store quite often, and, like her, don’t have many points at all to show for it. In doing some research, I’ve come to the conclusion that this loyalty program was designed for the most rewards given for making specific, store brand purchases and pharmacy transactions. Thankfully, my family and I are healthy and do not require prescriptions, so that leaves me with the store brand items. However, their store brand is limited with regard to what items they offer, and it seems that I never need what they have.

 

Loyalty programs, when designed properly, can increase loyalty and encourage customers to shop more often. However, if they become frustrating to the customer, their value will decrease dramatically. How can you be sure that your program is effective?

 

1. Make sure the goal is properly defined, yet not too limiting. While you want to make sure the loyalty program is driving customers to specific purchases (if that’s your goal), make sure you also offer other ways to easily redeem points too so that customers feel like there’s value. If they see points accumulating and they’re getting close to an incentive, it may drive them to make the purchases you want them to in order to push them over the edge of redeeming points. Similarly, if it’s a case like the above where prescriptions are encouraged, customers using the program will know this in the back of their head, and next time they need a prescription filled, they will probably sway toward your business over the competition.

 

2. Ask your loyalty card users for their opinion. Once a program is rolled out, there may be bugs to work out. Maybe it’s too limiting, maybe it’s not working quite the way you envisioned it playing out. While customers may complain to friends and family, or possibly a cashier, you may never hear about it. After an initial rollout, let a bit of time pass and then reach out to loyalty card users to gauge their satisfaction and ask for suggestions for improvement. Not only will this give you great insight into how customers use your card, but it will make them feel like a part of the process, and they may be inclined to be more invested in your program. This, of course, can lead to more sales.

 

3. Look to the analytics for clues. The backend data compiled with loyalty programs can shed light into the success of your program. Are you seeing a drop off or increase in usage? Are you seeing high volumes of purchases but few accumulated points? Reviewing the analytics on a regular basis can help ensure the program is running smoothly.

 

4. Offer a surprise they can’t pass up. Once in a while, it may be helpful (and fun) to offer loyalty card users a bigger, spontaneous, “just because you’re a member” incentive that is not tied to a specific purchase or task. It will definitely generate buzz, make customers feel as though being a member of the program is beneficial, and keep them coming back for more.

 

Does your company offer a successful loyalty program? As a customer, what are your favorite loyalty programs out there? Please comment below and start a conversation!

 

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