Q: One of the big chain bookstores recently opened
up near my small book store. Already I can see my business
starting to decline. Is there anything I can do to compete
with the bigger store or should I just accept the inevitable?
- Peter Q.
A: A wise man once said, "The inevitable is never
a sure thing."
Don't be so quick to close the book on your business, Peter.
You probably can't compete with the superstore on volume of
inventory or on price, but there are other things you can
do to help keep the customers coming in your door. One of
the best ways to ensure customer loyalty is to offer superior
customer service.
It's funny that you're a bookseller. Let me tell you about
my last visit to one of the big chain bookstores just a few
weeks ago.
I took my teenage daughter in to find the classic book, The
Once and Future King, for a school project that has to be
done over the summer. It was a Sunday afternoon and the store
was crawling with customers. We spent fifteen minutes scouring
this great warehouse of a bookstore, but couldn't find the
book anywhere. We also couldn't find anyone who worked there
to ask for help.
Finally, I went up to the front counter and asked the apathetic
looking teenager who was manning the register if they had
the book in stock. She looked at me as if I'd asked her to
do advanced calculus in her head and said, "I dunno."
I asked if she might check her computer for me. She looked
at me again, this time as if I'd just asked her to rotate
the tires on my car without a jack. After a minute of tapping
the keys with her long fingernails (which were painted black,
by
the way) she said, "Yeah, we have it."
"Great," I said. "Where can I find it?"
She glanced at the screen again and said, "It says that
it's in the classics section."
"Great," I said again. I use the word "great"
a lot when I'm trying to restrain myself from strangling incompetent
sales people. "Where might the classics section be?"
She didn't bother to look at me or the computer this time.
She just shrugged and said, "Beats me, man. I've only
worked here a week. "
I wanted to ask if there was anyone who had worked there long
enough to know where the classics section was, but by that
time there were a dozen or so people lining up behind me to
pay for books they had somehow managed to find on their own.
I went home and ordered the book online. So much for supporting
my local bookseller.
It's a shame your store isn't located near me, Peter. I'll
bet if I walked in and asked for a copy of The Once and Future
King you would be able to tell me almost to the square inch
where the book is on the shelf in your store. I'll also bet
that if you didn't have a copy in stock you would go out of
your way to order it for me.
That is what superior customer service is all about: going
the extra mile to satisfy your customer. That is what will
keep customers coming back to your store time and time again.
Superior customer service leads to greater customer satisfaction,
which leads to repeat business, which leads to the holy grail
of the retail business: customer loyalty.
Here are a few tips on how to deliver superior customer
service and build customer loyalty:
Anyone on your staff who deals directly with the customers
should be well groomed and dressed appropriately for the
job. Customers over 25 years old will not get a warm and
fuzzy feeling if the guy processing their credit card is
wearing an Ozzy Osborne tee-shirt and matching nose ring.
Sales people should be knowledgeable about the product
they are selling. I can't tell you how many times I have
asked a sales person a simple question and only got a blank
stare in return. A lack of product knowledge does nothing
to instill confidence in the customer.
Your staff should know where every product is without
having to ask a manager or consult a computer. At the very
least they should be able to point out the classics section
without blinking an eye.
Make it a point to know your customer's name. Nothing
makes a customer feel special like the sound of his or her
own name. You can't remember everyone's name, of course,
but you should strive to remember the names of those customers
who come in regularly. I f requent one particular restaurant
and the owner not only knows my name, but the names of my
wife and kids. And every time I set foot in his restaurant
he calls me by name and shakes my hand and personally leads
me to a table. I don't feel like a customer. I feel like
a friend.
Offer personal services that the big boys do not. Anything
you can do to make your customer's life easier will be appreciated
and remembered. If a customer comes in and asks for a book
you do not have, offer to order the book and deliver it
to their home so they don't have to make another trip to
pick it up. All this is going to cost you is a few minutes
of your time and you will not only save a sale, but also
make a lasting impression on that customer. The next time
they need a book they will head your way.
There are other things you can do to combat the bookstore
Goliath, Peter, but offering superior customer service is
a great place to start.
