When Customers Talk
When Customers Talk – Survey Results
Price Is Not As Important As Service
Complete the sentence: I’d walk a mile for a…
If you said ‘Camel’ two things are true: a.) you’re old and b.) chances are you are not a retailer.
Retailers, especially small businesses, don’t believe a customer would walk a mile for anything.
Well, nowadays they may not actually walk anywhere but they will drive.
Our research shows that for the right combination of price, quality, and believe it or not, customer service, they’ll drive quite a way.
If you are in business, small or large, you probably get beat up over price on a regular basis.
Most of us who stand on the business side of a cash register believe our customers would kill over a nickel.
Not true!
BIGresearch
For nearly four years BIGresearch of Dublin, OH has been asking customers how they feel about the treatment they receive from retailers and what they said was… amazing.
Each month 10,000 shoppers are asked how they like to shop, how they like to be served, and what it takes to make them open their wallets.
What they said turns out to completely explode some of our most deeply entrenched “common knowledge,” the stuff that “everybody knows” about how customers like to be treated.
Survey Results: Would you walk a mile…?
We asked:
“How far out of your way would you drive to get excellent service?”
Here’s what they said:
Less than a mile 7.2%
2-3 miles 12.0
4-5 miles 19.0
6-10 miles 25.4
11-15 miles 10.3
16-20 miles 9.2
More than 20 miles 16.9
Less than 20% of shoppers wouldn’t drive an extra 5 miles for great service.
But more 80 percent are willing to drive four or more miles to get excellent service.
Nearly half of those would drive ten miles or more.
American shoppers are not the finicky, price conscious bargain hunters they have been made out to be! Consumers will pay for good service with both their cash and their time.
The Service Issue
But there’s a problem. How do you define great service?
Answer: It depends!
Great service depends on the product, the store, and the customer. At Wal~Mart you don’t expect elegant service so you aren’t disappointed if when you ask a clerk where to find the boxers he or she smiles and suggests “aisle 12.”
At Nordstrom that level of service would never fly.
While customers may be willing to drive a little further for great service, woe unto the business that fails to make the extra trip worth the effort.
Survey Results: What does it take to get you to change…?
We went back to the consumer and asked:
How many instances of poor service does it take to make you change service providers?
Here’s what they said:
1 16.9%
2 40.6
3 28.0
4 or more 14.3
Except for the masochistic 14.3% it’s one, or two, or three strikes and you’re out!
For retailers these numbers are scary. And they beg for further investigation:
Survey Results: What do you really want…?
So we asked
“What do you as a customer really want?”
Here’s what they said:
Fast finish 4.5
Convenience 8.8
Good value 18.3
Friendly staff 27.0
Knowledgeable/available staff 41.4
While a customer is making the buying decision they are looking to be treated well and they want knowledgeable, available assistance. ‘Sounds about right… but there’s more.
Getting it Right - The Lessons Learned
”What customers want most from a shopping experience is knowledgeable sales people who are available when they want them! When they are “just looking,” customers want to roam freely without hovering sales staff.
Customers want to be served by staff who know the product inside and out but they also want that staff to be friendly. Customers love to be served by sales staff who value customers more than the sale.
And customers want more than low price. They want value. And surprisingly, customers place a high value on information!
Make it easy! Customers want merchandise that is well organized, attractively displayed, and easy to find. That’s how today’s customers define convenience and the easier you can make the shopping, the more money you’ll be lugging to the bank.
When customers are shopping, deciding to buy… or not, they are working on our time. But once the buying decision is made get out of their way because now you are working on ‘customer time.’
At the cash register there is no time for making additional suggestions or, God forbid, delaying checkout while the cashier wraps up a personal conversation.
Customers hate that! (They told us that in a dozen different ways.)
Give them what they want, the way they want it, and follow through with a fast finish and you are much more likely to see them again!
Price Is Not As Important As Service
Complete the sentence: I’d walk a mile for a…
If you said ‘Camel’ two things are true: a.) you’re old and b.) chances are you are not a retailer.
Retailers, especially small businesses, don’t believe a customer would walk a mile for anything.
Well, nowadays they may not actually walk anywhere but they will drive.
Our research shows that for the right combination of price, quality, and believe it or not, customer service, they’ll drive quite a way.
If you are in business, small or large, you probably get beat up over price on a regular basis.
Most of us who stand on the business side of a cash register believe our customers would kill over a nickel.
Not true!
BIGresearch
For nearly four years BIGresearch of Dublin, OH has been asking customers how they feel about the treatment they receive from retailers and what they said was… amazing.
Each month 10,000 shoppers are asked how they like to shop, how they like to be served, and what it takes to make them open their wallets.
What they said turns out to completely explode some of our most deeply entrenched “common knowledge,” the stuff that “everybody knows” about how customers like to be treated.
Survey Results: Would you walk a mile…?
We asked:
“How far out of your way would you drive to get excellent service?”
Here’s what they said:
Less than a mile 7.2%
2-3 miles 12.0
4-5 miles 19.0
6-10 miles 25.4
11-15 miles 10.3
16-20 miles 9.2
More than 20 miles 16.9
Less than 20% of shoppers wouldn’t drive an extra 5 miles for great service.
But more 80 percent are willing to drive four or more miles to get excellent service.
Nearly half of those would drive ten miles or more.
American shoppers are not the finicky, price conscious bargain hunters they have been made out to be! Consumers will pay for good service with both their cash and their time.
The Service Issue
But there’s a problem. How do you define great service?
Answer: It depends!
Great service depends on the product, the store, and the customer. At Wal~Mart you don’t expect elegant service so you aren’t disappointed if when you ask a clerk where to find the boxers he or she smiles and suggests “aisle 12.”
At Nordstrom that level of service would never fly.
While customers may be willing to drive a little further for great service, woe unto the business that fails to make the extra trip worth the effort.
Survey Results: What does it take to get you to change…?
We went back to the consumer and asked:
How many instances of poor service does it take to make you change service providers?
Here’s what they said:
1 16.9%
2 40.6
3 28.0
4 or more 14.3
Except for the masochistic 14.3% it’s one, or two, or three strikes and you’re out!
For retailers these numbers are scary. And they beg for further investigation:
Survey Results: What do you really want…?
So we asked
“What do you as a customer really want?”
Here’s what they said:
Fast finish 4.5
Convenience 8.8
Good value 18.3
Friendly staff 27.0
Knowledgeable/available staff 41.4
While a customer is making the buying decision they are looking to be treated well and they want knowledgeable, available assistance. ‘Sounds about right… but there’s more.
Getting it Right - The Lessons Learned
”What customers want most from a shopping experience is knowledgeable sales people who are available when they want them! When they are “just looking,” customers want to roam freely without hovering sales staff.
Customers want to be served by staff who know the product inside and out but they also want that staff to be friendly. Customers love to be served by sales staff who value customers more than the sale.
And customers want more than low price. They want value. And surprisingly, customers place a high value on information!
Make it easy! Customers want merchandise that is well organized, attractively displayed, and easy to find. That’s how today’s customers define convenience and the easier you can make the shopping, the more money you’ll be lugging to the bank.
When customers are shopping, deciding to buy… or not, they are working on our time. But once the buying decision is made get out of their way because now you are working on ‘customer time.’
At the cash register there is no time for making additional suggestions or, God forbid, delaying checkout while the cashier wraps up a personal conversation.
Customers hate that! (They told us that in a dozen different ways.)
Give them what they want, the way they want it, and follow through with a fast finish and you are much more likely to see them again!
posted by tscott | 6:23 PM
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