Tag: empathy

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The Art of the Pivot

The Art of the Pivot

This year has been full of pivots. As business owners, we are constantly pivoting to changes large and small. What’s different about this year is that some of the changes we’ve made ended up being permanent.

Re-evaluate your goals

With some of these more-permanent changes, it’s a good idea to re-evaluate your business goals. Has new customer retention fallen or remained the same as last year? Don’t look at this like a con, rather take the opportunity to invest more time and energy in the customer base you already have.

Do you feel like you’ve spent all year focusing on short term goals instead of mid-to-long range goals? If you feel this way, you’re not alone. It’s ok to continue responding to you ever-changing short term goals until things feel stable again.

Change marketing

Part of the business shift this year is redirecting your marketing to mainly online efforts. Since we’ve had to remain at home people have been spending much more time online. This is a great way to reach your audience—find out where they are (Facebook? Twitter? Tik Tok?) and spend your marketing budget there.

Pivot from the sale

Selling to someone who recently lost their job or continuing your sales operations as if everything were normal is insensitive. Instead, practice empathy and let your customer base know what you’ve been doing to respond to the health crisis, as well as share that you know what they’re going through. This can mean changing your inventory to include more of what they need (supplies to make face masks) and less of what used to be a trend the same time last year (ribbon wreaths).

As we mentioned earlier, business owners are constantly pivoting to respond to market needs. Why should this pivot be any different?

Inspiration for this post came from “The Art of Pivoting” by Sommer Leigh published in the October 2020 issue of American Quilt Retailer.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.

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Customer service for disgruntled customers

Customer service

Every retail employee has dealt with a disgruntled customer. When service sells, follow these steps to ensure you (and your employees) lead with your best foot forward.

Listen

Listen to your customer even if you think you know what they’re going to say. Listening to your customer’s complaint is therapeutic for them and shows empathy in you. When replying, don’t raise your voice and practice what’s known as the Socratic method. Simply put, the Socratic method asking more questions to clarify your customer’s needs. In the long run, this can save you time and effort when addressing the complaint.

Don’t take it personal

Remember, what the customer is upset about is the business, not you. This will help you remain calm since getting angry never helps any situation. Assuming all your customers are watching will help hold you to these standards. By not taking the complaint personal, you’ll also know when it’s fair to give in. If the customer had been on the receiving end of a disservice, practicing empathy will help you decide when a compromise is justified.

Follow through

If you say you’re going to give the customer a call back, call them back. Telling them the next steps sets the expectation so your service doesn’t fall short for them again.

It’s just a matter of time before one of your employees will have to help a disgruntled customer. Training them for this situation will ensure they provide top notch service when your business needs it most.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.