Great marketing and a crappy customer experience means you’re just letting more people know that your not necessarily the best place to shop. Whatever you are spending on marketing is wasted money if you haven’t first invested in your customer experience. [level-members]
So make the shop environment great – warm lighting, attractive shelving, something other than dingy, stained carpeting on the floor.
Train your staff to read customers and give each customer what he or she wants. (Some want to be left alone, some want more engagement, nobody wants the false-cheery, “How can I help you?” line.
Shopping with you has to be fun. No, you’re not competing directly with retail juggernauts like, say, the ESPNZone or the M&M store, or other theme/destination stores. But don’t think for a minute that they haven’t raised the bar for you. Your customers have been there, or to places like them. And they want to enjoy their experience. Give them what they want and they’ll keep coming back.
And don’t forget the multiplier effect. Not only does great customer experience make marketing worthwhile – and actually give it a chance to provide a positive return – it also makes marketing easier. Why? Because consistently great customer experience beget great word of mouth. Consistently great customer experience beget loyalty. It fuels higher rates of social media engagement.
Customer experience makes everything else work better. It is the heart and soul of your business. So if you have any doubts about your customer experience, invest there first. Marketing works only when you are completely nailing the customer experience.
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