Stop asking me….
So you’re in Smith’s and you are just about to pay when the assistant asks,”would you like some chocolate,it’s on special offer,two for the price of one?”
Or you are paying for your petrol and as you pay a never to be missed offer is up sold to you, Red Bull, three cans for the price of two…
It happens all the time and it’s about time customers complained and put a stop to this as it damages customer relations and staff morale which will lead to them not being as attentive as they could be.
Customer relations get damaged because you just want to pay and go.If you wanted to drown in Red Bull you would have asked for three cans.If you wanted to test the pricing structure of your dentists practice you would have demanded two bars of the biggest slabs of enamel corrosive known to man. What about that giant bar of Toblerone? Yes please,seven…
Customers do not want to have to feel as if they are on University Challenge when all they are trying to do is pay some money which will help with profits and supposedly help pay for improvements in the customer experience.
Staff morale suffers because they are made to ask the same inane question to every customer,they have no choice.It must destroy their morale,it takes the spontinaeety out of engaging with customers.There can be no special customer touch point here because all experiences are reduced to a common denominator, sales over kill.
Staff are doubtless driven by area managers who are themselves goaded by head office to improve sales of target items.There is probably some tedious sales competion that staff are supposed to be so excited about that they relish asking their question a thousand times a day.
No one wins in this up selling over selling excercise apart from some short term improvement in sales margins.Customers and staff might just not want to play anymore and shop and work at places where a Thank you may just be enough at the till.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Couldn’t agree with you more. And then the boss or the training team comes in and “coaches” the employee on not doing their job.
So since it will continue to happen what if we turned it into a customer engagement opportunity? I work with my clients to get their people to have conversations with customers as they are completing those transactions. We come up with creative ways to engage customers.If it leads to an upsell great. If it doesn’t it just might the next time/
Engaging with customers has to be the first priority.All the potential touch point shave to be seen as the vital one in the chain.The end view of a company is often based on the last touch point which can be the one that has alienated the customer.