Tis the Season For Poor Customer Service
It’s the most wonderful time of the year... or is it?
In an effort to help restore the shortfall in sales projected by The International Council of Shopping Centers that said holiday spending only increased 3.6 percent this season, many retailers opened doors earlier than usual today (before 9 a.m.) and all this week, and are offering deeper price cuts than last year.
But as shoppers rush in to make returns, redeem gift cards, and take advantage of stores' low prices and expanded hours, how is customer service prepared for this post-holiday rush?
Many stores boost staffing levels by hiring seasonal customer service that may not be receiving the deep customer-service training or incentives and bonusus that full-time employees receive throughout the year.
Consider this: According to a poll conducted earlier this month by America's Research Group, a consumer-behavior research firm, one in four shoppers said they walked out of a store because of poor customer service.
By bringing seasonal employees up to respectable customer service levels, retailers may avoid sending shoppers running for their doors this week.
Hopefully retailers this year are learning from holidays' past, applying that insight to the holidays' present, to bring increased profit and customers for the future.
Have any good or bad holiday customer service experiences that you'd like to share here?
