The document outlines the essential personal, professional, and store qualities necessary for effective customer service, emphasizing the importance of creating a comfortable and trustworthy environment for customers. It discusses various strategies for handling difficult customers, highlighting the significance of addressing both emotions and facts during interactions. Additionally, it touches on the importance of cultural awareness in customer service, as well as relevant legislation regarding discrimination in the workplace.

1. Interact with customers

2. Qualities required
 Personal
 Professional
 Store qualities
Providing all three is vital. Remember that
customers form impressions from a wide range
of factors. We don’t know which one for each
customer, so we need to provide them all.

3. Personal Qualities - R
 Personal characteristics that make us feel
comfortable and secure with another person.
Such as; friendliness, helpfulness, politeness and
a genuine interest in what the customer wants.
Combine these with being alert, tactful, patient
and understanding and you will reinforce the
impression within the customers mind that you
really do care.

4. Personal Qualities continued
 Retail salespeople need a wide range of skills
so that they can interact effectively with
customers.
 They must also control, maintain and
promote the store and its facilities to provide
a complete “customer-focused” operation.
 These qualities & attributes set a comfortable
environment and form a good relationship
with customers.

5. Professional qualities - R
 These are the characteristics and skills that
customers expect from a salesperson working
in a particular store.
 These are developed with experience, training
and practise.
 Credibility in the customers eyes is also vital
as it leads to a level of trust and confidence in
the salesperson, and in the store.

6. Professional qualities - continued
 Personal appearance is important and it should
match the stores image.
 A salesperson MUST have a sound knowledge
of the products being sold.
 Displaying both personal and professional
qualities in providing customer service leads to
profit for the store and an ongoing job for you.

7. ACTIVITY
 Develop a list of personal qualities other than those
already noted that you look for, or expect from
service providers and salespeople.
 Using these qualities and those already identified,
select the 3 that you feel are the most important to
you.
 Compare your answers with others and discuss the
reasons for differences in your selections.

8. Store qualities - R
 These are such things as store layout, ease of
access, clear aisles, good lighting and having
the merchandise in stock.
 Other facilities may range from providing
carry bags, automatic teller machines, home
deliveries or public phones.
 These generally reflect the stores image and
their pricing policy.

9. ACTIVITY 2 DO
 Develop a list of store facilities other than
those already noted that you consider could
contribute to a good service perception.
 Describe WHY you think each one is
important from a customers point of view.

10. Difficult customers
 The aim is to retain them as customers.
 96% of customers with a problem, do not complain –
they just don’t come back.
 Of the 4% that do return, 95% of these will do
business again with the store – if the problem is
solved quickly; 54% - 70% will do business again if
the problem is simply solved.
This means if you have 4 complaints in a year
probably means that you have 96 customers who
have not returned and each will tell (WOM)
about 20 others about it.

11. 5 Main types of difficult customers
1. Angry customers
2. Impatient customers
3. Intimidating customers
4. Timid customers
5. Talkative customers
Each one can be dealt with successfully
using the correct strategy.

12. Angry customers
 Ready to fight with
whoever is in charge.
 May use abusive
language, bang the
counter, yell and point
their finger
 Their expression of that
anger is the difficulty,
not the anger itself.

13. Impatient customers – 2 categories
1. Store has made them unhappy –
long lines, kept waiting, ignored.
2. Those that always want things in
a hurry – they will give off
plenty of signals (loud sighing,
tapping foot/fingers, clock
watching) and can be picked up
quickly by observant staff. Eye
contact may stop the problem.

14. Intimidating customers
 Often know their problem is not legitimate and pick
a junior so they can take advantage of their lack of
experience or knowledge.
 Confrontation by senior staff & they may threaten
legal action, consumer affairs and/or expose TV
show.
 Often drop names of people in high places and
threaten to get you fired.
 They love an audience, the more the better.

15. Timid customers
 Will apologise for coming back, then
share with you their personal problems
(this can also be a tactic to get
sympathy).
 They can manipulate salespeople just
as much as the angry or intimidating
customers.

16. Talkative customers
 Time is costly in business and
these customers are often older and
lonely, however that may be, you
are paid to do a job.
 Handled tactfully these customers
can be a great advocate for you and
your business
ACTIVITY
Use your own experience about returning merchandise and write a
brief outline of the situation, listing what caused the problem

17. Strategies to use
 Recognize the two parts of the problem that
need to be dealt with, the emotion and the
facts.
 Addressing the emotion is the hardest part
and also the part that can be very distressing,
remember; IT IS NOT PERSONAL.
 You are the company in the customers eyes
and that makes you the point of contact.

18. Barriers - often caused by the salesperson’s reaction.
 Contrary attitudes – disagreeing with the customer
until they prove otherwise.
 Allowing bias to affect how we see and treat others.
 Jumping to conclusions and rushing to make a
decision without all the facts.
 Some of these are caused by wanting to get rid of the
stressful situation as fast as possible.
 When the customer uses abusive language, it is
an easy trap to fall into.

19. The 4 step strategy = AQUA
When a customer sees red – use AQUA
A = acknowledge – both emotion and facts, empathise, don’t
sympathise, use non-defensive phrases.
Q = question – after customer has stated initial problems then ask
the what, when, which, why, where, who, how. Closed Q’s =
specifics
U = understand – ensure ALL information has been given, know
the store’s policies & procedures, treat people as individuals
and consider alternatives if required.
A = answer – calmly & convincingly, If necessary take action
immediately and document all. A choice of solutions is best
if possible.

20. Special needs customers
 Goods delivered
 Assist with carrying
 Helping navigate a pram through a store
 Language issues
 Cultural differences
 Disabilities

21. Cultural awareness in CS
 Religious observance
 Dietary requirements
 Language interpretation
 Information translation
 Payment/currency knowledge
 Product knowledge
REMEMBER:
be aware of verbal AND non-verbal communication

22. Verbal communication
 Speak clearly
 Speak slightly more slower than usual
 Do NOT speak more loudly than usual
 Avoid the use of slang (“are ya right”)
 Avoid the use of acronyms
 Use all courtesies (excuse me, thank you, it’s
a pleasure etc.)

23. Non-verbal communication
 Do not intrude on personal space
 Avoid being too familiar
 Provide clear directions or information
 Use maps, pictorial information
 Write down information if necessary
 Avoid using gestures (thumbs up, OK symbol, pointing)
instead, use the whole hand.
 Avoiding handing anything to Muslims with the left
hand and when accepting something from an Arab or
Asian, do so with both hands.
 Keep body contact to a minimum

24. Legislation requirements may include:
 Trade Practices Act
 Tobacco and Lottery Acts
 Liquor licensing regulations
 Sale of X and R rated products
 Sale of second hand goods
 Trading hours
 Transport, storage and handling of goods
 Anti-discrimination laws

25. NOTE: There are several pieces of legislation in Federal and
State laws which cover discrimination in the workplace.
There are four Commonwealth Acts:
1. The Racial Discrimination Act 1976 prohibits discrimination on the
grounds of race, colour, national or ethnic origin, immigration (or that of a
relative or associate);
2. The Sex Discrimination Act (1984) prohibits direct and indirect
discrimination with regard to sex, sexual harassment, marital status,
pregnancy, and dismissal on the grounds of family responsibilities.
3. The Disability Discrimination Act (1992) prohibits discrimination on the
grounds of disability.
4. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1987
prohibits breaches of human rights by the Commonwealth and
discrimination in employment on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion,
political opinion, national extraction or social origin, age, medical record,
impairment, marital stereos, mental, intellectual or psychiatric disability,
nationality, physical disability, sexual preference, trade union activity.

26. Remember
 Excellent customer service is up to YOU
 There are internal AND external customers
 Be aware of verbal AND non-verbal
communications
 LISTEN to what the customer tells you
 RESPOND to a customers needs AND wants
 Sell-ups and Add-on sales are important and should
be offered to help the customer, not just make sales
 Do NOT take comments about the store personally,
they are often very emotional, find out what is the
problem.