For small and medium-sized business, one of your main advantages above the Amazons and Targets of the world is your ability to offer a unique, customer-centric shopping experience. Still, that great experience doesn’t just fall off the shelf—in needs to be cultivated. Good management, and good technology, like the Poynt Smart Terminal can help.
If you’re delegating an overly burdensome amount of admin work and back-office tasks, then ultimately, your staff will be taken away from the far more rewarding (and long-term profitable) work of giving your customers a great experience. One simple solution is to better take the customer into account when training employees, ensuring that they know to be present and helpful if needed. Additionally, management can experiment with finding a balance, perhaps training some employees to be more customer-forward, and allowing other employees to focus more on tasks like stocking, inventory, or other less customer related tasks. Finally, technology can come to the aid here in the form of limiting the number of man-hours certain tasks take. With a modern Point of Sale machine at your disposal, you’ll be able to benefit from the wide range of software solutions out there designed to free you and your team from the tyranny of all those recurring tasks.
It’s easy to assume that being nice and helpful is common sense; I mean, what would the customer prefer: to have the shop clerk point in the corner of the store and say, “It’s over there,” or to have them walk you over to where the item is, and make sure they find what they need? It seems obvious, but if you, too, have had a so-so customer service experience, recently, you’ll admit that it can’t be taken for granted. Training is key here. You’ve got to actively train staff to be open and helpful, and to use words and body language that expresses that they are here in your store to help. This may mean being proactive in pursuing the customer, and offering your assistance, before being asked.
When it’s time for the customer to pay, it’s important not to let outmoded technology get in the way. With a good point of sale, such as the Poynt Smart Terminal, you ensure an easy transaction, but also, you are able to manage all kinds of better interactions that wouldn’t be possible with the typical card reader. Examples include better customer relationship management, and even make better, simpler loyalty programs that don’t depend on the little stamp card. It’s easy to find novel solutions that integrate with Moolah and Poynt, and you and your customers will reap the benefits.