Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1530439
Business Insight By Thomas Post T his article is the second in a two-part series — Part I of "Customer Service in the Post-COVID Apocalypse" ap- peared in the September/October issue of Footwear Insight. In Part I, we examined how challenges in Staffing, Leadership and Management have affected footwear retailers over the last several years, and began looking at specifics of your in- store Customer Experience. We began with "Engaging with your Customers." Now we are moving on to the rest of the interaction, focusing on what's occurring out there today, and what it takes to do customer service right when it comes to Probing and Discovery, Demonstration, and Adding-on. e very best reason to spend the "first minute" in an attempt to create an open, authentic, healthy, and human Engagement is this; if you can't get the customer to willingly "let you in," the next three steps of the interaction (Discovery, Demonstration, Adding-on) suffer greatly. The Discovery Step ere is a natural flow that one can create by Engaging well, then transitioning to Discovery by very simply asking, "What brings you in today?" In our Sales Training courses, we refer to that phrase as a "Transition Question," and it is absolutely an attempt to move from the "getting to know you" step to the "doing business with you" step, in a natural way. Once I hear the answer to that question, I can begin Discovering 1) what my customer most wants, 2) why they want it, and 3) I can create the opportunity for a dialogue between us. Sadly, what happens 90% of the time on retail floors across America is that upon hearing the answer to "What brings you in today?" most salespeople skip Discovery altogether, and start leading me towards or suggesting product (the monologue), robbing themselves of an opportunity to create a dialogue, one that builds Trust. So, there's that. en there's this; the original intention of "Sit and Fit" was to, very early in the process, get your customer to sit down and remove both shoes, offering to measure both feet (my "big foot" thanks you for this!) using the Brannock device, allowing a salesperson to establish themselves as an expert, literally creating the opportunity to slow the interaction down, and ask questions. Yes, Discovery Questions. Questions like these: "So…what's the special occasion?" "What have you seen out there that you like?" "What's the average day in the life of your feet look like at work?" "Tell me about recreation, what do you and your feet do for fun?" "What do you own that you love?" "What doesn't work for you?" "What kinds of foot pain might you sometimes feel?"…and on and on. e answers to these questions are the "secret sauce" that allow you to build Trust, Demonstrate well, and offer Add-ons that are more likely to resonate. In the last interaction I had with a shoe dog several weeks ago in the Midwest, CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE POST-COVID APOCALYPSE (PART II) 24 • Footwear Insight ~ November/December 2024 footwearinsight.com Photos: Sarah Hedden Photography, Jacksonville. sarahheddenphotography.com