Footwear Insight

38 • Footwear Insight ~ November/December 2024 footwearinsight.com GOLD MEDAL SERVICE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE 2024 the perfect fit is worth it. Our customers ultimately appreciate the level of service we provide once they've experienced it for themselves. We're confident we'll continue delivering exceptional service by staying true to our core values and investing in our employees." Paul Weitzel, Tradehome Shoes "At Shoe Fly, our customer service philosophy is centered around improving people's walk through life by ensuring every customer experiences a perfect fit. Whether it's through personalized fitting services, listening to their needs, or educating them about their footwear options, our goal is to make every customer feel valued and supported. One of our biggest challenges is keeping pace with the evolving expectations of modern consumers who seek convenience in their shopping, while also maintaining our exceptionally high standards of service. To address this, we've focused on blending technology with personal touchpoints, such as integrating appointment scheduling tools on our website. We also use our database to identify customers who might be interested in upcoming events (based on purchase history) and then personally call and invite them to events that we think they'd have a high interest in. We feel it's a good mix of old-school, personal techniques and new- age technology." Lauren Klapper, Shoe Fly "Our philosophy has always been to staff our store with a variety of personalities that love people and can be kind to customers and each other… We have a collection of full-time and part-time employees. Age ranges from 15 to 81. My part timers on the sales floor are mostly semi-retired staff who enjoy coming to work for 4-hour shis where they come in fresh and leave before they tire out. I always say, 'You are in the door and out the door and the rest of the time you are on the floor.' We do not work on commission at our store. Many of the staff have told me that they don't like the commission environment and prefer to help each other. We have other incentives for the staff on a daily and weekly basis and if we hit those goals, everyone gets rewarded. We have a group of high school students who come in aer school to help put shoes away and keep the stock room organized. It's a great first job experience. ey get to learn from the seasoned employees. You have to love retail in order to be successful. Weekends are your bread-and- butter days. Managing the schedule can be a challenge sometimes with part-time employees because their availability can change but the gain is worth the hassle. Product can be a challenge in getting product in a timely manner… I believe people love supporting small businesses and I have seen even more interest in people wanting to shop locally over the last 10 years. ey like the interaction with the staff… Customers want and need to touch, feel and try on shoes and it is the retailer that takes the time to establish brand loyalty. Our time with our customers is what we thrive on." Amy Becker, Becker's Best Shoes "Chiappetta Shoes has been in business for 103 years and generally speaking, we have been doing the same thing the whole time. Excellent customer service can be boiled down into a few primary components, including a genuine greeting, engaged listening, and offering an efficient solution (four on the floor!). Easy to take for granted, difficult to be consistent, so there's that. But where our business differentiates from almost everyone reading this is our breadth of solutions. In- house Pedorthics and shoe repair is old school but truly the game changer when it comes to the customer experience. Show it off, make it special. Stick to the fundamentals. Becker's Best, Mt. Dora, FL. Chiappetta Shoes' Anthony, Lori, Nick and Fred. Tradehome Shoes, Franklin, TN.

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