Customers are increasingly demanding "tailored" solutions and are forcing companies to create " mass customization " models. “One's markets” require customer service personnel capable of “acting” different characters in front of different consumers.
What should we know from customers?
Today's consumer has a highly paradoxical behavior:
• Complains about the excessive supply, but always demands novelties and variety.
• You want simple solutions that are familiar to you, but you demand that they offer you customized options and to your measure.
• Always looking for good deals and prices, but demand a new and pleasant experience every time you spend your income.
For each client, a different seller
According to Carlos García –specialist in Retail Management and president of Category Management Inc.– each client with their particular demands becomes a “ market for one ” that requires companies to rethink their strategies.
“Today the consumer does not want to choose: he wants what he is looking for. The attention that this type of client requires is not achieved with rigid and immovable procedures, similar to the mass production models of the industrial revolution.
The efficient service of 'markets of one' demands a flexibility that can only be achieved when the personnel who serve the public know how to 'act' different characters in front of different audiences / clients ”, he adds.
Each "actor" must then know the strengths and weaknesses of his personality, to play in the best possible way the role of the "character" that best suits the profile of the client he must serve.
In a market where commoditization of products is the rule, the only way to generate substantial differentiation from the competition is to focus on the “Shopping Experience”. Therefore, all the links in the value chain must add up, in order to generate that sensitive link with the customer. All the "moments of truth" with the client must be taken advantage of.
The RR. H H. they join the show
The "performance" is a process that, although it can occur intuitively, usually gives better results when it arises from a process analyzed and tested.
Carlos García provides a concrete example: “Some time ago, while working in training for cashiers in a major supermarket chain, we saw the need to adapt the service scheme. We found that in certain branches, the public was made up in a majority of older women, who transformed making their purchases into a matter of socialization. They sought and recognized personalized treatment, generating a relationship with those who attended them. This is the kind of customer who knows staff by name and values the time spent on them.
These clients demanded to be listened to, and did not complain if the cashier took longer to attend: they knew that their turn would come and they too would be heard. If the employees do not comply with this, the customer leaves unsatisfied.
Now, when moving that cashier to another area, she had to modify the "character" she needed to act. In this new branch, customers appreciated the speed of attention and an employee who talked too much would be seen as something that did not generate value because it made customers waste more time on their purchase. "
Finding the right role is a way of recognizing the customer's needs. When the curtain rises, the performance in search of customer satisfaction and retention begins.
