How we change what others think, feel, believe and do

Retail Customer Language

Disciplines > Retail > Retail Customer Language

Polite, friendly and helpful | Focus on purpose | Seek to help |  Buying language | See also

How do you speak to your customers? Are they happy? Are they buying? Here are ways to help both increase satisfaction and sell more.

Be polite, friendly and helpful

The basic principle of all customer interaction is that you are polite, friendly and helpful at all times, even when they are angry or rude.

The customer service agent is the brand and the impression they leave with the customer will determine both how much they spend today and also what they say to others about the store and how likely they are to ever return.

Not: It's in aisle 32.
Use: Let me show you. It's just down here.

Not: I just told you, we don't have it!
Use: Sorry, we do not stock those items. You could try TheirStore down the road.

Seek to help, not escape

People working in store can be busy and their language can be focused on escaping from the customer to get on with other, less tricky duties such as stocking shelves. To achieve this they tend to use closed questions that elicit a short and final answer.

To help, you need to learn about their needs. Using open questions gives you this information.

Not: Are you okay?
Use: What can I help you find today?

Not: Here you go.
Use: What else can I help you with now?

Note the clever use of time in this. By referencing 'today' you both imply they want something today and might want something else another day. By saying 'now', you get them into the present, thinking about what they will do next.

Focus on purpose

Rather than just ask them what they want, seek to understand their problem and how they will be using the product. You can then focus your responses on helping them buy.

Not: Welcome to MyStore.
Use: What brings you to MyStore today?

Focusing on purpose also helps you extend the conversation. If you take them to where the product is, you can talk along the way, gaining more useful information.

Not: They are over there.
Use: Let me show you. How will you be using it? 

When you know how they will be using the product you can sell to them to align with this, showing how well the purpose will be met. When purpose is well met, value increases and price objections decrease.

Not: This is what it does...
Use: Here's how it do just what you need...

Use buying language

Use language that leads inexorably towards the sale. To do this, talk about what the customer is looking for, their purpose and how you can help.

Not: Are you doing okay?
Use: What other items are on your list?

Even when they have got what they came for, give them the chance to buy other things.

Not: Is this all you need today?
Use: What else are you looking for today? 

Promote the brand

Drop the name of the store into conversation at appropriate moments. When you invoke the store name you are invoking and creating the brand, with all the brand values such as friendly service, good value and so on.

Not: We have a wide range of widgets.
Use: MyStore has a wide range of widgets.

Good times to use the name of the store is when they arrive and as they leave. This uses the primacy effect and recency effect to ensure that when they think of shopping (which is often a visual memory) they will also be more likely to recall the name of the store.

Not: Hello.
Use: Welcome to MyStore.

Not: Goodbye.
Use: Thank you for shopping at MyStore.

See also

Sales articles