While rare at retail, a "WOW" shopping experience generates four times the word-of-mouth than a problem experience, according a survey from Verde Group and Wharton.
The survey showed that customers receiving an especially positive experience are likely to tell seven other people on average about the experience while those receiving a negative experience told 1.5 people.
But it also showed that such experiences are fairly rare - only 51 percent of women admitted to having a "WOW" experience in their entire shopping history, and only 39 percent of men did.
The survey was discussed at a session Wednesday morning at the NRF convention entitled, "What Customers Expect Sales Associates To Contribute Toward The In-Store Experience." Panelists included Paula Courtney, president of Verde Group; James Parker, former CEO at Southwest Airlines, Robert Price, chief marketing officer at CVS, and Stephen Hoch, professor of marketing at Wharton.
The survey offered mostly sober assessments of customer service, including that more than half of shoppers experience a problem in any given shopping visit. But it also found that four distinct sales associate "Archetypes" can mitigate shopper problems and drive shopper loyalty. These included the:
- Educator who knows products and will help shoppers find them;
- Engager who is available, friendly and willing to help;
- Expeditor who ensures customers waste little time shopping or paying;
- Authentic who shows a genuine interest in shoppers' needs and preferences, even at the expense of making a sale.
The best salespeople blend many archetypes and some characteristics are more important to some channels than others.
Asked in a Q&A session what drives superb customer service, Mr. Parker said Southwest earned its reputation for friendly service through continual special efforts to make its customers' trips less painful.
"It's often something quirky," said Mr. Parker. "Maybe the flight attendant sang a safety announcement. Maybe the pilot greeted the customer when they were getting on the plane or maybe the pilot was out there slinging bags to help to get them there on time. That happens pretty often at Southwest with our employees and people notice that. They really appreciate that and it creates a bond between customers and employees."
Mr. Price doubts that it's "practical, affordable or even necessary" for the industry to aim for "extraordinary service," partly because it greatly depends on the circumstances. But he adds that incidents where CVS shows "meaningful improvement versus the norm" or displays a "great service recovery" when it makes a mistake have the potential to be a "WOW" moment.
CVS is also using a song by Sarah McLachlan, "Ordinary Miracles," as a mantra for associates to focus on the "the ordinary miracles that our customers perform every day," whether taking care of themselves or their kids.
"We received a letter a few weeks back from a customer who had the unfortunate circumstance of having undergone a miscarriage and there's a particular pharmaceutical regimen post-miscarriage that helps the healing process and an astute pharmacist will know when that prescription comes in, and the circumstances. In this particular case, the pharmacist - unsolicited - approached the customer, put his hand on her arm, and said, 'I know this must be a difficult time. If there's any way we can help?' "
"Now that's not an extraordinary act," adds Mr. Price. "That's not getting out of the store and delivering prescriptions to a senior center in a storm. But it's a random act of kindness. And with thousands of associates and billions of transactions, if we do some of that everyday then I think it would translate into a 'WOW.' "
Discussion Questions: Is it practical to train or inspire sales associates to create "WOW" shopping experiences? What are some retailers known for top customer service doing to help create incidents of "extraordinary service"?