Keys to improving employee-customer relationships in retail

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Four out of five customers who enter a store already know almost everything about the product they intend to buy. Therefore, it is logical that the person who is going to sell that product should have the same knowledge.

Retail employees now need to be able to provide the right information and guidance about products and their availability, and if this is not possible, it will result in a poor customer experience and, consequently, financial losses.

“If you build the best team, you will win,” Jack Welch, former homeowner database CEO of General Electric

Given the importance of offering unique customer experiences today, below we give you some tips that will help improve the employee-customer relationship in retail.

Passion for the product
Whether it's perfume, jewellery or food, a retail employee has to show that he or she “loves” the product they are selling and that he or she would buy it himself or herself. It is therefore a matter of engaging in conversations with customers about these products in order to generate value and trust .

Actionable information
As product and service innovation increases, so must employee training, so that employees are fully informed and remain a relevant source of information for any customer. You must ensure that employees are fully trained to resolve any consumer queries or problems , and that they do so on behalf of the organization they work for.

Loyalty programs
In order for an employee to know a person's preferences before he or she enters the store, stores must improve the relationship between employee and customer through loyalty programs.

Through customer data, employees can drive higher cross-selling, upselling, and conversion rates . Additionally, when customers feel understood and enjoy a positive experience, their trust in the brand increases and their perception of your products and services improves, leading to loyalty.

Success story | Marks & Spencer
Below, you can see how employees at British multinational retailer Marks & Spencer are delivering top-notch shopping experiences. Being digitally connected, they can always know what’s happening in-store thanks to Artificial Intelligence, computer vision and machine learning.