Customer Service in Your Dollar Store Business

One of the challenges faced by every dollar store business owner is how to staff so that there are just the right number of employees on duty to deal with the customers that are shopping. Having too many employees means they are likely to be standing around. At the very least employees will be looking for, and finding trivial tasks that don't add to the overall profitability of the store. Payroll expenses will be too high for the workload and sales in the store. Having too few employees means that employees cannot keep up with the workload. Customers will likely not be greeted when they enter the store. They will also be waiting for help in finding items and in checking out when they are ready to pay for their selections. While payroll will be more in-line, employees will feel stressed and overloaded with work. Customer retention will likely suffer, as shoppers will not feel that there is good customer service in your store.

The ongoing challenge is finding the right balance. For most store owners the decision will be to have the store slightly under-staffed rather than to over-staff. When executed properly, this strategy can result in the lowest possible payroll cost for the business. While employees will feel as if they are busy throughout their work-shifts, they don't need to feel over-worked. If done properly customer service does not need to suffer in the mix either. In this article we will focus on customer.

There are a variety of steps that can be taken to make the customer feel as if they are important. Simple practices such as assigning the cashier who is closest to the front door the task of saying a simple 'hello' to everyone who enters the store can have a huge impact. This can be done without taking away from sales transactions that are in-process. That one simple action makes shoppers feel as if they are welcomed into the store.

All employees who are on the sales floor need to make it a practice to say 'hello' as they are performing their assigned work. If they are checking prices, or locating items for another shopper, or preparing the store to close, that simple gesture is important. Those 'hellos' also do much to let potential shoplifters know that there are employees out and about in the store.

At the cash register there are several steps that can help those who are waiting in-line for service to be more understanding. For example rather than shouting 'next' cashiers should make eye contact and then invite the next in line to come to the registers with an request such as 'May I help you?' or 'May I help the next person in line?' It is also helpful just to acknowledge those waiting in line to pay. A quick smile and, 'I'll be right with you' or something similar is very helpful. The same goes at the end of the transaction. Make eye contact, a smile and then say 'thank you' at the conclusion of the sales transaction.

The power of a smile cannot be under-emphasized. Every customer contact should include a smile. It sets a positive tone, and the shoppers will feel like they are appreciated. Make your dollar store business a place that shoppers want to shop. Establish great customer service practices to deal with every situation. Make sure your employees never forget to smile!

To your dollar store business success!

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