WHY RETAIL WORKER ENGAGEMENT IS CRITICAL TO HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE BY KIMBERLY ABEL-LANIER

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1 WHY RETAIL WORKER ENGAGEMENT IS CRITICAL TO HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE BY KIMBERLY ABEL-LANIER

2 Introduction Black Friday comes earlier and earlier each year, and dozens of major retail chains even opened their doors on Thanksgiving this year. Cyber Monday has become Cyber Week. Pumpkin spice flavored everything was available as early as September this year. Seasonal creep is everywhere. Retailers are trying to accelerate market traction with last minute specials, regular sales events, and extended hours. But in retail s pursuit of Fa la la la la la la cha-ching, many employees are voicing outrage at the increased expectations of working over the holidays. And they re not the only ones.

3 Consumers and Seasonal Creep According to the National Retail Federation, the number of unique shoppers on Thanksgiving dropped approximately 5.2 percent this year from 2013, resulting in more than 8 million people who opted to stay home on Thursday. This year saw the rise of grassroots campaigns like Boycott Black Thursday, which wears the tagline Put Employees and Families First. Their Facebook page has more than 119,000 Facebook fans. In 2011, a petition on Change.org for Target to remain closed on Thanksgiving garnered more than 200,000 signatures, and the following year received more than 378,000 signatures for the same request. This year, Target and Kmart were among several retailers to receive negative press for the increased demands on employees over the holiday weekend. Matched with a dramatic drop in shoppers on Thursday, despite the early start of doorbusters and drastic price cuts, the rise of the Save Thanksgiving movement starts to paint a picture of the importance of work life balance and employee engagement in the retail world. Employee engagement is below average in retail. 77% of retail employees surveyed are not engaged with their company s brand values and 60% of retail employees fail to understand how important their employer s values are to their own roles. When 81% of satisfied consumers are more likely to give a company repeat business, you can be sure that disengaged employees delivering subpar customer experiences are impacting your bottom line. SOURCES

4 Why Employee Engagement Is Essential For Retailers Retailers used to be able to compete on price, location, and inventory alone, but the prominence of online shopping providing unmatched purchasing ease and the growing demands of consumers in the Customer is King landscape mean that great service has never mattered more. Regardless of what you sell, chances are, customers can find it somewhere else and it might be cheaper, easier, or faster to get from your competitor than from you. But that s not all that matters. While the era of Amazon.com has some consumers favoring convenience and price above all, you can t win the hearts and minds of holiday customers without great service. Your store associates and managers often leave the first and most lasting impression on shoppers and their dedication to customer service relies on their engagement in the company. Walmart founder Sam Walton wrote in his autobiography: The way management treat the associates is exactly the way associates will then treat the customer. And if the associates treat the customers well, they will return again and again. An engaged store associate is going to be more willing to work to find solutions for your customers, spread positive word of mouth to their friends and family, and drive the repeat customers retailers are searching high and low for.t SOURCES Understanding Customers by Ruby Newell-Legner 78% of customers in a Genesys survey reported competent service reps were a key factor in a happy customer experience. A typical business hears from only 4% of its dissatisfied customers. 96% just go away and 91% will never return. A recent study found that 80% of firms surveyed believe they deliver a superior experience to their customers. Only 8% of their customers reported receiving superior service.

5 12345 Five Ways You Can Increase Employee Engagement In Retail Consumers want to be courted. They want brands to vie for their hearts and minds. Likeable brands consumer and employer brands alike (think of Zappos, who aren t even so much known for shoes as they are for great service provided by employees that love where they work) are being rewarded for their likability and employee engagement can leave its mark. While a comprehensive, year-round program is the best way to significantly impact engagement for the long-term, here are five quick fixes to consider this year.

6 12345 Give each day an infusion of fun. People today experience sincere emotional attachment to brands. Think of the memories brands have created in your life. The same can be said for employees. There are movies with scenes depicting the company cultures of the Googles and the Facebooks of the world. Many employees just want to love where they work. They want their work to inspire and fulfill them. Bring your employees together by infusing some fun into the work day and they may find a higher sense of purpose. Fun and purpose together will make the world a better place to work. Invite feedback from managers on what that could look like in practice for your stores.

7 12345 Issue daily challenges or contests. Before you go thinking of implementing spur-of-the-moment-here s-$100 for the person who sells the most gadgets sales contests or challenges for your sales associates, read this: Company-wide or store-level challenges and contests can be incredibly engaging if they re fun, easy to participate in, and not transparently sales-oriented. Think more about ideas like video submission contests for the most extra mile service event or a photo contest for the person that captures the essence of customer happiness in internal online communities than directly incentivizing sales for the greater impact on engagement.

8 12345 Recognize associates with sincerity. Genuine recognition is the right thing for the business, the employee, and the customer. Disengaged associates won t deliver experiences that drive customer loyalty. Whether you have truly acknowledged this fact or not, engaged retail associates make and break even the most prominent of chains. A sincere recognition of their work, their time, and their loyalty will go a long way with your employees. Many managers mean well and most actually think they deliver more recognition than they do. One way to infuse recognition into your daily calendar is to schedule it. Intentionally setting aside 15 minutes per day and the physical act of putting it on your calendar will ensure that your actions live up to your intentions.

9 12345 Link great service to a higher purpose by creating contests that donate to those in need Idea! Encourage customer feedback and employee engagement with a contest that offers a set amount for each completed satisfaction survey to be donated to a non-profit organization your brand supports. Think of it as feedback that keeps on giving. Send an to your customers letting them know the dates the campaign will run and print a short message on receipts. Stores or employees with the highest percentage of completion rates could receive a reward, which might be a celebratory team event in their honor, for example.

10 12345 Speak out in appreciation of your associates You know your store associates are often your first, and sometimes last, line of defense. And they re good to you they work long hours and tell their family and friends about you, whether they are vocal promoters or detractors. Show your appreciation for the impact their work has on your customers through public recognition. Talk about the quality of your associates in a press release, share their social media posts when they talk about loving their jobs, or send an to your list highlighting a couple of rockstars and asking for stories of great service in your stores from customers. Another simple example of visible, public recognition are counter or behind-the-counter displays which highlight associate accomplishments and service. One innovative store concept sent customers links to gather satisfaction data via their mobile phone and then gave them the opportunity to opt into recognizing the associate who gave them a great store level experience.

11 The hearts and minds of consumers are available to be won. But it takes realizing value delivered by a great experience supported by engaged employees to turn the casual shopper into a loyal, repeat customer. On average, loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase. Want loyal shoppers? The answer isn t a simple one, but it starts with boosting employee engagement. The holidays are crunch time. More traffic means more customers. Each of those customers new and returning present opportunities to create customers for life through positive experiences. Holiday shoppers can be over-stressed from pressure to find the perfect gift at the right price and they have high expectations for service this season. Add to that increasingly demanding holiday hours and goals for store associates and the result is the need for high stakes strategies and tactics to ensure great delivery that comes with strong engagement. Retailers can put some skin in the game by supporting engagement now.

12 Make a few more loyal shoppers by year s end. Whether this season represents a make or break quarter for you or not, every retailer could use more of those. Learn how you can increase customer and associate retention, satisfaction, and engagement at ABOUT MARITZ MOTIVATION SOLUTIONS Based in St. Louis, Maritz Motivation Solutions is part of the Maritz family of companies. It offers consumer loyalty, employee recognition, sales incentive and channel loyalty programs to U.S. and global companies. Maritz Motivation Solutions provides best-in-class program design, and rewards and fulfillment services, including purposefully chosen merchandise and experiences that excite, motivate and recognize people around the world. The people who work for Maritz Motivation Solutions are dedicated to being the best in the business, fun to work with and their clients most valuable ally. For more information, visit subscribe to our blog, follow us on Twitter or call Maritz ( ).