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Is it a policy to greet customers in your newsagency?

The most common complaint newsagents make about anything, and I do mean anything, is that they (we) are too busy.

It is an excuse trotted out if we miss a notice or an email from a supplier, are late in paying a bill or have been discovered not running our business as well as it deserves.

Too often, I fear, we trot out this excuse to excuse us of good retail manners.

Take greeting customers.  Do you do this in your newsagency in a structured way?

While we can get into a discussion about whether we have the time,  I’d rather think about the kind of ‘newsagency’ we would need to have in order to make offering such a personal greeting to customers as they enter worthwhile – to us and to them.  What does that business look and feel like?

With an average sale value in newsagencies of between $6.00 and $10.00, an average margin of around 30% and with hundreds of transactions a day, it is no wonder we don’t place too much attention on the customer greeting. We see little value in this.

What if you had an average sale value of between $15.00 and $25.00 and a margin of 35% or more?  The importance of personally greeting customers increases dramatically. The margin opportunity is triple.  You could afford the additional labour resources to deliver the personal greeting and related shop floor service.

Newsagents say that their personal service is a key point of difference.  Do we really show this in our businesses?

Why is it that we do not demonstrate this by ensuring that customers are greeted as they enter the store – rather than waiting until they get to the counter?

The challenge for us in 2011 and beyond is to reconfigure our businesses to make offering a personal greeting commercially valuable to our businesses.  Think of it as a goal, to have that kind of newsagency.  How much we change our businesses is up to us.

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Newsagency management

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  1. Luke

    It is a staff policy here to have all customers greeted as they enter by at least one if not more staff and to also acknowledge them on the way out. It has been written into the handbook that staff sign off on before they start their employment here and is something we take seriously.
    It only takes a second to do and it can be done while you are serving someone else, it also makes the customer feel welcome not just another face.
    From an employers point of view we like staff to always know who is in the store at any time so we can cut down on theft and damage from “Those” people who tend to slip in and out when things get busy it is also a security issue.
    Behind the counter out of sight from the customers we also have a list of the regular customers and their little traits so new staff can greet more people by name ie (Mrs Rose who always wears a bronco cap or Mr Lickess who comes in at 11am most days).

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  2. Former newsagent

    Acknowledging each person who walks through the door helps combat theft as well. If they know that you (or multiple staff which is even better!) have recognized that they have entered the shop it’s been proven that this reduces the occurrence of shoplifting. Most of the switched on, specialty retailers have it as company policy that all customers must be approached or acknowledged within 5-10 metres of entering the store/department.

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  3. ERIC

    hi, god morning, thank you and good luck( if buy lotto)

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  4. ERIC

    but we have thousand who just come in rush to buy bus tickets and don’t want to be bothered at all and feel annoyed when greeted.
    not everyone is the same.

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  5. Brendan

    Our floor plan makes it impossible to greet customers on entering unless we yell at them. This is a short coming but we are quick to offer assistance to customers on the shop floor if they don’t seem to know what they want or where it is. For us it’s a staffing issue. It would be nice to have a staff member on the retail floor greeting and assisting customers permanently but aside from the busier seasons this is not financially practical for us.

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  6. Herewegoagain

    absolutely.. We are a small community shopping centre and it is policy. Besides its just common decency – customers are wrapt when you remember info about their lives. Plus we live in the local area so are sincerely interested in them. Happy New Trading Year all.

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  7. carol

    We always greet our cusotomers as we serve them however the regulars love you to ask how the new grandson is, are they over the flu, did they have a nice Christmas. All this can be done while you are serving without too much fuss. You learn the ones not to ask ” How are you” because they will tell you their medical history. Its more than a greeting thats necessary. We do not greet everyone as they come in and I do not like it when I walk into a shop and have half the shop say hello. I know its fake.

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  8. Luke

    I cannot see how a simple hello as you enter a shop can be seen as fake Carol, I may be old school but this is simply a courtesy.

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  9. Mark

    This is the type of discussion we need more of. Thanks for participating everyone.

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  10. Aaron

    A simple ‘Hi’ or ‘Good Morning/Afternoon’ to customers is common courtesy.

    Only time I don’t say it is when I’m serving someone, but most times I’ll get around to it when they come to the counter. Of course there are some that ignore the greeting, but you can’t win everything.

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  11. Brendan

    We had a customer when we first took over our business who was extrtemely difficult to get a respose from. My wife set it as her challenge to change this and worked hard at getting a conversation from him. He’s now one of our friendiest customers and always has a chat. Some are just plain rude but I feel that we need to perservere and acknowledge them all.
    On another issue, I’ve placed a small no mobiles sign on the counter. Its amazing how many customers have made positive comments about this and also suffer from rude customers using thier mobile while expecting service at a counter. We are not in your face about this but plan to gently educate our customers. Only the rudest of people would take offence to this if we handle it correctly and it seems to be be working.

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  12. CAROL

    Mark with the number of customers that come through our door we would sound like fake parrots. I would be better off having an automated one that said hello as everone walked in because it would be just as genuine. You obviously don’t go into dress shops where all the staff at sometime say hello – a fake hello
    that is only said because th boss told them too day it.

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  13. B

    It is also our store policy to say hello to everyone who enters the store. Taking a few seconds to ask how their day is or remembering that last week they had the flu or their Grandchildren on holidays.

    It is part of our job description that you must have a friendly disposition and be able to communicate with people on all levels. Any fakeness is seen through straight away however it is my feeling that if you can not manage a genuine “Hello” then perhaps you should be doing something other than retail as it is, afterall, mainly about customer service.

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  14. Mal

    It’s not policy here, but it’s done anyway. Generally one staff to one customer so they aren’t overwhelmed and feel awkward. It’s nice to see the junior staff in the store learn from seniors about etiquette by just observing.

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