Page 21 - Jul-Aug 2024 - Reporter

he subject of customer service has been service habits during this trying time. Projects like basements, decks and additions
Ttalked about and debated by customers, have been abandoned. Home values have
manufacturers, and retailers since the first Online Shopping Has Changed Customer plateaued or are decreasing. The average
store opened. What makes good customer Experience Canadian family now is closely watching
service to one customer may not be suitable We also saw the tremendous growth of their discretionary spending budget. New
for another. All of us have been a customer online shopping during this time. Customers construction starts are down and quotes for
of a business or service where we have had who were locked down and shut in their building materials are being asked for less
poor customer service. We all have had homes purchased products online and had and less. This has all happened before in the
experiences - either online or in person that them delivered to their porch. Canadian Tire boom-and-bust cycle of the hardware and
were cringeworthy. Often, we have shared said that their e-commerce sale penetration building material industry, but this latest
these bad service examples with friends, reached 11% in 2022 while Home Depot boom cycle has lasted since 2010 in Ontario,
family, or coworkers, telling them to avoid a had an estimated 10% of their sales in much longer than typical. Long enough that
product, company, or service because of this Canada come through online transactions. some of those in this industry may have never
experience. What can be done to improve The online sales business makes having experienced this downturn in spending. Gone
customer service and to alter staff behaviour great customer experiences tougher but are the days where if you had it, you could sell
and attitudes to consistently deliver not impossible. Amazon currently holds the it. Both retailers and suppliers need to realize
exceptional service? The LBMAO has talked title as the premier ecommerce retailer in that they must make excellent customer
to some experts in retail and in consumer Canada. In 2023 $4 out of every $10 spent on service a top priority.
behaviour to build a work sheet that may help online shopping went through Amazon. They
improve the service customers receive from commanded 41.5% of the total retail on- Customer Service Pitfalls and Suggestions:
your organization. line shopping sales in Canada, most of it with In both good and bad times, businesses
need to avoid negative behaviours to
The History of the Latest Sale Boom have strong customer experiences.
Since the beginning of the COVID In good times businesses can get
19 pandemic retail has changed away with the bad habits and still
dramatically, in some ways for the be successful. In the current market
good and in others it has gotten conditions poor habits will result in
tougher. The hardware and building lost sales.
materials industry became one
of the essential industries which Don’t Be Difficult to Reach
remained open during the shutdown This can be a problem in a variety
in Ontario. Individuals who were of ways. In-person shoppers who
stuck at home now had time to finish cannot find a sales associate who is
their basement, paint the interior of trained and willing to help is a huge
their home, build a deck or fence, problem. Staff on the sales floor who
and redecorate areas that they did are unwilling to help a customer or a
not have time to address previously. lack of staff in the selling area mean
Like grocery store workers, those lost sales, walk outs and may increase
of us in the home improvement shoplifting. Difficult to reach may also
industry had to go to work and find mean that no one is answering the
alternative ways to deliver product phone, a text, or an email. I dealt with
to the public in a safe, distanced a retailer this week that said they only
method. It was a challenge to check their voice mail once per week.
deliver excellent customer service If your customers have issues and
to customers who didn’t know and could not little or no human interaction. What they have you don’t respond for a week, they may be
describe what they wanted while they were done is make the shopping experience simple, planning to see if your competitor can help
not allowed to walk though stores and browse ensuring that the customer is well informed before that week is up. Today’s customers
the selections. Customers had short tempers on what is happening. They have also made are also more connected than ever. We don’t
and were frustrated because they could not the return process seamless. Customers want leave the house in the morning without our
communicate what they needed. How many an experience that keeps them informed and phones. If you customer sends a text or an
of us were asked to have a 'thingamajig', or minimizes nasty surprises. email and they don’t receive a prompt reply –
were asked over the phone to get a piece of your business is difficult to reach.
material that was the length of a pen wide What Has Changed Since 2020, 2021 and
and half that size tall. Challenging times 2022 Don’t Keep the Customer Waiting
indeed. This resulted in a strain on staff The COVID 19 shutdown provided the This is part of today’s customer who is
and management. Retail is not always a hardware and building materials industry with busy. They have no time to wait. “Time is
glamourous job and customers who were some record sales years. Sales and margins money.” How many times per day do you
angry about being locked down made the job set records for many companies. Prices were hear this from your trade and pro customers.
even more difficult. This was compounded strong. If you could get product, people would To provide excellent customer service you
because of the lack of available staff; it made buy it. Fast forward to summer of 2024 and need to let your customers know when you
a difficult job even more challenging. Many things have changed. Customers who spent expect the product to be in stock or delivered
staff who were overworked and treated liberally on their homes have felt the squeeze to the jobsite. No one is perfect and one
poorly left the industry. Some of those that of higher mortgage costs, combined with thing that the past number of years have
remained developed bad attitudes and poor record grocery bills and large tax hikes on fuel. told us is to expect the unexpected. Amazon

www.lbmao.on.ca LBMAO Reporter - July-August 2024 21