Page 196 - DMGT550_RETAIL_MANAGEMENT

Unit 11: Retail Pricing and Communication Mix

Your customers will listen to you only when you listen to them. Engage your customers and Notes
listen to them and know their existing and emerging needs. With such strategies, you not only
meet but exceed their expectations. Not to say, customer loyalty follows automatically.

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Caution Failure to deliver on the brand promise could disappoint customers - business
will either stagger or decease.

11.5 Methods of Communicating with Customers

Communications plays just as important a role in your careers. When asked to name the top
three skills they believed their subordinates need, 70 percent of the readers of CIO magazine
listed communications as one of them.
Here are some tips on how you can communicate more effectively with people at work, be they
customers, co-workers, subordinates, or superiors:
1. Beware of interrupting: Titanic wireless operator Jack Phillips interrupted a wireless
message from a nearby ship, telling them to shut up. In doing so, he prevented that ship
from sending Titanic an iceberg warning.
Be careful about interrupting others, particularly your customers. They’ll be especially
upset if, while they’re explaining a problem, you interrupt them and start offering a
solution. If you feel you’ve to interrupt, at least cut to the chase and tell the other person
what you think his or her main idea was. That way, the other person at least can confirm
or correct you, and in either case save time.
2. Listen actively: Did you ever get the feeling, when talking to someone, that you were
really talking to a wall? The person may have heard you but gave no indication of it at all.
Avoid doing the same thing. When communicating with others, it’s just as important that
people be aware that you’re listening as it is that you’re actually listening. For that reason,
be involved with and react to what the other person is saying, either via a nod, or an “I
see,” or a paraphrase of the other person’s statements. You’ll strengthen your own
understanding and make a better impression.
3. Avoid negative questions: Suppose you say to a customer, “You don’t have Word installed?”
and he answers “Yes.” What does he mean? Yes, you’re right, Word is not installed? Or
yes, he DOES have Word installed?
Asking a negative question creates confusion. It’s clearer if you phrase the question
positively (e.g., “Do you have Word installed?”) or ask an open-ended question (“What
applications do you have installed?”). If you must use the negative, try a question such as
“Am I correct that you don’t have Word installed?”
4. Be sensitive to differences in technical knowledge: Chances are, your customers have less
technical knowledge than you do. Be careful, therefore, when explaining things to them.
If you use acronyms, be sure you identify what the acronym means. The same acronym
can mean different things, even in an IT context (for example, ASP can refer to “application
service provider” or “active server page”). Be careful that you don’t make two opposite
mistakes: either talking over their head or talking down to them. Keep your eyes on
customers when you talk to them and be alert to cues indicating that they don’t understand.
Ask them whether they understand what you’re saying, if necessary.
5. Use analogies to explain technical concepts: A good way to explain a technical idea is to
use an analogy. Though they have limitations, analogies are helpful in explaining an
unfamiliar idea in terms of a familiar one. One of the best analogies I ever heard compared

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