MarketView

Time To Rethink Your Ideas About Customer Service
When Services Becomes Convenience

A 2009 study forecast a 20% annual growth in self-pay terminals, like the SiteWatch Xpress Pay Terminal, over the next six years.

Say the words “customer service” to most people and it will probably conjure up images of a smiling employee greeting people as they enter a store, dispensing some helpful advice, and then warmly thanking them for their business.

This trilogy of “greet, help and thank” is etched deep into our collective psyche as the paradigm of excellent service. However, as important as it is, the traditional “service triangle” may no longer be enough by itself to give customers the kind of experience that keeps them coming back.

Although no one would dispute the importance of the three traditional service basics, evidence suggests that they are less critical in shaping the customer’s experience than in the past, before people used self-pay options like the SiteWatch® Xpress Pay Terminal® (XPT®) and researched products on the Internet prior to visiting a retail establishment. Consider the following:

• A widely followed 2009 study by the London-based Retail Banking Research forecasts a 20% annual growth in self-pay terminals in North America over the next six years.
• A report from IHL Group in June of last year projected that North American consumers would spend $775 billion at self-pay kiosks in 2009, and that this would grow to over to over $1.6 trillion by 2013. "We expect continued double-digit growth in the revenue generated by self-service transactions", said Lee Holman, Lead Retail Analyst of the IHL Group. "Most consumers have adapted to self-service as a way of life.”
• In a recent poll from About.com, roughly three out of four potential car buyers said they were likely to research vehicles online. Over four out of ten of respondents (42%) said that doing research online before buying was becoming more important in 2010, while only 16% said they would be unlikely to research a car online before buying.

Carwash operators who want to reach customers in this environment would do well to adjust their service policy; not by de-emphasizing the traditional service triangle, but by adding a fourth element – convenience. Although customers still appreciate friendly, helpful employees, many of them now place an equal or greater value on how easy you make it for them to do things for themselves, whether it’s completing their own transactions at the self-pay station or recharging their prepaid carwash cards from their home computer with SiiteWatch Website Connect™.

Service and Customer Expectations

For any retailer, regardless of industry, the ultimate purpose of service is to provide the customer with a positive shopping experience that meets or exceeds expectations. By definition then, customers’ views on the quality of the service they receive depends on the kind of experience they expect from a particular business. This expectation will vary by the niche a business occupies in the market. For example, people expect more attentive service at an expensive gourmet restaurant than they do a quick serve hamburger stand.

However, there are also general expectations that customers have about shopping that affects their service standards. Many retail analysts believe that the growth of chains, where employee turnover is high and sales associates are often moved from department to department, has conditioned customers not to expect informed advice when they shop, the way they did in the past when most stores were independently owned with a proprietor on site. (According to one study, over 97% of all general merchandise sales and more than half of clothing and accessory sales are now accounted for by the top 50 retailers.)

Filling The Information Gap

If customers no longer expect to find informed answers to their questions when they visit retail establishments, where do they turn for this information? The answer is a close as your nearest laptop.

The “information gap” created by the growth of chains has been more than adequately filled by the rise of the Internet, which has become the prime source of information that customers use when making purchase decisions. In fact, many surveys indicate that people tend to view online resources as providing more credible information about products and services than in-store sales people or traditional paid advertising. Another survey, this one by JD Powers and Associates, found that 60% of Canadians who plan to buy a car visit the manufacturer’s website. (Interestingly, that’s twice the number that visited third-party car sites.)

There’s a lesson in the JD Powers survey for carwash operators: your website should be a complete source of information about your services, your various promotional packages and the outstanding quality features of your carwash. For example, if you have a tire dressing or spot free rinse process that really makes your wash stand out, your website is the ideal place to inform customers about these extraordinary features.

Many of your customers will be more interested in learning about your services and special features when they visit your website than they will be when they’re at your carwash. Not only will they have more time to absorb this information when they’re sitting at their computer, they’ll also be in control of the learning process, which will make them more receptive to your message.

SiteWatch Website Design can provide you with an attractive, information-rich website that will not only help you market your business more effectively, but will also allow your customers to control when and where they learn about your services.

Kroger and Rite Aid are taking customer service out of the tradional "service triangle" with added customer convenience.

Savvy retailers are also beginning to use their websites as service tools that help the customer save time in their stores. For example, Kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket chain, now allows customers to download coupons directly onto their Kroger card. When customers are ready to complete their transactions at the store and their cards are scanned, these discounts are deducted from the transaction. Click here to learn how your customers can recharge their prepaid cards with SiteWatch Website Connect.

Other retailers are enhancing their level of service by making information available outside the store through toll-free help lines. A case in point is the Rite Aid drug store chain, which implemented a new “Wellness+” loyalty program in April. In addition to the usual discounts and incentives associated with loyalty clubs, the Rite Aid plan offers customers something more – access to a 24-hour toll-free ask-the-pharmacist line. “Our customers told us they wanted a program that offered more than just discounts,” said John Learish, the drug store chain’s senior vice president of marketing.

Like many other retailers, Kroger and Rite Aid recognize that today “service” often means reaching out to customers outside the store through the Internet or a toll-free line, so they can control when and how they receive information.

Self-Pay Service

At first glance, it may seem contradictory to connect the self-pay concept with enhanced customer service. After all, self pay stations reduce the amount of time customers spend interacting with employees. However, for customers who want to control their own transactions, providing a convenient self-pay option is an essential part of the service experience.

For these customers, completing transactions at a terminal is a more relaxing experience than dealing with an attendant. Being more at ease, these consumers tend to buy more at self-pay stations. Many carwash operators who installed SiteWatch Xpress Pay Terminals at their sites primarily to reduce labor costs, have been pleasantly surprised that their average tickets have gone up over what they had been at attended lanes. Click here to learn how the Busy Bee Car Wash chain in Miami, FL saw dollars per vehicle increase after installing the XPT.

A self-pay terminal that makes the transaction process faster and more convenient for customers is likely to create a more favorable service impression on them. In many respects, this is no different than the service principle that applies to attended transactions: an employee who takes care of customers in a prompt, friendly fashion will leave them feeling better about a business than one who is less attentive.

The SiteWatch Xpress Pay Terminal offers a variety of features that enhance the service experience of customers by making the transaction process faster and easier. These features include the FastPass­® wireless acceptance system, which uses radio technology to clear transactions in under three seconds without even requiring customers to lower their windows; and a comfortable XPT Strike Zone, which puts all payment functions within easy reach of the customer.

These speed and convenience features are more important than ever today, as customers have become more time pressured. If you have any doubts, consider the Kronos Retail Shopping Frustrations Survey. This highly regarded poll found that “long lines at pay points” tied with “being out of stock” on products as the most common consumer complaint, ahead of untidy store environments, confusing store layouts and poor quality products in that order.

It is interesting to note that having too few employees available to help customers finished lower than all of the above-mentioned complaints on the shopper frustration list. This is another indication that people expect speed, convenience and accessibility when they shop more than they look for service from an on-site retail employee.

M/A/R/C Research drove home this point in a recent survey of 13,000 consumers, in which 10% of the recipients said they had left a checkout line because the wait was too long. Over four in ten (43%) of the consumers in this poll reported that long lines affected their decisions about where to shop.

Accessibility Sells

As noted earlier, few things irritate customers more than not being able to find the products they’re looking for. At first glance it might appear that this complaint doesn’t apply to carwashes; which, unless they’re multi-profit centers with convenience stores, typically don’t sell a lot of products. However, when the customer comes to a carwash and it’s closed, or its self-pay stations aren’t working, or prepaid gift cards aren’t available, he or she feels the same out-of-stock frustration experienced at a supermarket that’s out of milk or bread.

The DRB Systems Support Team can help keep your computer systems running efficiently. In May of 2010 99.55% of incoming support calls were answered "live"!

The DRB Systems Support Team can help you avoid this unfortunate situation by addressing any issues that arise with your computer system promptly and efficiently. Also, since our Xpress Pay Terminal reduces your dependence on labor, it makes it more practical for you to extend your operating hours, so your carwash is more accessible to customers.

Being open extended hours, providing customers with greater access to information about your carwash from home, and making it easier for them to complete their own transactions in less time, might not fit the traditional definition of service, but they share a great deal in common with the greet-help-and-thank triangle that’s been a cornerstone of every good retail operation for generations. Both are centered on giving customers what they want and exceeding their expectations – and in the end that’s exactly what great service (and smart business!) is all about.