Warning: The below is harsh.
I've been horrified at the level of service from some of New Zealand's biggest brands lately. There have been situations where I am actively trying to make a purchase but am ignored, or am trying to consider my options but am made so uncomfortable by the leech-like sales person that I have to leave. Conversely, I've been beyond impressed when staff have actually tried helping me. On one occasion they actually went to a shelf to check whether they had the item in stock and because they didn't they OFFERED TO MAKE ONE UP FOR ME!
The vast gulf between what is considered acceptable and what would have sent a business into receivership only a few years ago has made me think...
Let's be honest, marketing pretty much never involves front line staff. It's a conversation between the brand and the customer... managed by an agency and/or a marketing department. Although 'People' are one of the 7 'Ps' of the Marketing Mix, when was the last time any of your marketing budget was allocated to training the people your customers actually deal with?
If you have tilted your head and raised your brows while smugly saying to me "Well actually, we do it all the time. So there." Then to you I say: "Kudos, stop reading, this is not for you. Try this article instead."
But.
If you can't say that your marketing plan allocates resources to customer service training, then your marketing is, at best, stretching the truth. It's also potentially being undermined by every face to face interaction your customers have with your business, wasting your marketing effort and budget at every turn.
The conversations your People have with your Customers are every bit as important as your targeting, your tone of voice or the weight of your DM stock.
And that is why I bang on about customer service.
"Now hang on a ticket" I hear you say, "It's a bit presumptuous to call our marketing out as dishonest! We don't promise customer service, we promise value / quality / flavour / speed." Yes, absolutely, that is likely true - not everyone can promote their exceptional customer service, (that would really take the U out of USP wouldn't it?). Besides, customers don't agree anyway. According to Perceptive Research, the highest average Net Promoter Score (NPS) across 18 industries at April 2016 was Veterinarians with a score of 46. (Vets save lives! Fluffy, Mr Tubbington, Bruno and Buster wouldn't be here today if the Vet hadn't delivered - and that's the score?) Clearly customers expect more than what they're getting.
So, let's look at it from the customer's perspective. There's a standard of service that everybody expects, and if you don't deliver that (at a minimum) your customers will be disappointed. Of course, you can always tell them your front line staff are occasionally a bit shit because you haven't invested in training them... But are you really willing to say:
"Our product is exceptional, we back it up with a five year warranty and decidedly average service"?
No? Well there you go then. If your front line isn't up to scratch, then nor is your marketing.
Look, to be fair, I know I've been harsh. You'll be ok. Everyone else is spending all their money on email engagement and website development and big data too.
Really, the damage done by a lone staff member at the meat counter who continues to stock the display, oblivious to the queue of customers is totally offset by the eDM in their inboxes advertising cheap ham.
Oh, wait...