The old adage of "build it and they will come" doesn't work in retail. As any store owner knows, you need to spread the word.
One of the basics is to advertise your opening hours. It's just plain good customer service. More than that it is just basic common sense.
Sure, word of mouth is very powerful, but you can't rely on word of mouth for something as basic (and important) as letting customers know your opening hours. A simple sign in your window detailing your opening hours is a good start.
Department Store Opening Hours
Department stores are very good at keeping customers informed about opening hours. It's part of company policy.
Changes In Opening Hours
They are also good at taking the opportunity to publicize amended hours due to public holidays when the store may be closed.
Advise Customers Of Extended Hours
Equally importantly, they let customers know about extended hours e.g. in the holiday season.
This is a basic communication tool, and a service to the customer. Without it, the department store stands to lose trade if customer don't know they can shop extended hours.
In addition, extra hours are seen as adding some flexibility and responding to the customer's needs in peak shopping times.
Small Retail Store Owners
Department stores spent thousands of dollars with consumer psychology and customer service principles. These lessons about communicating and advertising opening hours, are ones that small retail store owners could apply to improve communication with their customers.
© Customer Service Image courtesy of Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business.com
» KeepCustomers In The Loop About Business Hours - Small Biz Mentor Roundup from SmallBizMentor
Communicating with customers is key to building credibility, trust and to developing a customer relationship.Something as simple as keeping customers and prospective customers in the loop about changes to your business hours is basic, but important. It... [Read More]
Tracked on: January 4, 2008 8:34 AM | Permalink to Trackback