In my book, The Art & Science of the Hotel Concierge, I devote a section to the power of asking questions. While hotel concierges are typically known for answering questions, there’s an art to asking them that gets to the very core of their guests’ true needs.
The key to this technique is answering the right questions. A question is “right” when it yields an answer that helps meet a need, solve a problem, delight a customer, etc. Of course, the corollary to this is that we then need to be equipped with an answer that will lead to all those good things. Otherwise, there’s frustration on everybody’s part.
A case in point: Have you ever stood at the head of a long line in the grocery store, all set to check out, when the cashier asks, “Did you find everything you needed?” If your answer is “yes,” great! If the answer is “no,” what then? All too often, the cashier says something like “Oh,” as if it were a rhetorical question. The cashier feels awkward, as does the customer, who typically isn’t inclined to hold up the line. Then, customers leave the store to visit your competitor, more frustrated than they were when rummaging around the aisles looking for the product in the first place.
The problem is, employees have been trained to ask this question to instill a sense of caring, but there’s no opportunity to actually demonstrate it. The solution is always follow-through, whether it’s a sincere apology with an idea as to when the merchandise will be in stock, a rain check for a sale item, a stock check to locate it, or all of the above. An even better idea is to have knowledgeable employees circulating throughout the store to ask customers if they need help before they check out. Timing is everything.
The moral of the story, regardless of your type of business, is to ask the right question, and then see it through to its ultimate end—a happy customer. By the way, this applies to customer surveys, as well.
So now I ask: Has this article been helpful? Did you glean all the information you needed on this topic? If not, please let me know. You’d better believe that I’ll be getting right back to you with my best shot at an answer!
I was just in Aldi this afternoon and was looking for a tea that a friend asked me to buy for her, but I didn’t see it. Not wanting to bother anyone, I didn’t ask – of course, they don’t have people roaming the aisles looking for people that need help, so the only place to say something was at the register – which, as you say, would involve holding up everyone else. So I left slightly unsatisfied, until my friend just told me that it was an article in last week’s catalog, so probably all sold out. Anyway, perfect story – and if the guy at the register had asked me if I’d found everything I was looking for, I would have told him and he could have told me that – but you can just imagine what a nightmare it would be to ask everyone that question at that point. Better to have roaming assistants, but then that would cost the store more money – so the moral is, you get what you pay for!
love, me
I believe that the employer and management have the responsibility to provide sufficient power (employees),training, and supervision. I feel that most of the lack of good services falls on the shoulders of the higher employeers/management who, in order to save a buck, dump their responsibilities on the little guy (the cashiers). As Edith Ann (Lily Tomly) puts: “And that’s the truth” LOL.