| Kippreport.com

Are you being served? Part I

November 7, 2009 2:55 by Rania Habib

“The findings of our report will not make for comfortable reading for retailers in the Gulf region,” she says. “Across the Gulf, retailers are failing to create customer loyalty and missing sales opportunities. Our survey found that one in four shoppers said they would not return to or recommend the outlet visited based on the service received.”

The survey shows retailers in the region place a lot of emphasis on advertising, public relations, and glitzy and fancy stores with polite and friendly staff. Unfortunately, retail outlets fall short of offering any depth.

“Though staff may have a positive attitude, they are short on sales skills and initiative,” says Sparks. “Forty percent of staff did not recommend or guide customers to a relevant product or service, and 41 percent did not check that customers had what they wanted or needed.”

Aubrey Ghose is founder and CEO of AIS Brand Lab, a strategic branding agency that also provides staff training. He says the findings of the report are very intuitive and “totally right,” and that the problems revealed in the survey reflect a brand promise not being delivered.

“One of the big misconceptions about what a brand is, is around the elements of the brand,” he says. “People sometimes think it’s the logo or the environment. But whenever we do research after developing stores, the really surprising thing that transpires is that the staff are the brand. In many ways, the staff on the floor is your core brand deliverer.”

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Tags: customer service, gcc, Grass Roots Middle East, report