Your front end people are the face of your store. This includes your cashiers and service providers who man the checkouts. It doesn't matter if you have one cashier or a dozen, they are the key to a positive experience from your consumer.
One of the key phrases I would instill is "A customer is not an interruption of your work, they are the reason for it." This meant that cashiers were to focus on the customer, not their co-workers, not on their breaks and not on their outside activities. A customer walking up to the cashier should be greeted and made to feel welcome. The cashier knew who to call should that customer have a complaint and never NEVER dismiss a complaint with just an apology or worse-- by ignoring it.
A customer remember the last few minutes in your store more than any other portion of the visit. If they waited in line for five minutes it was too long. If there were more than two people in front of them and another register wasn't opened this was unacceptable. Floor people maintained the flow of customer and monitored cashier behavior at all hours. This meant it was critical to have enough manpower that this Floor supervisor was able to do just that-- supervise, and not be constantly running a register. It also meant that said supervisor needed to be a self starter who kept busy, observant and who understood what to do to react to customer needs.
How do we accomplish this?
Find out in the Next Post.
