learning and development in the self service world
By Alan Jones, Two’s Company Training Manager
Dated: 30th July 2019
Every time I hear ‘Unexpected Item in the Bagging Area’, my left eye starts to twitch!
Not because, the till has an intervention, but because the assistant comes over and flashes a barcode without any discussion………..one blink and you’ll miss it, and you certainly won’t understand it!!
Some assistants do this, as they don’t understand the implications of just scanning a barcode without educating the customer or the positive impact they could have on customer perception and shopping experience.
Most customers use a version of self-service every day without even thinking about it. Whether this a self-service unit within a supermarket, an ATM, a car park pay and display machine or a ‘Check-In’ unit within a doctors surgery.
Self-service is now part of our everyday life, but businesses should NOT automatically assume that customers will accept self-service and change within any organisation.
Customers (and some staff) do not like change, but what people don’t like more are surprises. Therefore, if you manage both your customers and staff’s expectations and take away the avenue of surprise, they will be more accepting of the change.
It’s very easy to just concentrate on delivering training around the functionality of a till and forget about the behaviours. How your colleagues interact and operate the self-service area is just as important as understanding how to clear any necessary interventions.
If your colleagues feel supported, they will support your customers in return.
It’s important to empower your colleagues to anticipate your customer’s needs and understand customer perception using the 3 V’s model.
We use this behaviour model in all of our courses, and we will be sharing how we do this over the next couple of weeks.
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