Customer Engagement Strategies for a Better Holiday Workforce

By  Larry Leibach, Principal of Retail WFM, Workforce Insight
As we ramp up for the Holidays retailers are wise to bundle three "must haves" at the top of their list: 1) customer engagement 2) relevant data and 3) timely feedback. Amid the seemingly endless string of threats that loom outside our reach, it's easy to lose sight of core behaviors, systems and processes that we absolutely can influence. Honing in what we know, what we've learned and the investments we've already made can yield tremendous payback (and cheer).

Customer Engagement Strategies
Treat customer engagement strategies as low hanging fruit, but take the time now to sharpen skills and behaviors that have proven successful. Prepare the workforce for a shift in the way you define the customer shopping experience. Take for example, an apparel retailer that describes the client experience as: requiring a fair amount of attention, usually self-purchase, considers price as a major factor, rarely impulse, transactions include 2 items. Based on this definition associates are staffed and scheduled on the sales floor and in the wardrobe room, and the same associate working with the client also rings them up.

How might that change in coming months? When clients are not self purchasing, not trying things on, buying 4 items per transaction, and anxious to move through their list. Help your organization renew focus on what we already know about this annual shift. Leverage everything you've studied, practiced and learned about effective customer engagement to encourage the right skills and behaviors, and place the right people on the floor.

Relevant Data - Conversion Data is Key
So, how can we accurately forecast labor and schedule staff in response to this shift? Again, grab what you've already got at your disposal, but make it more relevant. Feed your systems with timely, accurate data appropriate for this season. Some use transaction data to develop schedules. Some add labor standards and traffic data to the mix, but using conversion data to optimize labor spending is key. Superior customer engagement skills (and inferior engagement behaviors) can have a powerful impact on conversion. So add this data to your arsenal. If you've got access to conversion data on POS Screens, use this in real-time to monitor performance. For example, if traffic was down and sales were down - but conversion rates were up, this can be inspiring among associates as they hone in on meeting the defined customer expectations.

If you understand the relationship of key data elements, and how it changes during the holiday time period you can be quite successful. In some retail locations traffic data is exactly the same during the holidays, as it is year round. However, conversion can double or triple during the holidays. While in other locations traffic can double, while conversion remains the same. The key is to decipher what this information is telling you and be ready to adjust your workforce management program to address it. It can mean different things to different retailers, but the key is to make sure that the data mix you capture is relevant for the season.

Measurement & Timely Feedback
Once again, take advantage of your past investments. Leverage existing systems, reports, dashboards and spreadsheets. Judge the delta between any notable improvement and denigration to quickly identify factors responsible for the shift. One of the best ways to judge performance is by comparing your conversion rate against yourself - same store, same time period, down to the day part and sales associate.

Start now. Improve the way your systems and processes allow you to measure, compare and share what you learn. And communicate at all levels of the organization to improve the way you respond to changing shifts in customer demand.

When you focus on engagement strategies you can control, with relevant data and meaningful analysis, the results can be inspiring, and produce all that you wish for this holiday season.