Retail UNIT 2: DELIVERY OF RELIABLE SERVICE
HS 2nd year
What is service delivery in retail?
Service delivery is the mechanism by which a retail organization provides its products or services to customers efficiently and of acceptable quality.
What are the prerequisites for effective service delivery?
Staff management, time frame planning, service rendering prioritization, and transparency in policies are essential prerequisites.
How should a sales associate handle customer queries?
A sales associate should listen patiently, understand and provide clear solutions, meet service expectations on time, handle queries politely, and implement customer feedback.
Why is responding to customer feedback important?
Responding to feedback helps improve services, address issues, and demonstrate that the retailer cares about customer opinions.
What should be done during busy and quiet periods in retail?
During busy periods, manage inventory and workforce efficiently. During quiet periods, use the time to prepare for the next season, such as by cleaning the store and conducting staff training.
How can a retailer handle unexpected workloads?
By reorganizing work, setting priorities, and ensuring proper communication with the team.
What are the steps to improve reliability in customer service?
Welcome customers personally, answer questions promptly, and resolve conflicts quickly.
How should customer information be handled?
Customer information should be collected and stored according to privacy laws, used transparently, and protected to avoid misuse.
What is CRM and how does it help in retail?
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a model for managing interactions with customers. CRM software helps organize, automate, and synchronize activities related to sales, marketing, and customer support.
What are common methods for collecting customer information?
Methods include order forms, feedback forms, enquiries, reward programs, and complaints.
MCQs
What does service delivery in retail refer to?
A) The process of handling inventory
B) The mechanism of providing products or services to customers efficiently and of acceptable quality
C) The method of marketing products
D) The process of managing store finances
Answer: B) The mechanism of providing products or services to customers efficiently and of acceptable quality
Which of the following is NOT a prerequisite for effective service delivery?
A) Staff management
B) Time frame planning
C) Service rendering prioritization
D) Product pricing strategies
Answer: D) Product pricing strategies
How should a sales associate handle customer queries?
A) By ignoring the query if it seems complicated
B) By listening impatiently and providing minimal information
C) By listening patiently, understanding, and providing clear solutions
D) By transferring the query to another department without follow-up
Answer: C) By listening patiently, understanding, and providing clear solutions
Why is it important to respond to customer feedback?
A) To ignore customer complaints
B) To improve services, address issues, and show care for customer opinions
C) To increase the number of complaints received
D) To reduce the amount of feedback collected
Answer: B) To improve services, address issues, and show care for customer opinions
What should be done during busy periods in retail?
A) Reduce inventory and workforce
B) Ignore customer complaints
C) Manage inventory and workforce efficiently
D) Avoid preparing for future seasons
Answer: C) Manage inventory and workforce efficiently
How can a retailer handle unexpected workloads?
A) By ignoring the extra work
B) By reorganizing work, setting priorities, and ensuring proper communication
C) By increasing work hours without a plan
D) By outsourcing all tasks immediately
Answer: B) By reorganizing work, setting priorities, and ensuring proper communication
Which of the following is NOT a step to improve reliability in customer service?
A) Welcome customers personally
B) Answer questions promptly
C) Resolve conflicts quickly
D) Delay responses to customer inquiries
Answer: D) Delay responses to customer inquiries
How should customer information be handled?
A) Collected and stored without regard to privacy laws
B) Used transparently and protected to avoid misuse
C) Shared freely without any restrictions
D) Ignored after collection
Answer: B) Used transparently and protected to avoid misuse
What is CRM and how does it help in retail?
A) Customer Relationship Management is used to track inventory levels
B) Customer Relationship Management helps organize, automate, and synchronize activities related to sales, marketing, and customer support
C) Customer Relationship Management is a method for pricing strategies
D) Customer Relationship Management is used for financial management
Answer: B) Customer Relationship Management helps organize, automate, and synchronize activities related to sales, marketing, and customer support
Which of the following is a common method for collecting customer information?
A) Product returns
B) Order forms
C) Staff meetings
D) Inventory checks
Answer: B) Order forms
True or False: Service delivery in retail refers to the mechanism by which an organization provides a product or service to its customers efficiently and of acceptable quality.
True
True or False: A retailer can ignore customer feedback if it is mostly positive.
False
True or False: The staff management, time frame planning, and transparency in policies are essential prerequisites for effective service delivery in retail.
True
True or False: During busy periods, retailers should focus solely on managing inventory and ignore customer service.
False
True or False: Effective service delivery requires a retailer to understand and reflect the needs and expectations of their customers.
True
True or False: Customer feedback should be ignored if it is not in line with the retailer’s existing policies.
False
True or False: CRM software helps retailers organize, automate, and synchronize activities related to sales, marketing, and customer support.
True
True or False: It is not necessary for a retailer to be transparent with its policies as long as the services are delivered on time.
False
True or False: During quiet periods, retailers can use the time to prepare for the next season, such as cleaning the store and conducting staff training.
True
True or False: Sales associates should handle customer queries with impatience to move on to the next customer quickly.
False
True or False: Monitoring customer feedback regularly helps retailers understand what their customers think and feel about their services.
True
True or False: It is acceptable for a retailer to share customer information freely without any restrictions.
False
True or False: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) involves managing interactions with both existing and prospective customers.
True
True or False: A retailer should only focus on resolving customer complaints during busy periods.
False
True or False: The 5 P’s of customer service excellence are Process, Product, Presentation, Price, and People, with People being the most important.
True
True or False: Customer service delivery can be planned and organized effectively without considering staff management.
False
True or False: Using recording systems like order forms and feedback forms is a common method for collecting customer information.
True
True or False: A sales associate should always be friendly and approachable to improve customer service reliability.
True
True or False: Feedback from customers on social networking platforms should be ignored if it is mostly negative.
False
True or False: The privacy policy of a retail organization should clearly state how customer data is collected, used, and shared.
True
Fill-in-the-Blank Questions and Answers
Service delivery refers to the mechanism by which an organization provides a __________ to its customers.
Answer: service
Retailers need to recognize the requirements and expectations of their customers to __________ successfully.
Answer: deal with them
A retail store should design its service portfolio to reflect the store's focused commitment to the __________.
Answer: customers
For effective service delivery, a retail store must plan the pace at which it can offer __________.
Answer: services
Transparency and ethical conduct involve being transparent with the __________ and portfolio.
Answer: policies
A sales associate should provide the expected services on time as __________ to the customer.
Answer: promised
Customer feedback should be regularly monitored to understand what customers really __________ about the services provided.
Answer: think and feel
Customer service should be improved by working actively with the customer support team to resolve customer __________.
Answer: issues
During busy periods, retailers should manage inventory, workforce, pricing, and __________ efficiently.
Answer: packaging
Quiet periods can be used for preparation, including store cleaning, strategy development, and __________ training.
Answer: sales
A sales associate should prioritize tasks based on their __________ during busy periods.
Answer: importance
To maintain reliable customer service, retailers must always focus on serving customers __________.
Answer: better
The 5 P's of customer service excellence include Process, Product, Presentation, Price, and __________.
Answer: People
To improve customer service reliability, a sales associate should ensure accurate replies to customer __________.
Answer: queries
The privacy policy should cover how the organization collects personally identifiable information and how it __________ that information.
Answer: shares
Cookies are used to analyze the page flow of a retailer's __________.
Answer: website
CRM software helps in organizing, automating, and synchronizing activities related to sales, marketing, customer support services, and __________.
Answer: technical support
Retailers must ensure that personal information provided by customers is used to resolve issues and provide __________ service.
Answer: reliable
To safeguard customer privacy, retailers must adhere to legal and regulatory __________.
Answer: requirements
A retailer can use customer relationship management (CRM) software to manage interactions with __________ and prospective customers.
Answer: existing