Clienteling: This KPI that retail pretends to be interested in

In another article, I discussed retail's ongoing obsession with converting the "visitor" customer into a "buyer" customer. I even pointed out that it was the number 1 KPI of in-store sales: namely the conversion rate. The easiest lever would be to know what sales situation the seller is facing.

Nevertheless, wouldn't it be easier for the salesperson to know his customers? And I'm not talking about sales techniques in order to discover the customer, with the help of questioning. No, I prefer to address this KPI, which many brands often pride themselves on being the reference. I'm talking about customer relations or clienteling.

So this article is probably more aimed at luxury houses. Although!

Clienteling: an essential KPI but overused by brands

Indeed, many brands highlight their customer relationship strategy as the brand's sacrosanct KPI. By arguing the simple fact that in the sales process, the salesperson must collect the customer's data to contact him again at short notice. The objective would then be to follow up with customers by analyzing their potential for redemption. Except that in reality it happens differently.

Client portfolio management: 10 pain points for luxury Maison

1. 1 time out of 2 the sales associate (SA), in a hurry to close the transaction, does not take the customer's contact details under the false pretext that the customer did not want to share it.

2. If the salesperson leaves the brand, the manager has to spend hours reassigning their portfolio to another customer salesperson via …. an Excel spreadsheet.

3. At no time during the clients online shopping journey is the SA informed of the searches made by the client. Hence the manager manages by “hope”: I hope the client has seen it, is interested in it, will come; I hope the weather will be the right one; I hope there will be traffic today; I hope my team has completed their actions in their CRM tool as requested by HQ.

4. When the SA has a key information about the client, which could potentially help the brand to sell more (increase CR), it is often not recorded anywhere else but in the SA brain.

5. Each CRM platform bugs and in order not to waste time, the SA fills in the so-called "mandatory" fields in the cash register system (Xtor, Gemini, Salesforce, etc.) only to complete the transaction (not with the curiosity of getting to know the client)

6. Since the evolution of data protection rules in Europe (GDPR, Global Data Protection Rules), brands find themselves with customers who have several profiles: a nightmare to manage!

7. Each customer has a field on his profile dedicated to his/her purchases (a bit like a wardrobe); But nothing about the keywords they have used recently on the web (google, social network, etc.)

8. The clienteling department is about people dealing with Excel spreadsheets (with a nice “cosmetic”), filled with hundred thousand of names and data related. Creating list of clients, pushing actions to be done by the store team, checking that the action is completed; At no time, the clienteling team is analyzing the boutique client book into shapes (Diamond, triangular, hourglass or reverse triangular), and share clear instructions in how to change that shape in favor of the business and the client

9. CRM is done with an Excel spreadsheet. A tool developed in 1987. In other words, prehistory in the digital age.

10. Each Maison has its ow client segmentation, but no one is training the store team in client portfolio in RELATIONSHIP management

3 things to remember about this key KPI

1. Every brand that thinks of omnichannel must therefore apply a customer portfolio management method that corresponds to social selling techniques. It's the 2.0 seller. One of the best courses in the field can be found here

2. Customer relations are above all about taking an interest in what their customers have done before entering the store. Because like 100% of French people, he first went on the internet. The question is why? Which site did he download, to be interested in what? What does he want to compare or is he ready to buy? The brand must make itself visible on the net .0r 80% of brands invest millions on the net and continue to make themselves invisible to their customers

3. A management tool that is more than 30 years old? Why: Do you like to race a car from the 80s?

Actually not 3 but rather 1 thing to remember

Let's put the human in the human. Let's engage the customer! with what he likes, what he is interested in, what he compares or even what he is willing to buy. Let's take a look at what it has been doing on the web by setting up an eco-system that will allow us to "pick" it at the right time with the best offer.

It is to set up a blog that meets SEO standards. It's connected customer data with sales opportunities for stores. This is what the Digital Native Vertical Brands are already doing with some success. Why not you? Master social selling