When a Customer order arrives at your head office, or a Customer visits a Retail outlet, did the customer have the opportunity to check what they were ordering, or looking for, against your current stock levels, to see product availability ?
If the answer is no, then someone at your head office has probably got to phone them up and suggest some alternatives.
In a Retail environment the Customer just walks …… if this annoys you – read on.
The build-up of remedial telephone calls, delays on orders and re-keying of data can create a lot of immediate/reactive work for head office.
This isn’t necessarily a problem for all businesses – a great many business owners are happy to operate in this way.
However for those that aren’t happy about it, there are ways to better equip your customer to do business with you so that your head office staff can become proactive in their roles.
Have you considered that a trade/retail ordering website would provide your customers with adequate data to place an order with you?
Can you imagine receiving orders that require little to no intervention from your head office?
If you want to flirt with the idea, send me a message: w.walsh@acs.ie
