Social media and the Internet has changed customers expectations of their relationship with you - they expect to have a good idea of who you are, what you do, and so on, before they step foot in your place of business - and they changed the level of knowledge customers are armed with when they decide to give you their money. What does this mean? That you can find that your customers know more about your products or services than your employees know.

A 2010 study by IBM found that 55% of retailers say that customers are more connected to data than are their workers. Not surprisingly, 87% of retailers said that customers are using online shopping and comparison tools to find the best deals. This is a huge problem for two reasons:
- Customers enter into your store expecting higher levels of expertise from your staff than ever and,
- With their price knowledge, you have to be more competitive, which shrinks margins, which makes freeing capital for employee education even harder.

We’ve all seen the ads where someone talks to a store employee (usually wearing a blue shirt with yellow lettering - guess who) and they bumble and fumble when trying to answer a product question. That’s a nightmare for anyone in business, especially retail, if that happens in your store.

All this means that you have to work even harder to draw the customer in, make them feel at home and believe that shopping with you is preferred even if your prices aren’t the best they can find. A 2009 study by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania reported five core aspects customers consider key to a great shopping experience:

1. Customer engagement: This means being polite, caring and genuinely interested in customers, and being available to help and listen at all times.

2. A Positive Brand Experience: Customers want to see an attractive store that is well laid out and filled with quality merchandise. This helps customers feel more special and feel greater value in shopping with you.

3. Execution: Patience, good advice, clear explanations, product availability, ample product knowledge - these are what customers expect every time.

4. Problem Recovery: Customers expect satisfaction when problems arise, to be treated fairly and compensated for their trouble, and to get satisfaction in the end.

5. Expeditious Transactions: Quick checkouts, easy shopping and other considerations of their time show that they matter … a lot. For some, this can be their sole measure considering how time compressed we are these days.

The big job that many businesses face is instilling these five aspects in employees, and then helping them reflect them in their interactions with customers. Properly applied, they will give customers’ a strong perception of the value you offer.