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Greeting customers in the best possible manner creates the right first impression and is the first step towards making a sale. It is essential that the staff at your retail store properly welcomes and greets customers because a happy customer is more likely to not only buy more but will return for future purchases.

Greeting is one of the most important elements of communication that generates positive interactions between two people. Here are some vital aspects to keep in mind when greeting customers at your retail outlet.

Focus on Your Body Language

This is the first thing that a customer will notice about you. How you’re dressed up, your facial expression, your posture, and the way you stand. So it doesn’t come as a surprise when we see smartly dressed confident looking sales personnel ready to greet customers in retail stores.

Right from the time when a customer enters your store, your body language influences the customer’s perception of your business as it creates the first impression. If your employees are lazy and sitting around slumped in their chairs, this will create a negative image about your business. A negative image can in turn, harm your sales as well as reputation in the market.

Have a Positive Attitude

A positive attitude is essential for those working in customer service. The willingness to go-the-extra-mile is instrumental for the success of your retail store as it sets the foundation for delivering excellent customer care.

Having a positive, helpful and friendly approach should be part of the training given to your employees, so that they know how important it is to make the customer feel welcomed at your store. In essence, the attitude of employees towards customers should be such that of a host welcoming a guest. Basic acts of friendliness such as holding open the door for customers, and offering to help them makes all the difference.

Show Empathy to Your Customers

Empathy is the ability of a person to understand another person’s condition from their perspective. It is the art of placing yourself in another person’s shoes to understand their feelings.

For customer service personnel, having empathy is of the utmost importance because it gives them the ability to understand, and gauge the customer’s response to their greetings.

An example of a sales person missing out on creating a healthy experience for a customer by not showing any empathy is when he/she constantly follows the customer around the store after greeting, pestering him/her with questions, and not recognizing the fact that the customer is clearly annoyed by this.

Hence, it is essential for your employees to make sure that they understand customer’s reactions. If a customer avoids answering the employee’s questions, or says that he or she is ‘just looking around’, it clearly means that the customer wants to have a look around without the need or any assistance at the moment. It is best for sales people to just let the customer know that they’ll be around the corner or the aisle, if they need any assistance.

Remembering Your Customers is Crucial

Nothing makes a customer happier than having a sales person remember them from the last time they were in the store. Always remember to greet a returning customer with a smile and addressing them by their names. This gives them a feeling that your business truly values them. Stellar customer service, in essence, is about great relationship management.

Research conducted by McKinsey suggests that 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels he or she is being treated, which goes on to show the importance of trained sales personnel.

If your employees are successfully able to create a healthy and professional relationship with your customers, it will create more loyalty and generate more revenue for your store. Every customer who is welcomed and made to feel comfortable at the store, will become an asset for your business.