San Francisco, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/29/2018 -- Customer service levels in the retail sector in 2018 are stagnating at a time when store owners can least afford it, a survey by customer service training organisation KiwiHost reveals.

KiwiHost CEO Jared Brixton said the company has surveyed customer service levels annually since 2008 when customer satisfaction was around 33%, rising to 64% by 2013, where they have since remained – give or take a percentage point or two.

"Rising wages, a more transient workforce that doesn't see retail as a long-term career option, tightening margins and rising fuel costs – not to mention competition from online giants like Amazon – have created a tough environment that discourages investment in people skills," Brixton said.

"Ironically, it is people skills – like communication, the ability to hold a face-to-face conversation and friendliness – that offer the only real competitive advantage to walk-in retail store owners."

Brixton said the advances of technology, including point-of-sale software solutions like Vend, have dramatically changed the landscape, but come with both problems and opportunities.

"Where your millennial workforce understands and is comfortable with technology (and the efficiencies it offers) the people with the money who still enjoy going into the store are 50-years-old plus; these are the customers who want personal, friendly engagement.

"It is imperative that store owners return to personable, informed customers service as a point of difference – the technology is there to make it happen, but training your staff in interpersonal, customer service skills will enable them to sell better, negotiate better and serve better."

Brixton said for many customers there's no real incentive to come in store except to try on sizes and perhaps listen to the opinion of a real human being.

"Your customer researches online. They're informed with reviews. They know prices, specifications, and availability. They can even buy cheaper online, but when they come in the store, even to try on a product or a get a feel for it, that is your opportunity to get them to buy then and there too.

"If price and supply are a bricks-and-mortar retailer's only differentiators, then they're going to struggle," Brixton said.

Caption: Photo by Charisee Kenion @charissek

For more information contact:
Colin Kennedy
Iron Road Limited
+64 27 2456060
https://www.vendhq.com/us/

Jared Brixton
Managing Director
KiwiHost New Zealand
Telephone: +64 3 343 5007 (office)

About KiwiHost
KiwiHost are New Zealand's largest provider of customer experience management programmes, with special emphasis on developing people and service skills across a diverse range of industries.

Since 1989 KiwiHost has developed customer service skills for more than 50,000 businesses. All this experience has taught KiwiHost that a real customer service experience is what people are looking for. The one thing that customers want most is to connect with the distinct business personality, and the only way to do that is through a company's own personal brand of customer service.

Media Relations Contact
Colin Kennedy
Telephone: +64 27 2456060
Email: Click to Email Colin Kennedy
Web: https://www.vendhq.com/us/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

San Francisco, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/02/2018 -- A media and regulatory spotlight on how banks sell products and services to customers in Australia and New Zealand – particularly at the point-of-sale – could spread to become a broader problem for sales professionals throughout the Western world.

Bill James, who is director of international sales consulting and strategy firm, Attain Sales, said salespeople in the retail environment should be concerned when media start labeling traditional sales practices as morally repugnant.

The specific example referred to as 'repugnant' by Australasian media was where a bank customer service officer tried to sell insurance – called 'loss of income protection' – to a parent with young children. The customer service officer drew attention to the fact that this person's young family would need to be provided for, should something unexpected happen.

James said, "Selling products or services at the point-of-sale is challenging because the customer service officer or salesperson has very little knowledge about the circumstances of the customer – they have not had the opportunity to research background; to really get an understanding of needs.

"As a consequence, the salesperson has to resort to asking a lot of questions which some people – engaged in another activity like paying a bill or depositing money – may find intrusive and out of context. But to sell a product without knowing that it fits the customer's circumstances is also wrong."

James said that solutions may come from point-of-sale software providers like Vend, because the software could be used to provide important information – gleaned over time from multiple transactions – about a customer's needs and problems.

"I think the whole impersonal thing about point-of-sales selling is a big part of the problem. Accurate customer profiling – including previous purchases and historical responses to sales offers – may enable a more personal and accurate engagement.

"People get offended when a salesperson has made no attempt to understand them, or their needs, asks too many questions and tries to foist a product or service on them that they don't need," said James.

It is also important for salespeople to be transparent.

James said don't blindside your customer with a question that's close to the bone, like who will provide for your young children if you die?'

'Let them know where you are getting the information by referring to your point-of-sale information. For example, 'I see here that you're a dad. Have you ever thought of income protection insurance?'

"Use your tools, use the information you have on hand – or get better at information gathering using technology – and use tact.

"We can see both media and governments are becoming more and more intolerant of sales tactics. We require a much higher level of skill and a barrage of badly chosen questions is simply not the answer," said James.

The New Zealand media attention about point-of-sale selling techniques follows a recent Australian banking inquiry – The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry – which has been billed as the greatest scandal in Australian corporate history.

The media attention has led to New Zealand workers representative union, First Union, calling for an inquiry into banks' sales culture, while regulatory bodies like the local Financial Markets Authority are talking about closer scrutiny of how salespeople in the banking sector are incentivised.

"We're going to have to get a lot smarter about how we make product recommendations to upsell in the future, or the sales profession is going to find itself hamstrung.

"What has been acceptable in the past will simply not be acceptable in the future. With regulation becoming widespread it would not be a surprise if many of the sales tactics we apply today become illegal at some stage in the future" said James.

About Attain Sales
Attain specialises in systems, training and coaching to improve Sales Performance.

For more information contact:

Colin Kennedy
Iron Road Limited
+64 27 2456060
https://www.vendhq.com/us/

http://www.ironroad.co.nz

Bill James +64 274 573 796

https://attainsales.co.nz/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

San Francisco, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/02/2018 -- Sales incentives – particularly for sales and service people working at the point-of-sale – has come under scrutiny in Australia and New Zealand recently, with trade unions and legislators citing the way staff are incentivised as a reason why some customers face undue pressure at the point where they are completing a retail transaction.

In New Zealand, Financial Markets Authority (FMA) CEO, Rob Everett, told local media that most of what's wrong with financial services stems from the way people get paid, "the way they get incentivised to sell product; to give advice".

In Australia, following The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry's revelations into widespread misconduct by Australian banks, consumer groups are baying for blood from what they call a profit-based sales culture.

Share Piper, who is CEO of international sales consulting and strategy firm, Attain Sales, condemned the cases of widespread misconduct and unethical pressure sales, but has appealed for calm in a brewing storm that will at least vilify, if not threaten, the right of organisations and salespeople to sell products and services at a profit.

"While this controversy involves the financial and banking services sector, who are being roundly condemned for moving from a customer service-centric industry to a profit-based sales culture, it's just the thin end of what could be an attack on free-market capitalism throughout the Western world.

"There is nothing wrong with selling goods and services for a profit. Commerce is the foundation of the free Western world and we should be concerned at the spread of socialist ideas under the guise of consumer protection."

Piper said sales is hard work and people will not do it – or will not perform adequately – if they are not appropriately remunerated. Having sales processes and incentives curtailed would lead to a decline in profitability and ultimately job losses.

Time to stop thinking of sales as a numbers game

It's time to stop thinking of sales as a 'numbers game' and shift back to using technology, information, and empathy in offering customers a product that they need at a price they can afford.

The problem is not with selling, or incentives said, Piper. "It is fundamentally a failure to care and, at the very least, a failure to provide adequate information. There are no excuses really – if point-of-sale software solutions like Vend can put information about buying habits and customer needs at a shoe salesperson's fingertips, why can't they do the same with banking technology?

"When you try to sell something to somebody who needs it and can afford it, selling is easy and everybody benefits. Trying to sell something to somebody who doesn't need it and can't afford it is not only unethical, it's a lot of hard work and wasted resource. On top of this, you will justifiably invite greater regulation and compliance that will make trading more difficult."

Piper offered the following sales tips for financial companies:

1. Invest in technology that helps with understanding the customer's needs and background.

"Since the recession the sale of financial products has come under increasing scrutiny around the world. The sales of financial products must be accompanied by a real needs analysis and thorough understanding – at the point of sales – of your customer. No excuses."

2. Revisit the incentive structure.

"Incentives are another area that is going to come under scrutiny, and not just in New Zealand or Australia. Keep in mind that money isn't always the biggest motivating factor - vision, purpose, a clear career path and recognition can also be powerful motivators. Look to incentivise customer care as well," said Piper.

3. Review how the staff asks their questions.

"Where you have someone, for example, sorting out their finances for a planned holiday, it's ok to ask, 'do you have your travel insurance sorted?' To then go on and ask 'how about your credit card?' and 'are your home and contents covered while you're away?' is getting pushy.

"You should know your customer well enough – with point-of-sale data on hand – to get away with one salient question. It's the difference between needs selling and a splatter gun approach, which is just messy," said Piper.

He concluded that banks can keep regulators and consumer lobbyists at bay by taking pro-active action to ensure their point-of-sale tactics are professional, informed and needs based.

For more information contact:

Colin Kennedy
Iron Road Limited
+64 27 2456060

About Attain Sales
Attain specialises in systems, training and coaching to improve Sales Performance.

Sharn Piper +64 27 733 4333

https://attainsales.co.nz/ and https://www.vendhq.com/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

San Francisco, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/15/2017 -- The ubiquitous high-speed internet and artificial intelligence (AI) may be the best technological advances since the industrial revolution fired up the Luddites 200 years ago, but many people are having trouble dealing with the pace of change.

Those who believe in software engineering as a career may not consider how the impact of AI and the growing demand it has generated for graduates to think creatively and flexibly.

David Kinane, a digital consultant in the education sector, says whole departments of computer graduates hired to maintain networks of computers are being overtaken by cloud computing. That is a direct result of the high-speed, accessible and affordable internet and the consistent, quantum advances of AI.

'Costly computer networks, air-conditioned rooms and costly network engineers are diminishing as entire server farms are outsourced to the cloud, and with frightening speed.'

Companies such as Vend, a cloud-based, point-of-sale and retail management software that lets retailers run their business in-store, online, and via mobile, still need engineers, but the emphasis on skill sets is changing.

Kinane says the pace of change is lost on many, particularly those who think a career in computers is a ticket to lifelong and lucrative employment – that includes parents who encourage their children in that direction.

'It probably won't.'

He says companies outsourcing to the cloud pay only a flat fee for renting space. With the internet being so ubiquitous and affordable, the cloud makes obvious sense but that is still seldom a factor when choosing a digital career.

One of the challenges of the education system and digital world is preparing students for an 'increasingly seismic and increasingly rapidly changing environment. Some educators themselves have yet to freely accept that the world in which they think they are preparing the children for is not the world they come from.

'So, a lot of kids are being prepared for stuff that is entirely irrelevant. The kids can see it, but some teachers may not, and that is part of the problem.'

He says the industry now demands those looking at a digital career have a skill set that lets them work creatively, flexibly, collaboratively, remotely and work in a physical environment which lets them 'co-construct without meeting'.

'We don't want kids who can just regurgitate content. We want kids who can create new content or who can work creatively, think outside the box, who can work collaboratively, who can process information from different sources.

'Traditional pedagogy is hindering the wholesale implementation of a radical new way to present the curriculum, and some teachers (through their adherence to this traditional pedagogy) could be seen as luddites.'

Big organizations such as Microsoft, are crying out for computer science graduates that can manipulate data, work with data and interrogate data.

He says AI will replace many careers considered a safe bet such as low-level accounting and even routine legal work.

'Xero is a good example of AI accounting. Input your stuff and depending on what level you pay for, it will just do it all for you.'

'Which begs the rhetorical question, if we are teaching content that is Google-able, then what relevance can education be in the eyes of well-connected students?'

That is the sort of digital development, he said, that is turning many parents into digital Luddites as they encourage their children into careers that may be heading nowhere.

"Undergraduate courses once seen as safe career choices – including accounting and law – may not offer the potential they once did.

"The push from Universities and Governments is towards the STEM subjects, of which manipulating "big data" is one of the new big ones – many parents are not fully aware of this shift in emphasis," he said.

About Vend
Vend is America's leading retail POS software, inventory management, ecommerce & customer loyalty for iPad, Mac and PC that let retailers easily manage and grow your business in the cloud.

Described as a beautifully designed, responsive point of sale system that gives retail customers the ability to service their customers quickly and efficiently, Vend POS is available online and offline and easily connects to all the latest hardware – barcode scanners, receipt printers, cash drawers.

CONTACT:
David Kinane
MoE Accredited PLD Facilitator
dakinane limited
Ph: +64 (09) 889 2375 

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm