World Consumer Rights Day, which is celebrated on March 15 every year since 1983 as proclaimed by the United Nations in commemoration of the historic speech given by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1962 to the U.S. Congress, that laid the foundations of the consumer movement, updates and underlines the need to protect and strengthen each consumer’s rights.
Especially in the recent period with the scarring effects of global crises, such as the pandemic and the energy crisis, which had, and continue to have, significant side effects in our lives, like the increase in the cost of living and the creation of other also severe social and economic challenges for all consumers worldwide.
It is certain that, at the same time, all this amplifies the necessity of every public service and private organisation to work together and respond to the need to strengthen the protection of the consumers’ rights since, as John F. Kennedy had pointed out, consumers are perhaps the largest economic unit that affects, but is also affected by, almost every public or private economic decision.
In our Group, we are fully aware of the need to protect and strengthen the consumers’ rights, hence our mission, “To make more and more people live and feel better.”
From the left: Natasa Papathoma, Customer Experience Manager – Marina Fragiadakis, Customer Service Officer – Daniela Lambrianidis, Customer Insight Manager – Maria Vassiliou, Customer Service Officer
The main concern of the Customer Service Department of Beauty Line stores, as well as of all our brand stores, is to serve customers beyond their expectations. This is a key pillar for the sustainable development of both the chain and our Group. We do not just serve our customers, we create experiences. Every day, even in the smallest interaction, at every point of contact with the customer, we strive to offer a unique customer experience. The frontline employees who come into direct contact with the customer are called upon to face several challenges. Our goal is to offer immediate resolution to all complaints, and to properly record them for use by the relevant departments.
In order to meet these challenges, we constantly listen to our customers’ needs through various communication channels and systematically evaluate them in order to effectively respond to our customers’ suggestions.
The cooperation of the Customer Service (CS) Department with the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Department is also of utmost importance. The CS Department is primarily concerned with the strategy followed by the stores in order to build and maintain their relationships with existing and future customers. CRM assists the organisation in building and reviving customer relationships, streamlining processes through automation, boosting sales and profitability, and improving Customer Service.
Today’s consumers expect a high level of personalization. In a recent survey (Merkle, 2022), 86% of consumers reported that they would spend both more time and money in companies that deliver personalized communication and customer service. On our part, always within the framework of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we increased the contact points, from where we ask our customers to share further information about their preferences. It is important to know the preferences for each type of contact they have with us. Once we learn more about their behaviour, we will be able to provide them with more personalized recommendations and relevant communication.
By building relationships of trust and reciprocity with our customers, all our efforts are aimed at adding value to our customers’ experience by providing communication that has real value for them, starting with a simple newsletter to their email or a text message to their mobile phone.
However, pleasing a customer is not always as easy as it seems. You have to find out what worries them and find the right solution in order to finally see them happy, expressing their satisfaction and appreciation with a smile and a “thank you.” This feeling, the pleasure and appreciation of customers, gives the employees of our Group the strength to continue and further increase their efforts, always in the context of their mission of making even more people live and feel better.
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