HOW TO IMPROVE FRIENDLINESS AND ADDITIONAL SALES IN A
RETAIL SETTING
Master thesis, MscHRM Human Resource Management
University of Groningen, Faculty of Management and Organization
August 5, 2008
IRI ANGELI
Studentnumber: 1412906
Hereweg 59
9725AB Groningen
tel.: 06 48010680
e-mail: s.angeli@student.rug.nl
Supervisor/ university
Karin Prins
Abstract
The research question of this article is to improve the client friendliness and additional sales of the Kappé shops by using HR tools. Kappe is specialized in the retail of perfumes, cosmetics and sun glasses on the travel retail market. Because of a yearly research of
Introduction
Nowadays retail organizations compete more and more on delivering the best service to their customers. Customers seek to experience “passion to serve”; clients want to be served with a smile and want to feel welcome in a store. According to the Telegraaf of 10 March 2003 customers are even willing to spend more when these conditions are met. The friendliness of employees and the quality of service in general is however not the only aspect leading to more sales. Cross selling is one of the easiest options for companies to grow and to increase the revenue contribution from their existing customers (Kumar, George and Pancras, 2008).
As cross selling and service quality are two of the most known and essential aspects for increasing revenues, it is important for a retail organization to focus on these and try to improve them. Therefore the goal of Kappé, an organization in the travel retail market, is to improve the client friendliness and additional sales of employees, by using non financial human resource tools. The focus will lie on human resource tools and financial tools will not be included as this will intervene with the work of the work council. This was a request of the management of Kappé.
Description of Kappé; Kappé international is a dynamic company which plays an essential role in the travel retail market. Internationally the organization supplies to military bases from all around the world. In the Netherlands Kappé is specialized in the retail of perfumes,
cosmetics and sun glasses on the travel retail market. Twelve shops of Kappé sell these products on the airport of Schiphol. The company exists for about 50 years and has 370 employees. In this article the focus will lie on Kappé Netherlands and on the twelve “see buy fly” shops of Kappé on the airport of Schiphol. Kappé is described as an organization which exists for people and because of them. The most important norm of the company is the attraction, development, training, coaching and retention of “the right” people. The
importance of employees is also seen in the vision of Kappé; professionalism with a human face.
chance for advancement. However, in retail setting employees are essential as retailing is “people’s work” (van de Kind, Retail marketing, 2004). Personnel is one of the most
important factors for the shop image and consequently for the turnover of the company (van de Kind, Retail marketing, 2004). Motivated employees who invest in their relationships with customers are therefore essential. Furthermore, transactional marketing is applied in Kappé as there is currently no opportunity for customer relationship management. This means that there is no data of clients available which makes the process of cross selling more difficult. The importance of these aspects will be highlighted later on in this paper. It will become clear that these aspects may have a great impact on the improvement of the client friendliness of
personnel and the additional sales.
Problem description; The past five years the sales of the “see buy fly” shops of Kappé have risen hardly. The growth of the turnover of Kappé has remained under the 10% for this period. However, the long term objective of Kappé is an average increase of turnover of 5% annually. To reach this goal Kappé has to make changes. After an extensive research of Schiphol, Kappé has come to the conclusion that in addition to external factors which can not be influenced, the friendliness of personnel and the efforts to create additional sales is
The influence, the impact of friendliness and the positive results of this concept for a retail organization, are pointed out in many articles; Results of Pugh's (2001) study showed that when employees expressed more positive emotions customers would give higher evaluations on service quality. According to Schneider et al.; (1998) a customer who holds positive perceptions of an organization's service quality yield numerous benefits; The customer forms a base for cross selling and is a valuable source of new ideas. As it is less expensive to retain a customer than create a new one, costs will also be lower. Finally higher perceived service quality can eventually lead to higher profits. Positive emotions can be translated as friendliness; this will be described in the theoretical framework.
Positive emotions/ friendliness do not lead to positive outcomes for an organization, only indirectly through service quality. According to Tsai (2001) positive emotions can directly lead to several benefits for the organization in retail settings. Customers react more positively towards the store if they are treated nicely by sales clerks. When sale clerks are friendlier towards customers, customers are more willing to visit the store again and pass positive comments to friends.
Brown and Sulzer-Azaroff (1994) also found a relationship between positive emotions and customer satisfaction. Pugh (2001) supports this relationship as he indicates that the display of positive emotions by employees is positively related to customers' positive affect following service encounters and to their evaluations of service quality. Van der Kind (2004) reveals in his research that a higher turnover is a result of better service.
Thus, client friendliness leads to higher service quality, more satisfied customers, mouth to mouth advertisement and the retention of clients. These aspects eventually lead to higher revenues, higher share of wallet and customer value (Kumar, George and Pancras, 2008). It will therefore be essential to improve the client friendliness of employees, as this will eventually lead to an increased turnover for Kappé.
supplier and customer. According to Venkatesan, Rajkumar and V. Kumar (2004) cross buying is a driver for longer customer value also. Reinartz and Kumar (2003) support this as they state that customers who buy multiple product categories from a firm tend to have a longer more profitable lifetime duration. Moreover Kumar and Venkatesan (2005) imply that cross buying leads to multi channel shopping behaviour. Kumar, George and Pancras (2008) state that the variables mentioned above result in higher revenues, higher share of wallet and customer value.
From the above it becomes clear that cross selling is an opportunity to retain customers and increase revenues and sales. Increasing cross selling and achieving more additional sales will therefore be an important aspect to increase the turnover of Kappé.
Theoretical background
Client friendliness/ positive emotions; as described in the introduction, due to a research of Schiphol, it became clear that the friendliness of employees in the Kappé shops is insufficient. Welcoming the client and assisting the client when needed are lacking in the Kappé shops.
As pointed out earlier, clients nowadays want to be served with a smile and to feel welcome when they visit a store. In other words they want to be treated friendly and with respect. When a client is not welcomed by an employee and is not approached when needed, the client will feel unwelcome in the shop and will perceive the friendliness to be lacking. To define the friendliness more in detail literature search was conducted; Service friendliness can be associated with positive emotions of employees. According to Tsai and Huang (2001) and Tsai (2001) when an employee expresses more positive emotions, customers will perceive that the employee is friendlier. The concepts friendliness and positive emotions are
interrelated and therefore used as one concept in many articles. We can thus assume that when positive emotions are mentioned in this report they can be associated with a higher degree of friendliness.
To understand the actual meaning of positive emotions several definitions can be combined (Tsai, 2001); "Employee displayed emotions" has been defined as "the act of expressing socially desired emotions during service transactions" (Ashforth & Humphrey, 1993: 88-89). It is concerned with an employee's behaviour (Wharlon & Erickson, 1993) as displayed through a combination of facial expression, spoken words, and tone of voice such as smiling, welcoming and thanking (Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987). Again, it becomes clear that positive emotions can be interpreted as friendliness in this context. In this article the concept friendliness will therefore be used instead of positive emotions.
FIGURE 1.1 conceptual model 1
Schneider, Wheeler and Cox (1992) suggest that the most important human resource tools that affect a psychological climate for service friendliness which in turn leads to a higher friendliness by employees (Tsai 2001) are the following;
- Training; content, availability, timing - career development and advancement
- performance feedback and rewards other than pay and fridge benefits.
Training seems essential as it can improve the client friendliness of employees by
encouraging positive emotions and providing information on how to act around clients and how to serve clients in the best way. Besides, training is one of the most pervasive methods for enhancing the productivity of individuals and communicating organizational goals to new personnel (Arthur et al, 2003). As Schneider, Wheeler and Cox (1992) point out, the content of the training, the availability and the timing should be appropriate. The content of the training should be directly related to the wanted behaviour and should reinforce the on the job behaviour that is needed. Training should also be available to employees who need it and at the right timing. Finally it is crucial that training is evaluated to measure whether the effects are the one expected (Arthur et al, 2003).
Concerning the career development and advancement it seems logic that opportunities for development and advancement will motivate employees which will in turn lead to more positive emotions and a higher friendliness. Career development opportunities will probably stimulate employees to grow and for achieving this, their approach towards clients should be appropriate. A higher degree of friendliness should therefore be a prerequisite. The
opportunities for career advancement are however minim in a retail setting as pointed out before.
Performance feedback can also lead to improved friendliness as described above. Feedback is about coaching or consulting and it helps employees learn from their performance.
Performance feedback is vital in the work environment. It can be given with written
evaluations drafted once or twice a year. Informal evaluations, consistent and almost on daily basis, however, have more influence on performance than the formal evaluations performed less often. Therefore, feedback on work quality and quantity should be addressed
Non financial rewards also lead to improved friendliness (see figure 1.1). Recognizing an employee’s performance by using non financial rewards, can be a more effective motivator than money and will increase the loyalty to the company (Hemsley, 2004). It can thus be assumed that non financial benefits and rewards also lead to improved friendliness indirectly through motivation.
A last variable that is crucial for displaying positive emotions/ friendliness is the acknowledgment that service is important (Schneider, Wheeler and Cox, 1992). It is
reasonable to assume that awareness of the reduced client friendliness will lead to improved friendliness. This may be achieved because employees who are aware of the effects of friendliness will probably put more effort in improving their service quality by smiling, welcoming and thanking a client.
It becomes clear that many variables have an impact on client friendliness. Training, performance feedback, non financial rewards, opportunities for advancement and the
awareness of the problem are found to be crucial in this article to improve the friendliness of employees in the Kappé shops. The question is to what extent these variables are used by Kappé to improve the friendliness of employees. In addition it is essential to provide some suggestions concerning these variables and to describe in which ways the friendliness can be improved by using the literature described above. Thus the questions than will be answered in the next chapters of this article are the following;
- How is the current situation of Kappé concerning the training, the performance
feedback, the socialization processes, the opportunities for career development and the awareness of the importance of client friendliness and the relation of these variables with the improvement of client friendliness?
- Which changes can take place to improve the friendliness of employees in the Kappé shops?
According to Kumar and Venkatesan (2004) cross selling in a retail setting is defined by the total number of different product categories that a customer has purchased from a firm, from the time of first purchase. Ngobo (2004) refers to cross-buying as the customer's practice of buying additional products and services from the existing service provider in addition to the ones she currently has.
Few research is done concerning cross selling and additional sales. However some variables are detected which can help us determine how to increase cross selling in a retail setting with the use of non financial human resource tools. The variables are outlined in figure 1.2.
FIGURE 1.2 Conceptual model 2
Payment equity, which is the fairness of the price according to the customer, is a key driver for cross selling. Verhoef et al (2001) states that the probability of cross buying increases if the prices of the supplier are perceived as fairer than the prices of the competition.
Service experience/ perception of service quality
Furthermore, as risk taking for a customer is high when purchasing a new product, Kumar , Goerge and Pancras (2008) state that reducing the uncertainty is critical to create additional sales in retail. According to the authors this can be achieved through providing more
information about a product and relying on experiences of others or your own. This variable is essential as the customer will not make the additional purchase when uncertainty is not
reduced. Reducing uncertainty can also be achieved through the creation of trust whereas trust encourages risk taking by customers (Das and Teng 2004). Verhoef et al (2001) support this statement and add that investment in building trust with customers immediately as opposed to reserving such treatment for older customers is critical.
According to Kumar and Reinartz (2003) trust can be increased and risk can be reduced when customers remain within the shop for a longer time period. Thus it would be essential to make clients stay longer to improve cross buying.
It becomes clear that increasing the interpurchase time, reducing the uncertainty of the client and focusing on the payment equity are variables that can lead to additional sales. All this variables can be used during a conversation with a client to persuade the client of buying additional products. Thus we could say that these variables are sales techniques which can be used and can be offered and acquired by sales training.
Besides the sales techniques offered above, additional sales are influenced by several other aspects. According to Verhoef et al (2001) satisfaction and perception of the service quality have influence on cross buying. The more satisfied the customers the higher the chance that additional products will be bought. Customer satisfaction is greater when friendliness is high as we have described extensively before. Moreover, paying attention at retaining one
customer instead of serving more customers in a moderate way is essential in a retail setting as the switching costs are especially low. Kumar, George and Pancras (2008) confirm this finding.
A final variable that can be added to the conceptual model is performance feedback. In the previous paragraph it became clear that performance feedback can lead to commitment, job satisfaction and the accomplishment of organizational goals. Besides these effects,
performance feedback also leads to capability beliefs which are also referred as self efficacy (Ahaus and Broekhuis, 2007). This attitude can be described as the belief about one’s
capability to attain an outcome. Another definition given to capability beliefs is how capable people judge themselves to be to perform a task successfully (Bandura, 1977).
The attitude capability beliefs are of importance in this paper, because it is a key factor in the extent to which people can produce significant results (Tuckman, 1999). A capability belief, or else called self efficacy, has a great influence on the performance and productivity of individuals. This is proven in various studies such as Schunk, (1989), Tuckman and Sexton (1990) and Bandura, (1997). Bandura (1997) argues that self efficacy does not only have a great impact on performance and productivity but does also contribute significantly to the level of motivation of employees. As self efficacy has such a great impact on performance and motivation it is reasonably to assume that employees with a higher self efficacy are able to create more additional sales. Since performance feedback leads to self efficacy this will be an essential variable to improve not only the friendliness of personnel but also the additional sales.
Additional sales can be stimulated in various ways as pointed out above. By using the variables described above, in the following chapters practical suggestions will be made to increase the additional sales made by the employees of the Kappé shops. The questions beneath will be answered in the chapters that follow;
- How is the situation concerning the performance feedback and the marketing tools used by Kappé in order to improve the additional sales?
Research methodology
As discussed in the introduction the purpose of this research is to improve the client
friendliness and the additional sales of employees in Kappé. More specific, variables which lead to improved friendliness and additional sales, and human resource tools which contribute to increased additional sales and friendliness have to be identified.
To start the research and to understand on which items Kappé scored insufficient, the Schiphol research was red carefully. This contributed to the better understanding of how friendliness and additional sales were defined by the research of Schiphol. An extensive description of the results of the research has been given in the introduction.
To review the current situation at Kappé, concerning the friendliness and additional sales, a pilot study was conducted. This study consisted out of eight individuals who took the role of mystery shoppers. They visited some of the shops of Kappé and observed if they were welcomed by employees, if they were approached by sales employees and if employees putt effort on achieving additional sales. This pilot study was conducted in order to confirm or reject the results of the Schiphol research by detecting whether friendliness and additional sales were as insufficient as described in that research. Results of the pilot study are taken into account when more than five mystery shoppers report the same observations.
notice in which circumstance this training is provided. Is the training taking place during work time and are customers around or does the training take place behind the shops?
Structured interviews were conducted with the sales manager, the training manager and a group of shop assistants to get more insight in how Kappé is organized and why the friendliness and additional sales are insufficient. One interview was held with the training manager, one with the sales manager and seven sales employees were interviewed. The sales manager and the training manager were interviewed to get more insight in several procedures taking place at Kappé. At the start of the interview questions were asked to make sure the managers knew what friendliness and additional sales include. Questions were also asked to detect whether the managers recognized the reduced client friendliness and additional sales in the shops. Furthermore, the interviews provided information about how the system of
performance feedback is organized as this is an essential variable leading to friendliness and additional sales according to the literature. Weaknesses of the system were detected and discussed during these interviews. Moreover, the opportunities for career development were analyzed as this could lead to insufficient friendliness of employees. Finally additional variables which could lead to reduced friendliness and additional sales were discussed.
Interviews with the seven sales employees were held to detect whether the awareness of employees concerning the insufficient friendliness and additional sales, is high. Furthermore these interviews contributed to a better understanding of which attributes of the job
unmotivate sales employees. The focus lied on how performance feedback is provided, which are the effects of the minim chance for career development and how trainings contribute to the friendliness and additional sales. Moreover during interviews it was discussed which effects the non financial rewards have, and which other factors can lead to decreased friendliness and additional sales. Results of these interviews are taken into account only if more than four out of the seven sales employees mention the same observations and opinions. When I will refer to interviews of sales employees in the text of this article these interviews are meant.
However when I will refer to interviews with employees I refer to interviews with the sales manager, the training manager and the sales employees.
Finally, the feedback form of Kappé was red to detect on which items the performance of employees is judged on. Two feedback forms which were filled in by two customer managers about two employees were red, to see how feedback is written down and how a feedback session is reported.
Results; Efforts of Kappé concerning friendliness and additional sales
In this chapter an extensive description of Kappé concerning the friendliness and additional sales, will take place. It will become clear how Kappé deals with training, performance feedback and non financial rewards, socialization processes and opportunities for career development and if employees are aware of the importance of friendliness. These variables were found to be essential for improving the friendliness of personnel. Therefore it is
important to asses the current situation of Kappé concerning these aspects and their value for client friendliness. The same will be done for the additional sales as it is crucial to asses the current situation of Kappé concerning the focus on additional sales. In the theoretical framework various ways were found to stimulate additional sales and cross selling. In this chapter it will become clear if these variables are used in Kappé and in which way they are applied. To conclude, for each variable an overview will be provided on how the efforts of Kappé influence the friendliness and additional sales of employees when taking into account the suggestions in the theoretical framework.
Before describing the current situation of Kappé, concerning the variables mentioned above, it is essential to make clear how a Kappé shop functions, which layers of sales employees are present and some other circumstances which are of importance for the friendliness and additional sales of employees. At this moment there are twenty customer managers present in the Kappé shops. The customer managers are responsible for a group of ten to fifteen sales employees. They provide feedback to employees and conduct several secondary tasks which will be outlined later on in this paper. The customer managers are hired by the sales manager of Kappé. The sales employees were hired by the human resource manager when this
research was started, however at the present they are hired by an independent agency. Besides the full time sales employees, temporary workers do also work as sales employees for Kappé. These employees do not receive the trainings provided by Kappé and are selected by the temp agencies.
Friendliness in Kappé
Most of the mystery shopper were not welcomed and approached when needed. This verified the Schiphol research which pointed out that an active approach of employees is missing.
In the theoretical background some variables were presented which can lead to improved friendliness and therefore to increased revenues and sales. It is essential to describe the current situation in Kappé concerning these variables and their relation to client friendliness.
Training
Description; The first variable that was described in the theoretical framework was training. It was pointed out that training of employees can lead to increased friendliness as training is one of the most pervasive methods to enhance the behaviour wanted and to communicate
organizational goals to employees. At Kappé several trainings on a regular basis are provided to the sales employees. The training manager and the assistant training manager are
responsible for these sessions.
To start with, the new sales employees of Kappé receive an introductory training which lasts three days and is provided by the assistant training manager. This training is mandatory for all new employees besides the temporary workers. During the first day the employees get to know the company, they receive a tour around the airport and the shops they are going to work in, and they receive some general information about the norms of Kappé. During the introduction training I followed, it was pointed out that the focus of 2008 is on the client and on providing the right service. These “terms” were however not described extensively and the interpretation of service and client focus may not be clear to all participants. During the second day of the introduction training the employees learn how to handle the cash register. This part of the training is given by a customer manager of a shop of Kappé. The training is given by role playing with the use of packages of products sold by Kappé, and an actual cash register. This part is especially informativeas it gives the new employees the opportunity to practice and to get accustomed with the procedures followed. The third day of the training consists out of two parts. During the largest part, the perfume training, the perfumes are divided into groups and employees learn how to recognize the different groups and how to give the client the best advice. The second part is sales training. This part is however of short duration and the concepts introduced as for example client friendliness and customer
other words whereas client friendliness is the focus of this part of the training, how to achieve this remains vague.
Besides the introductory training, updates are also provided by Kappé. These trainings are an update of a certain brand. New products are introduced and are compared with products of other brands. The training manager is responsible for these updates which last for two hours. The same update is given four times in two days in order to make it possible for all employees to participate in the training. The updates are non mandatory but when employees follow these updates this is registered. The updates take place during the spare time of the sales employees.
Another form of product training is the “theme training”. These trainings are not based on a certain brand but on a certain theme as for example skincare or sun care. The trainings last one day and take place during work time. Each theme training is provided two times and the employees who may follow the training have been working for Kappé for at least six months. During these trainings the theme that is selected is discussed extensively. All relevant
products are described and different brands are compared. Moreover, games are played in which employees can win awards when having most answers right. Individual competitions but also group competitions are organized. During this research the theme trainings were cancelled and service coaching was provided instead of them. This decision was made
because of the great offer of product training but the severe offer of sales training. The service coaching should offer the employees more information about client friendliness and additional sales and stimulate these two needs by using individual training and coaching. The service coaching will be described later on. First however it is important to discuss some of the observations around the trainings described above.
It seems thus that the training sessions provide the needed product knowledge to employees. However the updates and the “theme trainings” are focused just on product knowledge and hardly non on service quality or client friendliness. They do not provide sale techniques and they do not help employees in making practice out of the concepts open approach and friendliness.
Because of the outcomes of the Schiphol research and the start of this research it became clear that sales training is missing and that this is needed to stimulate the client friendliness of employees. This leaded to service coaching instead of theme trainings as described above. The service coaching is given by the training manager and the training manager assistant two to three days a week, in two shops of Kappé during work time. The goal of the service coaching was to coach employees individually in order to make them aware of the reduced client friendliness. The purpose was also to train employees individually in sales techniques.
When observing this training the focus lied on sales techniques as well as on product
knowledge. The greatest part of the service coaching was however consisting out of product training as several brands were explained to employees who had questions about them. It also seemed quite difficult to provide sales training in a shop during work time when clients are present. Especially as the time pressure of employees is great, focusing on the client will be more difficult when receiving service coaching at the same time. This was confirmed by sales employees, as some of them mentioned in their interviews, that the purpose of service
coaching was not clear yet as they had not find the time to focus on this kind of training.
suggestions are also taken into account. This part of the service coaching is therefore essential for client friendliness. It is however only a small part. Here, the question whether the
coaching should be provided by the customer managers to the sales employees also rises. The customer managers are responsible for the sales employees and their performance. Coaching by the customer managers seems therefore more logic.
A last observation that can be made concerning the training at Kappé is the fact that updates are often provided after work time which has a negative effect on the motivation of
employees. This was mentioned in the interviews of the sales employees. As schedules at Kappé are complex due to the long opening hours of the shops, planning these trainings at another time will be especially difficult. In addition, the fact that the sales manager is
especially motivated and enthusiastic in giving the updates is a compensation for the difficult work hours as she is able to stimulate the sales employees. This became very clear in the interviews with the sales employees as well as during my participation in the updates.
Results; As is outlined in the conceptual model, training is an essential variable leading to friendliness of employees. The content of the training, the availability and the timing must me appropriate for the training to have the desired effects. From the above we can conclude that several trainings are provided by Kappé to educate employees and provide them with
extensive product knowledge. However, little training focuses on sales knowledge and when concepts as client friendliness are mentioned, these are not described extensively. Besides training the service coaching is also for a great deal focused on product knowledge. The content, therefore, of the training of Kappé, focuses too much on product knowledge instead of sales knowledge and friendliness. The fact that the content of the training is not complete can reduce the friendliness of employees as is pointed out in the conceptual model.
In the next chapter suggestions will be provided in order to improve the friendliness of Kappé by using training.
Performance feedback
Description; The sales employees of Kappé receive performance feedback twice a year from their customer managers. In these sessions the input of both the customer manager and the sales employee is required, as became clear in the interviews with employees. The sales employees can react upon the feedback given and express their own opinion about the situation. Problems sales employees may face can also be expressed during these sessions. The sales employees receive a grade at these sessions which varies from not sufficient to great. These grades are based on several items. The employees are judged based on their productivity, their expert knowledge, their attitude towards customers and their loyalty, and additional tasks. The productivity of an employee is based on four variables namely; the effort of the employee to increase the turnover, the client friendliness, the effort to make the shop look good and the commerciality. Here, it is important to point out the fact that client friendliness has not exact the same meaning as in the Schiphol research. According to the performance feedback form of Kappé, friendliness is giving your attention to the client and helping him/her fulfils his/her needs. As we saw in the introduction, according to Schiphol, friendliness can be judged based on several items. Approaching the client when needed and welcoming the client where some of the items Schiphol used. These items did not score well, as described earlier on. Welcoming the client is not an item used in the feedback form of Kappé which seems odd as welcoming the client is an important part of client friendliness not only according to the research of Schiphol but also according to the literature as was pointed out in the theoretical framework.
Attitude of employees and loyalty is judged based on six variables; motivation, taking initiative, flexibility, collegiality, positive about change and responsibility. The last item, additional tasks, is about the willingness to work extra time and to execute additional tasks.
All the items described are not graded separately. An abstract about the performance of employees concerning each item is written by the customer manager. Based on these abstracts a total grade is given. The question rises if this is a reliable way of producing a total grade. This will be discussed further beneath.
Remarkable is also that the customer managers who provide the performance feedback are not always the ones who work with the sales employees. Because of the complexity of schedules at Kappé, as the shops are open for more than twelve hours a day, sales employees do often work with other customer managers than their own. These customer managers pass the information about sales employees to the responsible customer manager who eventually provides the feedback session. How this information is collected or passed on is not clear. No formal procedures which must be followed are known to be present. Since feedback has to be passed on it is imaginable that feedback is not as consistent and reliable as it would be when provided directly by the first customer manager. This is confirmed in the interviews with employees. The fact that the feedback provided is not always consistent is also confirmed in an interview with the training manager. Here it became clear that in some cases the grades employees receive during one year are not the same despite of the consistent performance of employees. In the theoretical framework it was pointed out that reliable and consistent feedback has a positive influence on satisfaction and therefore on client friendliness. Employees do also confirm this finding in their interviews as they say that unreliable
feedback which is not consistent according to them is a burden on their motivation and has a negative influence on their attitude in the shop. During the interviews with employees, it also became clear that the feedback sessions are often focused on the weaknesses of employees and hardly any compliments are made.
Results; As is described in the theoretical framework, performance feedback can lead to improved friendliness through commitment and job satisfaction (Baterman & Strasser, 1984; Mowday, Porter & Steers, 1982; Collier and Esterban, 2007; Ayers and Keith, 2007; Electric perspectives, 2006). To achieve this, feedback must be consistent and reliable and should be addressed continuously. Finally positive reinforcement is essential during feedback sessions and a consistent feedback measure is needed.
As is described above, performance feedback is provided to the sales employees by the customer managers. It became clear that the items of the performance feedback form of Kappé are not consistent with the Schiphol research. In the feedback form of Kappé welcoming the client and approaching the client when needed, are not mentioned although these items were of great importance for the research of Schiphol and the grades Kappé received in this research. The consistency of the feedback provided by Kappé is therefore not optimal as the term client friendliness has not exact the same meaning as in the Schiphol research. Furthermore, the reliability of the feedback is not as high as possible as the several items of the feedback form are not graded separately, as is mentioned above. The fact that feedback is passed on to other customer managers before addressed to sales employees also reduces the reliability and the consistency of the feedback. Especially as this happens without any formal procedures or forms.
Moreover, according to the sales employees of Kappé, the feedback focuses too much on weaknesses which leads to a decreased motivation and influences their attitude in the shop negatively. It seems thus that the performance feedback sessions which should stimulate employees and increase their friendliness and the service quality they offer, have often a negative impact on them and their client friendliness. This complies with the theoretical framework in which was pointed out that feedback has an effect on the commitment of employees and therefore on several organizational outcomes such as client friendliness.
Finally the feedback of Kappé is provided to employees only twice a year whereas literature describes that continuously feedback is essential for the motivation of employees. According to the literature (Brecher, 2006), and to the interviews with sales employees, coaching sessions will motivate and stimulate employees and will provide them an additional
probably leads to reduced motivation and friendliness. As regular feedback meetings have a positive influence on motivation and performance and therefore on the client friendliness of employees, this option will be further discussed in the next chapter.
To conclude, the consistency and the reliability of feedback in Kappé can be improved. Also, the content of the feedback can be adapted and the number of feedback sessions can be increased. A description of how these changes can be achieved will be given in the next chapter.
Non financial rewards
Description; In Kappé several non financial rewards are provided. Four times a year all employees receive a present which consists out of many products such as perfumes and other cosmetics. After updates presents are also given to the sales employees who followed the training.
During theme trainings presents are given during games and competitions. The theme trainings take place during work time and they already motivate employees as they provide much new knowledge. It is not clear therefore if presents are necessary. This was confirmed by the sales manager who states that sometimes too much non financial rewards are provided without any particular reason. Moreover, the presents in the theme trainings are not provided to all sales employees but only to the ones who win a competition. New employees who have less knowledge about products are therefore often the ones who do not win any presents. During the interviews with most sales employees it became clear that a small present to everyone would be more desirable.
Furthermore, sales employees receive a bag with cosmetics when they gain the targets set, during promotions of certain brands. As employees have to persuade clients to buy products in order to receive the rewards, customers must be satisfied. To achieve this, the friendliness of employees must be high as is described in the theoretical framework. Therefore these non financial rewards stimulate the client friendliness of employees.
Results; To conclude, Kappé offers several non financial rewards to the sales employees. Updates as well as promotions, birthdays and theme trainings contain presents. During the interviews with sales employees it became clear that the presents during updates stimulate and motivate them to follow the trainings. Besides, as the updates do not take place during work time presents are especially desirable. In general, all the non financial rewards provided by Kappé stimulate employees to stay within the company and motivate them to contribute to the turnover of Kappé.. Employees get motivated by the presents and it is expected that this will have a positive effect on their attitude in their shop and therefore their client friendliness. Because of the motivation they get out of the presents their attitude and the emotions they show in the shop are expected to be influenced in a positive way. This was confirmed by the sales employees during interviews.
Opportunity for career development
Description; As is already pointed out in the introduction, the opportunities for career development are minim in an organization like Kappé. As a retail and highly horizontal organization, employees have hardly any opportunity to grow in the company and to acquire more challenging functions. During the interviews there was no clear meaning about the influence of the few opportunities in career development on the motivation of employees. Some employees seemed to have no objection to the fact they can not grow in the company. However some found it an essential aspect which has a great impact on their motivation and their attitude in the shop. For some it even was a reason to search for new opportunities in another organization.
Results; The fact that several product trainings are provided in Kappé do stimulate employees to develop themselves and to keep acquiring new knowledge. This can form a compensation for the fact that changes in career are rare. However the fact that new knowledge is provided on a constant basis does make employees more valuable and more expensive to loose. Career development opportunities are therefore essential for certain sales employees to keep them stimulated and motivated. The fact that the opportunities are as minim can unmotivate
Acknowledgment of the importance of service
Description; In Kappé the awareness of the reduced client friendliness was low. During the interviews with the sales employees it became clear that employees had heard that something went wrong but not what and why. They were not aware of the Schiphol research and they had no idea the scores concerning the client friendliness were as low. This was also confirmed by the training manager. During my interview with the training manager it became clear that whereas she was aware of the reduced client friendliness she was not aware of the exact Schiphol research or which particular items scored low. The sales manager was aware of the Schiphol research and of the fact something had to be changed. The service coaching instead of the theme trainings was eventually the change that was implemented.
Results; In the theoretical background it was described, that just the acknowledgment of the fact that the client friendliness is beneath the required standards could be a stimulator for improving this variable. Employees who are aware of the problem and the effects of this problem will probably put more effort in improving their client friendliness by welcoming, smiling and thanking the client. However as became clear, in Kappé the awareness of employees concerning the reduced friendliness is not as high as should be.
A high awareness of the importance of friendliness is essential for improving the friendliness of employees, as is outlined in the conceptual model. Suggestions to raise this awareness will therefore be provided in the next chapter.
Additional sales
As described in the introduction, the effort of sales employees to make additional sales is insufficient according to the Schiphol research. The pilot study of eight mystery shoppers confirmed these finding. The mystery shoppers were given the advice needed but during a conversation there was no effort made to sell additional products. In the theoretical
framework it was made clear that additional sales have a positive effect on the turnover of an organization and that there are several ways to stimulate additional sales. It is essential to describe whether these ways are used by Kappé to increase the additional sales.
Sales techniques
employees during a conversation with a client, to persuade the client of buying additional products.
Concerning the payment equity this variable can be used during a conversation to make the client aware of the fairness of the price compared to the price of the competitors. At the Kappé shops prices are lower than the local market as the shops are in the duty free area. However, in trainings, especially the introductory training, it is pointed out not to focus on the price and not to mention the price if this is not requested by the client. This is put into
practice, as during the interviews with sales employees it was confirmed that employees do not mention the price during a sales conversation nor the price difference with the non duty free price. Furthermore, the lower prices could be mentioned on advertisements; this is however not done according to the non written rules of Schiphol. The duty free prices are written above the products together with the local price. Here the client can see the difference of prices and can be convinced of the fairness of the price. Here one observation has to be made. The local prices mentioned are not always correct. Most of the local shops have constant discounts of their own and most clients are aware of these reduced prices.
Reducing the uncertainty of a client is an additional factor which stimulates additional sales. As mentioned in the theoretical framework, the uncertainty of a client can be reduced by creating trust, providing more information, and relying on own or experiences of others. Providing more information can be achieved when the sales employee has sufficient product knowledge. As is described above, Kappé offers the sales employees several trainings which provide continue new knowledge. In addition, according to the Schiphol research, employees of Kappé have sufficient knowledge and can give the client the needed advice. We can thus assume that the sales employees of Kappé are capable of providing additional information about a certain product or brand. Concerning the creation of trust and the fact that employees may rely on own or others experiences to improve the additional sales, these are techniques that can be provided to employees by incorporating them in a sales training. At the moment employees are not aware of the importance of these variables. During the interviews none of the sales employees mentioned these variables when they were asked how additional sales could be improved.
their flights. Clients are often in a hurry, may have a jetlag or are not interested in extensive shopping at the moment. However there are always some clients who have to pass their time in the airport and can easily spend some additional time in the Kappé shops when served well. During the interviews it became clear that especially in one shop it is usually very busy and employees do not have the time to spend a lot of time with one client. Their goal is to help as much as possible clients instead of keeping one client for a longer duration in the shop. As a result, trying to make additional sales and to convince a client of buying more products is often not the main purpose of the sales employees. This contributes to the insufficient additional sales.
Results; As becomes clear sales employees of Kappé are not aware of the several sales techniques which can lead to additional sales. A higher awareness of the existence of these techniques and the knowledge of how to put these techniques into practice, should be attained in order to increase the additional sales. Also, Kappé is not especially focused onto practicing these techniques. For example, the organization does not focus on the payment equity whereas this tool can stimulate the additional sales and lead to increased turnover as is described in the theoretical framework. Suggestions concerning these techniques will therefore be provided in the next chapter.
Service quality
Description; Service quality consists out of different parts, as is outlined in the theoretical framework. Providing the customer with sufficient product knowledge as well as serving him/ her with a smile, welcoming him/her and approaching the client when needed, are essential for offering the highest quality possible. At the moment the service quality of the employees is sufficient concerning the product knowledge and the advices they offer. However the friendliness, which is also part of the quality of a service is too low. This becomes clear out of the Schiphol research as is described in the introduction.
insufficient. As we discussed in the theoretical framework and the paragraphs above, training can teach employees several sales techniques which can improve the service quality
perception of the client. Training that focuses on service quality and especially on friendliness and on additional sales is insufficient at Kappé. Service coaching partly focuses on the
friendliness of employees but it is questionable if this way of training has the needed effect. In addition, during the introduction training some focus lies on the service quality and on
friendliness and additional sales. As mentioned in the paragraph about training the concepts introduced where however not extensively described. The importance of additional sales was pointed out, however how to realize this was not described extensively. Some examples were given when asked for, and these are essential in stimulating employees to sell additional products but also in assisting them in how to achieve this.
Performance feedback
Description; In the paragraph about friendliness an extensive description of the current situation Kappé, concerning the performance feedback, is given. As was mentioned during interviews with employees, feedback of the customer managers tends to focus on the
weaknesses of sales employees instead of their strengths. This does not have a positive effect on the self efficacy of employees or their performance, according to the sales employees. Thus the negative feedback does not only have a negative impact on the friendliness of employees but also on their effort to make additional sales, as this is also part of their performance.
The feedback form of Kappé does judge employees based on their effort to contribute to the turnover of Kappé. This may be achieved through additional sales; however this could be mentioned clearer. Contributing to the turnover can also be achieved by helping as many clients as possible, however selling additional products to one client can result in higher revenues, higher share of wallet and higher customer value as mentioned in the introduction (Kumar, George and Pancras, 2008). Suggestions concerning the feedback system in Kappé will be made in the next chapter.
weaknesses of employees and ignore the strengths of sales employees during feedback sessions. Moreover the feedback form of Kappé is not as consistent as it could be as the item effort to create additional sales is forgotten. To make the form more reliable and consistent changes should be made. These will be discussed in the next chapter.
Marketing tools
Description; As is mentioned in the theoretical framework marketing tools are essential for improving the additional sales. Kappé uses some tools to improve the additional sales. A discount in the top ten of perfumes when buying more than one is one of these ways. In addition, at promotions of certain brands, clients receive a present when they spend a certain amount.
Results; Marketing tools can improve the additional sales as they make it easier for sales employees to sell more products to one client. The marketing tools of Kappé in order to improve the additional sales are severe as becomes clear above. Certainly other marketing tools can be used to improve the additional sales and to make it easy for sales employees to sell additional products to one client. These will be discussed in the next chapter.
Additional factors for friendliness and additional sales
It is important to notice that the factors mentioned in literature are not the only having an impact on the friendliness or additional sales of employees. At the moment Kappé faces a great shortage of sales employees which leads to unmotivated employees who cannot serve all the clients in the way they would like to. This became clear during the interviews with
employees. Due to the shortage, employees have less time to welcome all clients but also have less time to put effort in additional sales. The shortage does also make it difficult to find capable new employees. Therefore in May the requirements for hiring new employees were changed. Before May it was required that employees had experience in the branch and sufficient product knowledge. Since May this is not a requirement. The shortage problem is however viewed as temporary and Kappé is putting effort in resolving this issue.
these employees, their attitude towards the clients is not always as appropriate, as mentioned in the interviews with the sales employees of Kappé.
A report about the performance of temporary workers should be filled in daily by the customer managers. However this is not always put into practice according to the sales manager.
During the interviews with sales employees it became clear that temporary workers form an essential problem in their motivation and in the client friendliness of the shop. All sales employees interviewed mentioned that most of the temporary workers have not the
Conclusions and Suggestions
In the first chapters of this article it became clear that Kappé struggles with two essential issues namely the friendliness of sales employees and the additional sales. These two concepts are significant for a retail organization as they can lead to a higher service quality and a higher turnover for the company. As Kappé wishes to increase the turnover with 5% annually the additional sales and the turnover of Kappé should be improved, as was described in the introduction. The research question of this paper was therefore; how to improve the friendliness and the additional sales of employees in the Kappé shops, with the use of non financial human resource tools. Until now it was pointed out that several variables can improve friendliness and additional sales; training, awareness of the importance of service, performance feedback, non financial rewards and opportunities for career development are essential in order to stimulate the friendliness of employees. Focusing on the payment equity, reducing the uncertainty of the client and increasing the interpurchase time of the client, are some of the basic sales techniques which can be used in order to increase the additional sales. These sales techniques can be taught to employees though sales training as well as
implemented by Kappé. Besides these sales techniques marketing tools, performance feedback and service quality were also found to be essential for improving the additional sales. To improve all these variables and use them in the best way possible many human resource tools can be attained. Training should improve the product knowledge of employees as well as the sales knowledge in order to increase the service quality of Kappé. As the product knowledge of employees seemed to be sufficient more focus should be put into the sales knowledge and the sales techniques which can be used. Performance feedback should motivate employees and increase their self efficacy to stimulate the friendliness as well as the additional sales of employees. Career development opportunities should be increased to motivate and reduce the turnover of sales employees. Non financial rewards are also a human resource tool which has a positive effect on the friendliness of employees and is practiced exceptionally well by Kappé. Finally, marketing tools can increase the additional sales of Kappé. As was pointed out earlier, this variable is worth to mention although it is not a human resource tool.
how the variables described in the conceptual model can be used in a more productive way to improve the friendliness as well as the additional sales. Proposals will be made about how to improve the tools leading to increased friendliness and how to incorporate the techniques leading to additional sales.
Friendliness
As pointed out before, several non financial human resource tools can contribute to the friendliness of sales employees. The use of these tools by Kappé was described in the previous chapter. How these tools can be improved even more will be illustrated in this paragraph.
Training;
As is described in the conclusions, the content of the trainings of Kappé is too much focused on product knowledge. The great need for a sales training provided to groups of employees is therefore becoming clear. This training should focus on communication skills and on serving the client in the best way possible. As welcoming the client and approaching the client were items which did not score well according to the Schiphol research, the importance of these concepts should become clear in these sales trainings. Concrete examples should be provided to let employees know how they could welcome a client without becoming “pushy”. Role playing in order to practice these concepts is also an idea to make the training more practical and interesting for employees to follow. Also, since the training can be provided to groups the reach will be greater in a shorter time duration. The training could be provided by an external agency specialized in communication skills and sales knowledge.
Although sales training is essential, this kind of training should not be provided to all
employees! Sales employees with a great experience in the branch should not be obligated to follow the sales training as they probably already have the needed knowledge and experience to serve the customer in the best possible way. However as is mentioned during the interviews with sales employees, a sales training would be useful and educative for new sales employees as well as for the ones who would like to refresh their knowledge.
The importance of product knowledge for the client friendliness of employees is recognized in this research. Updated knowledge will help employees provide the best service quality
trainings should not be provided instead of product trainings. The updates and the theme trainings remain essential for sales employees and provide great motivation to them, as is confirmed in the interviews. Besides this, the branch requires constant updated knowledge which means that updates are especially valuable. Finally, as the requirements for hiring new employees have changed and new sales employees do not need to have product knowledge when hired, this knowledge should be offered to them while working for Kappé.
Thus, whereas sales trainings seems of great value for the employees of Kappé, product trainings should not be neglected either.
Performance feedback;
As is mentioned in the results, the items of the feedback form of Kappé are not consistent with the items the shops are judged on based on the Schiphol research. Therefore it seems logic to include the items, welcoming the client and approaching the client, in the feedback form. Including welcoming the client and approaching the client when needed in the feedback form, will probably lead to higher awareness of the importance of these items among the sales employees. Especially since their performance will be judged among others, on these items.
Furthermore the observation was made that the total grade employees receive, is not a result of grading all variables separately. The fact that a summary is made for each of the items and not a separate grade is given makes the total grade not as reliable. It seems reasonable to grade every item separately and to average these scores to receive the total grade. This is a solution to make feedback more reliable if Kappé wishes to keep giving grades to employees. However, during the interviews with sales employees it became clear that giving grades reduces their motivation as this way of feedback was considered rather “childish”.
A last rather important proposal concerning the feedback system of Kappé retail, is
implementing coaching sessions. This is essential as in these sessions formal grading will not take place. In addition, they will offer employees the opportunity to work on their
weaknesses, before the next performance feedback session will take place. For these coaching sessions however to be a success, customer managers must be trained into coaching. It is essential that the customer managers will be able to coach instead of passing on “one side” feedback. It is also significant that customer managers are trained into providing consistent feedback. As became clear above as well as in the precious chapter consistent feedback is not always provided to sales employees, which has a great negative impact on their motivation and performance in the shops. Furthermore the focus on coaching as well as performance feedback must not only lie on weaknesses but also on strengths. The items where employees perform well should also be discussed and more personal compliments should be made to stimulate employees and increase their performance.
Some coaching occurs at the moment, as is described in the description of Kappé. However this coaching is provided by the training managers and does not include all shops. It seems important that coaching is provided by the customer managers instead of the training
managers, as they are responsible for the sales employees. Coaching should also be provided to all employees.
Non financial rewards;
Kappé offers many non financial rewards, as is described in the previous chapters.
One suggestion can be made concerning the rewards offered in the theme trainings. Instead of offering presents when winning a quiz, a present could be offered at the end of the day. This way all employees will be content and new employees will not be disappointed. This reward does not need to be of great value as theme trainings occur during work time of sales
employees.
Opportunity for career development;
As is pointed out before, the opportunities for career development are minim in the shops of Kappé as this is a retail organization. It seems essential to find some solution to this, as the rare chances can lead to decreased motivation and reduced friendliness.
Out of all interviews, it became clear that customer managers spend a lot of time executing secondary tasks as for example taking care of the presenting list, of the stock and of the absences through illnesses. Due to this they spend less time in the shop motivating employees, which is the main purpose of their job. If the suggestion of implementing coaching sessions will be put into practice, this will also take time of the customer managers and they will face a time shortage. It would therefore seem reasonable to let some sales employees take over certain secondary tasks. Sales employees probably will become more motivated and enthusiastic as more responsibility is given to them. However this change of roles and
addition of tasks should be implemented carefully. Employees who are provided with the new responsibilities must be willing to execute these tasks and it must be clear that these
employees enjoy the new responsibilities. As was pointed out in the previous chapter, many employees are content with the situation as it is and are not willing to execute additional tasks. Therefore these employees should not be given greater responsibilities, as this will not lead to the desired results.
Acknowledgment of the importance of service;
As the awareness of employees concerning the reduced friendliness is low, it seems essential to point out to employees on which items of the Schiphol research Kappé scores low and what these items mean. The items employees score well should not be neglected as this will
Furthermore, as was described in the previous chapter the training manager was not aware of the exact Schiphol research during the interview. It seems important to show the exact results of these researches to employees who can play a significant role in improving these.
Therefore, better communication of exact results should in the future be achieved.
Additional sales
In the next paragraphs suggestions will be provided on how to stimulate the additional sales of Kappé.
Sales techniques;
Since in the former chapter it became clear that sales employees are not aware of the several sales techniques described, more focus should be put into these.
A sales training described in the paragraph about friendliness, could be useful in teaching employees how to create additional sales by using the techniques described above. In the sales training employees should become aware of the existing sales techniques, as well as the ways in which they can be used. Employees should be stimulated to focus more on the price
difference of the duty free shops and the local market. They should present the price of a product as an advantage as products are more expensive when purchased in the local market. Furthermore, employees should be taught how to reduce the uncertainty of a client. As is reported in the previous chapter employees already have the product knowledge needed to provide additional information to the client. Updates and theme trainings therefore remain essential for Kappé as product information is not only important for improved friendliness but also for creating additional sales. In addition, techniques such us relying on own or others experiences and creating trust must be incorporated in the sales training and employees should become aware of the effects of such techniques. Finally the last sale technique, increasing the interpurchase time, is difficult to apply as there is a shortage of sales employees. However employees should become aware of the fact that keeping one client satisfied and serving him/ her for a longer duration often produces more sales than helping more clients in a less
Service quality;
As the importance of service quality for creating additional sales has been pointed out many times, only a small part will be dedicated to this section. As sufficient training is dedicated to product knowledge, training focusing on improving the friendliness of employees and on creating additional scales should be added. This kind of sales training is described extensively above.
Performance feedback;
The need for more positive feedback became clear in the results section. This need can be fulfilled through coaching sessions as well as through the formal feedback sessions. Customer managers should focus more on the strengths of employees in order to improve their self efficacy. In addition, the feedback form of Kappé should include the item, effort to create additional sales, as the Kappé shops are judged based on this item according to the Schiphol research. Also, creating additional sales has several advantages as described in the
introduction. Therefore employee’s performance should be judged based on this item.
Marketing tools;
Some marketing tools Kappé uses are described in the former chapter. Additional marketing tools which can be used by Kappé are providing discounts on products which can be used for cross selling. For example when a cleansing treatment consists out of three parts, provide a discount for one or two products. This will make it easier for sales employees to convince the client of buying all three products at once. Cosmetics, especially skincare products do usually consist out of many steps which do not provide the needed results when purchased separately. As purchasing three products is usually viewed as being too expensive, clients often choose not to buy any product. By providing discounts on interrelated products customers will be stimulated to buy more products at once. As a result additional sales will be increased and easier to achieve.
Additional tools to improve additional sales;
employees are asked to fill in products which can be used for cross selling of a particular product, could be incorporated in trainings.
Moreover in the product info journal of Kappé, which is released every two months and where new products are described, more examples of products which can be used for cross selling could be provided. As a result employees will be more aware of the products which can be used for improving their additional sales. This was confirmed by sales employees during the interviews.
A final rather important tool which can be used to stimulate additional sales is a cosmetics work place where customers can actually see how the make up looks on them. This will make it easier for sales employees to show a customer more additional products and will also make the client stay longer in the shop. The positive effect such a work place probably will have, was confirmed by the sales employees during interviews.
Additional factors for friendliness and additional sales
As is described in the previous chapter the shortage of employees forms an essential problem for improving the friendliness and additional sales of Kappé. The requirements of hiring new employees have therefore been reduced. Products knowledge is not a must any more.
Motivation plays a greater role at the moment. Although this is needed to compromise the shortage as soon as possible, employees should still be selected in a careful way. If employees have no knowledge at all, the question rises how they will be able to serve the customer in the best way. Here again it becomes clear that updates and theme training are significant to guard the service quality of Kappé.
