Retail

Winning Customers

Cha-ching! Customer Service Enhancing Capabilities Keep The Cash Registers Ringing

Retail has undergone a drastic transformation over the years. The industry’s evolution from brick and mortar stores to online retailers has made the marketplace highly competitive forcing retail establishments to focus on differentiation techniques for building brand loyalty to win over and keep customers. This increased competition has retailers across the globe modernizing their business strategies to include IP communications technology use to positively affect corporate image, customer service, business operations, employee productivity and costs.

Winning the Battle For Customers With UC

One of the most important tools for communicating internally with employees and externally with customers is the phone system. VoIP systems now integrate unified communications (UC) to offer retailers, of all sizes, more productivity enhancing and cost saving capabilities than ever before. UC effectively merges voice, data, video, chat, presence and mobility applications onto a single network platform and offers collaboration solutions to enhance the bottom line and customer service. From single storefronts to national chains, volume discounters, kiosks and online stores, retailers alike are turning to Zultys for affordable, innovative multi-site, contact center and UC/mobility solutions for attracting, servicing and retaining customers.

Rewards of Using UC in Your Retail Establishment

Built using SIP open standards, the Zultys MX series of IP phone system with UC seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Outlook and other retail/inventory/CRM management systems to streamline procedures and move towards better organizational effectiveness. A fully-featured Zultys solution is all retailers need to implement a customized solution for a distributed workforce comprised of multiple store locations, remote offices, mobile workers, call centers, etc. Implementing Zultys cost-effective IP-based UC solutions delivers a quick return on investment (ROI) along with these other benefits:

Improved communications using robust telephony/call center solutions

The Zultys IP PBX comes equipped with all the advanced telephony features to improve employee and customer communications including:

Incoming calls answered with an auto attendant/IVR system projects a consistent corporate image and gets customers where they need to go, fast. This eliminates long hold times and misdirected calls and more. Custom greetings can be made for each retail location to convey directions, hours, information, sales and promotions. Calls can be programmed to reach a live person during the day while after-hour calls can be left in a specific voice mailbox. Effective call handling reduces frustration, which in turn enhances customer experience
When integrated with Microsoft Outlook as well as retail management systems, accessing customer contact information and databases improves productivity, as does the ability to set up customized notifications on inventory or Point of Sale (POS) issues for greater productivity and better customer service.
4-digit network dialing saves time and money and improves communication across multiple locations
Call pickup ensures calls are answered properly and allows retail stores to define pickup groups by grouping extension together. Any phone in the building can be used to answer a call that is ringing on another extension within the designated pickup group
Ensure accessibility with Find me/Follow me; remote access to voice mail; visual voice mail, text messaging and IM
Integrate with Microsoft Outlook and send a voice mail message over e-mail, change phone settings, and retrieve voice mail messages with the click of a mouse
When customer service issues and discrepancies arise, call recording helps ensure employees are offering a high level of customer service to callers

Exceptional customer service for building brand loyalty

Utilizing and customizing the IP PBX with UC let retailers distinctively differentiate their brand for customer loyalty. Customers remember and return for repeat purchases based on service that go above and beyond to make the experience rewarding. The phone system plays a pivotal role in customers receiving responsive service when calling, making inquires and placing orders. Calls into call centers, for example, can use customized scripts for upselling. Retailers need to leverage UC to aid in communication and help the customer get the answers they need to quickly capture the sale.

Presence, collaboration and mobility tools for increased employee productivity

UC improves staff performance instead of wasting time and increasing employee frustration with an outdated phone system. Incorporating and customizing collaboration tools into the business streamlines operations, saves employees time, motivates employees and fosters better customer service. Real-time collaborative tools make it easier for retailers to manage multiple stores, reach employees wherever they are, at anytime, and hold daily meetings and employee training sessions. Up-to-date information is stored and available to all areas of the business for quick decision-making and customer service like inventory, price checking, POS, etc.

Web and audio conferencing reduces travel and connects employees with customers and colleagues, at anytime, from any location, for real-time problem resolution, customer service and better decision-making.
Employees can move around the facility and stay in contact with customers using wireless DECT phones
Employee safety is heightened with ability to use cordless and mobile phones when moving around the facility or in unsafe environment
Find me/follow me makes employees reachable at all times
Cordless phones eliminate overhead paging in larger retail stores

Reduced IT and operational costs

IP delivers a flexible, distributed network where costs to purchase and maintain have plummeted, saving precious IT and operational expenses. Previously, retailers had to purchase and connect separate voice mail, ACD, automated attendant systems in addition to the phone system. The Zultys MX series of IP PBXs combines all these functionalities, reducing physical space to house these systems while eliminating capital investment and maintenance hassles. Other cost savings include:

One affordable IP PBX is perfect for a dispersed, mobile workforce
One system can handle communications and streamline operations across multiple locations
Long distance fees are eliminated
Moves, adds and changes of IP phones can be done in-house; reducing outside IT service fees
Costs associated with processing POS credit card transactions are reduced using IP vs. older analog network
Cost to maintain and obtain parts for older equipment often exceeds the cost to invest in newer IP technology with more functionality
Zultys solutions are affordable, integrate with legacy systems for investment preservation and are scalable, allowing the VoIP system to grow in the future

Zultys – The All-In-One UC Solution

UC is the glue that holds all communications and collaborative media together — voice, video, chat, data, messaging, mobility and presence — on a single IP PBX platform. Retailers that integrate Zultys UC solutions into their business processes are able to stay on top of multi-location operations and connect with employees wherever they are, at anytime to: enhance communication at every level of the purchase cycle, create competitive differentiation, up employee productivity, enhance customers’ shopping experience and drive brand loyalty.