UK. Danish jewellery brand Pandora has rewarded a member of its frontline sales staff, Bruce Wear, at Birmingham Airport for delivering excellent customer service.
Wear scored 100% in Pandora’s 2015 mystery shopping programme. It was just the third time a perfect score has been achieved in travel retail.
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A perfect score: Bruce Wear is congratulated by Pandora Retail Operations Director Group Export and Travel Retail Andrea Lancaster and Pandora Vice President of Travel Retail Julian Mullins after his award |
The achievement was celebrated at Birmingham Airport on 30 October where Wear received an award and an invitation to visit Pandora’s crafting facilities, Pandora Production Thailand, in November.
Pandora Vice President of Travel Retail Julian Mullins said: “Customer service is at the heart of the Pandora brand and I am proud of Bruce for giving outstanding service to our customers. It is our third 100% mystery shopping result in travel retail and we hope to have more next year.”
As part of its effort to raise customer service standards, Pandora regularly enlists mystery shoppers who evaluate its sales associates in both the domestic and travel retail markets. Two ‘waves’ are held a year, each spanning a three-month period, with two visits per wave.
World Duty Free Category Buying Manager Luxury and Fashion UK Moyra Race said: “Bruce’s understanding of the Pandora brand and his customer service skills are first class and he is a very worthy winner of this year’s Mystery Shopping Award from Pandora. The store team and the World Duty Free business as a whole are extremely proud of his achievement.”
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Birmingham Airport’s Pandora store team and World Duty Free are “extremely proud” of Bruce Wear’s 100% score |
Pandora Retail Operations Director Group Export and Travel Retail Andrea Lancaster heads the training team for global travel retail. “It is absolutely amazing to see another one of our staff scoring 100% at mystery shopping,” she said. “This shows that we are a truly global brand offering the same customer experience at our airport stores as you receive in your local store.
“Staff members are evaluated based on the “˜Pandora Way of Selling’, a three-step sales process that forms part of their training and which all customers have to be led through when they enter Pandora stores. To accomplish this, staff must apply the three steps – Embrace, Unlock and Lock. This process begins from the moment the customer comes into the shop,” Lancaster explained.
“From how customers are acknowledged – for example, they have to be greeted or smiled at within the first 30 seconds upon entry, even if staff members are busy – all the way to the finalisation of the sale; how the product is packed; and whether customers are thanked and asked to “˜like’ Pandora’s Facebook page or join the Pandora Club.”
Pandora offers extensive sales training to its staff in 9,000 points of sale in more than 90 countries around the world. These include staff in both Pandora owned and operated stores and stores run by its retail partners and franchisees.
To supplement face-to-face training, the company has developed Pandora on Demand (POD), a customised e-learning portal where all employees can access training courses and learn more about the company. Pandora noted the POD’s success in domestic markets and its potential for distance learning in travel retail.
With consumers becoming increasingly conscious of the ethical impact of the things they do, buy and support, the company said it is important that frontline staff are capable of educating and informing customers about the source of the materials used in Pandora jewellery. Other important factors include health and safety conditions in the company’s production facilities, and the environmental impact of its activities.
Pandora Vice President Group CSR Klaus Teilmann Petersen said: “We believe that CSR and our aspiration to offer high quality and genuine jewellery go hand in hand. We want our staff to be able to tell our consumers that they can actually trust the Pandora brand. Our aspiration is not only to be recognised as a socially responsible brand but also to help move the whole jewellery industry in that direction.”
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Bruce Wear receives his award and a trip to Thailand from Pandora Vice President of Travel Retail Julian Mullins |
