This is Jane…
Jane works for Doggy Days, a day care and boarding facility for dogs, as a retail assistant and animal care attendant. Jane is responsible for providing customer service, processing retail transactions, maintaining stock, assisting with providing health care as well as feeding, watering and walking the dogs. She also regularly provides clients and team members with information about products, services and individual animals.
Is it difficult to work out what information someone needs?
Most of the questions from clients are pretty basic –what time we close; whether we sell a particular brand of food, what services we provide for long-term boarders; things like that. If a staff member is asking about an animal, they are also usually basic questions – how much food it needs, when was its last parasite treatment, and how long is it boarding for.
Sometimes, though, a client wants advice about the most suitable product or service for their dog, instructions for how to use an item, or has questions about safety. The more complicated the question, the harder it is sometimes to know exactly what information the client needs. I find, I usually end up asking them more questions than they ask me, just to figure out exactly what it is they want to know!
I usually end up asking about their dog; the breed, how old it is, what sort of house or outdoor space they have, etc. to make sure whatever product or service they are asking about it suitable for their animal. I will also politely ask how much money they are willing to spend because there can be a big difference in quality between the more expensive and cheaper items.
If you don’t already know the answer, how do you find the information?
We have a lot of products for sale and offer quite a large range of services. I often don’t know the answer off the top of my head. But we have an excellent database for all our products with prices, different sizes that are available, targeted breeds or sizes of dogs and so on. If I can’t find the information there, I tend to look it up online. I try to use the manufacturer’s website for instructions or use or safety information.
If my supervisor or another experienced staff member is available, I will ask them. They will either know the information or know where I should go to look for it. The staff here are really helpful like that.
What are the key things to remember when providing information to clients and team members?
To provide it as quickly as possible and to be accurate. It doesn’t matter if I’m providing information to a client or a staff member; quicker is always better.
If a staff member asks about an individual animal, it is usually easy enough to stop what I’m doing and look up the record on the computer straight away if I can’t answer them off the top of my head. But it is important not to rush! At one point, we had three chocolate Cavoodles named Ollie in boarding at the same time! It was really easy to mix them up, so I got into the habit of scanning their microchips before doing anything with them.
Clients also appreciate me giving them the information they want straight away. If I have to look something up and it takes me a little while, I offer to call or email them the information later so they don’t have to stand around waiting. If I do that, I always make sure to contact the client before the end of that shift. Most clients like me to email or SMS them Internet links so that they can look at them properly in their own time.
How do you record what information you have provided?
I usually only make a record when I provide information to clients. In most cases, I make a brief note in their file about what was discussed, the date and add the hyperlink or the name of the pamphlet I referred to.
It makes it easier when the client comes back. I can ask them whether the information I provided was useful and check if they have any other questions. I can also leave notes for other staff if I am not available the next time the client comes in.
