I was talking with a client recently regarding customer service and how to exceed customer expectations, and was reminded of a lesson I learned from my father many years ago.
My Dad owned a TOPS supermarket franchise in Western New York; his was one of approximately 50 stores. There were many years when his store was #1 in the chain when it came to profit per square foot.
How did he do it?
Primarily, I believe the answer lies in the way he viewed repeat shoppers . . . people who did their weekly shopping at his store, which generated the bulk of volume. When he saw a person at the check out counter, he didn't see someone buying $100 worth of products. He actually saw a $50,000 customer in the form of a person who had the potential of spending $100 per week for 10 years. Whether they became that 10 year loyalist depended upon how they were treated week in and week out.
He went on to observe that a shopper would casually wonder through the store filling their basket, checking items off of their list as they progressed. They were in no hurry and would often stop to talk with friends and neighbors along the way. However, when they were finished and headed for the checkout counter, they wanted out as fast as possible; no more leisure and casual conversation . . . "IT'S TIME TO GO."
He clearly understood the "IT'S TIME TO GO" mood and played to it big time. All employees understood the importance of doing everything possible to help the shopper exit the store as quickly as possible including helping them load their cars. Stocking shelves and store cleaning were done at night so that ALL employees were available during prime shopping hours to converge on the FRONT of the store and assist customers who had made the decision, "IT'S TIME TO GO"
This focus created a customer WOW factor that was the primary contributor to My Dad's store being the most profitable in the chain year after year.
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3 comments:
Great point, Mike! Positive WOW should be every customer-touching person's goal. I might add that bad news travels faster, longer and further than good news, but as long as we're totally focused on positive WOW, the bad gets handled.
Nice story and post.
During college I worked for SouthWest airlines. At the time their one of their internal slogans was "Positively Outrageous Customer Service": they wanted us to go over and beyond to help people. THAT sort of thing creates LOYALTY, long term, in my opinion. Saving $50 on a flight might attract people, being taken care of will retain them as customers.
A good friend, boss and colleague of mine taught me this motto: "Under- promise and over-deliver." ie: exceed people's expectations. I've always found that to be good advice.
And really aren't we all each others "customers" in some way, shape or form?
Great story, and a completely timeless lesson. I'm going to venture a guess, though, that back in those days, someone buying $100 worth of groceries at one time might have been pretty unusual?
I have a lesson from my dad as well, in the form of a quote that really says the same thing. Paraphrased, he said that if customers feel good about us and our products, they are much more likely to forgive our errors, and far LESS likely to allow a competitor to displace us.
The real key is figuring out how to make customers feel good about us in the manner that provides the most benefit to both of us!
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