As owners and management in family owned independent food retailers personal service can be a tremendous opportunity to differentiate from local competitors. Small grocers like the IGA ad seen to your left have long been known for building close personal relationships with their customers and knowing them by name. Growing up in the farmers markets between Rochester and Buffalo NY I made it a point to know my customers by name. Names are important but so are their needs. Rick bought all my less than perfect cantaloupes. Nancy bought a full basket of my best fresh produce. Bruce would definitely want any farm fresh cauliflower or broccoli. This allowed me to build a personal relationship. One great way to start this process is to wear a name tag. This starts the process because customers know who they are buying from. I also asked my customers what their names were and began a relationship. I would try to call them by name during each visit. This let them know their business was very important to me. Let's continue to look at a number of other factors that influence delivery of great world-class customer service. |
11.) Product Selection
In the days of sku rationalizations and honing down the varieties for great profitable business decisions many retailers have minimized selection. Choice is still important to customers who have many different tastes and preferences. Keeping enough offerings so customers don't feel you're making the decision for them is important. Many stores are known for their many options. Think about how increased choices could help specific departments in your store. I often encourage my clients to bring in a few neat unique items, in the alium category adding a special Music or Russian Red Garlic could capture the interest of a customer. My rule of thumb is to set a par level of unique items you'll have in any section and sell through the inventory before bringing in another different item. This minimizes shrink while presenting new and different items to keep things interesting.
12. Carry-Out Service
Rochester NY based Wegmans has always been know for their "Helping Hands Service." Customers can pay at the register and then proceed to their cars. Pulling up to a special location in front of the store, groceries are then hand loaded into their trunk by a focused service team. Buehler's Fresh Foods in Ohio has a unique conveyor system which gently glides groceries to a covered drive thru lane where they are loaded into vehicles. For other stores this idea is as simple as offering a shopping cart, in either case helping customers lug around heavy bulky items can make it much easier to by more. Also consider managing the task of getting shopping baskets to convenient locations throughout the store.
13. Banana & Apple Boxes & More!
The infamous fresh produce department banana and apple boxes are a highly valuable opportunity to make your customers happy. During my time in fresh produce departments I have seen many customers request boxes for a son moving to college or possibly just organizing the attic. These boxes are even traded on the underground market...well kind of ..I've seen them sold for nearly a dollar each at an auction. We regularly had customers calling in and asking us to save them. If you commit to doing it make sure you follow through. There's nothing worse then promising to hold an item for a customer and then dropping the ball. That's one good way to provide horrible service instead.
14. The Extra Mile
Let's talk about great service. Not good service, great service. Many stores like Nordstroms have stories about the one department manager that went over the river and through the woods, after hours, in the rain, up hill both ways to deliver a pair of socks needed for an out of town guest who lost his suit case and needs them for a business meeting tomorrow. I've seen this happen first hand when a produce manager drove 70 miles to the warehouse to obtain long stem strawberries for a personal chef / caterer in Buffalo who had been promised this special item for their client's dinner party. These are the really fun stories and the ones fun to pull off if you have the right caring people on your team. Empower your team to go the extra mile. Let them know you'll back them up if within reason and at their best discretion they do what it takes to satisfy customers. Stew Leonard Jr. shares a story about a woman who worked with the catering department to put together a food order for entertaining. The chef insisted she increase the order to ensure there was enough food. Sure enough, during the party she placed a frantic call to Stew Leonards to request any possible help they could offer. Their team jumped into action and drove to her house delivered a tray of food immediately to her surprise. She asked how much she owed, and the employee said, "Maam, this one's on us." Stew was so proud of his team, but jokingly said, "I wouldn't have told her to do it for free!" Go the extra mile, but protect your gross profit in the process!
15. Phone Answering
This ones simple: don't answer your phone like a moron. Be genuine, attentive, and get people to the right individuals who can actually answer their questions. Consider the wait time as if you were waiting yourself.
Use professional language and be friendly!
Use professional language and be friendly!