Simple & Easy

Did you know that your own customers may leave you without telling just because doing business is even a little bit harder than your competition?  Confession is good for the soul, so let’s use me as an example.  Every customer has their priorities…price, friendliness of business, how important you make them feel, etc.  My top two are friendliness of the employees and convenience.  Make the gas pump ask me to punch fewer buttons to get gas and I’m there!  Let me buy from your store without up selling me at the counter or requiring my phone number and zip code at the register and I’m yours.  🙂  Make the line move a little faster, make the online buying process just a touch simpler to figure out, or make your parking lot easier to access from the street and I will pay your price, really! 

I’m a big fan of Publix.  They are always super friendly to my family and they never let me wait in line.  They are quick to open a new register just to get me out a little faster…my kind of people!  But then look at the Sam’s Club biz model:  I have to pay to join, have to have my card to get in the store, have to get my card back out to pay at the register, and then have to show my receipt to the guy at the exit to get out.  I’m not slamming Sam’s…they go for people who like to buy in bulk and save on price; but it’s too complicated for me.  Another example is the gas pump…many of them cut me off at $75 of gas…why is that?  And if you get a pump that pumps slowly, it really can double the time it takes to fill up.

Enough whining, right?  The good news is that you don’t always have to give up profits in order to make things just the slightest bit easier.  Check out this article about how Amazon added an extra $300,000,000 in sales just by making the online buying process a little easier.  Ask a friend to be a new customer for you and to walk through your process with “new eyes”.  What things could you change just to make your product or service just 5% easier to use?  You’ll be amazed at the results!

 

“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”  ~ Muhammad Ali

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Publix rocks when it comes to customer service!

  Publix is one of my favorite customer service stories.  Want to know the difference between smoked turkey, cajun turkey, & oven roasted turkey?  Well, they’ll be cutting you slices of it faster than you can say Boar’s Head.  Want to win a $5 bet with your buddies?  Bet them $5 that the next worker you pass in a Publix, whether the worker is facing you or not, will stop to ask you how you are doing and if they can help.  You’ll win every single time.  Just try to tip the guy for putting your groceries in the car for you on a rainy day…nope, they won’t take it.

I once got in line and had to wait behind maybe two customers in line to check out before me.  It was like a fire alarm went off and managers were coming out of every door to come open another line so that I would not have to wait. 

My favorite Publix story is when a new one opened in my neighborhood in Cool Springs (Franklin) TN.  It was my first experience with Publix and I knew they were trying hard to provide great customer service.  So I went to their corporate site to shoot them a quick email to brag on them a little.  The next day,  I was at home with my family and in laws, when the MANAGER OF THE STORE KNOCKED ON MY FRONT DOOR TO GIVE US FLOWERS AND A ROTESSORIE CHICKEN JUST TO SAY THANKS.  Two days later, I got a handwritten note from the asst mgr.  Crazy.

I’m totally spoiled now and will always be a Publix fan.