Customer Service Revisited

Every business owner wants to sustain and grow their business and every business sustains and grows by keeping and acquiring more customers - that’s the bottom line.  The way that every business goes about 

trying to achieve this may differ.  However, there is nothing more important for any business than stellar customer service.  Simply put, without customer service there will be no customers.  So, if every business knows the importance of customer service, then why do some businesses have less than stellar customer satisfaction feedback?  The key is to latch onto your customers.  Don't just meet their needs, anticipate them.  Don't wait for them to tell you there's a problem, go out and ask them if there are any problems.  They are your most important and accessible resource.  Every word of personal feedback they give you is worth a million faceless questionnaires.

In this digital age, people are connected more than ever and information could spread around the world in a matter of minutes.  Customer reviews, good or bad, could greatly affect a business in one way or another.  The statistic remains that 90 percent of people dissatisfied with the service never return to the business.  Only 4 percent of customers will make a complaint and how these customers are treated when they made the complaint affects whether they will return.  Customers will talk to their friends and families about their experience, whether positive or otherwise.  Also, we know that people are more likely to emphasize negative experiences and remember bad experiences longer.

The fact is most customers who complain don't really want their money back, they want products or services that work the way they're supposed to.  Customers want someone who will listen to them and fix problems that arise.  Rather than looking at complaining customers as a pain in the neck, reset your mindset and see a golden opportunity: the chance to improve your service, product and image.  Those customers who take the time to tell you when something is wrong are blessings in disguise and you have one opportunity correct this with the customer.  Listen carefully to their concerns and go the extra mile to satisfy them.  It isn't enough that you think you've done all you can, the situation is only corrected when the customer thinks that you have done all you can.  The businesses that are successful know that it’s not what you can do, it’s what you are willing to do, that separates them from their competitors.

Mobile Devices: Ruggedized vs. Consumer

Mobility is everywhere these days.  Here are some things to think about when you are considering mobile. 
There are two basic types of mobile devices to consider:  ruggedized and consumer.  Each has its own benefits and drawbacks depending on where it will be used, what it will be used for and by whom.  The price is the most common point to consider – ruggedized devices will cost more to purchase than consumer devices.  Depending on the criticality of the application, the environment, and who will be using the device the ruggedized unit’s reliability may far outweigh the short term cost to purchase.  Plus, ruggedized devices offer a maintenance plan.

Consumer devices will almost always cost less to purchase and generally have a shorter training period to learn to operate.  It is also possible to leverage shoppers’ devices so the investment in the consumer device will essentially be zero and with low risk.  When using consumer devices the protocol should be such that store personnel do not handle them to prevent accidental drops or other damage.  In some cases, another benefit to consider about consumer devices is that they may use a more cutting edge technology, more so than standardized ruggedized units.

Places to use mobile devices in your store:
Payments, Price Checking, File Maintenance, Frequent Shopper, Advertising, Deli Ordering, Shopping Lists, Line Busting, DSD Receiving, POS management, Picking Orders, Inventory Lookup, Special Ordering, Product Information, and others.

Creekside Co-op Is Open For Business

As of November 7, 2012, CreekSide Co-op Market in Elkins Park, PA opened its doors for business.  The opening of the store was the culmination of community support to bring a grocery store back to   
the center of town.  For 40 years, that center was called Ashbourne Market, a vital and vibrant grocery that drew people from the region as well as the neighborhood.

Ashbourne was sold in 2000 and the city center was never the same.  Since its demise, most of the businesses around it had gone too.  Some have survived, like the Frame Shop, whose owner had been counting the days until something would bring traffic past their front door.  To welcome the co-op, they led an army of volunteer knitters to jacket nearby parking meters with yarn cozies.  Needless to say the store opening was embraced with open arms.

This full service store includes everything you would expect – produce, seafood, meat, dairy, frozen and deli.  There is an extensive selection of local products from a 100-mile radius around the store while other items are prepared on site.  Also, the Market has a prepared foods section called “Ashbourne Favorites” – “bringing back the best of the past and pairing it with the best of the future.”

CreekSide Co-op installed STCR's SMS store system to help manage ordering and receiving of merchandise while handling the Co-op membership.

Price Checkers Enable & Enhance Customers' Experience

Price checkers are a very important piece to a successful supermarket; they have been known to improve customer service and enhance the customer experience.  Implementing price checkers gives

retailers the power of self-service in every aisle or department for their customers.

 This provides help for customers no matter their location in the store.  In general, people do not like to have to ask for help.  If a customer has to ask for a price it becomes a hassle and most of the time this will result in them putting the item back.  Having price checkers available for customers gives the convenience to check prices of items themselves.  This, in turn, allows cashiers to concentrate on checking out customers quickly.

STCR Inc. has done a lot of research and is now selling the new Symbol MK500 price checker.  The MK500 is very compact, easy to install and use for both retailer and customer.  The durability of these machines removes worry about the potential for damage.  If you are interested in purchasing these units, please call a STCR sales representative at (607) 757-0181 or email us at sales@stcr.com.

Be "Findable" and Noticeable to Customers

In today’s world of search engines, research tools, customer reviews, and other media tools it is getting more and more difficult for businesses to get noticed by potential customers.  The following

are a few tips to increase the chances of being noticed and remembered!
 

1.  Nail your brand – You have to know who you are and why you stand out from your competitors before you can try and attract customers.

2.  Connect at the customer’s “pain point” – Understand where customers “feel the pain” and market to them products and services that will help alleviate these pains.

3.   Don’t always be selling – Don’t just contact your customers when you want to sell them something, instead, make sure you are a trusted presence by providing e-mails or newsletters with valuable information more frequently than you sell.

4.  Get physical – Opportunities to advertise are ALL around you, don’t rely on “online” marketing and social media to be the only way of meeting prospective customers.

5.  Become an expert – Speak and write for business groups often.  By getting your name and your   business’ name out there it will help focus your company’s message and makes you an obvious “go to” in your field.

6.  Compare yourself to the big brand – Choose your biggest competitor and advertise how your company is different (and better!) than your largest competitor.

7.  Connect to a cause – Pick a cause that is truly important to you and do charity drives, donate, or volunteer for your cause of choice.  Not only does this give you a chance to give back to the community but it also gets your name out there.

Backup and Recovery Plans for POS

By now, hopefully the recovery from the effect of super storm Sandy is almost complete for most people and businesses.  Sandy is yet another reminder of how vulnerable we are to natural disasters.  Past STCR Newsletter articles highlighted the importance of having a backup and recovery plan for your POS system.  With the recent super storm, it is worth it to bring this topic to attention again. 

For starters, it is very important to have a backup routine for your mission critical systems.  POS controllers and servers are such mission critical machines.  Some systems have automated backup routines and some require manual processing.  Either way, the backup routine should be done at minimum on a weekly basis.  Then the backup media should be verified and removed from the store.  This will ensure that the machines and the backup media are not exposed to the same adverse impact.

Secondly, you should have redundant methods of processing electronic payments.  A common method is using dual high-speed lines from different providers.  Another method is to utilize a wireless signal as a backup connection to the Internet.  The phone line is a third option that can be utilized.  Besides these communication methods, we highly recommend having a stand-alone device to process payments in the event that the POS controller or server is not operational.

Lastly, an important device to have is the UPS (Unlimited Power Supply).  Most UPS devices have two sides: one side of plugs with surge protection only and the other side with surge protection and battery backup.  In case of a power outage, it is important to only plug in the mission critical devices to the battery backup side to prolong the battery life.  The purpose of the UPS is really to provide enough power to complete and save works in progress before properly powering down the devices.  Regularly checking the health of the batteries and replacing batteries that are out of useful life is an important and often neglected routine.

These steps are just part of a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that each retailer should have.  One resource to go to is www.ready.gov.  This website provides a wealth of resources and information that you could incorporate to suit your needs and your comfort level of preparedness as well as the recovery process.

Know Your Network

A store’s network is crucial to the success of its daily operation.  The dictionary defines network as “a system containing any combination of computers, computer terminals, printers, audio or visual display devices or telephones interconnected by telecommunication equipment or cables used to transmit or receive information.”  In short, it’s how all of the computer equipment in your store is connected together.

The most common form of network today is Ethernet.  It combines Ethernet cables and devices called hubs, routers, and switches to connect devices to each other.  The cables vary in color but tend to look like over-sized phone jacks.  These wires will connect from the equipment to a port on the back of the hub, switch, or router.  This allows all of the devices plugged into it to “talk” to each other.  You can also chain these devices to each other, so that a computer plugged in to one can communicate with a different computer plugged in to another network device.  This is the basic format of an Ethernet network.

 Most of the common hubs and switches today have indicator lights on the front for each respective port in the back that the cables plug in to.  A green light will commonly indicate the device plugged in to it is on the network, and a blinking light means there is activity on that line.

 It is good practice to label the source of each cable in the back of the hubs, switches and routers.  This way if you are experiencing a problem with one particular component that may be network related, you will know exactly how it’s cabled into the network without having to trace everything.  It can also be half the battle simply knowing what these devices look like and where they are located.

 Take the time to know your network.  It could be the difference in minimizing high impact downtimes due to network cabling or devices issue.