Last Saturday I noticed that we had very little food left for our little Yorkshire Terrier, Boston – yes that is right we named our 3 pound ferocious dog after a city that we love. My journey on this hot (102 degree) summery day was to go to a pet store and buy our little hungry pup a 20 pound bag of Science Diet, small breed, small bites food. Of course walking into a retail store these days can be a frightening experience for a guy who doesn’t know exactly what he is looking for. I wanted this to be a very quick trip, so I could focus on getting back into my pool with my kids.
Much to my surprise the second I walked into the store I was greeted with not only a big hello but a question of, “How can I help you?” Of course having only been in the store for 10 seconds, I said yes I can use all the help I can get. Janet, the customer service person, knew exactly what I needed, escorted me to the exact isle, pointed out the product and was so nice she would have carried it to the front of the store for me if I wanted that service as well. Being a big strapping guy, I declined that part of service. As we were looking at the product, Janet mentioned that they had a special promotion and handed me an instant $5.00 off coupon and also told me that the cashier would give me a receipt that would have detailed instructions on how to either mail in or go online and register for another $5.00 coupon. Being quick with numbers I upgraded to the 40 pound bag of food for a great deal and basically for a few extra dollars had enough food for little Boston until 2008.
Forgive me if I am still a little skeptical at this point to see if all this would come together. Too many times I have heard stories of friends who NEVER got refunds and got extremely frustrated with the entire process. When I got to the cashier, Samantha not only instantly deducted the first $5.00 coupon and restated word for word the exact same thing that Janet said 5 minutes earlier. I then drove home, jumped in the pool, and an hour later went online to register for my other $5.00 coupon. I must admit it worked like a charm. The registration process was simple and in fact they sent me a follow up email within 24 hours with the status of my refund and thanked me for my business.
- How many times do you go into a retail store any day of the week and can’t find a person to help you?
- How many times are you charged the wrong price at the register?
- How often do you get an answer of “I don’t know” from someone who works at a store?
I almost forgot: the cashier also asked me if we were part of their frequent buyer program. Before I could answer she said let me have your phone number and I can check right away. Two seconds later I was pleased to hear that we are part of their program so not only did I have a great experience, completed the journey, saved money, I got additional points towards other savings in the future.
Thank you PETSMART! http://www.petsmart.com/ps/main.jsp You made my life much easier.
- Thank you for training your staff!
- Thank you for having a consistent message!
- Thank you for taking the time to make sure your systems and procedures work
- Thank you for doing it the right way!
Yes you have our business, yes we will refer friends and family to your store and yes when I present at conferences I will tell this story again and again.
Today’s question is: who else gets it right or wrong?
Carl Iseman says:
MERRILL…great idea for a blog!! Unfortunatley, doing things right the first time for customers has become something everyone says they do, but few rarely do!! Just go to the typical “big box” store and ask for assistance and see what you get…usually a befuddled look or a simple “it’s not my job” response. The only businesses that consistently adhere (in my opinion) to the philosophy that Tom Peters espouses, are the small businesses that these big box operators seem hellbent on destroying!!
debby schlesinger says:
Unfortunately, there are not enough businesses training their staff to be “customer friendly”. As a society, we have become so interested in quick service, that we have forgotten about the most important aspect of repeat business, which is satisfaction. Wouldn’t it be great if we got back to basics and really showed an interest in the customer! Glad to hear that you had such a positive experience. Kudos to Petsmart!
Chuck Miller says:
Merrill, thanks for sharing your thoughts and insights in this blog. I’ll be a frequent visitor.
I wanted to quickly note that your Petsmart experience was not an isolated incident… I have had the exact same (gratifying) experience at multiple locations shopping for our dogs. So when you share this tale, you can note others have reaffirmed it. It really does appear Petsmart is a large organization that not only “gets it” but implements it everyday!
Ravi Raina says:
Hey Merrill — Enjoy reading your blog … gives me a chance to ponder issues that wouldn’t normally occur to me.
Wanted to share an interesting theory someone told me the other day. She claimed to work for a vendor that helped design this strategy, so I believed her. Poor customer service is a well thought out and deliberate business strategy at one of the big EDLP stores. In general, customers do recognize that they are paying for all the employees in the store, so having fewer employees reinforces the idea of the company as the lowest cost provider. Secondly, not having anyone to guide you to the exact product you want forces you to roam the aisles where you may see other items that you suddenly realize you need, want or simply can’t pass up because of the fantastic price. This company puts in a lot of thought into optimizing the level of non-service so that they can derive maximum $$ without completely losing the customer. I had stopped patronizing this store a long time ago but was still fascinated by the brazenness of the strategy. Machiavelli would be proud.
I’d be interested in what others think of the strategy … pure evil or evil genius?
Stacey Weber says:
Being a dog lover and having 2 of my own, I shop at such outlets frequently and have experienced similar customer service at both PetsMart and Petco. . these large-box pet supply stores certainly have done a good job with all you mentioned (in general), something that is so lost on many large retailers. When’s the last time you got such good information or timely service in Wal-Mart? Since, as a country, we spent more money on our pets than our kids last year, pet supply and service is big business – keeping customers happy certainly can pay off!
As we are in the research industry and many of us do reseach on customer sat / experience measurement, we have all seen those companies who conduct customer research and then do absolutely nothing with the results! Of course, many of these companies end up losing market share or going out of business / are bought by competitors because of the decreased cash flow due to customers attrition. We all know why they do the research – someone at the top thinks its a good idea or a research dept head needs to do it so he can say he has it, but operationally, they are not in a position or don’t want to put themselves in a position to do anything with it. I guess that is one of the main reasons we, as a society, are so impressed when we do get good service. . .it has become a rarity!
As far as Ravi’s comment, I find this idea very interesting. I guess if you are someone who has very little funds and the products are truly cheap, it may be appealing. . . maybe you don’t expect as much service so long as you get a low price. However, if you are someone with more disposable income and value your time above saving a few bucks, maybe you would prefer to get in and out quickly.
I do not go to some discount stores because the lines are way too long. I’d rather pay a bit more and wait less, as I feel my time is more valuable than what I could save by going to another, less customer friendly store. So, I suppose the strategy Ravi described could make sense and probably does work if this retailer is growing, but I’m sure it alienates certain types of customers. I’d say it is evil. . .seems as if the stategy is to on prey people’s desire to buy cheap stuff they don’t need! (the yard sale phenomenon!)
I think it would be very bad if all retailers went to this type of model. It reminds me a bit of the tactics the airlines have taken to stay competitive and reduce their expenses. We used to have low cost airlines (like Southwest) that didn’t offer the meals like the full-service airlines did and were able to fly cheaply and be very profitable. Slowly, the full service airlines have been cutting back on their “frills”. American went from hot meals, to the Bistro bag, to buy on board. Of course, our airfare didn’t get any cheaper, but flyers don’t have much of a choice since there really are no other alternatives- all the airlines have done the same thing. I am now annoyed if I can’t do buy on board (flying a different airline) and I’m hungry! Our service expectations change and we adapt, and if we have no other alternatives, what can we do as consumers? If we have to fly, we have to take one of the airlines that no longer offers the service they used to. Let’s hope other discount retailers don’t follow suit with this one. . .otherwise, we will all be mindlessly wandering around in stores frustrated!
Merrill Shugoll says:
Merrill thanks for calling and I appreciate the heads up on this one. As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks. I’m with Stacey on this one. My time is more valuable than saving a few bucks. It’s interesting how some retailers figure out how to be price competitive and still provide quality service. Wegman’s supermarket chain is a good example. They’re real competitive on the basics and know that if some of their customers want to buy international cheeses, they are willing to pay the freight. Most often, I’m so pressed for time. So, when I walk into a retailer and don’t know where to find what I need, and there is no one there to help me, I turn around, walk out and go to the competition. Of course, I’m stuck if there is no competition. Then my husband has to listen to me complain about it. I think the retailer who strategically does not provide service to get its customers to impulse buy is simply not my kind of retailer. To those types of customers, I say, “Be my guest!”
Merrill Dubrow says:
How many people register for a rebate and never received it? I know I have many times.
Well for some reason when I filled out the online registration for my Petsmart rebate in August there was never doubt that I wouldn’t receive it.
Sixty days later, it showed up with a nice note thanking me for my business. I can’t wait to go back into the store and have another great experience.
Petsmart – thanks for doing it right!