Listening to Your Customers: One Store's Experience
Steve and Jen Morrison, owners of the Waggin Train pet store, pride themselves on stocking items the ‘big boys’ such as Petco don’t have. More importantly, they ma
ke sure they have the items that their customers want and need. They each make a point of working the register several times per week, and when they do they ask animals about their pets and the pets’ needs. Lately, they’ve heard from several pet owners that their older dogs need higher protein foods, and the customers have started cooking chicken and beef for their dogs. In response, Jen found a new company that specializes in high protein dog food, and now Waggin Train is the exclusive stockists for the brand. They are sure to mention this to customers in person and in their newsletter, and thank customers for the feedback.
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Poor customer experience starts in storeMember Comments
“last summer we decided to focus on children in art. we took all items that even remotely seemed like something a child would like to work with and put them on sale. we have had weekly contests for children to participate in...a different theme each week....awarding them a small gift certificate.all of this naturally brings in parents...and we endeavor to engage them in buying their own supplies!.” hannah y, elsmwood, ct teacher supply store
as far as comments on products or service we need to get better about getting out from behind the counter and interacting with our customers and creating a dialog. one of the things that helps is doing role plays with the staff on a regular basis and coaching them on how to converse with customers. most of the information we get from this is anecdotal, we don't capture it, but it can help to identify trends.” jackson t, miami, fl café owner
“newsletters can provide good information about the store: for example, give subscribers first notice of any in-store events, and they will have ‘first dibs’ on signing up to attend events. also you communicate changes to your store hours or policies, to make their shopping easier and more convenient.”larry n, dearborn, mi ice rink owner
“i get a lot of newsletters from craft shops with information about new products and services. the newsletter provides an opportunity to give the dates the products will arrive and some information about price, color, etc that will be of interest to consumers. the manufacturers often will provide you this information to put into your newsletter.also, i like it when email newsletters have special offers and discounts that are available for a limited time only, and only for customers who receive email. you don’t need to have an offer in every email, once every two months could work to keep people interested.mary jane, salt lake city, ut homemaker
“we use newsletters to get information from our customers. have a poll or a survey. it can be short, and even fun: where are you going on vacation? what tv show are you enjoying this summer? then post results in a future newsletter. people love taking polls.of course, always best to use a poll topic that is of interest to your audience.our customers are into new bands, especially hip-hop. we like to poll about "who's hot" in order to let them chime in about their favorites, and it also let's us get a sense of trends.”anson l , natchez, miss clothing store
