Larry Miller - Business Management Consultant - Focused on C-Store and Retail Foodservice Consulting

Plaid Pantry recognized "Above & Beyond Call of Duty for Prevention of Underage Drinking"

2011-07-22T13:34:00.002-04:00

Article by: Larry Miller - CStoreConsult

Chris Girard, President/CEO of Plaid Pantry Stores, Inc. a 107 convenience store chain headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, a suburb of Portland was quoted during an interview yesterday as saying; "If your employee sells alcohol to a minor, it is your fault! You need to accept responsibility!" (Reference: Clackamas County Community News, 7/12/11 - See full article here)

In the interview, Girard goes on to say that Plaid developed and launched an internal sting program that provides cash incentives for both the employee, as well as the store manager, if they refuse to sell alcohol to the person that the Liquor Commission sends in to the store during the official State Agency Sting.

During Plaid's in-house sting program, an unknown, under 30 & "younger looking" customer that is employed by Plaid to conduct these stings, enters the store and attempts to buy age restricted product(s). If the employee on duty completes the sale of these age controlled products then the sale is allowed to go forward as it is a legal sale, however it is against Company Policy and the employee is retrained on the sales of restricted products. These "of age customers" are employees of Plaid and the entire program has been reviewed and approved by the Oregon State Liquor Commission. In fact, this interview referred to here and resulting article was generated due to the fact that Plaid Pantry and Chris were given an award by the state liquor commission for excellent service in protecting the youth of the state of Oregon!

Mr. Girard regularly works with the OLCC Management and Enforcement staff to assist with issues concerning the sale of age controlled products to minors in Oregon. Plaid Pantry consistently ranks higher in compliance of controlled product sales laws than all other retailers in the State, even the State owned and operated liquor stores!

The internal program was the brainchild of Chris and Plaid Pantry management as the only way that they felt they could not only protect the stores from losing the ability to sell Beer and Wine legally, but they also believed firmly that it was and is managements' duty to the communities they operate in to do everything they can to prevent sales of age restricted products and keep those products out of the hands of those not legally able to purchase them! Mr. Girard was also quoted as saying "My biggest fear is a carload of underage kids driving down the road consuming alcohol bought from a Plaid store" as I believe should be the nightmare of our Industry as well.

We must, as an industry, continue to stay vigilant and to take a very aggressive stance within our communities to support the laws that govern the sales of age controlled products. The posting of all of the WE CARD point of sale materials is important to let everyone know that your employees are aware of, and have been trained in, the proper techniques of handling restricted sales of Tobacco, Alcohol, Lottery, and any other items or product categories that individual state and local ordinances have imposed restrictions on. Most all states impose stiff fines and possibly jail time on the individual employee that actually made the illegal sale, as well as fines, loss of ability to sell alcohol, tobacco and other age restricted products on the stores owner/management. All of us that are involved with this Industry have a deep seated responsibility to inform, train, and constantly reinforce the laws and policies that deal with this issue with all employees! Not only is it the right business decision for your business, it is our moral and ethical responsibility to the communities we operate in to do so.
Chris Girard comments that the cost of Plaid's Internal Enforcement and Sting Program as being far less than the cost of the one incident they prevent. The incident he is talking about is not necessarily the incident that costs your Company a hefty fine or loss of license, he is also talking about the one transaction that kicks off the process by which lives are lost, where entire families are torn apart, where a gifted life is never unfolded, or where dream and aspirations are replaced with anguish, pain, and despair.

Chris,"Sincere Kudos" to you and to your TEAM at Plaid where action was taken, where training and continued enforcement are ongoing and where Plaid Pantry is truly making a difference in the Communities that support your business. As my mentor used to say; "You gotta love it when a plan comes together!"

For more information on how Cris and his TEAM have tackled what was once a serious problem and issue at Plaid Pantry and have turned it around to be a huge WIN for all involved, as well as a Public Relations Grand Slam for Plaid and our Industry please visit: Plaid Pantry or send me an email or give me a call and I can tell you how to plan and mover forward with a plan to implement a successful program in Your Company!!

Don’t cut the customer service budget! (reprinted from Service Untitled Blog 3.30.11)

2011-07-09T22:28:00.000-04:00

Don’t cut the customer service budget!

The economy leaves customer service budgets strained, and more than one company has trimmed their services back, but according to the Institute of Customer Service, chief executive Jo Causon, quality service is even more important in times like this. When money is tight, people are much more concerned where and how they spend.

As an example, let us consider an airport parking garage. In 2007, Sky Harbor Airport Parking’s general manager, Jason Pasley lost money operating his garage because he decided to make the decision to continue all customer service amenities, but ultimately wound up as the only parking site to remain open of any off-airport parking facility. Prior to the economic crunch of 2006, Pasley’s lot was 90 percent full, but with less people traveling, there was a significant decrease in business.

While other off-airport parking facilities used less shuttle services, Pasley kept his going. It didn’t matter if there was one person or ten people being shuttled back and forth to the airport, his shuttles still were in operation every five to seven minutes, and left the parking lot every three to five minutes. Where other lots were using less shuttles and saving money in the short term, Pasley had reinvented his parking lot for pilots and other airline employees who were glad to get to their jobs on time.

Adding to Pasley’s appeal, he was glad to honor competitor coupons, helped passengers with their baggage and even waited for customers to start their cars at night when dropping them off. Shuttle drivers were able to inflate tires, were efficient and courteous. If there was a problem, clients went to Pasley.

So how has Pasley done since the economic crunch? At the beginning, he lost money, but now he is the only off-airport parking facility left.

Any organization can take cues from Jason Pasley’s for their customer service business plans. The real estate industry has taken a huge hit, but agents and brokers who have not compromised their services are the ones who are still out there doing business. Sellers and buyers are much more aware and better educated than ever before. Mix that with the demand for better service and all the innovations modern technology can provide; only the representatives who provide superior service, superior skills, and the latest in technological advances are the ones who are successful. True, we are spending more money for more conveniences and individual needs for our clients and customers, but we are rewarded with continuing business and customer loyalty.

So, plan carefully before making any budget cuts in your customer service department. Coined by Robert Burton, “penny wise and pound foolish” were never so true.
Reprinted from: Service Untitled Blog (http://www.serviceuntitled.com)

Photo credit: Mike Troy Photography

The Customers are Enraged! (From Service Untitled Blog 6.14.11)

2011-06-24T15:45:00.002-04:00

The July issue of Consumer Reports stated there were 1.1 million complaints against North American businesses last year; up 10 percent from 2009. So why are so many people so dissatisfied with customer service? Jack Abelson, a retail industry consultant called customer service “abominable.” He contends that American business has lost focus on the appreciation and the value of the customer, and excellent customer service is “a profit producer.” Abelson says that organizations cutting their budgets are at fault.

According to the study, 64 percent of customers left a store because of poor customer service. Case in point – last week I went to Home Depot to buy a washer and dryer. There was only one sales person on the floor, and there were two other customers ahead of me. The representative said he would be right with us, but that certainly wasn’t happening. Two of us left the store and went elsewhere.

On the phone, customer service is even more frustrating. “Your call is very important to us,” leaves most customers mumbling a few choice four-letter words, probably accounting for 67 percent of us hanging up the phone because no one can help us. There are 71 percent of customers who were labeled by the poll as “tremendously annoyed” because we could not reach a live customer representative. There are 56 percent of us who have had to start over and over again through the maze of the automated customer service phone calls, repeat the same answers, ask for a customer service representative repeatedly and seldom get the right person.

Interestingly enough demographics show that women get more annoyed and frustrated trying to get a live person on the line than men, but men get “especially annoyed” when a representative tries to sell them unrelated goods and services before even handling the original complaint or resolving their problem. Older people (50+) were more confused with the automated message systems; finding their way through the maze of customer account numbers, the last four digits of one’s social security number, their first-grade teacher’s name, and the product serial number – found underneath the product in the darkest corner of the house.

Incidentally Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart scored the worst in customer service in eight of the industries which included appliances, electronics, cellphones, and supermarkets.

So doesn’t it just stand to reason that businesses have to change the way they treat their customers? In my own personal experience, Home Depot lost a good appliance sale or two, and AT&T was canceled by me because their customer service was so poor restoring my service when they prematurely cut it off one day and couldn’t resolve the problem efficiently. Mr. Abelson is correct; until organizations appreciate the value of their customers, polls like this will continue to reflect the outrage felt by customers.

Selbie: Are You Listening to Your QSR Customers? [Expert Corner]

2010-10-14T13:57:00.000-04:00

Selbie: Are You Listening to Your QSR Customers? [Expert Corner]

This is one of my new clients that I am really excited about for our channel. Let me know if you might be interested in a demonstration and discussion about how "Opiniator" can help you build sales, increase Customer loyalty,& grow profits by giving you actionable, real-time, customer feedback and analytic Information about your staff, your operations, and your overall RETAIL business! Go ahead and take a few minutes to read this article below that appeared in QSR Buzz recently!

Customer satisfaction and retention are the building blocks of increased restaurant transactions and sales. What drives customer defection? How does a good restaurant company handle, process and improve guest experience feedback?

In this Expert Corner, we hear from Matt Selbie, president of Oberon3, Inc., on the importance to quick-service restaurants of capturing and analyzing guest feedback.

qsrbuzz: In your opinion, what is the importance of guest feedback and how should it be incorporated into a restaurant's marketing plan?

Selbie:The restaurant business suffers from a huge customer defection issue – up to 35% per year, according to the Restaurant Marketing Group, so clearly many restaurants are not providing what their customers want. When defection happens, it has a huge cash impact on the business. The only way to preserve cash flow and to prevent defection is to ask what customers want in a way that is powerful and non-obtrusive. It has to be while they are on the premises--eating the meal and experiencing the service. On going, point of experience feedback will be the quality control process driving the marketing plan.

qsrbuzz: Why are comment cards becoming obsolete in the industry and what is the best alternative for QSRs?

Selbie: Comment cards are too little, too late and tend to be filled out by two groups--the whiners and those who want to collect any incentive. Businesses that employ comment cards need to print, collect, analyze and distribute the feedback before any value is generated and most don’t! They typically are reviewed too late for any corrective or salvage action to take place.

The best alternative is a feedback method that is used on site, engages all the customers, provides real -time analysis and an alert capability and can automatically capture testimonials. In this way, there is no delay between feedback input and rectification which means any issues can be fixed there and then.

qsrbuzz: Why is instant feedback important?

Selbie: Instant feedback is imperative if a business wants to fix an issue and salvage that customer before he defects and tells his friends via social media. Mystery shopping, email, comment cards or web surveys are simply too late for the feedback to be actionable – which means the issue can’t be solved in a timely manner and there is a risk of customer defection and negative word of mouth. Remember also that feedback, thoughts and ideas are always ------ plentiful, accurate and engaging when delivered on-the-spot in the restaurant.

qsrbuzz: How are geo-location devices and mobile applications making guest comments more fundamental and critical to the business of serving food to guests?

Selbie: Ninety percent of all U.S. adults have a mobile phone and most keep it with them nearly all the time. This means it becomes a great tool to deliver relevant content when it matters (ie. at the consideration or consumption stage). Geo location is a great tool to suggest an appropriate destination that is close by and of course, all the recommendation applications like Yelp and Urbanspoon can provide a real time peer review of the location. Simply put, everyone has all the data in the palm of their hands – so good or bad reviews are now more accessible than ever.

qsrbuzz: What do you see as the next development in "instant feedback" to the restaurant industry?

Selbie: Restaurants can start using mobile tools to perform simple operational measurement and customer satisfaction studies but existing tools like Opiniator can be used to deliver answers to the more strategic questions --delivering a list of competitors, confirming the right price points, analyzing the trading area and segmenting the existing customer base. Ultimately, this could lead to offers that are site specific and will change more frequently as restaurants fight to keep customers loyal.

qsrbuzz: What is the value of data analysis and tracking when it comes to guest feedback? How have you seen that utilized and deployed by a restaurant’s marketing team?

Selbie: When customer data is used, the business, by definition, becomes more objective and personal opinions are replaced by those that really matter --the customers’. Data tracking means the business can see improvements over time. Using a technique called ‘vulnerability analysis,’ the restaurant can now rank order what needs to be fixed and focus first on parts of the business that have the biggest impact.

- - -

Matt Selbie spent 15 years in the oil business in Europe, the United States, Asia and South America in a variety of marketing and customer service roles. He was accountable for mystery shopping, market research, customer service and retention and all three gas brands at ConocoPhillips. Opiniator was conceived to allow any business to retain more customers by providing on-the-spot customer feedback, analysis and alerts, working with restaurants to help them retain customers through the use of on-the-spot customer surveys.

Worried Over Walgreens’ Foodservice Push?

2010-09-14T10:59:00.000-04:00

What happened with all of the hoopla about Walgreen's’ push into foodservice recently? About a month or so ago there were several articles in the trades about Walgreen’s getting ready to attack the convenience channel in the foodservice arena. It seemed like the sky was falling after reports that Walgreen's had hired some senior folks from Tesco. Have I missed any recent developments?

I have often said convenience stores need to keep a watchful eye on Walgreen’s, now and in the future, as the drug store chain surely has the muscle to get very aggressive very fast from a marketing and investment standpoint. But do we really think that Walgreen's can evolve its operating model so quickly as to shift the hiring focus to the foodservice workers it will need to compete on a large scale? Walgreen's will have to be a lot more creative and inventive in foodservice than it was in its attempt to take convenience beverage business when it launched Café W last year.

After all, c-store retailing in America is a very diverse business channel that is nimble, willing to try new things, and very competitive, to say the least. Convenience customers are creatures of habit and convenience store SHU’s (Super Heavy Users) are very loyal, but not to just a chain , or even to a sign on the front door. C-store customers are very loyal to the industry’s front line people that serve them every day.

That’s right, you heard me, a little brand blasphemy! Now, I do believe there is value in flying a known brand like 7-Eleven or Circle K, but those who have worked behind the counter in a neighborhood store or even a high traffic store in a major city know what I am talking about. The regular customers, the ones who stop by three or four times a day, are loyal to the person behind the counter -- the employee who makes the effort to recognize and get to know the customers.

The employees in a well-run store know the customers they serve and the customers know the employees. They get to know each others names and who their kids are, and as long as convenience stores continue to source and find people that will make that one store their own, it will be fine. Operators cannot lose sight of this fact and need to strive to be better stewards of all of their trained and stable employees.

We have all seen it time and time again: A high volume store makes a lot of money and has significant cash flow, and it cranks along for several years doing well. Let’s say the store manager’s name is Miss Agnes, and she has run the store for a long time.

When Agnes retires, moves away, or just quits working (or, God forbid, is hired away by a competitor) the store sales and conditions drop off automatically. Sales decline and profits evaporate so fast it can be seen it all the way from the corporate office far off in the distance!

The convenience store industry must nurture, groom and appreciate employees like Miss Agnes, and impress upon her how important it is for them to hand pick, train, and develop their team members to have the same great customer centric attitude. Operators need to develop programs that provide incentives for Agnes to develop more employees like herself month in and month out. If you look real close at your own Miss Agnes’ store crew, I bet you will find she has managed to hire a lot of folks just like herself.

While you are doing the obvious with Agnes, you need to come up with programs and initiatives that will allow you to replicate and replenish these “front counter warriors” who take on an almost impossible job and excel at it, every single day.

So far, the convenience store industry has managed to do that better than most any other channel. So if Walgreen's, Tesco or anybody learns how to take care of the single most-important asset we have better than we do, then we will all need to worry. If these new entrants into our convenience space scare you as an operator, then I challenge you to go out into your stores and learn what makes Miss Agnes keep ticking, why they keeping our registers humming, how to keep them on your TEAM.

God Bless Miss Agnes and the other front counter heroes like her!

If you like what you read here, please see our website : www.mmcsinc.com

Cool Video, Family, & Seat Belts

2010-08-09T13:05:00.000-04:00

This is a "Must Watch" short video. It is on the airwaves now as a Public Service announcement in England. I say this is a truly cool approach to have people understand why seat belts should be worn all the time! So for those of you that do wear them all the time, Thank You!
For all of you that don't wear them all the time, Please do! For your Friends, your Family, and all those people you still have to meet in the future!

http://embracethis.co.uk/

Once you view it, please pass it on!
Signed:
C-Store Consultant!

Thoughts On Leadership!

2010-07-07T16:50:00.000-04:00

Ideas, thoughts, or experiences that have shaped my management thinking, core beliefs, and the good stuff I have learned from mentors, friends, and role models I admire!

Listen and Learn is a great slogan, and my example of how to listen & learn is below:

This quotation is from a real employee!

"This would be a really great job if it weren't for these damn customers, some days they are a real pain in the ass!”

I was told this by a front-line, customer greeting, face of the company, paid employee! I had simply asked him what he liked and disliked about his job. This was his reply! My reaction was not one of anger or even shock, all I said to the group later in the day was;

“Who hired this person?

People we hire can not be "trained" into enjoying interaction with others. Start with a friendly personality and healthy outlook on life. You can build on that to levels you cannot imagine!

(Click on statement for some great insight: You can't send a duck to eagle school! )

Self-Confidence is critical to success in anything you try to accomplish in life:

I will never be any better at anything than I believe I am capable of being! (To lead we must have high levels of self-belief - if you do not believe in you, how can others, that you need to follow your lead?)

Always be thankful and grateful for the important things you have, what you have accomplished in life, and for the simple non-material things you possess, (Family, Health, Love, Faith, Friendships, your senses that make so much in life pleasurable!)

I am humbled and grateful of all the good things in my life. I must stay focused on all of these things lest I drive myself to despair worrying about things that are out of my control (Always stay grounded and value SERENITY! Understand that any experience, good-bad, success-failure, all of this is valuable, learn from it, and adapt!)

Leadership success is built one brick at a time. If you have people that believe in you and take strength from you by following your lead, then by living through your examples they will understand that this is not happening by chance or simply by the fact that you were promoted, or hired as the Boss!

Remember why all those people follow your lead down this particular road you are on, they are stepping in your footsteps because they trust you, you have earned it some how and they believe in you for some reason. Never ever get such a big head or think so highly of yourself that you feel you must take your eye off the road and the "up ahead" where you are leading these folks....... just to see how many there are following you! Once you do this, sure as hell, you will get hit by the truck you never saw coming at you from around the next curve in the road!

I had a mentor early in my career that announced he was going to promote me to a job with a lot more responsibility and I would be responsible for quite a lot of people or human assets of the Company. (These are the most valuable assets companies have, by the way.) Once the announcement was made he called me and made a very big deal of setting up the appointment for me to be in the office for his "Management Training Introduction Course." Now I had already been put through pretty rigorous training by the Corporation that I worked for and it had taken me quite a while to be "certified" ready for this big jump so I was kind of taken aback by the fact that he wanted me at the office a 7AM sharp and I was to keep the entire day open up to 6PM. He gave me no notebooks, or materials to pre-read. When I got to the office (at 6:30AM as I wanted to be early and make a good impression) He called me into his office and he seated himself behind his completely cleared off desk, except for a yellow legal pad and a gold Cross Pen! He asked me to sit across from him and to get comfortable, as we would be a while. He then said this to me:

"I have written down on this legal pad; every single thing you need to know about this next promotion and most importantly it contains the everything you need to know to keep getting promoted and advancing within this company, and probably every place you will ever work again in your entire life!!!!

At that point he turned over the cover of the legal pad and turned it towards me I could see only one word written on that first page and that same word was written in BIG BOLD LETTERS ON EVERY SINGLE SHEET LEFT IN THAT LEGAL PAD!

That word was RAPPORT! He then said to me: "You have been with this Company long enough to know all about what it is we do here. You have been working on the front lines and taking care of our customers. You have been to all the classes and know all the technical stuff about running the retail outlets of this Company.

There is really only one thing you need to learn about, to think about, and to keep in your head always so you can do your day-to-day job to the best of your abilities as you get more and more responsibility.

You MUST BUILD “RAPPORT” with everybody around you, above you, below you, next to you, everyone! You also have to build and maintain RAPPORT with the leaders you follow, and always, always, with those at people at your back!"

Here I am almost 35 years later and everything my mentor told me that day has been so very, very true, beyond belief TRUE!

I would love to hear your comments about this blog.

You Agree?

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If you like what you read, and need help with changing the way that your business attracts and keeps great people, or that provides your customers great service that will make your business a sustainable success? If you are interested in changing the culture at your business reach out and let me help. Leave a post, or email me, I will get in touch and we can talk about how we can assist you and your staff in managing change and implementing new ways of taking care of business today!.