We are fortunate in our town because we have plenty of retail choices. When it comes to office supplies, for example, there is a Staples just 5 minutes away and an OfficeMax 7 minutes away. If that does not work, you can get to an Office Depot in 10.
I went into Staples recently looking for four items. I wandered around trying to find what I was looking for. When I finally found someone to ask for help, he pointed me in the general direction and gave me an aisle number. When I got to checkout I asked the clerk if they happened to carry any other computer speakers than the ones they had on display. She didn’t know, but she told me I could go ask one of the guys on the floor if I wanted to know. I chuckled. She looked at me. I simply told her that I did want to know and that is the reason I asked! After she then proceeded to ring up my order wrong twice and never called for they guys on the floor to answer my question, I decided that the competition might be more worthy of my business so I thanked her and drove two more minutes to OfficeMax.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived at OfficeMax and was greeted at the door by an OfficeMax associate who asked if he could help me find what I was looking for. I was expecting a pointed finger and an isle number, but got an escort instead. He walked me to every place in the store where I was looking and offered to order the computer speakers I was looking for but that they did not have in stock. It took me 1/3rd the time at Office Max as it did at Staples and I was glad I went. The clerk at checkout was courteous and efficient and I was out the door in no time. I even saved $10 over what I was going to pay at Staples.
Now I don’t know if I would find the same service at the OfficeMax 20 minutes away as I did at the one 7 minutes away. I don’t know if I would have received the same lousy service at Stapes at a different location either. All I know is that…
- You are the brand when the customer is standing in front of you.
- Brands are as strong as they are consistent. But if I only go to one location and that location always has good service, that brand to me is consistent.
- When customer perception of the product is about the same, your biggest point of differentiation is service.
Ask your team today, are you a Staples or an OfficeMax? It all comes down to service. If you haven’t trained and retained on it over and over and over again, you are probably a Staples. It rarely happens on accident.
Make sure to check out the upcoming ToPS Total Immersion dates at www.TotalPatientService.com . Bring your entire team. Take your service to the “Max” with the Total Patient Service difference. Otherwise you are bound to be Stapled!
