Gotta Get the Bread and Milk!

When it snows in the south...

Huddle Talk - The Nugget

So…I was listening to a podcast coming to work this Sunday morning and to be honest it was not a very compelling listen.  I almost turned it off to find another one that was more interesting and lively but I didn’t.  Sometimes – as with meetings you go to – you just keep at it until you get one nugget you can take home with you. (and besides, Sunday morning radio is just the public service programming that radio stations are required to broadcasts…sometimes they’re good listens but mostly they’re…ugh!)

So I kept listening…

And listening…

Mind wandered…

It came back…

And then…

POW!

WOW!

I found the nugget!

The guy talking spoke on the Customer Experience and how if you exceed expectations (Highly satisfy to use our language) you will establish “word of mouth” through social media and just plain old fashion conversations.  He went on to say that meeting expectations or just satisfying the customer is taken for granted by the customer.  That is what is supposed to happen.  This establishes absolutely no “word of mouth.”  Satisfying does not cause the customer to take out their smartphones and Tweet, facebook, Instagram, Pin or even talk about the service provided.

But if you EXCEED 

If you HIGHLY SATISFY

Tweets fly…Facebook explodes...Pictures get posted…conversations start…

It’s all about getting the customer interested in what you’re doing in such a way that makes them want to come back

And…

BRING THEIR FRIENDS!

We have to Engineer the Wow!

Reputations are either GREAT or HORRIBLE

No one ever talks about the plain…the expected

LET’S BE GREAT!

LET’S WOW!

I’m glad I kept listening…

Huddle Talk - Find a Way to Say Yes!

Huddle Talk

Make Customer Service a Hobby!

There is an old story about Nordstrom that still goes around today about their return policy.  Their policy has been that they will take anything back on return – no questions asked.

A man wanted to test this policy and did so by bringing back a set of tires.  Did the clerk question him or refuse?  The story goes that she did not…just asked for the cost of the tires and refunded the customer the amount.

No one knows if this really happened but it makes a great story and illustrates

Highly Satisfied Service

Another story from Nordstrom involved a homeless lady who went into a Nordstrom store.  A man, who happened to be a preacher, followed her into the store to help her maintain some dignity if the store kicked her out.  Well…he didn’t have to worry about that.  The salesperson immediately greeted the homeless lady and assisted her throughout her visit as she would any other customer bringing her multiple gowns and dresses to try on.  When the homeless lady was finished with her visit she left with her head held high.  She was 

Highly Satisfied

What if we all approached our business, our customers, in a like manner?  

What if we always said

YES!  I’ll be Glad to

Will you be taken advantage of occasionally?  

Sure!  

But mostly you will create an atmosphere of

 TRUST!

ENERGY!

and 

EXCITEMENT!

in your store.

And what a great feeling that would be!

FIND A WAY TO SAY 

YES!

Huddle Talk - Customer Service Under the Microscope

Here is a link to the news broadcast about customer service under a microscope in Florida.

I found this to be profound...

It involved Publix, Walmart, Target, Lowes and Hone Depot.  The undercover news guy went into these retailers and walked around until a store associate made contact offering help.  Not a good story for these retailers...but a lesson to us all in the area of customer service.


http://www.clickorlando.com/news/customer-service-under-the-microscope/-/1637132/20133828/-/nbh2sn/-/index.html

No Man Left Behind - The Rescue of Donnie Veado!

We had a malfunctioning lock on the men's restroom today.  Donnie attempted to fix it but in his attempt he was locked in.  This is a picture of our rescue.

He extracted himself by crawling through the vent after we passed a screwdriver to him through the vent.

Fun times at #443...The Happiest Place on Earth!

Associates of the Month!!!

Below are two of our great associates at the Loganville Kroger.  Jeanne and Lou Ann were chosen by their peers for Associate of the Month for December and January.  A very well deserved honor for both of them - and long overdue!  Congratulations! 

 

Jeanne Rainwater - one of our Customer Service Reps!

Lou Ann Schrek - from our Floral Department!

Money...Trust...Referral

While walking through my neighborhood today pushing the stroller while Eleni (my 5 month old little girl) slept I listened to the EntreLeadership Podcast as Dave Ramsey spoke with Seth Godin.  Now if you do not know who these guys are just Google them...plenty will come up.  I have read many of Seth's books and have enjoyed each one of them.

So...while walking and listening to them talk Seth mentions that customers pay in three ways:

Money

Trust

Referrals

He is a summary:

Money: self-explanatory

Trust: When I trust you, I'm giving you something that's emotionally difficult.  I'm out on a limb.  If you violate my trust I will carry around that feeling far longer than the money I lost from you.  Getting people to give you their trust is way more difficult than getting them to give you their money.

Referral: If people give you their trust and you treat it with respect, they will respond by giving you a referral.  Trust that leads to referral has a deep relationship component, and businesses that are transactional- vs. relationship-driven are doomed to fail in the coming economy.


Seth also stated that everyone in business is in the TRUST business.  As  a customer you have two choices - buy from someone you do not trust and then the lowest price is what you're looking for or buy from someone you trust and then price doesn't much matter.  The feeling you feel from the purchase is what matters.

How does all this fit into what we do everyday?

Pretty simple

We need to build a relationship with our customers that inspire trust from them. It is our responsibility to do this. (I will come back to the relationship driven idea in later blog posts)

We do this by providing consistent, HIGHLY SATISFYING service everyday.

We do this by caring for our customers.

We do this by anticipating their needs and wants.

As Seth said...If you violate my trust I will carry around that feeling far longer than the money I lost from you.


You can listen to the podcast here

Huddle Talk - Make Customer Service a Hobby!

Hobby - an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation

One of the best parts of our job is the interaction and the relationships we build with our customers.  To me it is certainly the most

FUN!

part of our job.  So…it is not work or a task to be completed.  No…it is a

HOBBY!

If it isn’t a HOBBY for you yet why not approach it as such as you move forward in your 

Customer Service Career?

How would it change how you feel about being at your workplace, working with your co-workers and interacting with your customers?  I believe you would be more

RELAXED

Have more ENERGY

Have more JOY while you’re at work

And I bet it would flow over into other parts of your job and your LIFE.

Give it a go…change the way you view how you approach and serve your customers.

MAKE IT A HOBBY!

please follow me on twitter: @Matt_Kroger

Huddle Talk - Go Back to Start!

Start

What a great word.

It brings so many positive thoughts...so much ENERGY!.

You are beginning. You have the highest hopes. All things are possible.

So...what to do when your work, your life, your relationships are not exactly how you want them to be...

GO BACK TO START!

Think back to when you first took the job you are in now. How did you feel?

Apprehensive?

Probably

A little scared?

Sure

ENERGIZED!?

Yes!

I don't know of anyone who has not been energized! and excited when they start a new job. You were, weren't you? Somewhere along the way you may lose that energy!.

But it's not that far away.

Go back and relive those days right before you started the new job. You will think about the great plans you had...the change you were going to make. Don't get depressed if it didn't happen exactly the way you thought...you still have time! Just recapture the excitement and energy!. Refocus this energy! into making your original dreams a reality.

This can work in all parts of your life. You want to bring the life, magic and energy! back in your relationship. Think back to what you did when the relationship started. Talk about excitement and energy! You get to do it over again! Wow! How fun can that be!

You can always go back to help you go forward. Recapture the excitement and energy!...

GO BACK TO START!

Huddle Talk - Start Positive

I have read from many sources that the first contact you have each day has more influence over you than the next five experiences. Because of this you are told to make sure you start your day off with a positive experience.

Take 10 – 15 minutes to read a positive passage from a book

Take a walk first thing in the morning and take a mental list of all the positive things you have in your life

Get up and exercise – doing something positive for your body and mind.

I wondered about this advice so I have been keeping track to see if it is accurate, if it is indeed really true

IT IS!

I was amazed, once I focused my attention on this, how much that very first experience of the day effects the rest of your day. The days I woke up and said to myself, “Oh man, I am tired and I do not feel like getting up and going into work” I didn’t have the same drive or energy as other days. The days my wife and I fussed a little bit in the morning discussing things that have to be done, have to be paid, have to be picked up – they were much harder to get started.

I have a habit each morning of getting up and letting the dog out as I walk down the driveway to pick up the paper. I used to do this moaning about the cracking joints, the weather, or anything else that seemed wrong.

Now, while the actual action of this routine has not changed I now make sure that I take in the atmosphere of the morning. I look at the trees and especially look up at the sky. This puts me into a positive frame of mind. I am lucky enough to live somewhat away from the lights of town so I can see stars when I look up. You absolutely cannot resist the beauty of a starry sky once you gaze up.

It is amazing.

This is my cup of positivity each morning - Looking at the starry sky…the natural beauty of it all. (I have even extended this habit to the evening. I go out in my backyard and lay in the grass looking up at the sky while the dog romps around for a while. I was surprised by how many “shooting stars” you can see by doing this)

I then come back inside the house in a great mood. It hasn’t failed me yet. Just 2-3 minutes of looking at nature. That is all it takes for me.

You must find your own way to start your day off on a positive note. It will carry you through the morning and if you’re lucky…all day…

Welcome!

You have found your way to the Matt Kroger Blog.  I am very excited about being able to come to you all through this blog and I hope you will find it entertaining, informative, energizing and more!

I will use this blog to communicate all sorts of things to the staff at my store and anyone else who may find this interesting.  Mainly you will find my Huddle Talk.  Everyday we huddle up as a team in our store to discuss the various topics of the day.  I generally have a theme each week for Huddle Talk and then write, speak on and possibly even film topics that relate to the theme to present to the team.  The presentation makes up Huddle Talk.

I usually write "stream of conscious" so I ask your forgiveness for any typos, misspellings and grammatical errors.  I will try to keep them to a minimum but...don't judge me by my typing.  Some will say that I should take the time to edit and correct but...

Again, thanks for stopping by and I hope you come back often!

Please follow me on Twitter at @Matt_Kroger