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Sharing Is Caring

by Adam Zack — January 21, 2016

Raise a Texas whiskey on the rocks to the independent spirit.

The last three days were spent visiting a great client-partner in San Antonio and attending Harold Lloyd’s (*note, Harold is one of the most ardent supermarket supporters, teachers and consultants in America) M4 marketing share group of some of the very best retailers in the U.S. and Canada. The independent spirit to smack down the dirge of the big chains was proudly obvious. While chain stores nervously try and protect their market share against the independents by forbidding photos in their stores and firmly refusing to share ideas and information, our group of 25 independents went into kind of an obvious 007 not-quite-stealth mode. We were kind of like an amnesiatic 007, with Harold clearly disavowing us as he instructed us on how to take photos discreetly. And as much as the big chains are the Goliath to our David, their large bank accounts and competitive desire to annhilate each other results in some pretty darn good ideas that us independents can use for inspiration and improve on.So we unite as independent bastards. (well, maybe not bastards, but who can’t appreciate the Inglorious Bastards effort against the Nazis? Haven’t seen the m...

by Adam Zack — January 14, 2016

Do applicants think like an owner?

I’ve talked and talked (and written and written) on the importance of treating employees like they really are family, being involved and aware of their lives outside of the store and how doing so will pay huge dividends in terms of employee loyalty, retention and the service they provide your customers. While finding these great people to spread your message of food love and happiness to your customers is not an easy task, it is done by the best grocers consistently and with thought. So how can I help you pick the best applicant among the dozens who may be applying for anything from a courtesy clerk to a store manager? Bob LaBonne Jr, President and CEO of the employee focused LaBonne’s Markets in Connecticut shared a question that is asked during every applicant interview at LaBonne’s. It puts the future (or maybe rejected, depending on the answer…) employee in a position to really consider what great customer service is and gives Bob and his team insight on what this applicant considers to be outstanding service. The question asks what would you do if a customer had a particularly bad experience at your store and how would you make it right. Bob couldn’t have ...

by Adam Zack — January 6, 2016

A New Year’s resolution is a tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement or something slightly nice, such as opening doors for people beginning from New Year’s Day. – Wikipedia

Resolutions should be meaningful and attainable.

If you’re anything like me, resolutions are easy to make but very hard to maintain. They are things that I know I need to do to be a better person, but when it comes to actually doing what I need to, I find that I am excellent at resolving to find an excuse not to do them. Those three-times-per-week trips to the gym last a few weeks and then turn into two, or one, or during “busy” weeks none! That eating better/healthier lasts about a week. Stop procrastinating! Yeah, I’ll start that one next week.But in our meaningful and underappreciated grocery business New Year’s Resolutions are perfect for our stores. A list of 5 to 10 resolutions, decided on by a group of your employees and managers, is a great start to the year and a great way to communicate and identify goals to continue to...

by Adam Zack — December 16, 2015

A heartfelt act of gratitude is never a wrong act.

Everyone likes to receive gifts, whether they admit it or not. We all know people who say, “No, no, I don’t need ANYTHING! Don’t get me a Christmas present!” But when the time comes and everyone else is exchanging a gift, they get a little tinge of “Well, a little something to open would have been nice…” It’s natural to feel gratitude and admiration when someone gets you a small gift that is well thought out and meaningful. It’s wonderful to be thought of. It makes you feel special and appreciated. So imagine how much loyalty and positive word of mouth you would generate for your store if you delivered or mailed a special gift to your BEST customers. Something like 80% of profits come from your top 10% customers, so they are actually giving you a gift all year round. If you don’t have a customer loyalty program, it’s a little tougher to do, but with your cashiers and customer service staff in on the plan, you can identify those customers and WOW! them with a gift at Christmas. Maybe pick your top 50 or 100 customers that spend the most in your store throughout the year. Hand address and sign each card, with a short message o...

by Adam Zack — December 9, 2015

What emotion do you feel when you see an ad?

OK, so I am generally not a very emotional guy. Death and tragedy are as much a part of life as birth and ecstasy. Things happen, and when the good things happen I feel great and when the bad things happen I feel sad. No huge swings in my emotional pendulum. So imagine my surprise, when the other night Linda says “You gotta hear this new Adele song ‘Hello’.” OK fine. I’m not a huge Adele fan, although I think she is an exceptional talent with a voice that is incredibly powerful. Her music seems to reach very widely, from punk rockers to old folks. Anyway, I have respect and admiration, but no CDs in my collection or albums in my iTunes. She puts it on, and without even really deciphering the lyrics the song just moves me to emotion like nothing I have ever heard before. I don’t know how she did it. It gets my eyes all watering and before you can say “Bambi’s mom’s dead” I’m brought to emotional tears bordering on sobs. And it happens every time I hear that song now! Good Lord, I sure hope it doesn’t come on when I’m at the gym or watching football with friends.So the point of the story is how something you see, hear or experi...

by Adam Zack — November 25, 2015

Have one more little piece of pie

While “Bigger” is better with a lot of things (pay raise, glass of great wine, piece of cake, parade honoring you, discount on your cable bill, muscles from working out, and family), “Bigger” can really be the opposite of better with a lot of things (pay cut, hairy mole between your eyes, headache from too many big glasses of wine, pants needed due to the big piece of cake, and family). At Thanksgiving especially, it’s important to remember and recognize that it’s not the big things that bring the most happiness and fulfillment to our lives, it’s the dozens of little things that contribute (some imperceptibly) to our happiness that that if taken away would leave us with a big hole in our lives. It takes some reflection to realize what the little things are because they are the most easily taken for granted.10 Little Things That I Appreciate Most

The way my girlfriend Linda does so many chores in our household without complaining, ever.
How DW always seems to know the right time to say something that makes others feel good, loved and appreciated.
My brother Matt for being consistent and never taking the bait when I turn
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Teach Me, Please

by Adam Zack — November 19, 2015

Oh Wise and Learned One

Once upon a time, I was an impressionable young 15-year-old box boy at my family’s grocery store. I didn’t act like a boss’ kid, and I sure as hell didn’t get treated like it. We had to abide by the rules like everyone else. I can still hear my manager telling me to cut my hair, tighten my tie and for God’s sake stop talking to the service deli girls! I liked my job, really liked the customers and loved the people I worked with. I wanted to learn more, do more, have more responsibility. I was always fascinated with the checkout process and although I was just a lowly boxboy, persuaded one of the cashiers (who I am good friends with to this day) to let me check on her register. We joke now that if the checkstand manager had found out we would have both been fired on the spot. Letting someone check on your register that wasn’t even trained was a definite no-no. Luckily for both of us that endeavor to learn went undetected. She went on to become checkstand manager, then store manager and for the past 15 years or so has been Human Resources Manager with an eagle’s eye out for young boxboys trying to persuade impressionable cashiers to let them check out customers.The point I have ta...

by Adam Zack — November 12, 2015

Find innovative ways to say thank you

Ok, so last week I talked about why customers leave your business (68% due to employee attitude or indifference, remember?) and how empowering them is the key to the positive attitude and elimination of indifference. I know, I know, it’s an easy thing to say, “Just empower your employees, easy! Done!”, but we are not here to give some blanket statement with no details on how to actually do that. That would be just plain dumb and unhelpful. So, as promised here are some ways to empower (definition: To enable or permit.) your employees to be outstanding, involved, creative honest and caring.

Give them direct contact to management and owners: The grocery business has traditionally been a top-down management structure. The old “You’ll know what you know when I want you to know it” style needs to be turned upside down. They need to be comfortable to contact you with their honest feedback without fear that they will get in any kind of trouble. Suggestion boxes, email addresses, idea exchange groups and employee involvement committees are simple and effective.
Do an annual employee survey: Really think
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This Is Me Leaving You

by Adam Zack — November 4, 2015

Indifference Will Make A Difference

I’ve always been fascinated in lists and statistics. Give me a great top ten list, a funny compilation of the best blonde jokes, and an achievable to-do list and I’m a happy camper. Lists keep me organized, feel good to be checked off and present an appearance of order amidst the chaos. So as I was sorting through a list of topics for future blogs, I came across one of the more relevant lists for our industry: Why do customers leave your business. It makes sense, but I think it is something that we often can’t wrap our heads around because we don’t actually see it happen. Sure, we focus on the numbers: Sales are down this week. Customer count down. Item count down. You gotta do something about this! We need better ads! We need more sampling! And while you’re at it, you need to cut labor spending because sales are down! Well, I’m here to tell you the reasons customers leave – and they don’t announce it with a “Buh-bye! Thanks for nothin’! You won’t be unappreciating my business again!”, they simply don’t come back. They’ll tell friends, but they won’t tell you.

5 Reasons Customers Leave

1% pass away
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When Business Gives You Lemons…

by Adam Zack — October 28, 2015

My mom has a lemon tree.

Enough with the thought provoking blogs for this week. I know we are all here to make money, and once a month, starting now, the topic will be a sales idea that is easy, inexpensive, effective and most of all, profitable. Here’s the back-story: My mom has a lemon tree that produces an obscene amount of Meyer lemons. She brought over a bag, and besides just freezing a few ice cube trays worth (bonus cooking tip! Great way to always have lemon juice on hand!), I decided to look up the recipe for Hot Dog On a Stick Lemonade. Besides the fun of watching the Hot Dog On a Stick girls with the goofy multi-colored hats pogo-ing on their lemon crusher, it really was the best lemonade I’d had. So, sans goofy hat and pogo stick, I googled the recipe and mixed up a batch. Delicious! (even better with vodka!). It was the hit of the day. So I started thinking to myself “Self, how can you make some money with this idea?” Naturally by making a big batch in-store, placing it strategically in the store in cups with a slice of lemon in an ice display, with the straw already in the lid (with the paper covering of the straw still on the top like they do at In-N-Out for sanitary reasons). Have some grea...