Wegmans Supermarket
Wegmans, the Apple Store, and The Ritz-Carlton are considered customer service champions in their respective categories. These companies field calls daily from people eager to learn their secrets (In fact, The Ritz-Carlton created a Leadership Center to teach its best practices to other companies). One secret behind their success is so simple, so basic, that most brands and businesses fail to grasp its importance. It’s a fundamental principle that works for best-in-class brands in any industry. It’s called “empowerment.”
Wegmans’ core values. I was recently invited to be the keynote speaker for the annual conference of the private label manufacturing association. The ‘store brands’ category is a $90 billion industry. While doing research for the conference, Wegmans kept coming up as an example of a major supermarket chain at the top of its class in customer service. Wegmans’ media relations director, Jo Natale, told me that trust and empowerment are among Wegmans core values: “We empower our people to make decisions that improve their work and benefit our customers and our company.”
Natale sent me several recent emails from happy Wegmans’ customers. Empowerment was a central theme. In one story a woman had to miss a family reunion in another state due to her work schedule. She called a Wegmans store near her parent’s house to order a cake and pay for it over the phone. Wegmans’ store policy is not to process payments over the phone. The employee did it anyway. According to the customer’s email, “I wanted you to be aware that today two people saw the humanity and importance of people, not policy. Thank you for allowing your associates to use their decision-making ability and common sense to assist me. The request may have been small, but it means the world to me to participate in a family celebration.”
In this 10-minute interview for the private label conference, I discuss the role empowerment plays at Wegmans and Apple Retail, and how it can be applied to any industry.
Apple Store employees turn customers into evangelists. The Apple Store in San Jose, California, recently turned my brother from a customer into an evangelist. Due to a bad back, he was unable to get around and he let his “One to One” training membership lapse without renewing it (One to One is a series of personal in-store training sessions available upon the purchase of a Mac. It expires after one year. According to its terms and conditions, members have 30 days to renew it for another year). When he told the story to a customer service specialist, the first thing the employee asked was, “How’s your back now?” My brother was pleasantly surprised because he didn’t think any employee would bother asking him about his health. After a short discussion the Apple specialist said, “I’d be happy to accommodate you” and allowed my brother to renew his membership without a hassle, even though he visited the store months after the 30-day window had ended. The specialist had technically violated store policy because he was empowered to do what is best for the customer.
A high-tech blogger recently interviewed me for a story on the Apple Store. He asked why Apple continues to be the most profitable retailer in America, yet few brands can replicate its success. I told him it takes courage to empower employees. Managers must hire friendly, passionate people, train them properly, and have the courage to trust them to make good decisions. Apple Store employees are instructed to enrich the lives of customers and to do what they believe is the right thing to do in every situation.
The Ritz-Carlton’s $2,000 a day habit to win customer loyalty. In my Apple Store research I learned that Apple benchmarked itself against another brand known for its customer service—The Ritz-Carlton. In a recent interview Diana Oreck of The Ritz-Carlton’s Leadership Center says, “It’s all about empowerment. The thing our guests are most wowed about is that every single employee has $2,000 a day per guest to delight or make it right…we are saying to our employees—we trust you.”
My wife and I enjoyed a Ritz-Carlton experience this year. During one especially busy time at the hotel’s restaurant, the waiter apologized for the wait, gave us complimentary appetizers, and paid for our desserts. When I asked him why he did so he said, “I’m empowered to keep my guests happy.”
I recently circled back with the Eddie Papa’s restaurant owner I featured in a previous article. I asked Edward Westmoreland how he empowered his staff. “I tell them, just give them the spoon.”
“Give them the spoon?”
“Yes, when I took my daughter to an ice cream shop that we had gone to for three years, I asked for a long spoon instead of the short spoon for a cup of ice cream. They always obliged. But one day they didn’t. An employee said I’d have to pay ten cents for it. When I told her I never had to pay before, she turned to the manager who said, ‘that’s right, ten cents.’ I left and never returned.”
Westmoreland tells his staff “Never, ever tell a guest that you have to check with a manager. Just give them the spoon.” They can, and should, discuss the event with a manager after the situation to learn if there was a better solution to the problem for next time. Westmoreland’s staff has the courage to make decisions because their boss trusts them.
Trust your team and empower them to do what’s right. If you do, you’ll outshine the competition. If you don’t, your customer service and your bottom line will suffer.