Minding Your Own Brand

Do you carry out their orders?
By Dave Lubelczyk

While in high school, my first “real” job was bundling groceries for a small local grocery store chain. The job included carrying the groceries out to people's cars which at that time was becoming rare and now is almost unheard of. The job interview was one of the toughest I have ever gone through; partly because it was my first but also because of the company culture. They viewed bundling as one of the most important functions in providing the customer their brand experience.

Decades later, I still remember the expectations they laid out in the interview. Even though I was fifteen years old, I was asked how I valued customer service and how would I deliver an extraordinary experience. The lessons I learned that day set a solid foundation on which I would later develop into my current beliefs about the importance of customer service. During my training I quickly learned that everyone who touches the customer experience plays a vital role in delivering an experience which retains customers.

Then I was told the most important rules:

Always take care of the customer
Properly pack all bags so they stand up in the trunk
Never squish the bread
Under no circumstances take a tip

After explaining the rules, they informed us that they had secret shoppers and if they caught us excepting a tip we would be fired immediately. They insisted that customers were not expected to pay more for excellent service. We were instructed to politely decline the money and inform the customers that it was our job to carry out their groceries.

They then brought me out to the exit of the store and pointed out the giant sign above the door which read, “We carry out your orders.” The sign then explained the philosophy of the store and how each and every employee was expected to go above and beyond to exceed the needs of the customer. It informed customers that each employee, including bundlers, were paid to provide this level of service and customers should need not feel inclined to tip as it was part of the service the store provided to them when they chose to shop at our store.

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