Executive summary
Customers of Best Food Superstores are disgruntled because of the unpleasant experiences they go through while shopping at the store. Brenda, who has been a customer for the last 30 years, has decided to make her complaints known to the president of Best Food Superstores by writing him a letter. Some of the complaints include being charged incorrect prices, unsatisfactory customer service, and lack of employee ethics.
Brenda’s letter has prompted a company analysis in order to ascertain the existence of the problems and find ways of curbing them. Failure to solve the problems will lead to more customer dissatisfaction and the company will end up losing customers.
Therefore, a customer satisfaction program should be put in place in order to satisfy and retain the customers. Moreover, the management of Best Food Superstores should encourage the employees to adopt ethical behavior with regard to the store policy. In addition, the prices should be adjusted to prevent charging the customers incorrectly.
Background
Best Food Superstores is one of the major grocery stores in town that sells onions, olive oil and ice cream, among other things. One of Best Food Superstores’ major competitors is Sobeys. Best Food Superstores has been receiving several complaints from customers dissatisfied with their services.
Customers are often charged incorrect prices for the goods they purchase, in addition to the unpleasant experience they go through in the hands of unethical cashiers. A company analysis is taking place owing to the bold step of one customer, Brenda, who could not take it anymore and therefore, decided to inform the president of the store. Brenda decided to make her grievances known the president since she frequents the grocery’s branch on Victoria Street and always receives dissatisfying services.
Statement of the Problem
While shopping at Best Food Superstores, Brenda has faced several problems. A year ago, she went to the store to buy a bottle of olive oil and was overcharged by $1. Brenda informed a lady at the service desk about the overcharge, who sent another employee to confirm the price. The employee was unhappy for being asked to check the price and therefore did not do it promptly.
The employee kept Brenda waiting as she talked to another cashier, and later chatted with another shopper. She came back and confirmed to the lady at the service desk that Brenda was right. Brenda got her refund but was offended by the unpleasant treatment and also the fact that the employee had referred to her as “missus”.
Brenda had another nasty experience while shopping for onions at the store. Though she admitted that the mistake was partially hers for picking a Spanish onion instead of a white onion, the employee treated her disrespectfully when asked to do the price check. He clearly displayed his lack of ethics.
Brenda had yet another disappointing experience at Best Food Stores less than two months ago. She received poor customer service. The store employees were not adhering to the store policy. A product had been scanned at a price that was higher than advertised, and she tried to get a free product from a cashier since the service desk was busy. This was in accordance with the store policy.
However, the cashier refused to give her the product and said she would just adjust the price since Brenda had not yet paid for it. When Brenda asserted that she had to get the free item, the cashier took the matter to the supervisor, who also tried to adjust the price. However, Brenda maintained her stand and the store manager had to be consulted. The store manager concurred with Brenda on the matter and she got the item free.
For the fourth time, Brenda had an unpleasant shopping experience at Best Food Superstores last week. She was overcharged again. She received her refund and realized that the cashiers had little knowledge about the store policy and what should be done in such a situation.
When she confronted them about the store policy, Brenda realized that the store only implemented the policy for the customers who knew about it while the others were taken advantage of because of their ignorance. This was very unethical, especially since those orders had come from the store manager.
Situation Analysis
The problems at Best Food Superstores arise as a result of the failure of the management to properly implement the store policy. The management has advised the employees to implement the store policy for only those employees who are aware about it or those who lodge complaints. This leads to unethical behavior of the employees towards the customers and consequently, they leave the store dissatisfied.
Recommended Alternatives
In order to increase customer satisfaction at Best Food Superstores, several alternatives can be adopted. Firstly, customers are a business’ greatest asset and therefore their satisfaction is of paramount importance.
Thus, the company should implement a customer satisfaction program in order to give the customers a pleasant experience and consequently retain them. The success of any business largely depends on its ability to attract and retain customers.
Another solution is the adjustment of prices to ensure that customers are not overcharged. This is a very prevalent problem at Best Food superstores and it makes the customers feel as if it is a plan to swindle them. Therefore, the management should ensure that the customers are charged the exact price that is advertised. In case of incorrect pricing, their complaints should be handled promptly and respectfully.
The problem of poor ethics also needs to be addressed. When customers are treated disrespectfully, they are unlikely to come back. The employees should be trained on the expected ethical behavior at the store.
There should be a forum to enable the customers to report any unethical employee behavior and the management should deal with such cases seriously as they determine the success or downfall of the store. Every member of the company should understand the importance of adhering to the store policy and should avoid selective implementation as all customers are important to the business.
All the above alternatives are very important in ensuring the success of Best Food Superstores. Customer satisfaction should be given the highest priority as a business without customers cannot succeed.
Action Plan
A customer satisfaction program should be put in place to ensure their retention. A successful program will incorporate the views of the customers in order to know what is best for them. The employees’ major concern should be to give the customers a pleasant shopping experience. Their grievances should be attended to promptly.
All the workers should be trained on the best ways to satisfy the customers. Moreover, the employees should comply with the store policy. Failure to satisfy customers will make Best food Superstores lose them to other competitors like Sobeys, who respond pleasantly and promptly to customer complaints.