Thinking manager turns a negative into a positive - store manager handles out-of-stock situation - Pharmacy - column

Thinking manager turns a negative into a positive

I had a difficult day shopping one recent Sunday. As I usually do Sunday mornings, I read the newspaper. As I looked through the half-dozen or so advertising inserts, several items in a local discount store struck my fancy. I also knew that my daughter, who is getting ready to leave for her first year in college, needed several toiletry items, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Soon it was off for a day of shopping.

With newspaper advertisement in hand, I entered the discount store. I first went directly to the area of the store where I knew I could find my items. Much to my dismay, the store had none of the items in stock, even though the ad broke just hours before. Angry, I went to the customer service desk to complain. A fellow with an assistant store manager's title on his store ID just shrugged his shoulders and said curtly, "What do you want me to do?" Obviously, I wasn't the only customer with a complaint that day. Nothing turns off a customer to a store more than not having advertised items in stock. But the double punch here was the way the out-of-stocks were being treated by store management.

Dismayed that I couldn't find any of my stuff, I decided not to give the store any of my daughter's business and left for another store --this time a deep discount drug store about a half-hour away.

As I walked in the door, I was handed a smart looking circular. I flipped through it and saw that several of the same items I was looking for were on sale here. A big smile formed on my face. Unfortunately, the smile quickly turned into a frown as I learned that, one by one, each of the items were not in stock. Once again I complained. I found out later that I was talking to an assistant store manager once again. However, his manner was kind and apologetic, a 180-degree turn from my experience of an hour before.

Despite the serious out-of-stock situation, I still spent nearly $75.00 on my daughter's supplies. As we were checking out, the assistant manager came over to my checkout holding a 12-pack of soda. He offered them to me by way of a final apology. At no time before this did I identify myself, so this was no coincidence. All he said to me was how sorry he was about the out-of-stocks and how he hoped that I would come back and try the store again. Would I please accept the soda as a token of his appreciation having me in the store as a shopper. I accepted and told him I would come back.

Although it might sound like it, this column is not about out-of-stocks, even though I could go on forever about how damaging they can be to your business. It is about managerial quality. It is about assistant managers who are trained to think for themselves. It is about turning negative situations into positive ones. It is about holding onto customers, who, in the drug store business, have become precious individuals.

Training your help to deal with unpleasant customer situations is vital to the survival of any store, especially a drug store. And, in my opinion, the training should apply to every employee in the store; from stock people and cashiers to assistant managers, managers and pharmcists. Not only does it make good common sense, it makes for good business cents.

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