The "I'm not shopping here?" threat in a store of hundreds

[HALFHUMANHALFZOMBIE]

After reading some threads regarding this subject as well as the things I experience at work I wonder why people think we care when they say they are not coming back in a busy store full of people. That threat is meaningless in these situations and you can make an ass out of yourself! Woring in a place where we don't take crap from Customers I'd think that's a sign where we are doing a good job filtering out nonsense people. I think It's the best thing to hear from work when an SC is using their Spouses card because we don't have that risk. I mean really...C'mon! Be civilized think before you say something stupid and if you are going to make that threat, do it for a company with a dying business!!

[CancelMyService]

It's just another symptom of self-importance. They think any company that loses their business would shrivel and die.

[earl colby pottinger]

Databases

What I don't understand is why these customers don't realize that most companies have databases of their past buying habits.

When working as a computer tech I use to get customers all the time talking about how much business/money they had spent at the store only to be pointed out they really had just a few sales.

One woman who raised hell after bringing in a machine 1 year 6 months from the time we worked on it (we had a 90 day warranty), claimed it broke down the week after she got it back.

Guess what? She was probably telling the truth. It was a rush repair the week before Christmas, even her repair slip said to bring it within 90 days and *ALL FOLLOW-UP WORK WILL BE FREE*!

90 days is 3 months, plenty of time. 1 year, 6 months however is too long.

She demanded free service and claimed to have spent thousands in our store. Quick database search on name or address or credit card comes up with only one $45 transaction plus tax, and that was the repair under discussion!

Why don't SCs realize, if they are as important as they think then we record every detail about them that is legal and possible?

[Auto]

unfortunately, corporate encourages them to believe that their continued business is vital.

if corporate backed up front line staff, we could start to hold them to their promise never to shop here again.

my gf told me yesterday that verizon is starting to cancel the contracts of cellphone customers who cost them so much money in operator assistance that there is no way the company can make money.

like calling once a day for two months to gripe/inquire about something on their bill.

verizon gave them until the end of july to find another cellphone company. after that, they won't be verizon customers any longer.

i wish more companies did this.

[Shengirl]

Well, one customer CAN mean a lot. If someone spends roughly $100 in groceries a week, over a year that's several thousand dollars that could have gone to the store. So the believe isn't unfounded that a given customer is important. HOWEVER, customers don't realize that they're often making those threats to people who get paid by the hour or are on salary. Come on, it's not like we're working on commission. If a jerk never comes back, we get paid the same amount of money to deal with less stress!

[Auto]

Well, one customer CAN mean a lot. If someone spends roughly $100 in groceries a week, over a year that's several thousand dollars that could have gone to the store. So the believe isn't unfounded that a given customer is important. HOWEVER, customers don't realize that they're often making those threats to people who get paid by the hour or are on salary. Come on, it's not like we're working on commission. If a jerk never comes back, we get paid the same amount of money to deal with less stress!

you have to have a large family if you're spending $5200/year on groceries.

groceries is very competitive business with tight margins. lose control of your costs and it's easy to lose money, no matter how profitable a customer may appear.

[Gurndigarn]

Well, one customer CAN mean a lot. If someone spends roughly $100 in groceries a week, over a year that's several thousand dollars that could have gone to the store.

Assume $5000 per year spent at the store. Overall, food retail tends to have low profit margins, so at a guess you'll end up with about $250 profit (5% profit margin) after all the basics (wholesale cost, overhead, labor, transportation, etc.) are met. (Yeah, it'll be more or less, depending on how well the stores are run, and if this customer leaves some of the costs aren't going to change... but it's probably safe to say that the profit you make on this guy isn't going to be anywhere near what he hands you.)

Now, having that customer is still nice. Overall. Unless he's a royal pain. The problem is if he's enough of a pain to cause someone to quit, or a constant enough low-level pain that each of your employees grumbles a bit more. Because training employees is expensive. Finding competent management is difficult. And expensive. If this guy is enough of a pain that he convinces one of your better rank-and-file employees to quit, you just lost half a year's profit from him. Maybe a full year's worth. If he's enough of a pain to drive one of your managers away, it may be a decade or more before you make the money back-- or, if this is one of the top-flight managers who's really good with customer service and employee handling-- you're never going to make back what you lost by losing that employee.

And while you're trying to make back the money he cost you, he's out harassing and irritating the remaining employees.

[Gurndigarn]

you have to have a large family if you're spending $5200/year on groceries.

Either that, or you buy a LOT of prepackaged foods.

(I'll spend about that much each year on food... probably a bit more... but I do have a large family. But some of my college roommates could soak down their money in a hurry by buying quick-to-make garbage.)

[Mark Healey]

Well, one customer CAN mean a lot. If someone spends roughly $100 in groceries a week, over a year that's several thousand dollars that could have gone to the store. So the believe isn't unfounded that a given customer is important. HOWEVER, customers don't realize that they're often making those threats to people who get paid by the hour or are on salary. Come on, it's not like we're working on commission. If a jerk never comes back, we get paid the same amount of money to deal with less stress!

Supermarkets operate on a razor thin margin, something like 2%. If my memory is correct about that figure that means that your $100.00 a week customer is worth $104.00 in annual profits. It doesn't take that much suckieness to make them a worthless customer.

[CancelMyService]

Also, the people that spend money on a regular basis aren't likely to be the ones who play the "I'm not shopping here" card. It's usually the people who make one or two purchases and expect the staff to fellate them every time they enter the store.

[Jester]

you have to have a large family if you're spending $5200/year on groceries.

I don't agree. Two adults, two kids....$100 a week? That wouldn't be tough at all, if you think about it.

[CrazedClerk]

I don't agree. Two adults, two kids....$100 a week? That wouldn't be tough at all, if you think about it.

If memory serves our family of 4 bought groceries twice a month at an average of $175 a visit, so you are definitely right.

I remember in my marketing studies we were told that in general 20% of a companies customers are responsible for 80% of their business. Every business has some solid, loyal, long term customers. Those are the ones worth going out of the way for. Not the dime-a-dozen, "I'm going somewhere else!" variety.

[JustADude]

I don't agree. Two adults, two kids....$100 a week? That wouldn't be tough at all, if you think about it.

The minimum you can feed one person for, really, is about $1 per meal unless you count Cup Noodles, so the minimum per person is ~$21/wk, and that's 3 minimal-expense calorie intakes. Throw in some food with a little yummy-factor and yeah, it can get pretty expensive.

[Boozy]

I spend about seventy dollars a week on groceries for just my husband and I, and I don't buy much pre-packaged food. But I like to cook and have expensive taste. I buy choice cuts of meat, and somewhat exotic vegetables and fruit. And I live in Canada...prices are higher here for most things.

I agree with what Gurndigarn says: if you go out of your way to keep cranky, difficult customers, its going to be hard to keep good staff. Hiring and training new employees is VERY expensive. If I were a manager, if I had a situation where I had to choose between losing a good employee and losing a "good" customer, it would be a no-brainer.

[Shengirl]

Well, I was more speaking in general. If someone is SUCH a ridiculous customer that they caused someone to quit, well, that's a special case. But outside of, like, sexual harrassment and some other very serious offenses, I can't see that happening that often. Nice customers balance things out a lot, and if a cashier, for example, can't see any bright side ever...they were probably going to quit anyway. It's a job with high turnover; it's not everyone's thing. Other people worth getting rid of include shoplifters and people that otherwise cost more money than they give. Like people who try to scam customer service for refunds they don't deserve. But I stick with my general statement that it's best to try and keep every customer you can - within reason! - because every little bit helps. Including when they tell their friends about that great sale you're having next week.