RaceTrac learns what its customers want through its new feedback program with Mindshare Technologies. RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. teamed with Mindshare Technologies, a feedback management provider, to roll out a new guest survey program for its stores. The feedback system allows RaceTrac to continuously gather feedback and respond to the customer’s needs in real-time to make…
Customer Service Is Key
SavOn convenience stores score exceptionally high on mystery shop reviews for its customer service skills. The convenience store industry has changed its customer service standards the past couple years. Customers expect more out of convenience store employees than ever before, and want some sort of “experience” when they stop by their favorite location. More c-stores…
C-Stores Missing Significant Snack Sales Opportunities
Consumer research from MSA and Paradigm Sample suggest the majority of customers looking to buy salty snacks leave the store empty-handed, a serious no-no for convenience stores. By Trish Temmerman, Management Science Associates (MSA). Nearly eight in 10 convenience store customers looking to buy salty snacks on a shopping occasion have left the store without…
Inspiring a Solid Work Ethic
Consider this an open letter to the young men and women that work in our stores. If you want to advance, don’t let your bosses out work you. By Jim Callahan. Did you ever wonder how older co-workers keep going long after many of their younger cohorts seem to have worn down and out? I’m…
Strengthening the Leadership Chain
When it comes to attracting and maintaining repeat customers, a convenience store is only as strong as its weakest link. By Jim Callahan. In Thomas Reid’s Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man he wrote that, “in every chain of reasoning, the evidence of the last conclusion can be no greater than that of the…
WilcoHess Implements Workforce Management Solution
Kronos Inc. to help WilcoHess control costs and improve employee satisfaction. WilcoHess, an operator of more than 400 convenience stores, travel plazas, and restaurants in southeastern U.S., recently selected a comprehensive workforce management solution from Kronos Inc., to further enhance customer and employee satisfaction. “Kronos has proven that technology innovation can make business applications easy…
Rutter’s Rolls Out Mac and Cheese Options
Customers can choose from more than 500 varieties. Rutter’s Farm Stores has added macaroni and cheese to the menu, and it could take customers quite a while to decide which version of it they like the best. When all of the variations of toppings and meaty additions are tallied, Rutter’s provides its customers with more…
Sheetz Debuts New Locations
New stores in West Virginia and North Carolina welcomed customers for the first time Thursday. Sheetz opened two new stores on Jan. 26. One store opened in Beckley, W.Va.—marking the second store in the area—and the other in McGee’s Crossroads near Benson, N.C., located at 13433 NC Highway 210. Doors officially open to customers Thursday…
Are Customers Always Right?
As anyone even remotely associated with the service industry will tell you the customer is king. But a new book is challenging that theory and takes a critical look at the true value of disgruntled customers. For example, in a retail setting, the squeaky wheel almost always winds up getting the grease. Customers tend to…
Market Force & ConocoPhillips Receive Ventana Research Leadership Awards
Ventana Research Leadership Award comes on the heels of Forbes’ America’s Most Promising Companies recognition. Market Force, a worldwide leader in customer intelligence solutions, and its client ConocoPhillips have received the Ventana Research Leadership Award for Customer Excellence. The Ventana Research 2011 Leadership Awards recognizes innovative companies and their customers that have most effectively achieved…