All smiles: Hamid speaks to many customers a day and looks after his team
It’s no surprise that JJ Foodservice’s Aston Branch is the busiest branch for collection – it’s potentially the happiest, too!
Branch Manager Hamid has a philosophy that guarantees that every person in his warehouse, staff and customers, are smiling all day. We decided to give Hamid a call after noticing that he received ten five star Google reviews in a row – and we’re not even running a competition!
We want to share Hamid’s advice so here are his top tips:
Treat customers like your best sales representatives
Did you know that 92% of all consumers say that a word-of-mouth recommendation is the main reason they buy a product or service?
Hamid agrees, and says that a happy customer will go and tell five more people about JJ Foodservice. That’s why he treats every customer like a potential JJ Ambassador – he speaks to many customers as he can every day!
“We must be patient and make time to listen and learn – it’s the best way to see where we need to improve,” he says.
Develop product knowledge
Customer complaints can come in a variety of forms, from the occasional quality issue to receiving a wrong product. Hamid believes that knowledge is key to speeding up service.
“If we understand our products, issues can be resolved quickly,” he says, adding that he aims to get each and every customer in and out within ten minutes.“Speed of service is everything,” he says.
Invest in a winning team
Hamid’s team know all their customers well. “We have great relationships with customers”, he says. “Our cashiers even remember our customers’ post codes when they’ve forgotten!”He does his best to always be positive.
“I don’t bring any problems to work– a good manager has a positive attitude for his team. If you treat your staff well, they will treat your customers well,” he says.
Promise to deliver
Hamid’s team is on-hand to help, whether it’s with last-minute deliveries or helping to load goods to a car. “Our online ordering system is Award-winning, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do the little things that really help.” This includes helping customers to take goods to their cars, or asking them about anything else they need help with. “That’s why we get 400 collection orders a day – that’s more than the London branches!” he says.
Learn from complaints
While some people may want to run a mile from unhappy customers (and lets face it, even the best businesses have them), Hamid teaches his team to embrace complaints and develop systems to resolve them.“You cannot ignore problems – they will only come back even bigger,” he says. “If you address issues head on, complaints will decrease and that benefits everyone involved – your customers, staff and, eventually, the bottom line!”
Hamid Zamir is the branch manager of JJ Food Service in Birmingham. Before becoming branch manager, he was JJ’s top salesperson for 60 consecutive months. In the past few weeks he has received ten consecutive Five Star Google Reviews from customers. Having established an excellent collection service, Hamid is now planning to spread his first-class service to the delivery side of his business.
If any team members would like to spend a day with Hamid learning about how to develop a first class approach to service, please email elit.rowland@jjfoodservice.com
Comments