Duane Hicks
With the Rainy River Future Development Corp.’s annual “Customer Service Challenge” about to get underway, district businesses once again have shown a keen interest in treating their customers right.
A total of 26 businesses, representing Fort Frances, Emo, Nestor Falls, and Rainy River, have signed up for this year’s challenge.
One business new to the challenge is Kreger Sales & Service in Rainy River.
“Customer service is probably the biggest thing for a business,” said employee Marie Kubera. “If you don’t have that, you don’t have a business.
“The way I look at it, and the way I’ve always dealt with it, is you treat customers the way you want to be treated,” she remarked.
“If you can’t do that, you have some steps to learn, let’s put it that way.”
Kubera said keeping customers happy is important, especially in a small town where word of mouth can hurt your business.
“Everybody knows everybody—if you do something wrong, one person will walk down the street and that’s all it would take,” she noted.
Kubera said Kreger Sales & Service owner Marty Kreger saw a notice for the “Customer Service Challenge” and figured “it doesn’t hurt to enroll in something like that and get some feedback.”
“There’s always room for improvement,” he said. “It might just be some little thing you can improve on, something that’s become a habit.”
Another new participant is Boston Pizza, which just opened its doors in Fort Frances last fall.
“One of the things that is a priority to us is to make sure we are offering a level of service that can match Elizabeth and mine’s vision,” said Dale Fortes, who is co-franchisee of BP Fort Frances along with wife, Elizabeth Leishman-Fortes.
“This is just a great way to get a different perspective on the type of service we are offering, and how that service is being perceived by our guests,” he added.
BP Fort Frances has an internal measurement system, where customers are asked to fill out comment cards and let them know how they’re doing, but that is geared more towards what corporate BP wants to measure, noted Fortes.
The customer service challenge, on the other hand, will “be a good reflection of what the general perception is from our guests,” he reasoned.
“It should be very valuable information.
“I think it’s a great exercise,” Fortes added. “Because all of the area businesses that have signed up are being measured in a consistent way, it helps you see where you are against your peers and other businesses.”
BP Fort Frances won the Customer Service (Business) award last month at the 14th-annual Bell Business Awards organized by the local Chamber of Commerce.
Northwoods Gallery & Gifts has participated in the customer service challenge every single year, and owner Connie Cuthbertson said she signed up again because she feels it’s so worthwhile.
“I think it’s a great program, not only because it helps the owners of the business become more aware of that [part of their business], but it also is a great tool to help employees to see a bigger picture beyond what their base job is, the importance of it,” she explained, adding the better at customer service they are, the better it is for everyone.
“I’ve been fortunate to have great staff all of these years, and one thing that always seems to come back time and again is the employees regularly get positive comments from customers,” Cuthbertson added.
“That feedback is encouraging for them, as well. . . . That helps to create a positive energy, and the customers also feel it—so it works both ways.”
Cuthbertson said she has learned customer service is more important than whatever it is a business is selling, and perhaps even more important when the local business community has to compete against outshopping and online sales.
“You really want to set yourself apart as much as you can,” she stressed. “The bonus about this whole program is that it’s district-wide—it’s making the whole district kick it up a notch.
“It’s win-win for everybody,” she enthused.
Likewise, striving to maintain a high level of customer service pays dividends with tourists who stop and shop here.
“I have travelled quite a bit, and the places that really stand out in my mind were the ones where I had good contact with the frontline employees in whatever service or business I am dealing with,” noted Cuthbertson.
“They’re the places I remember, and I want to go back to.
“It’s pretty basic stuff, really, but at the same time, it’s something that’s maybe taken for granted sometimes,” Cuthbertson admitted. “I think we all need reminders once in a while.
“Everybody likes to be treated with a certain level of professionalism, and that’s the basis of this program.”
Bill Gushulak of Fort Frances General Supply, who has participated in the program several times over the years and is back once again, said it’s important to never lose focus on customer service.
“When it comes to customer service, I believe we must treat customers with the deepest respect,” he remarked. “In essence, everyone is a potential customer so if you always greet people with a sincere smile, it will become a natural ‘good’ habit.
“Good customer service is our number-one priority, and is contagious when it is practised by all staff, management and owners alike to the point where it just becomes the natural thing to do,” Gushulak added.
He noted the customer service challenge is “a good community project that helps those that take part identify their strengths and weaknesses.”
“I want to know what we’re doing right as much as what needs to be addressed,” he reasoned. “We’ve made changes in the past as a direct result of the important feedback sheets we receive after the challenge is over.
“Winning the challenge, and the positive free publicity that is received as a result, are a bonus that all businesses should try to achieve,” he noted.
The “mystery shopping” component of the customer service challenge will be begin very soon, RRFDC officer manager Cynde Milette said last week, adding this exercise will continue until the end of April.
Each business is going to be shopped in three different ways, when possible: in person, by phone, and their website will be reviewed if they have one.
After the “mystery shopping” is complete, the RRFDC will tally up the results, review the comments, and then pick the top 10 from across the district, also noting honourable mentions.
The winners will be announced during the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce’s annual “After Hours” deck party, which has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 26.
After the winners are announced, all the participants (regardless of how they do) will get access to their performance evaluations so they can find out where their strengths and weaknesses lie when it comes to serving customers.
