Every time I shop at Trader Joe’s, I leave with a smile. In the past, I loved when my kids would search for the hidden stuffed animal in the store with the reward for locating the elusive monkey being a lollipop. Now that my kids are in their tweens, the treasure hunt has lost its appeal, but I am still guaranteed that all my interactions at Trader Joe’s will come with a warm smile, a “hey, dude” and an engaged conversation from an employee.
This is not by chance, but by design. Trader Joe’s lives the value that it is committed to make every customer shopping experience rewarding, eventful and fun. They could easily eliminate the freebies for their young customers and default to hiring any capable person that applies for a job, but they realize that the purposeful attention to these details results in Trader Joe’s not just being another supermarket.
Make sure your organization lives by the same uncompromising commitment to its values. If one of your organization’s values is “professionalism”, is the way that each and every employee answers their phone a reinforcement of that value? If one of your company’s values is “respect”, is that reflected in how you treat every funder from the $10 donation to the $10,000? If one of your core values is “customer service”, is the person at the first desk of your office providing eye contact and acknowledgment in a timely, friendly manner?
How you market your company or organization does not end with the print ad campaign, the product packaging or the annual gala. Instead, each contact will either build or detract from the overall customer experience. Admittedly, the granola and yogurt is no better at Trader Joe’s or the other three supermarkets within a couple miles from my home, but the overall experience is.
