🖐 Happy Woensdag!

Issue #65 is a 3.0-minute read.

This Pharmacist is a Sales Guru and Customer Journey Expert

I made a stupid rookie mistake.

I waited until Sunday afternoon.

Now I’ve got ONLY 9 minutes to get in, battle the mob, and get out of the grocery store maze.

Back to the house by 6.

Whip up the hollandaise sauce for the salmon.

The dinner guests storm the dining room at 6:30.

I’ve got everything in my cart, except UGH.

🧈 Forgot the butter!

Zoom the cart back through the pharmacy, take a right at natural foods, and grab the unsalted butter.

Rush back by the salt-n-vinegar potato chips (man, I miss those) and snag a bag of jasmine rice for tomorrow’s lunch bowls.

Scanning the checkout lines…

What?

“Uhm, what’s with all the lines?” I asked the young manager, who’s sweating and screaming into her intercom.

“Our computers in self-checkout crashed.

You’ll have to go to aisles 4 through 7 with a cashier.”

4 aisles, 4 cashiers, and 6 shoppers in each line.

18 minutes before I’m getting out of here.

“But I’ve only got butter, eggs, vinegar, and rice. That’s it,” I plead with the manager, who’s now hiding behind a 12-foot stack of Mountain Dew.

“I’m sorry. You’ll have to get in one of the lines,” she whispers, ducking back into her soda fort.

I’ve got to beg with the shoppers in aisle 5 to get up to the front.

🙏“Excuse me. I’d be grateful if…

Hold it! Are more aisles opening?!

The pharmacist and butcher are opening up lines 8 and 9.

🖐The pharmacist sees me and gives me the “I got you” wave.

I rush to aisle 8, toss everything on the conveyor belt, and I’m out to the parking lot.

Rather than hanging out and watching the chaos, those two super heroes each left their stations to take a register.

And that’s just it!

When your checkout gets wonky and customers are waiting, you’re in trouble unless you give…

🎯 3 Ways to Keep the Checkout Line Moving so that You Never Lose a Sale

Premium customers pay more and expect more. Always.

Yes, errors happen.

When they do, it’s uber important you have the tech and solutions in place to apologize, redirect, and reward.

Step 1: Admit the mistake and apologize

• First words the pharmacist said to me were, “I’m so sorry you had to wait.”
  

• When customers hit ‘404 Not Found’ on your sale page, give them a funny, sincere apology
  

• When they hit a snag at your checkout page, make 100% sure that your software sends a ‘we messed up’ email and apologize for the pain

Step 2: Create a fast escape route

• The pharmacist and butcher dashed to the extra aisles and gave us a fast way to check out
  

• In your brick-and-mortar store, have a mobile register on your phone ready to go
  

• On your website, re-direct folks to a new landing page where they can pay in an easier, faster way

Step 3: Reward patience

• The pharmacist handed me a $10.00 gift card and encouraged me to come back
  

• Send your high-end customers a discount code they can use on their next purchase
  

• Give your in-store customers a gift card they can use for their next visit

Few premium customers go out of their way to talk about great service.

They absolutely go out of their way to complain about bad service.

Keep the line moving, keep the smiles growing, and keep your sales flowing with 3 steps:

Keep an eye on your tech and test it.

What you fail to find can cost you dollars.

Remember…

• Admit the mistake

• Create a fast escape route

• Reward patience

📢 A subscriber asked for a toast to their home city in Seville, Spain, below.

Stay curious in your business and keep opening doors.

-Erik

P.S. If you dream of getting to $150K of sales, let’s do it!

When you’re set, here’s your custom, 90-minute consulting session to bring you there. Faster.