Change - Wisconsin Grocers Association

Have you won the
customer lately?
Brandon Scholz, WGA President
From the
PRESIDENT
I went to a Circuit
City store late in
December to
return something
I bought in April.
OK, I should have done it
sooner, but I didn’t. The
youngster at the ‘customer
service counter’ told me I
couldn’t get a credit back to
my credit card, only a store
credit.
We went round
and round—I
wanted a credit
to my card, he
insisted that was
something he
couldn’t do.
We went round and round—I
wanted a credit to my card, he
insisted that was something he
couldn’t do. A fella with a
different color shirt suggesting
‘management capacity’
informed me I was “lucky”
that they were letting me bring
back the $15 product because I
had bought it so long ago.
Throughout the course of this
fiasco, visions of Don Gallegos’
“Win The Customer, Not The
Argument” speech from the
WGA’s 2008 Expo danced
though my head like a movie.
The folks at Circuit City were
bound and determined to give
me a store credit. Period. I was
told by the clerk that this is
why Circuit City was able to
stay in business (which was in
bankruptcy proceedings).
After 10 minutes I gave up.
These folks couldn’t have cared
less about the customer. Either
take the store credit or leave—
nothing they would do. Period.
Needless to say, I wasn’t the
least bit surprised when Circuit
City announced they were
closing and liquidating
everything in their stores. Seems
to me Circuit City won the
argument and lost the customers.
Guess they should have had
Don speak to their management
group a long time ago.
You may have heard me say
over the years that the goal of
the WGA is to serve you, our
customers. We take Don’s
comments to heart. While we
may not be able to exchange
four tires for you, we can and
will do whatever it takes to
make you a satisfied customer.
We know that you look at each
and every expense and make a
determination as to whether or
not the expense is worth it and
does it deliver value to you.
We hope your membership
in the WGA continues to
deliver value.
We know that
you look at each
and every
expense and
make a
determination as
to whether or
not the expense
is worth it and
does it deliver
value to you.
As you go through the
WGA membership benefits
and accomplishments from
2008, you’ll see what we
focused on from government
affairs, buy local programs,
communications including the
President’s Letter, the WARN
alerts, our annual golf outing,
the September Innovation
Expo, and the Wisconsin Grocer
magazine.
And, in 2009, we’ll have
these benefits and more
programs for you like PCI
Compliance programs,
Green Grocer Certification,
regulatory compliance
programs and more.
We are not interested in
winning the argument,
just you, the customer.
Throughout the
course of this
fiasco, visions
of Don Gallegos’
“Win the
Customer, Not
the Argument”
speech from the
WGA’s 2008 Expo
danced though
my head like a
movie.
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
2008 Year End Review WISCONSIN GROCER 9