Q: What is one of the fastest ways to stop me as a customer from patronizing your store?
A: Let me pull into one of your gas pumps more than once and have it out of receipt paper!
OK guys, This one is simply NOT rocket science! When I use my card at your pump, and I ask for a receipt, I expect the PUMP to give me the receipt, not to have to go inside and see the clerk! If I wanted to see the clerk, I would choose different options on the pump and walk inside myself. Since I indicated I wanted my receipt at the pump, I expect to receive it there!
The second fastest way is to allow the pixels on your print head to burn out to the point that the receipt is virtually unreadable! Both of these send me a VERY CLEAR message as a customer that you do not care about your store or your customers. In the competitive world of today, there really are other stores lining up to service my needs! So, get a clue! Maintain your facilities and keep your customers coming back for more!
Have you noticed customers pulling up to your pumps and then drive away without making a purchase? If so, could it be that your credit/debit card readers are so dirty that they are not reading the cards? From my personal experience, I have pulled into a gas station and then pulled away to buy my fuel at a different retailer simply because the card readers at the pump won’t read my card.
Now, I know some people are saying that my card is damaged, since I successfully use it at many different locations in a given day for differing types of purchases, I think I can safely conclude that the issue is with the reader and not my card.
The bottom line comes down to this, when a customer leaves before making a purchase, you lose a sale and you lose revenue. If enough people see others driving away, then these customer may get spooked and go somewhere else too and your sales and profits suffer even more.
I am not trying to be the prophet of doom and gloom, but this is my real world experience. Cleaning cards cost less than $1.00 each in quantity and you use one card for one reader, then throw the used card away. Doing this once or twice a week at high volume stores will keep the cards reading on the first insertion and this will improve sales and profits. The minimal cost of the cards will more than be offset by the increase in profits from happy customers!
Those are my thoughts. What are yours?
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