A blog on issues affecting Australia's newsagents, media and small business generally. More ...

The things customers say

In the space of five minutes last week, one customer told me about his blind wife and that he fills in crosswords for her even though he has never done one in his life, and another customer told me about the challenges his daughter is facing living with MS – he was buying some women’s monthly magazines for her and was embarrassed to ask for it.

I’d not met either customer before.  Within seconds of offering help on the floor of the shop they were sharing their personal stories.

I bet that every day across Australia newsagents and those working in newsagencies have similar personal conversations with people they have never met before.    Some days I don’t get enough and crave such a moment with a customer.  We are are privileged to have this type of personal interaction.

Sure there is a business imperative to providing good customer service.  There is a personal imperative too.  Ours are personal businesses and if we forget to be personal, we forget what retail and, in particular, small business retail, are about.

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Customer Service

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