HEB Scanman

What is PERSONAL in your Customer Service?

by Stephen Humburg

Retail Professional

In 1996, career took my family to beautiful San Antonio, Texas. HEB (H.E. Butt) Grocery dominated the local grocery landscape (and it still does) and they launched a new “Self-Scan” tendering concept that was being tested at our local store. Customers would sign up for a ‘rewards-type’ card and then on each visit go to an area to check out a mobile scanner that customers would take around the store and scan each item as it went into their cart. Certainly similar to self-checkout systems that most grocers and big boxers have adopted now.

Among the marketing with this concept was a 'superhero-type' character the company called “SCANMAN” (TA-TAH-DA-DAH). This was a foam costume of a superhero, essentially a walking scanner, in bright blue. My young 3 year old son fell in absolute love with this adorable, soft and cuddly character. And so did hundreds of other children.

Why does it matter? To my son…and thus to us…it was PERSONAL. And to all the affected families it was personal....quite masterfully!

SCANMAN became a catalyst for additional grocery trips for us and other families for YEARS. My son had to go see SCANMAN daily! And every time we passed the store, he knew to call out “SCANMAN”!

Their staff, too, got to know the kids and clearly this superhero became a HUGE tool utilized by the staff to get to know children and get involved with the families on a more personal level than just the usual shopping experience of:

• walking through the door (maybe with a ‘hello’),
• getting what is wanted (or best thereof), and
• paying (maybe with a ‘thank you’)

(do these steps sound like a painfully familiar routine your family goes through now?).

This SCANMAN concept grew and gave launch to HEB’s popular H-E-Buddy campaign in 2000 which remains a tremendously successful and highly recognizable character and influence for the company to this day.

H-E-Buddy

( Similarly…Hello! Can you say Ronald McDonald? How many TRILLIONS are still being served? And Worldwide? For decades?)

A “Personal” Discovery-Connection is launchpad to EVERYTHING in “GOOD customer service”. Find that door!

Find a way to get to know your customers on a personal level. Competent face-to-face staff are paramount to this discovery…what tool(s) can you as a company offer in assistance?

This is done in finding an ever-renewing commonality, a special bond, between your store and the customer.

• Specialty stores automatically have a commonality in products/services alone…with that advantage, connect to your customer in their special activity. New, updated products/services, of course, are key here
• A temporary, special offer can prompt a commonality for stores that are full price
• A locale/community can be a solid commonality. Broadcast this to your community via an annual local event or sale AND
• A special, charitable event or charity can create that bond. Get involved with the event/charity (donating is not as well received as action). Best to have something with an annual drive or event that you can become a part of.

Your company technology often allows personnel to pull up a customer history and input any information, your system recording purchasing habits, and you can utilize this data to further tailor products, services, or other marketing to them.

But, remember, ‘knowing’ is different than ‘personal’. Your team must be adept at the “Good” CS basics:

1. LISTEN: What are your customer’s past, present, and (ultimately) future needs (differentiated from ‘wants’)?
2. SATISFY: How can you match your offerings best to their needs and, afterwards if warranted, to their wants?
3. GO BEYOND: What ‘else’ can you offer, once needs and wants are met, to make their time with you more memorable/purchases more enjoyable? This is ‘going beyond’ the sale/service, finding your customer’s expectations of service, and joyfully stepping beyond that point.

How about: Watching or otherwise entertaining the kids while a frazzled mother shops close by? Taking purchases to the car? Opening the door for the customer? Going over that new product that could save that item the customer said they were having issue with? Greet a customer by name?

1. Find your PERSONAL connection
2. Get a new or ‘renewable’ tool to your staff to engage
3. LISTEN
4. SATISFY
5. GO BEYOND