Using an inventory management system like Stockpile fast easy inventory solution can help you track, maintain and manage your inventory. It can't, however, prevent every possible out of stock situation. Weather happens, suppliers run into issues, you could have cashflow problems that prevent you from ordering as much as you'd like as often as you'd like. Whatever causes you to run out of stock, the key to keeping your business successful is how you handle this situation.
Recently, I visited a fast food restaurant that was out of lemonade and fries. Not the end of the world, to be sure, but an inconvenience none the less. Most people probably weren't effected by the lack of lemonade, but not having fries is pretty disastrous for a place where that's their number one side. It wasn't the restaurant's fault. Bad weather prevented their supply truck from getting to them. They stationed an employee outside by the drive through so that she could warn customers about the outages before they committed to weaving through the order line. What they didn't do was tell customers what other side options they had, or mention that some options come with an upcharge. They did apologize for the inconvenience, but they didn't offer any kind of come back coupon. In short, they handled the situation in an okay manner, but they could have done better.
There will be times in the course of your business that you will find yourself in a similar situation. You will run out of something that your customers want and need and you will have to disappoint them. If you can handle this in a manner that exceeds their expectations you could earn a loyal customer for life. Any business can look good when they have everything they need to meet customer needs. The businesses that can still look good when things go wrong are the ones that really stand in the minds of customers.
Offer explanations, not excuses. The difference is subtle, but it's there and your customers will pick up on it. Deflecting blame may make you feel better, but it won't help your customer. Acknowledge the situation, offer a reason why it happened and tell your customer what you're doing to rectify the issue. Knowing that you have a plan to fix things will go a long way towards impressing them and reassuring them that they can still count on your business.
Regardless of whether the inconvenience is large or small, offer your customers a token of your regret. It can be a coupon to be used on a future purchase, a discount on the item that are going to have to wait to purchase or some other small perk. What you offer isn't nearly as important as the fact that you offered something. Not offering anything to compensate customers for their inconvenience is like saying that you don't care they have to wait and you aren't sorry that you've disappointed them. It's a small step from there to concluding that they should expect to be let down when they visit your business and, believe us, many customers will make that leap and start to look for other businesses to meet their needs.
Stay Stocked | Stockpile Fast Easy Inventory Solution
Using Stockpile fast easy inventory solution will help you avoid out of stock situations but it can't prevent every one. Having a plan to handle this with aplomb will impress your customers. Because Stockpile is so easy to use you will have plenty of time to develop strategies for these and other business situations that may arise. Stockpile fast easy inventory solution keeps you connected and on target when it comes to inventory management. You can access data anytime from anywhere and quickly and easily run reports as needed. Want to see what a difference we can make in your small business? Try Stockpile today!
