This article is bought to you by Ready Training Online, part of the 360training family of brands.

Customers choose their c-store stop for a number of reasons, from location to value to satisfying an immediate need. But when people go out of their way to visit a store, it’s “an entirely different reason to visit your stores, and I think that’s where most operators want to end up,” said Tom Hart, senior account executive of business development at Ready Training Online (RTO). He noted that loyalty strategies are a part of building that mindset, but a customer’s in-store experience is really what matters.

Customer experience is paramount—the most competitive prices, outstanding loyalty offers and the best foodservice offers can all be for naught by one too many let downs, Hart noted. Customers will cross that store out and not come back.

And the in-store experience starts with inspired employees and a supportive partnership between the store teams and company leaders.

“In the short term, profitability can be achieved by focusing on executing the store’s mission, having exemplary customer service and meeting expectations for customer satisfaction,” he said. “But if those standards you established in strategy documents, category plans, loyalty programs, market research and foodservice don’t have dedicated teams to execute the plans long-term—financial growth won’t follow. Teams need an ongoing daily purpose for executing the mission. It takes enormous energy to maintain this high level of focus. As an example, loyalty programs are fundamental to financial growth as a strategy. The frontline employees need to be ambassadors of the program, experts in all aspects of the benefits and most importantly how they measure their success at store level. If they are able to track their key metrics this will be part of their motivation to keep building their membership. Without understanding their role and progress, execution can drop off significantly.”

“It’s easy to identify lack of execution at the store level, but sometimes we need to reflect back on how it all started,” Hart explained. “Creating a rollout plan is only part of the equation. You should ask yourself: How much effort and input from operations was spent on executing the plan? What tools were established to support efforts for frontline teams to be successful? Did we explain to our staff how we came to this decision, why this is important, what the benefit is and how much we need their help getting this accomplished? Do they know how to measure their success?”

Teams that are focused on attention to detail and inspired to be their best will minimize gaps in operation, Hart noted. “One gap in expectations is readiness. Achieving readiness for breakfast by 8 a.m. or lunch by noon is going to lead to disastrous results. It’s too late. Uninformed employees may complete their tasks but lack a sense of urgency. High performing teams thrive on always being ready.”

How do you build a high performing team that offers great customer experience? “Train them. Show them how important their role is in the store, help them grow as an employee and they will take pride in their work,” Hart said.

This is part two of a two-part series brought to you by RTO. Learn more about inspiring your team in part one.