Remember that old Seinfeld show that had the infamous “Soup Nazi” on one of the shows. The link below will bring back memories.
If you so much as looked at him wrong he would shout so the whole restaurant would hear “No Soup For You!!”
Poor George Castanza, he just wanted his soup. Even Elaine was banned for a year from the soup store.
But the Soup Nazi had nothing on the Candy Nazi that Joan Pajunen ran into.
She was shopping for items for a cocktail party she was throwing at a grocery store where she regularly spent $400-500 a month.
While she was waiting to check out, she spied an open box of candy on a shelf. She could not help herself, she grabbed a piece of that sugary goodness.
The manager saw her, marched over and began to read her the riot act in front of all the other customers. He even took the $70 in groceries, that were already in the cart, away from her.
What does the Candy Nazi and the Soup Nazi have to do with your business?
EVERYTHING!
- First, he did not recognize a 10 year customer by site. Even at the dumpy Acme by my house, the manager usually makes eye contact and says hello. Every client should be greeted like an old friend. Cheers comes to mind…
- Next, the manager failed to weigh a single piece of candy against a 70 dollar order… She wasn’t a shop lifter. She just walked around with the candy in her hand instead of the cart.
- Then he chastised and berated the the customer in public. Enough said here… You should get the importance with me explaining it.
- The store didn’t only lose the $70 sale, but a customer who had spent $40,000 there already over 10 years, and would easily spend that amount in the future (see why knowing your LTV is important?). They also lost countless other customers as Joan repeated the story all around town.
But other than all of that, the manager was really alert for candy-nappers.
For those that have never seen Seinfeld, or those who just want to reminisce: Here is the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2lfZg-apSA
