Under fire

Gasoline prices putting sales associates on the hot seat

By Terry McKenna

Terry McKenna is principal and co-founder of Employee Performance Strategies Inc. (EPS), based in Chantilly, Va. You can contact him at (888) 788-9090 or perform@eps-i.com

Working as a sales associate in a convenience store has always been a challenging job. In most cases, they work alone, unsupervised, perform a whole lot of multitasking, and take care of customers, who by and large would rather be someplace else. After all, who looks forward to purchasing their next tank of gasoline or pack of cigarettes?

Shopping at a c-store is an interruption in the customer’s day. And if the sales associate’s job isn’t challenging enough, now add into the mix the escalating price of fuel. Customers are frustrated and tend to take out their frustrations on the first person they see. And who would that be? You got it, your $6.25-an-hour sales associate.

The majority of the contact made with customers in the store is done by someone other than the store manager or franchisee; it’s the sales associate. So how are your sales associates weathering the storm? These are not exactly fun times to be working in a c-store. Being on the frontline means taking the heat. And it’s pretty hot out there right now. In light of rising fuel prices, how have you prepared your sales associates to deal with your frustrated customers?

If you haven’t prepared your store employees, you’ve created a double-edged sword for yourself, which is pretty sharp on both sides. On one side of the sword are your customers, and if your sales associates don’t properly handle your customer’s frustration over the price of fuel, you run the risk of losing those customers. On the other side of the sword are your sales associates, who may become so frustrated being the target of your customer’s frustration that they may decide enough is enough and quit. Either way, you lose!

Prepare For Success
The first thing in preparing your sales associates on how to deal with angry, frustrated customers is to explain to them not to take it personally. When they do, they get defensive and things get ugly. Easier said than done when a customer is yelling in their face. Since store employees have no control over fuel prices, they shouldn’t feel responsible for the customer’s frustration. Remain calm, maintain eye contact, allow the customer to release all their frustration (like letting air out of a balloon) and with an empathic tone say: “I understand your frustration sir. I pay the same price for gasoline as you do.” Surprisingly, many customers think that store personnel pay a discount for their gasoline.

I was inside a c-store recently at around 7:30a.m. and noticed a customer filling up his SUV. While the gasoline was flowing, the customer went looking for a squeegee to wash his windows. He went to the first bucket, which was empty, so he tossed the squeegee back in and went to the next bucket. That bucket was also empty. Would you believe out of eight washer fluid buckets, all eight were empty?

The customer was furious, stormed into the store and said to the sales associate that he wanted to talk to the manager. The sales associate told him that the manager was busy on the phone. The customer yelled: “With the current price of gas, is it asking too much to have washer fluid so I can wash my window?” The sales associate stood there dumbfounded. The only word that came out of the sales associates mouth was: “OK.” What he should of said was: “I apologize for the inconvenience sir, I know how frustrating that must be. I’ll get the buckets filled immediately and I’ll wash your windows for you. In the meantime, can I offer you a complimentary cup of coffee for your inconvenience?” This response would have saved the customer from defecting to a competitor. Just like anything else, it’s all in the preparation.