Customer Service vs. The Pump Islands

When talking about gas islands the focus is normally on branding. While branding is important whether you are an independent operator or part of a national or international brand, branding does not replace customer service focuses.

Just because a site has fresh paint, wonderful graphics, and marketing abound does not make it the best place to buy gas. So what does make one station stand out over the others? While some one say that price is a reason for success this is not always the case. For example, until recently one specific brand of station in California had a distinct price advantage due to an additive that had to be purchased by other gas retailers and that this one brand created. This advantage was anywhere from .08 to .10 cents per gallon on the average. Did this add that much traffic to them or did this price advantage take away from other retailers? Not really.

While price is a large issue to consumers it is very obvious that price is not everything. So what is it that would make a consumer buy gas at up to .10 cents per gallon more? Some would say "Travel Pattern" while others would say "Brand Image". I would like to add a third, "Customer Service".

While there are good arguments for both Travel Pattern and Brand Image both of those become mute as soon as you add in the customer service factor.

Let's look at a typical corner where two stations reside. Both are on the travel pattern and both have strong brand image. What will make one station more successful than the other at retaining existing and attaining new customers? Their level of customer service. What if one station on the corner had significantly higher customer service than the one on the other corner? Would this allow the one with better customer service to charge a premium for their gas? YES! And would they lose volume by doing so? No, not if they are heads and tails better at customer service than the other station.

So what is customer service at the pump islands? Here are some examples:

1. Fast Pumps
2. Clean Pumps
3. Functional Hands Free Clips
4. Covers Clean and Tear Free
5. Stickers Neat and In Place
6. Functional Grade Selectors
7. Pumps Scratch and Writing Free
8. No Overabundance of Pump Marketing
9. Canopy Music or Video on Pumps
10. Windshield Washer Fluid Present at Each Pump (including soap)
11. Squeegees in Each Bucket and in Good Repair
12. Paper Towels Available at Each Pump
13. Towel Holders in Good Repair
14. Trash Cans at Each Pump, Clean and in Good Repair.
15. Enough Room Between Pumps to Maneuver Vehicles
16. Pay At The Pump Options (cards, cash, debit, etc...)
17. Oil Funnels Available
18. Water Available and Free
19. Air Available and Free
20. Canopy Lighting Bright and in Good Repair.
21. No Canopy Leaks
22. and much more...

These are all primary levels of customer service at the pump islands. Obviously other levels of customer service have a direct impact on customer perception and their perceived reality of your service level. These include customer interaction with employees at the pump islands, privacy and security of your software at the pumps (number blocking and receipt requesting), the overall image presented by store fronts, bay doors, curbs, flags, etc..., and most importantly other customers. Other customers are your best salespersons. If they are smiling and enjoying the experience while they are there their shine will be virus like with all customers they come into contact with either visually or verbally.

While marketing firms may focus on restroom cleanliness and fresh hot coffee (which are both wonderful) the real focus has to be on the basics of customer service to win a customer for life. Meet with their basic expectations only and you will lose customers to those that excel at exceeding the customers basic expectations. Throw in on top of that clean restrooms and fresh hot coffee and you will not only have a customer for life, you will have a friend of the station and someone that will work with you to make your station even better.

Talk to your customers at the pump. Go to them, don't make them fill out some form and drop it in a box, get out of your seat and say hi! Ask the customer what you can provide them to make their use of your station even better. They will tell you virtually everything you need to know to make your site a success.