Staff
My wonderful staff have just bundles, bundles and bundles of energy. Oh, and have I mentioned bundles of energy? This energy comes out in service and smiles. It is an interesting concept having the customer as your boss because most staff would not fully understand what this means. I am very fortunate in that my staff naturally love interacting with customers and want to chat and tell them more how to look after their produce, or what is or isn’t sweet. I don’t have to enforce this interaction and personal service.
We have staff who work as a team. They are doing a fabulous job and they make it look so easy. I went into the shop one day through the front door, the shop looked fantastic. There was a real air of ambience about the place. Kate was on the till, customers were happily wandering around, Dionne was helping a customer decide which tomatoes she should buy and Carly was peacefully filling up the mushroom display. Soft music was playing and there was just a general positive feel about the place, a place you would want to shop. Out the back, through the curtains, was a totally different picture. It is what I would describe as organized chaos, everyone travelling at a hectic pace. This is what creates the atmosphere that our customers love. The customers see the fruits of our hard work, yet do not have to experience our rushed approach to the job when we deal with them personally. All the staff get along like a house on fire. We socialise with each other out of work and genuinely enjoy each other’s company. This contributes to our great work atmosphere, and people pick up on that.
There are numerous examples of how my staff influence the business but easily the most recognisable one is that our customers are constantly reminding me how great they are. Because the produce we sell is so good (a testament to the staff), you know when your customers take their time to comment about how incredible the staff are they really, really mean it.