Peter Luckett: 'Banish the bland'

LAS VEGAS—Peter Luckett may or may not in reality be known as "Canada's favorite green grocer," which is how he was introduced to a breakfast session at the annual National Grocer's Association convention. But as he tells it, he doesn't even consider himself to be in the food business.

"I'm in the feelin' good business," he said. "And when the doors open, it's show time."

Luckett, in a video of him working one of his two Nova Scotia specialty stores the way a nightclub performer might dazzle a cabaret, does have a showman's flair. In some shots, he's in a tuxedo. He's cozying up to shoppers and their carts, handing out sunflowers. He's a politician at a campaign rally, lips puckered for the next baby.

About 2,000 independent grocers, with numbers of stores operated ranging from one to about 30, visited the symposium and show in Las Vegas last week. Most of them crammed into a standing-room-only breakfast session scheduled to start at 6:55 a.m. to hear him speak.

Despite the early hour, Luckett bounced on the balls of his feet, the accent of his native England grabbing the groggy audience by their ears and not letting go. His message: Customer experience.

"You have to make customer experience ooze through your whole organization," he said, which is not easy for everyone, because it requires effort. Luckett quoted Thomas Edison, who said, "Opportunity is missed by many because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work."

Paraphrased by Luckett: "You've got to roll your sleeves up and get stinkin'."

"You do whatever it takes to get that relationship, that bond with the customer," he said.

Providing meaningful customer experiences is a matter of life or death for small, independent grocers. And the right experiences can go much further in growing your business.

"Experiences turn loyal customers into advocates of your business. You are the supplier of choice, always. They don't even think of going anywhere else," he said.

But at the next level, things get even more interesting: "Then you turn them into evangelists. And when you do that, you can do away with your ad budget, because you won't need it."

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Winning hearts, not just pocketbooks

Everyone talks about making emotional connection with customers, Luckett said, but few people say how to do it.

He offered three tips.

1. Listen to your customers, such as when they express a preference for a particular product, and give them what they want. "It's difficult today, but as an independent, it's critical," Luckett said.
2. Melt problems away. "Today, we live the Life of Riley, but it still seems like everyone's stressed out," Luckett said. "When you can anticipate the pain they're going through, and take it away, that's connecting with your customer." For example, Luckett trains employees to watch for husbands who are stuck with the wife's grocery list and to help them find the products on it, many of which the husband will have no idea where to find.
3. Make them smile. Luckett said he's not afraid to tell jokes to his customers, or have his piano player belt out "Pretty Woman" when an attractive woman shops one of his stores.

Finally, Luckett said of customers, retailers should "try to rock their world" based on common keys to successful retailing: quality, presentation, value and service.

"People today don't want the No. 2s," he said. "They buy with their eyes. If you look sharp, it's going to work. They don't want the cheapest price in town, but they are smart enough to want value. The problem is, the corporate competition is getting pretty damn good, too. How do you compete?"

Care and feeding of employees

Good employees take time and nurturing, Luckett said. Retailers should try to become a destination work place as much as a destination shopping place.

"In the old days, I was known as 'hire 'em and fire 'em' Luckett. I would get upset if they weren't talking to customers or weren't working fast enough. But things have changed. Nowadays, you've almost got to mother them."

Luckett seldom recruits from the competition. He prefers instead to find people with a heart for service and promote from within.

"Positive experiences begin with passionate people," he said. "Grow employees and help them flourish. Build knowledge."

Some suggestions:

• Don't merely tell employees to give good service. Empower them to deliver. Luckett said that his employees each carry a produce knife, so anyone can slice off a sample of a fruit or vegetable for a customer.
• Find books that will educate or inspire employees to perform better. "Knowledge breeds confidence," he said. "There's nothing finer than to see that someone that stuck with you and has grown in your business."
• Have a huddle every morning, before the store opens. "As a business grows, it's easy to get convoluted," Luckett said. The meetings are "huge for us. It keeps us together as a team, and lets people feel a part of the team."

He also listens to his employees. "Sometimes your best ideas come from your team, you all know that, right?" Luckett said. Once, he had so many sunflowers that he couldn't possibly sell them all. Someone on his team suggested he give them away to customers.

"It was a piece of magic," Luckett said. "Customers are still talking about it today." He said the give-away was far more special than running a Mother's Day coupon that offered a free rose with a $20 purchase.

Another way to become a destination employer goes against the conventional wisdom that says you shouldn't stress your staff. People like challenges, he said, and they help them perform better. "If you need 70 cases of bananas, order 90, so you wake up thinking, 'Oh s---, I've got to sell bananas!"

Two buzzwords

Two words, Luckett said, are key to understanding successful niche retailing: Experience and authenticity.

Experience is a buzzword, he acknowledged, but it is critical in that it involves rethinking the most basic relationship you have in business. It's the sum total of every interaction you have with your customer. "Creating experience isn't something you can just start in a business, it's a culture."

Authenticity. "If you can put yourself in the eyes of the customer as being a specialist, a maven, an expert, this is what can stand you apart from the rest," Luckett said. "It involves becoming the best of the best, being special at something you do. If you get it right, customers will perceive that it's true."