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Motorola Two-Way Technology Enhances Customer Experience, Even During Tough Economic Times

With challenging economic times that have left few industries without budget or financial constraints, Motorola’s CLS Series Two-Way Radios are helping the grocery retail industry to do more with less. By helping to enhance efficiencies in communications among potentially large employee staffs on the floor, the Motorola technology serves as a gateway to providing the best experience for a grocer’s most important asset: The Customer.

Several Columbiana Foods Inc. supermarket locations in the Mahoning Valley of Ohio’s greater Youngstown area franchised by the Graff family have enhanced their overall operation by putting a greater emphasis on maximizing the customer’s experience.

“People in our business know that creating the greatest experience for the customer is among the most important single factors for good business,” says Ron Graff, Jr. operating manager of three retail supermarket franchises. “The Motorola Two-Way Radio technology has helped our team service customer questions about products, respond to accidents, spills, potential theft and created an overall friendlier environment for our patrons.”

Increasing Efficiencies

At first offered as a free 30-day trial from Joshen Paper & Packaging located in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio, the communications technology was incorporated to meet a growing concern in our customers’ experience. The Two-Way Radio technology has helped to fill that void and has made the work force that greets them everyday much more efficient.

“The Motorola technology creates a team-atmosphere among our individual employees,” continues Graff. “In terms of servicing our customers, rather than each individual being isolated throughout the store, the radios allow my team to roam and instantaneously answer a customer’s question that an employee might not know from any point in the store.”  For these three supermarket locations, which feature facilities of greater than 150,000 square feet, their adopted philosophy has become, ‘one person’s knowledge can become everyone’s knowledge’ with the ability to easily interact.

A more recent development in the grocery industry, the attempt to move away from the overhead page, has been facilitated with the Motorola Two-Way Radio technology. Those in the industry familiar with paging know that not only is it a distraction to the customer but there’s no guarantee that overhead pages are received in the first place, and often times, this mode of communicating leads to a delay in response time for answering customer questions. “We have dramatically cut down on overhead paging to create a quieter atmosphere for our customers and allow for immediate response among our employees,” adds Graff.

Motorola’s Two-Way Radio technology provides for one-on-one (with multiple channels) communications in the matter of seconds, and reduces the delay in response time among grocery management and staff. It has also led to the decline of theft, or ‘shrink,’ on the floor, since employees can simply radio around the store or back to the stock room for help, rather than physically leaving the potential thief.

And from a safety standpoint, when accidents or spills have occurred in the past, employees who responded would also be expected to run for help or supplies. The Two-Way Radio technology empowers those who respond first to these situations to remain on the scene and radio for help.

This increase in efficiency and safety has offered a good deal of satisfaction to Graff at his three Columbiana Foods Inc. facilities.

Improving the Customer’s Experience

“Not only was the overhead paging system archaic in terms of response time, it led to an intrusive and unpleasant experience for the customer,” added Graff about the replaced form of communicating throughout the facility.

With facilities of such size and that service an average of 20,000 customers each month, making those patrons return time and time again is a challenge that can be more readily met by improving the quality of a customer’s experience. The Motorola Two-Way Radio technology permits an employee staff of any number of people on the floor to communicate questions and report accidents, spills and potential theft.

Employees at these three facilities remain on either one, two or three channels of a total of four that the Motorola CLS Series features, while managers have the flexibility to communicate privately on channel 4. Having direct communications at the press of a button truly facilitates ease of communications among different members of the team.

Doing More with Less During these Times for Grocers

Apart from enhancing efficiencies and improving the overall customer experience, the Motorola Two-Way Radio technology assists management in dealing with the unfortunate realities facing the industry during these tough economic times. Namely, the Motorola Two-Way Radio technology has empowered staffs that are faced with reduced numbers due to lay-offs to not miss a beat in providing service to customers.

When grocers are in a position to add new-hires, the mentoring philosophy that is found in the industry is more efficiently executed when seasoned employees can train new employees through radio communications rather than physically monitoring them around the entire floor.

In the grocery industry where customer satisfaction is paramount to success, Joshen’s  solution of providing the Motorola CLS Series Two-Way technology has helped to create a more positive experience for customers while enhancing safety and efficiencies among staff for Ron Graff, Jr., whose family has been part of the retail grocery industry for more than fifty years.

 “The Motorola Two-Way technology has helped us in so many ways, but namely with customer service. I’d encourage any general manager to consider this technology for their facilities.”