I had a couple of interactions last week that I wanted to share with you. Both completely different, but equally impactful on me personally as we continue to learn about what it takes to develop relationships with guests, clients and partners and what it takes to nurture those relationships
On Saturday, we hosted a graduation party at JJ’s Axes & Ales for the eldest child of some long-time friends of JJ’s and of mine. After the party was over and for the last couple of days, I have been hearing from people who attended the event about how much fun they had. People of all ages gathering to celebrate in our space.
This type of engagement is what we do. Our most fundamental mission parameter is for people to feel comfortable and enjoy the space that we occupy. This largely pertains to what we do in JJ’s Bar and JJ’s Axes & Ales, but it can also apply to our retail environment as well.
It is also the cornerstone of our event program. Every interaction we have from the first inquiry about providing a service to the last drink poured at event before it wraps. We want folks to feel comfortable in the space we occupy in an effort to build more relationships from those experiences versus accumulating transactions within an event or concession duration.
We feel that we accomplish this more than most who provide a similar service. Sometimes it doesn’t work, or there is a degree of unintended apathy that can have a negative impact on an experience. We are all human and prone to this, but it’s important that we do our best to minimize its impact in a relationship.
The other interaction was not so positive.
I have been doing a little house cleaning with our email subscribers to lighten the load on our list (it’s expensive to maintain a list with folks who aren’t interested in what we have to offer), but to also attempt to re-engage some folks that may have forgotten about us. Or left for some reason and never came back. That was the case here.
A customer emailed me about my house cleaning and noted that he had been in to the shop for a retail purchase and got the impression that no one, including me, seemed interested in helping him. So, he left. He also indicated that this had happened before. He was seeking “allocated” bourbon which, as in similar cases, resulted in a walk out the door without making a purchase.
Let me discuss unintended apathy for a minute. I alluded to it before but probably need to define a little more clearly. I don’t think there is a specific definition for this combination of words, but it is derived from the behavior of one party (in this case, us) and a perception of said behavior by the other party (the customer). The behavior perceived being disinterest, or apathy. It’s not overt or intended. Thus, unintended apathy.
“Allocated” is a four-letter word in our industry. It is happening more now than ever before. It is a technique used to distribute high demand product to retailers or create a perceived demand by limiting what we get in spite of adequate supply. “Innovation” is the other four-letter word in our industry, but I typically only hear that from wholesalers and producers. It also sets off a degree of unintended apathy when having conversations with wholesale partners who are trying to sell us the latest and greatest RTD or Low-Cal wine. I have been pegged numerous times as “crabby” or disinterested after hearing the word innovation.
With that, “allocated” and “innovation” is not the point of this. It’s to point out a trigger word that causes this unintended apathy when talking with customers. There are other consumer behaviors that cause this unintended apathy, but “allocated” is the most prominent, today. I am guilty of it (as this individual made a point of saying), and my staff is guilty of it. Most folks don’t know the reasons for things like “allocated” items, and it’s generally hard to explain, so we turn to this mechanism of unintended apathy, in the hopes that they will stop asking and we can go about our business. Again, it’s not intentional, but it does happen.
That shouldn’t be the way it works. We should be more engaging with customers who are curious and attempt to explain why they can’t get the bottle they saw on Tik-Tok. Or why Buffalo Trace is not available here, but you can buy it anywhere across the border. But also take advantage of the opportunity to (tying to the first interaction above) have an impact and make this person feel comfortable in our space (suggest other products, offer samples, etc). Sometimes it will work, and a relationship will be built. Sometimes it won’t, but we will know that we gave it our best shot.
Most of you know, I am a very transparent person. I wear my emotions on my sleeve. And, of late, there have been a lot of emotions. But that shouldn’t have an effect our core principle. Making people, you, feel comfortable in the space we occupy. This was a value instilled in me by my family while growing up. A value that has been passed down from generations. It is my commitment to you to do better and train our staff to also do better and avoid this unintended apathy.
Thanks for reading. Please give me feedback if you are so inclined. Positive or negative. I strive to learn, and sometimes that means learning from our mistakes.
Tom – tom@jjswine.com