Stew Leonard’s dairy was one of the largest retail dairy chain distribution companies that thrived and grew mainly because of the commitment of the management in production and marketing as a result of a key factor; customer satisfaction. Check and balance a system that is implemented in order to guard against errors due to omission and fraud plaid a great role in this company. In a company where checks and balances is implemented, decision-making authority and the following associated responsibility to check the proper implementation of decisions is not left for one department but normally distributed amongst different departments in that company.
Stew Leonard’s Dairy mission statement provided concrete information that the business had a strong dedication to customer satisfaction. It indicated that the customer is always right whatever the circumstance. This contributed largely to its rampant growth through the years to a multi-billion retail business as it formed the backbone of Stew’s strategy.
The first idea to customer satisfaction was the selling of fresh products from the shop. Stew Leonard’s Dairy became keen on selling fresh products from its outlets and to went further and established a glass-enclosed milk processing plant that they located inside the store for customers to have a clear view of how fresh their products were. A bakery was also located in the store to further sell the idea of freshness. In addition to freshness, Stew Leonard’s Dairy developed another marketing strategy that facilitated customer satisfaction. Parents were encouraged to bring children to the store by a petting zoo that was located at the parking lot. Shopping was made an enjoyable experience by animated singing animals that filled the store and attractive costumes worn by the employees in the store. All the above led to customer satisfaction that led to the extensive expansion of the business due to high-profit returns.
Apart from freshness, Stew Leonard’s Dairy sold the idea of a liberal return policy where customers were allowed to return products they felt were not fit for their consumption and their money refunded. The managers were able to locate non-fresh products easily and therefore rectified the mistake and ensured only fresh products were delivered to customers. Freshness and return policy led to customer satisfaction and increased sales.
A suggestion box was another great tool to catch customers’ comments and helped in the rectification of customers’ complaints and improvement on customers’ recommendations as weekly meetings were held by managers to make resolutions on customer suggestions. Apart from suggestion boxes, customer feedback was gathered by in-store focus groups. Customers were rewarded for their suggestions during meetings with managers on what to be stocked and how products should be displayed in the stores. Suggestion boxes and focus groups led to customer satisfaction.
Stew Leonard’s Dairy highly rewarded its employees whom they referred to as ‘members’. Employees were rewarded in terms of their cleanliness, attendance, and achievement of safety. Apart from this, employees were also rewarded for their ideas which were successfully implemented. All these rewards led to employees being dedicated to their duties and hence the subsequent growth of the store. The mission statement of Stew Leonard’s Dairy is highly effective as it led to the growth of the retail store from a small dairy store to a world-class store through its emphasis on customer satisfaction.