Instilling Good Will Into Your Business Without Turning Business Away

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I would like to give you a quick tip today on how to instill good will into your business.

As you may know, Gusto and I offer pet products online. We emphasize the quality, the time frame, the freshness of the food and everything that is important to  us as consumers.  These things are most likely important to you also.

I picked up bird seed at a local feed store that also sold products for dogs.  I briefly looked at all of the dog foods that they carried before I ordered the bird seed. I put Gusto up on the counter so that the clerk could pet him. I waited for the clerk to try to sell me dog food.  He did not. He made over Gusto instead.  I paid for my bird seed but before I left, the clerk said, “Here, would you like some dog treats?”

Before I could answer, he turned around and grabbed a bag of dog treats. The brand is not important.  It was his gesture of trying to interest me in the dog food and treats and instill good will.

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He initially accomplished his goal until I got home and looked at the back of the bag to review the details. The Best Buy date showed that the product should have been taken off the shelf 10 months earlier!!!  The store had not been able to sell it, so he instead gave it to me.

I hesitatingly let Gusto sample one of the treats. He put it in his mouth, crunched it and then spit it out as though he knew it was too old and stale. Freshness may play a role in whether your pet accepts treats also.

We all need to be very careful when we go to these bigger stores or stores that don’t move product very quickly since expiration dates are very important. Some of these products are in warehouses for a long time before they are even put on the market.

Be very careful with freshness. If you are shopping at a box-style pet store or any type of store where they are not moving product quickly, make sure that you don’t pick up a product that is past its expiration date.

On the other hand, if you are in a pet business, please do not give away expired products as a gesture of good will because if your customers are like me, they will check that date and they will not think of it as a good will gesture, but rather as you just trying to dump a product that you can’t sell onto an unsuspecting person.

Hope you found value in this Tip today.  Let me know…do you have the habit of checking the Best Buy dates before purchasing the product? If not, will you now? It’s more important than you think.

Join in the conversation by leaving your comment below.

5 Replies to “Instilling Good Will Into Your Business Without Turning Business Away”

  1. Oh wow. It’s a shame stores and their staff aren’t paying attention to sell by dates on their products they stock. I pay attention when I go to the grocery store and even then on 1 or 2 occasions come across a bad batch. Luckily your dog was able to sense immediately they didn’t want the stale treat. Mindfulness would be very much appreciated, especially from an ethical and customer service standpoint.

  2. Sadly, I have to check the expiration date on the products (for humans) at my local grocery store. It is a shame that your free sample was expired! That isn’t good will and it could be harmful!

  3. Good point. I look at expiration dates for my food, but almost never look at it for dog food and treats. It’s also good to teach your employees not to give away expired treats if they want to maintain you as a customer.

  4. Thanks for this great tip. It’s best to double-check. Hopefully that was an oversight rather than a deliberate act. A company that doesn’t have my companion’s best interest at heart will not receive my business.

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