LETTER: Happy petrol attendants fuel customer loyalty best
No complex rewards system keeps motorists coming back as successfully as being served by the well-paid, efficient and cheerful employees of a well-run business
27 June 2024 - 04:00
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As Andrew Thompson points out in “How to Fuel Your Rewards at the Pump” (June 20-26) the promises made in the fuel business are seldom achievable.
In my 35 years in the industry I learnt early on that a happy, well-paid, efficient petrol attendant working from a quick and slick well-staffed operation built customer loyalty far more effectively than a complicated rewards system that needs to be managed and monitored.
And, of course, it’s pretty much like the property business — location, location, location.
Raymond Ackerman’s attempt to discount fuel in the 1980s was stopped because it would have resulted in huge numbers of petrol jockeys being unemployed, and I challenged the local Hypermarket manager to prove that selling discounted fuel was sustainable — needless to say, he did not rise to the challenge.
Tony Ball Gillitts
The FM welcomes concise letters from readers. They can be sent to fmmail@fm.co.za
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Happy petrol attendants fuel customer loyalty best
No complex rewards system keeps motorists coming back as successfully as being served by the well-paid, efficient and cheerful employees of a well-run business
As Andrew Thompson points out in “How to Fuel Your Rewards at the Pump” (June 20-26) the promises made in the fuel business are seldom achievable.
In my 35 years in the industry I learnt early on that a happy, well-paid, efficient petrol attendant working from a quick and slick well-staffed operation built customer loyalty far more effectively than a complicated rewards system that needs to be managed and monitored.
And, of course, it’s pretty much like the property business — location, location, location.
Raymond Ackerman’s attempt to discount fuel in the 1980s was stopped because it would have resulted in huge numbers of petrol jockeys being unemployed, and I challenged the local Hypermarket manager to prove that selling discounted fuel was sustainable — needless to say, he did not rise to the challenge.
Tony Ball
Gillitts
The FM welcomes concise letters from readers. They can be sent to fmmail@fm.co.za
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