business by location and brand names.
They become repeat customers
because of the service and the value
that a business offers. "It's called rela-
tionship selling," says Barbara
Spreitzer-Berenr, president of Age
Quest, a marketing and training con-
sultant. "Savvy entrepreneurs under-
stand that mature customers are buy-
ing the shopping 'experience,' not just
the product. This involves more than
telling your customer to have a nice
day after taking their money," she says.
Customers turn off in a flash when
they are ignored or made to feel like
an intrusion because a sales person is
doing paperwork or socializing on the
phone. The feedback from mature
shoppers is often, "'We're not feeling
very special,'" Spreitzer-Berent says.
"'We feel like we're a number, a bar
code and, often, even an intrusion."'
It follows that any business,
whether it's developing pictures, selling
groceries or house cleaninab , can bene-
fit from treating mature customers as
individuals rather than biological
cash-dispensing units.
Building a customer service culture
isn't easy. Prentice, who runs 16 high-
ly successful restaurants with 1,100
employees, says customer service is a
top priority.
"Our mature guests are more sen-
sitive to service issues and seem to
appreciate the effort we provide," he
says. Cost isn't the issue for his cus-
tomers; value is.
"People are willing to pay extra
money. Our job is to deliver the value
they've paid for. I make my living by
running the restaurants my customers
want."
Prentice has a unique view of his
customer priorities. He maintains that
most people are under the perception
that customers are the most important
priority. For Prentice, the No. 1 focus
is his employees, because they are the
ones who take care of the customers.
"If you train your employees prop-
erly and they're happy in the work-
place, they're going to do a better job
servicing your customers. My guests
are my second focus. I can't be in
1,100 positions at one time, so I have
to be sure my employees are pretty
focused in on making my guests

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ktOIT JEWISH NEWS

BUYING POWER on page 26

12/25
1998

Detroit Jewish News

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