What Is Your Top Customer Service Tip?

“When guests come in more than once, know their name,” advised Audrey Pellegrino, co-owner of the Danbury Country Store in Danbury, N.H. “People like it if you call them by their name. If you say, ‘Bob, your sandwich is ready,’ they feel comfortable, like they’re part of the family.”

At Wilbur’s Country Store Gifts in Blairstown, N.J., Owner Jenny Lester believes in thorough knowledge of the store’s products. “You’re going to get questions, and you have to know what your customer might like,” she noted. “If you haven’t tasted it, it’s hard to sell it. I try to taste everything in here!”

Along those lines, Marlin Dietrich gives customers samples of his gourmet sausages and smoked poultry at Dietrich’s Meats and Country Store in Lenhartsville, Pa. “That’s the way they’ll develop a taste for your products,” said the longtime retailer. “I’ve had Germans come in here and say our leberwurst is every bit as good as what they have at home.”

With a clientele of busy office workers, Owner Jim Primodie works hard to serve customers fast at Ivyland Country Store in Warminster, Pa. “We get them in and we get them out, and they get a quality product,” Primodie said. “We take short breaks and we’re very efficient.”

And for Lillian Zimmerman, gift manager at the Country Store in Mount Joy, Pa., the personal touch is key to customer service. “Listen, and then try to stock what people are asking for,” she said. With unpredictable shortages caused by the supply chain, Zimmerman added, “I’ll advise our regulars to buy things they like, because they may not be here the next time.” ❖

Offering a Taste (From page 46) meats of all kinds. Apple and peach butters, sauerkraut, pickled red beets, crabapple jelly and dill pickles are favorite gift items. The store also has a large selection of pies and cakes.

Dietrich sells logo shopping bags and magnets that are designed by a local craftsman. “They’re quality,” he affirmed. Gift givers will buy a bag and stuff it with meaty treats, like a football shaped bologna or German head cheese.

Food is also the main draw at Ivyland Country Store in Warminster, Pa. “We’ve got the best sandwiches around — we use Boar’s Head meats,” said Owner Jim Primodie . He bought the old country store 25 years ago, and as industrial parks sprang up around it, workers increasingly came for weekday lunch. (Ivyland is closed on weekends, when the area empties out.)

Apart from sandwiches, the best-selling gifts are Ivyland’s logo T-shirts, which have the store name on the front and the slogan “Conveniently Located in the Middle of Nowhere” on the back. For children, shoppers pick up wooden toys and model airplanes. The store is whimsically decorated with antiques, from old radios to furniture Most often, people come in for a sandwich, not an antique, “but sometimes they walk out with both,” Primodie noted.

Whimsical and local gifts are the best-sellers at Danbury Country Store, which has been around since the 1800s in Danbury, N.H. Audrey Pellegrino and James Phelps took over the store from their parents several years ago, combining grocery and deli sections with a gift shop.

Pellegrino said her customers love “any type of unusual mug” with hiking, skiing or New Hampshire designs. Locally made candles in old-fashioned cannonball jars are also favorites, with names like Ski New Hampshire, Snowman’s Poop and Live Free or Die. And the store can hardly keep up with demand for locally designed stickers, which come in a variety of styles and sizes for trucks, cars, water bottles and phones. “They’re great quality,” noted Pellegrino. “I know somebody who washed a sticker on her water bottle every week for years, and that sticker stayed put.”

Cards, purses and candles are perennial gift favorites at The Country Store in Mount Joy, Pa. “But it depends on the season,” noted Gift Manager Lillian Zimmerman . Around Christmas, home décor surges; this year’s holiday winner was snow globes and “anything lighted,” Zimmerman said. Apparel is popular, but since there’s no room for try-ons, Zimmerman stocks one-size-fits-all styles like ponchos.

With a budget conscious clientele, a Zimmerman aims for gifts that cost $20 or less. “This past year, everything was a little higher, since shipping was costly,” she noted. “But with quality items, like our wind chimes, people will pay a little more.” ❖