Beat the slump with customer service

A foodie entrepreneur with a profitable, million-dollar company says staying closely connected to her customers is her recipe for success.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)

(FORTUNE Small Business) -- Earlier this month I shared the success story of House of Jerky, a business wholesaler and online retailer that's succeeding in this tough economy. I recently ran across another foodie entrepreneur, Paige Ohliger, who is thriving despite the downturn.

Her winning secret? Extreme customer service.

Ohliger is one of four founders of Time for Dinner, launched in 2004 in St. Louis, Mo. Her niche is the meal-assembly business - those stores you visit to prep ingredients for complete, pre-made dinners for the month ahead. While nationally franchised competitors closed up shop all around her, Ohliger kept her business profitable and recorded sales just shy of $1 million in 2007.

That revenue didn't just come pouring in: Ohliger's success with Time for Dinner stems from deliberate strategies and decisions that helped the independent business rise above national brands like Meal Makers, Let's Dish, Super Suppers and Dream Dinners.

Time for Dinner, like its competitors, has customers come in and assemble complete meals to take home and freeze. Each month, it offers choices of 14 different meals, all in raw form; customers leave with ready-to-cook meals and recipes for finishing them off.

"Customers save time they'd otherwise spend shopping, chopping and mopping," Ohliger says.

So what's her secret recipe to maintaining sales while rivals struggle?

  • Get in tune with the community.

Ohliger encourages people to hold parties at her store with a do-gooder angle. Neighbors can come in and prepare meals as a group. If 10 people come together and each order a full set of meals (12 meals per person, each serving 4-6 people), Ohliger kicks in a free eleventh set. Groups often earmark that for a sick friend, or one who has just had a baby.

  • Show customers you care.

Ohliger's deliberately high ratio of staff-to-customers helps keep the kitchen sparkling and ensures that customers can quickly get any needed assistance.

  • Use customer feedback to gain new customers

Ohliger gets in sync with customers by being sensitive to the tough economy. Everyone wants their dollar to go farther, and she's not shy about broadcasting the fact that people who use her service can save money. Feedback from current customers suggests they're saving $100-$150 monthly by using the service; Ohliger plays up that statistic in her marketing.

Time for Dinner lives the maxim "if it's good for the customer, it's good for the business." That tight connection with clients gives Ohliger's business the leg up it needs to survive these challenging times.

Rich Sloan is co-founder of StartupNation, a leading online business advice and networking website for entrepreneurs. He also hosts the nationally syndicated talk show, StartupNation Radio, airing on over 70 stations across the country. He is co-author of the acclaimed how-to book, StartupNation: America's Leading Entrepreneurial Experts Reveal the Secrets to Building a Blockbuster Business (Doubleday, 2006). To top of page

Features
They're hiring!These Fortune 100 employers have at least 350 openings each. What are they looking for in a new hire? More
If the Fortune 500 were a country...It would be the world's second-biggest economy. See how big companies' sales stack up against GDP over the past decade. More
Sponsored By:
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

ad
frame>

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.