PRESENTED BY:

Hello!

Welcome to the fifth edition of this newsletter! Every week I bring you insights and resources to ensure you’re equipped to Always Be Convenient for your customers.

Whether you’re new in role, a long-time expert, or somewhere in-between – convenience is key to delivering on customers’ needs. And that’s what makes this industry such a challenge. Choices are literally endless. But that’s what makes it convenient.

Speaking of choices, I know you have many ways to spend your Monday morning, especially on Labor Day. I truly do appreciate your continued support. All of the replies I’ve received, the ratings (at the end of this email), and the comments from colleagues I’ve spoken with are very encouraging!

If you’re looking for another way to support me, would you forward this along to someone you think might find value in it? Or you can send them to alwaysbeconvenient.com/subscribe where they can sign up for themselves.

Hope you have a great week!

Conveniently,
Mike

A MESSAGE FROM CSTORE MOMENTUM

An exclusive event tailored for young leaders

This unique gathering, organized by the National Advisory Group,  the Young Executives Organization, and CStoreDecisions, is an experience designed to propel emerging leaders to new heights. Attendees can immerse themselves in engaging sessions, interactive workshops, and networking opportunities.

CStoreMomentum is a catalyst for personal and professional acceleration, where young leaders converge to shape the future of convenience retail.

This year’s event will run September 18-20, 2024. It will be hosted by Yesway at the Texas Motor Speedway in Forth Worth, TX.

Learn more about CStore Momentum today. You still have time to register!

Be the choice

Life is full of choices. What to do. Where to go. How to get there. When to eat. What to drink.

We must make decisions about all these things and more, each and every day.

And if you’re a parent, you’re often making these decisions not just for yourself, but for your children too (up to a certain age).

But it’s not just about the decisions we’re making; it’s all the options we have to consider too. We have more choices than we know what to do with.

Today’s age could probably be defined by the abundance of choice we have. And yet I am amazed at some of the things I have choice over. Does a person really need to evaluate and choose from four different trash pickup services?

The supercomputers in our pocket have further enabled these choices. We can search at a moment’s notice for choices in anything.

Some would say smartphones have even made things worse.

In 2004, American psychologist Barry Schwartz published The Paradox of Choice – Why More Is Less, a book that argued that eliminating consumer choices can greatly reduce anxiety for shoppers.

Schwartz goes on to say that that the dramatic explosion in choice has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. And this was three years before the American consumer would be introduced to the first iPhone in 2007.

What’s all this have to do with convenience? Everything, of course.

When someone is overwhelmed by choice, they will tend to fall back on the familiar. They will quickly find themselves relying on what is easy, known, and … convenient.

This is our task: to always be convenient.

If your convenience store gives customers something to do, a place to go, things to eat and drink, and a reason to be there – even amongst all the other options that offer the same thing – that’s how you overcome choice.

But if you fail, or you don’t live up to consumer expectation, they can easily make a choice to go somewhere else. It’s a tap away on their smartphone.

Be the choice your customers want to make. And better yet, be convenient enough that the consumers who’ve yet to make that choice will choose you.