When listening to Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Steven Temares, it doesn’t take too long to hear him speak about his company’s deep commitment to customer engagement, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty.
“We focus our investments on what will improve our customers’ experience,” Temares said during the Sept. 24 second-quarter earnings conference all, according to Seeking Alpha. “We are never satisfied. For us, it’s not about being the first or being the biggest. We want to be the best in providing the right products, services, and solutions for our customers. And our success is, first and foremost, because of our people. We believe in a meritocracy, and we significantly promote from within.”
Temares believes that the company’s customer-centric culture “with its never-say-no attitude” is a key differentiator for Bed Bath & Beyond.
“We strive to exceed our customer’s expectation, we invest in our people, and in delivering high quality products, services, and solutions,” he explained. “And we also invest in the technology necessary to enable a more seamless interaction between our associates and our customers wherever, whenever, and however they wish to interact with us.”
As the company’s digital and physical channels continue to converge, Temares said, the physical stores remain central to serving customers and provide a “tremendous opportunity to be close to them. The ability to consult with our knowledgeable and solutions-oriented sales associates, coupled with our in-store services, encourage customers to visit and spend time in our stores. Options such as reserve online, pickup in-store, buy online and return to store, and online appointment scheduling highlight various points of interactions we have with our customers across our channels.”
As an organization, Bed Bath & Beyond remains “vigilant” in its mission to do more for and with its customers, Temares said.
“We believe we have the culture and organizational structure in place to leverage our broad knowledge and expertise in the categories for which we are best known,” he said. “We strive to provide the right products, services, and solutions for our customers, while at the same time, continue to make the necessary investments in our omnichannel capabilities to thrive in an ever-evolving retail environment. Our customer-centric culture and commitment to customer service have been the bedrock of our company from our beginning. When Warren Eisenberg and Leonard Feinstein founded Bed Bath & Beyond, they established a few simple tenets around our customers and our people. We will do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer and, therefore, the only unbreakable policy is that no customer should leave unhappy.”
Every day, company associates “must lead by example and earn the trust and loyalty of our customers,” Temares stressed. “To support their efforts, our associates receive product knowledge training on an ongoing basis, to better assist and engage with our customers on the selling floor, on the phone or online to answer questions, make recommendations, and provide the services and solutions they are looking for.”