Shell service station at Stone, Staffs: a great example of ‘Slow Selling’

By Brendan Donnelly

What a pleasing experience I’ve just had at my local SHELL garage.

The normal pandemonium of finding a pump free that sells the right fuel for my van (diesel, not diesel plus and definitely not unleaded ) then pumping most of it into the van whilst still leaving enough to go onto my hands and down the side of the van, has been replaced with a nice gentleman who guides you into the correct slot and then pumps the required amount of fuel into your van, which frees up time for me to get my evening paper and a can of pop for the journey, – a swift card payment and a thankyou to the gentleman (who’s busy on another vehicle) and away.

It’s a thousand times more pleasurable than the old way, ….but of course before the old way this was the way, the old old way, slower more concerned with the customer experience more personal

Commercially though it makes sense because although it is more labour intensive, if I buy more goods in their store, then those goods tend to be high margin ‘distressed purchase type goods’ it is probably worth more to their bottom line than £50 of very low margin diesel if I were to splash and dash, it’s a great example of the benefits of not racing headlong into the abyss of greater speed and chaos, and replacing it with a wider choice which include SLOW.

It’s not the cheapest filling station in town but it now has a new local (and fairly voiciferous) fan in me, and it seems to be doing better than just competing.

This is the essence of ‘Slow Selling’: slowing down to understand the customers’ REAL needs, and then giving it to them inch by inch.

For more information or to chat about how ‘Slow Selling’ could help your Organisation or team, please email Brendan at [email protected]

He won’t try and sell you anything …