Chester County agricultural community to receive advice on connecting with the public
McCaw to speak on enhancing the customer experience on Feb. 28
Agricultural business owners who interact with the public at markets, stores and on their farms will have an opportunity to learn techniques that will enhance their customers experience and increase sales.
Connie McCaw, President of Guest Experience Management Services, will give a workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 28 from 1 until 4 p.m. at the Chester County Economic Development Council. For registration and information, see www.agconnectpa.com.
The workshop will focus on the importance of setting the stage to welcome customers, basic customer interaction techniques, including how to mirror body language, storytelling that upsells, and the art of saying no. In addition to customer service essentials, McCaw will share best practices in human resource and brand management along with small business strategies that will have a positive financial impact on the bottom line.
McCaw knows hard work is needed to make an agricultural related business succeed. She grew up near West Chester and at the age of 8 beganworking for her family’s dog kennel business. “I watched my parents work 18 hour days and take immense pride in taking care of people’s be- loved dogs. They were successful solely because they worked hard and cared for customer’s dogs as if they were their own.”
From an early age, McCaw became acutely aware that customers have different expectations and that each customer wanted to be listened to and addressed appropriately. She left the family business to work in the hotel industry and studied Hospitality and Restaurant Management.
At Longwood Gardens, McCaw was the first Guest Services Director and built the department and Longwood’s guest experience model. During her tenure, Longwood Gardens’ revenue grew from $13 million to $23 million, while guest numbers rose to more than 1.1 million annually.
After more than 20 years in the customer service industry, McCaw started her own business, Guest ExperienceManagement Services of Cochranville. She consults with organizations seeking to improve customer service and consumer loyalty to garner long-term gains. For more information on her company, see www. peoplearegems.com.
“I see a great opportunity in supporting family run businesses and in this case, farms,” McCaw said. “The good news is that buying local is in. The opportunity to build business for farms is now. I can lend my expertise to farm owners who go to market and help them be better business owners by providing service techniques and basic business management tools.”