As a result of our fast paced world, consumers have more demands today than they have ever had before. It is no longer sufficient for a company to simply produce a product or offer a service. While these things are still required, in order for a company to remain competitive, the product or service it offers must be reasonably priced, easily obtainable, understandable, and possess higher level quality than the competitors offering. The goal of our project was to go to a local business and find a way, if possible, to improve the quality of its product or service.

Finding companies that offer quality products and services that are fairly priced and convenient to obtain is one of the major concerns of today�s consumer. Today�s impatient customer is likely to be unwilling to wait in lengthy lines. Fortunately, due to high levels of competition, consumers are able to be more selective when they shop, and thus are not forced to suffer the inconveniences of a poorly run operation. As a result, businesses want to be considered dependable and reliable in the eyes of consumers, so that customers will feel a sense of loyalty toward them and their products. Businesses realize that customer satisfaction is essential in order to run a successful business. South Milledge Video provides an excellent example of a business continuously striving to achieve this goal.

South Milledge Video is located on the south side of Athens, Georgia, at 2026 South Milledge Avenue. The store is situated in an outside strip-mall with other businesses, including a major grocery store. South Milledge Video is run by a single entrepreneur, Dale Spray. Mr. Spray has amassed an inventory of over 3,500 videocassettes, 500 laser disks, and numerous video game cartridges that are for rent. A few of the store's major competitors in Athens are Moovies, Blockbuster Video, and Vision Video. Because of the competitors, South Milledge Video must concentrate on providing a quality service to the residents of South Athens.

As with all businesses, bringing in new customers is always important. However, it is most critical to maintain the current customer base. A member of our group was curious to whether or not South Milledge Video carried a particular video. After unsuccessfully looking around the store, the group member decided to ask the employee if they carried the video. The owner, Mr. Spray, was the only person working at the time. Because he was busy assisting another customer, our group member had to wait for 6 or 7 minutes only to discover that South Milledge Video did not carry the desired movie. This experience led our group to try and reason a solution to the problem of waiting customers with specific video questions. Keeping customers waiting can lead to initial frustration and final departure.

A tool we used for analysis was an Ishikawa Diagram. We first asked, "why are customers feeling frustrated?" From that, we branched: customer had to wait to long for assistance - employee was helping another customer - only one employee works at a time. This process helped us start thinking of solutions.

Store owner Dale Spray requires only one employee to be present in the store at any given time. This arrangement is justified by both his financial situation and the small size of the store. As proven by our experience, when the store is busy one employee cannot sufficiently work the register and answer questions at the same time. As a team, we began to search for a solution to this problem.

Before deciding on a final solution, we came up with a number of alternatives. First, we discussed the possibility of hiring an additional employee so that two employees would be working each shift. For financial reasons, this option was simply not feasible. Next, we considered arranging the racks of videos in alphabetical order. Realistically, this probably would not work. As customers examine videos, they might not place the video back in the correct order. For this option to work, an employee would have to check the video order every day at closing time to ensure all videos were properly organized. Again, this would be too costly. Another alternative discussed was the creation of a computer database including the titles of all the videos that South Milledge Video carries. Unfortunately, none of these options provided a cost-effective solution.

Our group brainstorming sessions finally led us to the best possible solution. To avoid the problem of having a frustrated customer leave the store, we decided to implement an alphabetical listing of the movies South Milledge Video carries. This list will help South Milledge Video retain current customers while not violating cost constraints. One can easily check to see if they carry a specific video before moving on to another store.

Previously, Dale Spray expressed concern that the list might be removed from the store without authorization. To avoid such a problem, we decided to hold the list in a two inch, three ring binder with two holes drilled in it. We then thread a metal and plastic security cord through the holes and secured it to the desk at the back of the store by the register. As a result, customers can freely browse through the listing and Dale will not have to worry about someone removing the list. By doing this, we also eliminate the risk of the binder being misplaced in the store by either an employee or a customer.

The alphabetical list of videos by the register solves out problem by allowing a customer to browse through the videos while the on-duty employee is assisting another customer. The list is self-explanatory. If the desired video is not on the list, then the video is not carried by South Milledge Video. The implementation of this list saves time and gives a sense of organization to both the customers and employees.

Many factors contribute to the overall success of a business, whether the business is large or small, it must concentrate on customer satisfaction. The wants and needs of the customer must be considered all times. We believe that the alphabetical list that we implemented will help increase the level of customer satisfaction for South Milledge Video. The list seems to be working; however, further observation is needed to completely evaluate the positive and negative effects of the implementation of the alphabetical list of videos.