Ding-Ding-Ding!
Have you ever rung a brass bell? I ring a brass bell at work every day!
In fact, I work at Trader Joe’s and perhaps you have heard bell sounds while shopping there. As some of you might have experienced yourself, Trader Joe (TJ)’s customer service is exceptionally outstanding, especially, compared to other retail stores. In fact, it has ranked the highest among all US supermarket chain stores for many years. How do they achieve it? It is thanks to their bell system.
Each TJ’s store has a brass bell hanging at each checkout counter. They ring the bells a certain number of times like a secret code. Let me tell you about their unique system.
Ding! One Ring of the Bell
This is the sound indicating that the checkout counters are crowded and the lines are getting longer, and any available cashiers, who are doing other tasks momentarily, should return immediately to their checkout stations. At our store, we don’t have any tolerance to see more than two customers standing in any line at any time.
Ding-Ding! Two Rings of the Bell
This means a cashier needs assistance. For instance, if a cashier finds an egg cracked or a bruised apple while scanning, they ring the bell twice. Upon hearing this, colleagues shout “Two bells!” and rush over to the checkout counter. If the cashier requests a new carton of eggs or a new bag of apples for the customer, one of those colleagues hastily obtains one from the shelves. While scanning, cashiers scrutinize each item carefully for the customers’ benefit, as if the cashier were Sherlock Holmes trying to find any piece of evidence at a crime scene using a magnifying glass.
Ding-Ding-Ding!! Three Rings of the Bell
It’s a signal that a manager’s help is needed at the checkout counter. When a customer requests a refund, a cashier rings the bell three times. Upon hearing three rings of a bell, one of the managers rushes to assist the cashier to process refunds. TJ’s operates a generous, no-questions-asked, return policy. One time, a customer came in with a bag of chips that was almost empty. She said that she couldn’t finish eating all of the chips in the bag because they were too spicy for her. She was not embarrassed at all that the packaging clearly stated “super-extra-mega spicy” with five jalapeno icons and a red glowing fire image.
Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding! Four Rings of the Bell
Uh oh! Something happened!! Four rings of a bell is a signal for all store employees, about 40, to drop everything right away — no matter what they are doing — and rush to the checkout area. It means an emergency has occurred or is happening right now. One time, a shoplifter threw three bottles of wine on the floor and fled. Broken pieces of glass covered the floor here and there, and the red wine spilt and spread like lava from a volcano. Within moments of the four rings of the bell, all employees hustled over with caution signs, brooms, dustpans, mops, wipes, and the floor cleaning machine. Everyone knew what to do without being told — just like the criminals in the movie, Ocean’s Eleven. In less than five minutes, the store was spotless again, and we had tranquility back, as if nothing had happened.
Trader Joe’s bell system epitomizes a spirit of collaboration. Especially when the bell rings twice, signaling the need for assistance, multiple colleagues rush over simultaneously, shouting “two bells”. Of course, the one who arrives first to help usually takes care of the request. Those who arrive a bit later playfully pat the back of the first responder, saying “You won!” with a thumbs up as they return with a smile. How beautiful is that?
The best customer service can only come from collaboration, and this simple bell system shows well that I succeed when you succeed.
Reference: Trader Joe’s Homepage — FAQs
What do the bells mean at my local Trader Joe’s?
The bells are a kind of Trader Joe’s Morse code. Those blustery PA systems just didn’t feel right to us, so we came up with a simple system to communicate, à la our maritime (Trader’s on the culinary seas) association.
One bell lets our Crew know when to open another register. Two bells mean there are additional questions that need to be answered at the checkout. Three bells call over a manager-type person. And Three short bells–two long bells–three short bells… now we’re just playing.
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