ABOUT CUSTOMER IMPACT
Customer Impact is a nationwide retail merchandising service organization. We offer third-party merchandiser support for a wide variety of companies in industries of all types.
Our services include:
Over the past twenty-five years, our team has built a company that proves we understand customer needs. We are capable of managing a large infrastructure of representatives to get things done for our customers. Fast delivery, great quality, and affordability are the building blocks that define our business.
Customer Impact has a strong reputation defined by our great customers and the work that we do for them.
Our nationwide infrastructure of field representatives is ready to go to work for you!
Read our story below, and then meet the team.
Origin
After spending the first stage of my career in sales for product manufacturers, I moved into retail as a marketing manager at a large chain of convenience stores. When the C-store industry experienced significant turbulence in the 1980s due to increased competition from major oil companies, I was laid off.
It was 1991, and I found myself married with three daughters and out of a job.
I wanted to give it a try on my own instead of looking for another job, so I began utilizing the network from my earlier jobs. With my experience as a sales and marketing manager in packaged goods, and a buyer/merchandiser as a retailer, I had the view from “both sides of the desk.”
One day, I went to lunch with a friend of mine from Pepsi, during which I was prompted by his specific suggestion that I gather information on the presence of product displays and pricing in convenience and small grocery locations.
Growth
For my first project, I needed to perform a weekly display survey at twenty stores in Houston, Texas. We typed up the reports for the information that had been gathered on a paper form.
My next project was gathering retail cigarette pricing in the Houston area. As business grew past state lines and into the rest of the U.S., we began to figure out how to utilize others to gather this information.
So, I began interviewing people to work as representatives of our growing organization. Pre-internet, this meant placing ads in local newspapers, scheduling in-person interviews, and training new hires face-to-face. It was during this time that I met many of the people that would stay with me for many years.
Through word of mouth and the help of our national network of representatives who gathered the data, we were soon conducting surveys all over the country for many different clients.
Mystery Shopping
As we perfected the art of in-store data collection and expanded our client base, I learned about the concept of tracking the customer experience via mystery shopping. Since our team had already developed the necessary infrastructure, it seemed like an easy transition beyond surveys and into mystery shopping, and away we went.
Within a few years, we were one of the largest companies in the mystery shopping business.
Customer Impact Today
Our current focus is a return to our legacy business by providing third-party retail merchandising services to brands large and small. In addition, we now support our retail merchandising work with a full-service warehouse and fulfillment company, Eagle Support Services, Inc.
As our business continues to grow with great employees and great customers, I know that treating everyone with respect, listening to our customers, and delivering quality data quickly at high levels of completion will support a foundation of success for many years. As importantly, we’ve built a staff of employees who embody these traits.
Our customers see that we are honest, direct, and empathetic, which means they love doing business with us. I’m confident that you will too.
Scott Hiller
President
