Retail Contrarian

Leadership Give and Take

The first time somebody told me that "to keep it you have to give it away" I thought he was talking nonsense. But over time, the more I have learned about being a good manager and a good person, the more I have realized the truth of that seemingly contradictory statement.
 


These are the four most important things a store manager must give to his/her staff so the staff can give it back to the store and customers.
 


Loyalty. Loyalty is a two way street. If you want loyal employees, you must be a loyal manager and employer. There are many ways to show loyalty to an employee. It's being willing to adapt a work schedule when an employee is having challenges at home or dealing with other concerns. It's figuring out how to give a leave of absence to a person who needs one even when doing so creates some challenges for the rest of the team. It's spending that little bit of extra time when an employee is struggling to learn a new skill or obtain new knowledge. It's delivering performance reviews and merit raises on time.
 


Respect. I have had the pleasure to work for and with some wonderful people; people I had great respect for. I've also worked for and with some managers I didn't respect. The reason I didn't respect them is because they weren't people of their word. They lived by the code of "do as I say, not as I do." They didn't keep their word. They didn't keep confidences. They put their own needs above others, believing that rank had its privilege. For a manager/owner to lead a team he/she must have the respect of the team. Respect isn't really that hard to keep but it is very tough to earn back when it's been lost.



A positive attitude. I've always said that you can walk into almost any store and within minutes determine how positive the manager/owner is without even meeting them. Their attitude sets the tone for the entire team. Chances are if an employee greets you with a smile and friendly welcome that they too were met with a smile and friendly welcome when they arrived at work that day. My wife jokingly tells our children that "when mama's not happy, ain't nobody happy." The same principle holds true in a store, too. When the manager/owner is in a bad mood or is stressed out there is a dark could over the entire store. It impacts everyone working that day but most of all it impacts the customer and the day's sales.
 


The store priorities. A manager's/owner's actions - not what they say but what they do - communicates to the staff what's really important. What matters is not what a manager says that is important, it's what a manager does that makes the real impact. I've seen so many managers stand up in a store meeting and babble on about the importance of customer service, how much they respect the customer, blah blah blah. Then immediately after the meeting they spend their entire time focused on merchandising or preparing for a store visit and completely ignoring customers. Every day you must show and do what is necessary for the store to succeed. If that's what you do then your team will do the same.



So let me ask, what are you going to give away today?

Labels: Leadership, retail, Retail management

REALLY Listening to Your Customer

Last week I was working with a group of retailers here in New England and the topic turned to store return policies. It seems that in this particular community the majority of retailers will only give a customer making a return a store credit, not a refund. Very few of the retailers in this town will give a refund even if the customer has a receipt and is returning an item within the stated timeframe.

One of the retailers commented that maybe she would change to a full refund policy since "every now and then a customer complains so I end up giving a refund anyway." While I agree that it's a good idea to change her policy, there was actually another reason to do so. She needs to change her policy because it is costing her sales and customers.

I believe that in today's competitive retail environment, all retailers should have a liberal return policy. It's so challenging to obtain customers, why lose them forever over one sale? It's not smart business to let customers walk unless you're positive you want to lose that customer.

To me there was a more important lesson in this conversation than just return policies. It's the impact of what I (with a nod to Richard Nixon) call the Silent Majority. The retailer above gave a refund to the Vocal Minority who complained about her return policy but she never heard from the Silent Majority. They either didn't make a purchase because of her return policy or they may have stopped shopping in her store after she refused them a refund. I know some days it sure doesn't feel like it but the majority of your customers don't complain when they're unhappy. The majority of your customers don't write letters or make a phone call when they're happy with your store, either. Only the Vocal Minority takes action.

The Vocal Minority can help you improve the overall store experience of the Silent Majority. Every time a customer complains or gives you some kind of critical feedback ask yourself if this issue is unique to that particular customer, or could it be something that has an impact on every one of your customers. More often than not the Vocal Minority does indeed speak for the Silent Majority. The odds are good that if one customer is unhappy with something, you probably have a lot of other customers who are unhappy about the same thing. Instead of making something right for the one customer who complains, take a step back and ask yourself if and how that one person's concern impacts all of your customers.

In our return policy example above, if our retailer did this exercise she would see that her customers have different expectations of her return policy than what she's delivering. The Vocal Minority complained and got their money back, the Silent Majority either left or cut back on their purchases.

But the unhappy Silent Majority doesn't really stay silent. According to the second annual Retail Customer Dissatisfaction Study released last week by the Wharton School of Business, one in three unhappy customers tells other people about a problem encountered at a store and those people go on to tell an average of four others. The fact is that every time you think you lose one customer you're actually losing at the minimum three or four.

The same holds true for customer praise. If something you did for a customer made them so happy they took the time to tell you about it, can you do whatever it was for all customers? And maybe you already are; it's just that the Silent Majority never told you how much they appreciate it.

Remember, the Vocal Minority can help you grow your sales and profits. . . even when they're asking for their money back or giving you praise.

Labels: customer experience, customer service, Increase retail sales, unhappy customers

Profit From the Customer Decision

To be a successful retail salesperson, and we're all salespeople if we work retail, you must understand how customers buy. The act of making a purchase is a financial decision-making process not much different from other decisions except that at the end of this decision-making process there is an exchange of money for goods. The process itself is very linear. The time it takes to move through the process varies by individuals and what the purchase is.

The decision-making process to buy a soda at a soda machine is the same one to buy a new car but the amount of time it takes to move through that process will obviously vary. The more you know and acknowledge where people are in their decision making process the better you'll be able to deliver a better store experience and sell more products.

These are the four steps/stages of the decision-making process:

1. Recognize a need or want. Someone could be getting dressed one morning and realize that since he's been exercising more his pants are getting loose. He recognizes the need for new pants. Our newly-svelte friend may get into his car and head right to a store or he might file the thought away and continue to wear his baggy pants for a little while longer. Or a customer walks into a woman's accessory store and after seeing a pretty pair of hoop earrings recognize that she might want to add a larger hoop to her earring collection. Many customers enter your store without a recognized need or want but they always come in with an interest.

Success Tips

a) Engaging customers with your products can move them from having an interest to the first stage of the decision-making process.
b) Listening closely to what the customer says is an easy way for you to identify if she has recognized her need or want.

2. Gather information. The customer is now discovering what she needs to know and begins to gather information so she can make an informed decision. For a simple purchase like a soda from a machine that information would include what drinks are in that particular machine and how much they cost. For clothing, a shopper needs to look at different fabrics, colors, cuts and sizes. For more complicated purchases like consumer electronics and automobiles the customer has to spend time and energy to educate herself and collect what information is needed.

Success Tips
a) The biggest mistake many retail sales associate make is not identifying where in the information gathering stage the customer is. Rather than ask questions about what the customer has done so far and what she knows, associates almost always assume the customer is only beginning to gather information.
b) You'll be viewed as an expert and more likely to make the sale if you help the customer understand what information is necessary to make an informed decision.

3. Evaluate choices and alternatives. This is when the customer tries on clothes, tastes samples, tries out different golf clubs, compares the choices side-by-side, etc.

Success Tips
a) Reduce the number of choices the customer has to pick from. Instead of showing the customer every single one of their choices, recommend one or two products that you believe, based on the questions you've asked, best meets your customer's needs.
b) Get the product in the customer's hands, on their body, etc. It's amazing how many sales people will talk and talk about what a product does and never actually show you what a product does.

4. Make a (purchase) decision. The customer has decided to make a purchase. That doesn't mean he will make a purchase at that moment or even that he has chosen from whom he will make the purchase, but he has made a decision.

Success Tips
a) Deliver a great experience and you'll be the clear choice when the customer decides where to buy.
b) Often the customer has made a decision to buy but since the sales associate doesn't assume the sale, the purchase is not made. Always assume the customer will buy from you today unless you've been told otherwise.

I encourage you this week to identify what stage each one of your customers is in. Once you do that, see if you can help them come to a decision that will make both the customer and you happy.

Retail - It's Easy and Hard

Here are some of the easy and hard things about retail.

It's easy to be a good manager when you're in a good mood. It's hard to be a good manager when you're in a bad mood. You're doing really well when your team doesn't think you have bad moods.

It's easy to buy products that are hot and in demand. It's hard to know when to quit buying them before they're everywhere and a commodity. You know you're going to win some, some lose, and that's what makes retail a fun challenge.

It's easy to sell a customer one product. It's hard to sell a customer more than one product. What's important is that each customer leaves with the right amount of product for them.

It's easy to run an advertisement. It's hard to market effectively. You need to understand why you do either.

It's easy to create a weekly schedule for the staff. It's hard to create one that makes everyone happy. It's important to try.

It's easy to say bad things about your competitors. It's hard to say good things about your competitors. What's great is when you can do both at the same time and no one notices. (Never say anything bad about your competitors. Period.)

It's easy to gossip about others on the team. It's hard to say something to someone else who is gossiping. For the good of the team, step in and stop the gossip.

It's easy to explain away your mistakes. It's hard to admit your mistakes. What's most important is that you fix your mistakes.

It's easy to hang out on the floor and be in charge. It's hard to work the floor and still get done what you need to get done. Isn't working the floor part of doing what needs to be done?

It's easy to not say something to an employee you're unhappy with. It's hard to have difficult conversations with employees. Not having those conversations is unfair to both the employee and the company.

It's easy to talk the talk. It's hard to walk the walk. Without the walk, the talk is a waste of time.

It's easy to accept responsibility when things are going well. It's hard to accept responsibility when things aren't going well. If you're a manager/owner/leader it doesn't matter: you are responsible.

It's easy to find ideas every day that will have a positive impact on your business or life. It's hard to apply the ideas. Success comes to those who do.

It's easy to start the week on a positive note. It's easy to end the week on a positive note. What's hard sometimes is keeping that positive note one the days between.

Labels: retail, Retail management

The Name Game

A few weeks ago while presenting to a group of store managers on the topic of improving their staffs' selling and engagement skills, the topic of using the customer's name came up. I suggested that at times it is very natural to introduce yourself and discover the customer's name and then use it. Within seconds one of the store managers said, "Too car salesman-like." Someone else mentioned that the expectation at his stores was to get the customer's name from the credit card during the point of purchase and use it while thanking him/her.

I agree that it is good retail to use the customer's name in the checkout process, but I disagree that using a customer's name during the sales process is "car salesman-like." I think calling a customer by name is only natural when your focus is on his/her needs and matching the person with the right products. I've always said that a great store experience is the result of the connection between a customer and one or more employees. It seems to me that if you're connecting with someone you probably ought to know each other's name.

I've admitted that when I was on the floor I wasn't the best at using a customer's name. I've come to realize that I was actually pretty good at using a person's name once I knew it but I just wasn't very good at finding out the name so I could use it. I suspect that most retail salespeople aren't much different. If a customer walked into your store with a nametag on you'd be likely to call them by name. The challenge is that we're usually the ones with the nametag. We could make everyone who came in the door fill out one of those "Hi My Name Is" stickers but I'm pretty sure that won't work. The solution to the problem has to lie within us.

I'd like to challenge you and your staff to improve your customer's experience by becoming more comfortable discovering and using the customer's name. I guarantee that when done well it will make a difference in how your customer feels about your store as well as when and how much they buy. I also guarantee that if done poorly it will make a difference in how your customer feels about your store as well as when and how much they buy. The good news, it really isn't hard to do well.

Here are a few things to consider in getting more comfortable discovering and using the customer's name:

1. Introducing yourself and discovering your customer's name is much more important than actually using it. Most people who push you to say the customer's name a lot either haven't worked retail much or they've trained car salesman. If you find a natural place to call your customer by name during the sale, great, but it's getting it one time that really counts.

2. Don't ask if you're not sincere. When people do this poorly it's because they're doing it because they've been told to do it, not because they want to. If you really like your customers, and if you really like your store, then I'm sure you're sincere. It's okay to force yourself to do this because you're uncomfortable; it's not okay to do it if you don't want to.

3. Don't feel pressured to learn and use the name of every customer, but do push yourself to do it with every customer you're highly engaged with. I'd say if you're engaged enough to ask questions and show product, you're engaged enough that introducing yourself is a natural step.

4. Always introduce yourself first before you ask the customer his/her name. Yes, you're probably wearing a nametag and yes, the customer can read, but by introducing yourself you're telling the customer right then and there that his/her experience in your store is going to be different and better than other stores.

5. Introduce yourself when it feels right. For some of you, usually the more outgoing personalities among you, it will be pretty soon after first engaging the customer. For others it might be when you're asking some questions or showing the customer the products you're recommending. There's no right time or wrong time, just your time.

6. Skip the handshaking if it's not your style. Skip the handshaking if you don't feel it's the customer's style. Don't let handshaking impede introducing yourself and discovering the customer's name. This is all about style - your style.

7. Most of the time the customer will tell you their name after you tell them yours. If they don't, you can decide to ask them theirs or not based upon how strong your connection is with them and how comfortable you are asking. I find the "And you are?" question uncomfortable for most salespeople. Remember, telling them your name is what's most important.

8. Keep practicing until it becomes second nature. First get comfortable introducing yourself. Then get comfortable finding out the customer's name. Finally, get comfortable using the customer's name.

Labels: Retail experience, Retail sales