Some ABC's To Improve Your Retail Experience

Advice for delivering a more memorable retail experience.
Here are some actions you can take to improve your customer's experience in your store and increase sales productivity at the same time. Sure, we've talked about these before but we believe so passionately that it will have a positive impact on your business we'll continue to do so!

1. Engage every customer as if he/she is a buyer. Remember, there's no such thing as lookers. The minute we label a customer as a looker we've already decided she isn't buying.  Most customer are "just looking" because that's what they've been programmed to do.  There are buyers and there are potential buyers but there is no such thing as lookers.

2. Talk with the customer about what she/he needs to know, not about what you know. When I visit a store I watch to see if salespeople adjust what they say based upon the customer's needs. Some retail salespeople say the same thing over and over to the customer throughout the day no matter what the customer says he needs or wants. This almost always results in the customer having to deal with more information than he needs, which almost always results in taking much longer than necessary to make a sale or not making a sale at all.  The customer doesn't need to know everything you know.  He just needs to know enough to make a well-informed decision. 

3. Get whatever you sell (or an extension of it) in the customers' hands. Nothing transfers ownership more than touching, feeling, holding, or trying on the product than a person is thinking about buying.  Here's an example.  Say you are considering buying a high-definition flat screen television.  At retailer number one they show you a television with a great picture and tell you all about the features and benefits of that set. At retailer number two they show you a television with a great picture and tell you about the features and benefits of that set.  Then they put the television's remote control in your hand and show you how simple it is to use. Which retailer has got you mentally closer to buying the television? Obviously number two. This holds true with whatever you sell.

Bingo for a fun way to deliver a better retail experience.
Welcome to the Dynamic Experiences Group Customer Experience Bingo!! Here is how you play.

1. Start by downloading the Customer Experience Bingo card you'll find at http://www.dynamicexperiencesgroup.com/CustomerExperienceBingoCard.pdf.  You can either print out the card directly from your web browser or right-click on the page and save it to your computer.

2. Print one bingo card for each employee.  Every employee will have the same card. 

3. There are a few different ways to play Customer Experience Bingo. You'll see when you look at the bingo card that it's pretty self-explanatory.  Players earn squares by completing different activities with customers, colleagues or managers.
If your staff enjoys a spirited competition, offer a prize to the first person who completes a bingo line with five numbers in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row on his/her card.  Give another prize to the first person who fills in every block on the card.  If not everyone starts his/her shift at the same time then split the staff into groups based on when they start their shift and have prizes for each group.

A less competitive store might choose give a prize to every employee who completes a bingo line and another for completing the entire card. You could also combine the two approaches and give out both a prize for individual achievement and for beating others. It's your contest, do whatever makes it the most fun for your store!

Creating a Lasting Last Impression
From our September 14th blog posting
One mistake some companies make is focusing too much on the customer's first impression and not the last.  Both are important for different reasons but it's that last impression that stays with the customer the longest. Read more here.