Retail Contrarian

Aim, Shoot, Win - Paintball and Retail Selling

A few years ago some friends and I went on a paintball outing.  We had a blast even though I was surprised by how much those little paintballs sure can sting.  I was also amazed at how quickly friends become foes when put into that kind of situation.  But I digress.

In our first outing I got pretty aggressive from the start and made a successful dash to one of the bunkers halfway to the other team.  It was here that I learned about good paintball strategy.  First and foremost, have one.  After I made my first move I realized I didn't have a plan.  My team went in a different direction and I was a sitting duck.  Or perhaps I should say a painted duck. I made a mad dash for safety but ended up getting hit more than Bonnie and Clyde did at the end of the movie. (For you younger readers, it's a great movie from 1967 starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.) 

On my second outing I realized I would be more successful if I had a plan.  Like a good chess game, I tried to figure out what my next two or three moves would be.  Of course what my opponents and team members did would impact my plan, but at least I had a plan.  This time I played for a lot longer although a single sniper did take me out.  It was at this point that I realized this might not be the best sport for a guy like me who isn't the fastest runner and is a bit wider target than his friends.

The reason I'm telling you about my paintball experience is because I was shopping some stores at an outlet center earlier this week and I realized that a lot of those same lessons apply to working with customers.  We need to have a good strategy so we can know where we're going with the customer and have the ability to adapt based on how each particular situation unfolds.

Let me share an example. The first store I visited was a client's store.  The staffer nearest the door greeted me as defined in their training, and then even asked me one of the questions that they recommend employees use to engage a customer with their products.  I answered that yes indeed I did own some of their products.

Unfortunately the woman either didn't have an understanding of why she asked me the question or she didn't know what to do with the answer itself.  As a result, she was like me in that first paintball game, a sitting duck that was quickly taken out.  Or in her case, it was a missed opportunity to engage the customer and possibly make a sale.

When interviewing a customer we want to ask questions that we know will lead to either another qualifying question, or a follow-up question based on their answer. The strategy is to uncover something about the customer and their needs or opportunities so you can engage them with your products. The process should be pretty much the same for each customer although the particular path and where you end up will be different each time.

As I learned in paintball, knowing where you want to go before you make the first move will have a huge impact on whether you win or lose a sale.  There's one more thing that retail selling and paintball have in common - there's definitely a sting when you don't follow the plan.

A Little Knowledge...

A recent survey by the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller has revealed that customers are becoming more and more distrustful of on-line reviews of products and companies. Much of this distrust has come from reports of companies finding "creative" ways to skew reviews in their favor. Given the fact that anybody with internet access has the ability to rate a product or business, and that there is no standard for such ratings or the manner in which they're conducted, it's only natural that a potentially useful tool would become corrupted.

The challenge, however, is not to police opinions or establish standards for online reviews, but for businesses to learn what's being said about them and/or the products they sell. A little misinformation can go a long way toward damaging sales and, even worse, a reputation. How many times have you had a customer say "I heard on the internet that this [product] was..." or "Isn't this the place that..." and then espouse some erroneous fact they had encountered? How many customers have not bought a product because that misinformation was lurking in their mind, but they didn't express it?

Take some time every week to hop online and seek out the reviews for your products, brands, or (if you're brave enough) your store. Find out what people are telling others. Hopefully, it's good. If you encounter negative or misleading information, fight your desire to become defensive online. If you must reply, remember that everyone who reads your words is a potential customer. Better still, use your new-found information to better understand your customers' expectations when they enter the store.

Maximizing Store Meetings

One way managers and owners can make store meetings more productive is by not using valuable time to review things that can be done via memo.  Having the store team all together is a luxury and the opportunity should be maximized.  Years and years ago I worked for a woman who would spend most of every meeting reading memos from the corporate office. Hello?? We can read!  Post those memos and move on!  Use your time in meetings to gather feedback, brainstorm ideas, roleplay, and run product trainings that includes selling scenarios.

Apple Goes Wal-Mart?

Gary over at infoAppleStore.com has an interesting tidbit today about a recent job posting on Apple's site. It seems the Apple Stores are looking to fill a newly-created position of Concierge, which at first glance looks like a greeter. From the description, however, it appears that this job is designed to go beyond the typical "Welcome to [insert store name here], have fun shopping, and don't forget we're watching you" approach of many big boxes. You can read the description here, but the nutshell version specifies an outgoing people-person to welcome customers, excite them, direct them, and, when the customer leaves, provide them with a "fond farewell". It sounds like Apple is taking a basic but oft-overlooked notion (that customer's first and last impressions of the store will define their experience) and making it the key responsibility of one staff member. Interestingly enough, these positions are currently only available in roughly half of Apple's stores.

Will it work? Will it erode the level of service provided by other store team members? Will Apple take a unique tact to ensure their Concierge doesn't turn into a generic greeter? Will they be able to find enough Apple-centric extroverts to fill the positions? Will it serve to improve customers' experiences in the store? And if it does work, how long until other retailers follow suit? We'll just have to wait and see.

Store Manager Terry Francona

Normally I don't share any current articles from my daily subscription  newsletter The Daily Retail Experience here on the Retail Contrarian blog. But since my beloved Red Sox won game one of the World Series I decided to celebrate by sharing Tuesday's Daily on what we would say about Terry Francona if he ran a retail store. I hope you enjoy the article......even if you're a Rockies fan.

As you can imagine, baseball fans all over New England are flying high with the Red Sox victory in the American League Championship Series that sends them on to the World Series. Being a superstitious Red Sox fan, since I didn't write anything after they won their division or during the LCS I figured I couldn't write anything until the series was over.

Besides spending $143 million dollars in payroll, one of the reasons the Red Sox are so successful is manager Terry Francona. While a lot of people might say that anyone can be successful with a $143 million dollar payroll, the Yankees, Mets, and a few other teams will tell you otherwise. You have to have a good manager to win.

Believe it or not there are a lot of similarities between running a store and running a baseball team. Part of being a successful manager, whether it is in baseball or retail, is knowing how to leverage the capabilities of each individual on the team and get them to work together to achieve a common goal. They both require strong leadership, confidence, and strong communication.

Since Terry (aka Tito) Francona is a good baseball manager, he'd probably be a good retail manager too. Here are four things we might say about Terry Francona if he ran a store the same way he runs the Red Sox:

1. His store team works hard for him because they appreciate his ability to balance the needs of the company with the needs of the staff. People like the fact that he "has their back." The employees know that he's not afraid to share with his bosses how the staff feels about company issues but they also respect that when he rolls out company initiatives they know they are expected to be onboard.

2. Tito is known as one of the best at finding each employee's strengths as well as what motivates them to bring out their best. Terry was surprised at a recent manager's meeting when a colleague said that since all his retail associates do the same job he doesn't see any reason to look for employee's strengths. The manager said as long as every employee is meeting expectation what sense did it make to assign employee "specialties."  Tito knows better.  One of his employees, the one they call Big Papi, is awesome at creating big-ticket sales.  Since the staff knows that they appreciate it when Big Papi steps in and helps them with a customer who is clearly making a big sale.  He's got another employee, named Yuk (pronounced 'Yooooook"), who is very patient, so Tito assigns him tasks that frustrate other employees.

3. Terry knows that practice makes for better retail associates. Roleplaying on a daily basis is standard in his store. Not a day goes by that Terry doesn't spend a few minutes with each employee practicing some service or sales skill.  Not surprisingly, Terry's store has the best mystery shop score in their division.

4. Tito looks for coachable moments instead of depending just on monthly one-on-ones. Sure, monthly one-on-one meetings are nice to do, but Tito learned early on in his career as a store manager that giving people immediate feedback was critical to developing an employee.  New employees are always surprised at how much feedback they get from Tito.  At first employees think that maybe he's a little too critical of them but the come to realize that Tito doesn't label the feedback as positive or negative, it's just feedback. They realize that Tito's only motive is for them to grow as an employee and a person.

So while Terry Francona is gearing up for the start of the World Series, your World Series, the holiday selling season, is just one month away.  Is your team getting ready? Even more important, are you doing what you need to do for your team to win?   

Perception Is Reality

One day I was talking with a retailer in my coaching program about the challenges she was having with some of her employee's perceptions of her.  She said she is perceived as aloof and headstrong even though she says she isn't.  I appreciate that she feels she isn't aloof and headstrong but as far as her staff is concerned perception is reality

I got my "perception is reality" wake-up call when we did 360 feedbacks at Bose. It was interesting to see how I was perceived by the people around me, especially as that perception differed among employees, colleagues and my boss.  Like my client, I didn't agree with how everyone perceived me, but the reality was that I had to learn to manage those perceptions so I could achieve the organizational and personal goals I wanted to achieve.

Store staffs have been known to develop some common perceptions of owners and managers that hinder a store's success.  Here are the two that stand out the most.

1. My manager/owner isn't open to the staff's ideas and opinions. This perception can happen for a couple reasons.  The most obvious one is that the manager/owner really isn't open to the staff's ideas and opinions.   If this is the case the manager/owner really needs to change their attitude because being close-minded has a negative impact on teamwork and the staff taking ownership.

Some managers really are open to the staff's ideas and opinions but their actions create a different perception.  Here are some of the ways this perception is formed:

• The manager/owner is distracted and unfocused when talking with the staff. Managers/owners can overcome the perception by giving employees their undivided attention.

• The manager/owner is too quick to point out why an idea won't work. Managers/owners can overcome the perception by talking through ideas rather than explaining why something won't work.

• The manager/owner is too fast to say yes or no to an idea. The staff rarely remembers how fast you accept an idea but they will never forget when you're quick to say no.  Managers/owners can overcome the perception by taking extra time before getting back to an employee with a thumbs up or down on their idea or opinion.

• The manager/owner doesn't solicit the staff's opinion as often as they should. While many managers/owners are open to suggestions, they just get too busy to ask.  Managers/owners can overcome the perception by using part of a staff meeting to brainstorm ideas or to put up a brainstorming sheet in the backroom to solicit input.

2. My manager/owner spends all of their time off the floor in the office.  With many retailers this not just a perception, it is indeed reality. But with others it's just a perception because even though the manager/owner is on the floor a lot, there are times when the staff needs them and inevitably it's those moments that they're not on the floor.

Here are some of the ways this perception is formed:

• The manager/owner does their office work during the predictably slow times. While this seems like a smart time to work in the back, the challenge is that during the slow times there is usually a small staff in the store besides the manager/owner.  To overcome the perception the manager/owner should remind the staff to be sure to interrupt them the minute the store starts to get busy. Employees don't like to interrupt the manager/owner when they're in the office so as a result they don't let the manager/owner know when they need help.

• The staff has no idea what the manager/owner does in the office so they just assume they're in the office so they don't have to be on the floor.  I'd be remiss not to admit that I haven't done that myself once or twice.  But more often than not owners/managers are doing important work in the office, not avoiding being on the floor. You can overcome this perception by telling the staff what you'll be doing in the back.  Even better, if the store is slow see if there is a way the staff can contribute to getting it done.  Just remind them to stop working on it and put it away if a customer comes in the store.

• Picking the wrong time to work in the office.  Just because there are a few slow moments on a Saturday doesn't mean a manager/owner should try to do office work.  Without fail the store will get busy and the manager/owner will be needed on the floor.  On peak days and times stay on the floor unless there is an emergency.

There are many ways for a staff or a customer to form a perception that becomes their reality. Your role as the manager or owner is to manage your actions to make sure that your reality is their reality. What are some of the way your actions as an owner or manager are misperceived by your staff or managers?

It's Hot to be Cool

A recent piece in RetailWire discussed the results of the third annual CoolBrands survey. The survey is administered by Superbrands and represents the opinions of 2000 British citizens as well as the CoolBrands Council, which is made up of designers, executives, and journalists. The resulting list represents the top 20 brands that survey participants define as "cool", though the term "cool" is never defined.

The list of 20 brands (not just companies, since one company can be represented by more than one brand) contains some pretty predictable names like iPod, Google, and YouTube. Less typical brands like Agent Provocateur (lingerie) and Tate Modern (museum) dot the list and skew it away from definining "cool" as merely a technological phenomenon.

While e-tailers like Amazon and eBay are on the list there is no brand that specifically represents a brick-and-mortar retailer. Apple's presence may or may not include its retail side, but the Apple Stores are not specifically listed. This type of omission raises a few questions: Would the list include a storefront retailer if Americans had been surveyed? What truly defines cool? What can retailers do to ensure their brand is considered cool? What would you do to make your store "cool"?

So WOW Me!

“That’s right, WOW me.” What would your staff do if I walked into your store and said, “WOW me”? Would they know exactly what should happen next? If not, you aren’t ready for the opportunities that walks in on a daily basis. As I have said in several recent presentations, we can be in the business of transactions or in the business of customers.

The upcoming holidays offer everyone more transactions; your profits this season obviously depend on that. However, the holidays offer much more to retailers who understand that long-term success comes to those who can create relationships with their customers. The relationship begins when a customer first visits a store and the retailer differentiates him/herself. Call it first impressions, call it first WOW, or call it a memorable experience, but the customer must experience something inside the store that is different from what other retailers offer.

Almost every time I ask a retailer what’s different about his/her store the answer is “service” but when I ask for a specific way in which their store excels in service, I almost never hear anything that differs from any other retailer. Most retailers’ definition of “service” is essentially waiting on people. “Do you have any questions?” “Can I help you?” That isn’t memorable! That’s incredibly ordinary and often annoying. To maximize additional opportunities this season and turn transactional customers into loyal long-term customers, retailers need to articulate to their staff the actions they need to take that will result in a previously defined customer experience. Forget customer service. It's all about the experience.

So what are some of things your team knows to do to create WOW?

Shopping Shirtless at Abercrombie

At the Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store on Fifth Avenue they always have a shirtless male model on display. Well I guess as much as a real person can be on display. For some people I'm sure it's quite exciting to see a chiseled model up-close and personal, but for the Retail Contrarians it always reminds us why we need to hit the gym.

The other day an Improv group decided to have some fun with it and took 111 male volunteers over to the store to shop shirtless. While some of the volunteers could get a job as the Abercrombie model, our favorites are those who are more like the Retail Contarians. The result is quite funny. It's surprising how long they were able to shop until Abercrombie management moved them out of the store.

Check out the video and hilarious picture at New York Magazine.

It's About the Customer - Not About Us

It is a fact of business that customers come and customers go. Obviously the key is to keep attracting more than you lose but losing customers is a natural part of business life. 

A few months ago after sending out my weekly newsletter several readers unsubscribed and of course I was at first offended.  To put it in perspective, we're only talking a handful of people but whatever the number I couldn't believe these people didn't want to hear my fabulous advice. 

As I reviewed why they unsubscribed I discovered that one person decided not to open a store, one sold a store and two gave no reason for leaving.  Well, those started to get my oversized ego back to right size. 

The "unsubscribe" form for the last person included a comment that read, "Barb has passed away from cancer. Thank you."  Talk about sobering.  I discovered that Barb, whom I never knew, owned a flower shop but passed away at the young age of 43.  That sure got me out of myself real fast.

It reminded me to remain focused on what's really important at both work and home, and to keep appreciating the customers and subscribers I have.

So let me ask, do you appreciate your customers? And even more important, how do you show that appreciation?