A client asked me the following question, which I think is worth a posting.
Our stores have been using your Butcher's Rule; that is, showing our best product line first. One of our associates wonders if this is really a good idea. When we do this with a customer who may not be familiar with our brand, won't he/she immediately go into sticker shock and subsequently not really listen when we show other products lines or great offers that are significantly lower-priced than our best product line?
I can certainly appreciate not wanting to give a customer such major sticker shock you lose a potential sale. While this can sometimes happen when applying the Butcher's Rule, it can be avoided by properly qualifying the customer and identifying his/her needs.
First, let's review the Butcher Rule. The Butcher Rule is to always show the best product that meets the customer's needs. When you walk up to a butcher counter and ask the butcher what's good he will never reply, "The ground turkey is awesome today." Instead, he will tell you about the filet mignon or prime rib. Of course, if a customer is looking for chicken he wouldn't suggest a filet since that would not meet his/her needs. But the butcher might recommend the free-range chicken that listened to opera instead of the chicken that was penned up and didn't get to enjoy any tunes before meeting her demise.
The key to applying the Butcher Rule in a way that maximizes your customer opportunities and ensures you're delivering a service is to make sure you ask the right questions and then use that information to recommend the best product for that customer.
Say you run a store that sells nothing but wallets. You carry wallets from $5 to $5,000. If a customer comes in and is looking for a wallet you wouldn't show her the $5,000 wallet first thing. Talk about sticker shock!
Instead, you want to discover what kind of wallet she currently has and what else she has owned. You also want to know if she is looking for something casual or something for a special occasion. You want to know if there are any particular brands and styles she likes and appreciates.
Based on her answer you might show your customer a wallet in the $400 range. If she asks, "What else do you have?" take one step down. As a result, your customer might leave your store very happy with her new $300 wallet.
Chances are, if you had started with the $5 wallet your customer would have walked away empty-handed. She might not have sticker shock but she might have salesperson-missing-the-boat shock. Not understanding a customer's needs and showing too inexpensive a product can be just as off-putting as showing the most expensive.
As experts, it's our role to match each customer with the right products. The only way to do that is to know as much as possible about both the customer and the product. I believe most customers get sticker shock because the salesperson didn't learn enough about them.
So let me ask, are you showing the best products that meet your customer's needs? As Sam the Butcher says, "Never suggest hamburger to a customer who wants or needs a steak."
The Butcher’s rule is a great term! And I know many retailers struggle with this, should I show my best first or save the best for last? In fact everyone wrestles with this question at Thanksgiving dinner, should I go for my favorite first so I can get seconds or save the best for last? (Or at least I think like that!) Anyways, we have a great video on the Gift and Home Channel which shows retailers how to do just this – show the best first or The Butcher’s Rule - http://www.giftandhomechannel.com/channel/vod/66
Posted by: Jessica | July 29, 2008 at 04:51 PM