Retail Contrarian

A Facebook disaster

Social media is a great way for retailers to engage their customers.  When done well, customers even engage one another.  But believe it or not, that same level of engagement can work against you when something goes wrong.

This is what one of our readers recently experienced when what seemed like a simple request turned into a Facebook disaster.  Here is what happened, along withsteps you can take if you ever experience something similar.

One day a locally owned store was asked if they would post in their window a flyer about a lost dog. (You can probably already see where this is going.) Although this retailer does a lot with and for the local community, they have a policy of not placing community material in their windows.  They said they would be unable to post the flyer.

Before they knew it what seemed like an innocent decision, consistent with a long-standing policy, blew up online.  All of a sudden it seemed that every dog lover in the community was posting vitriolic comments about the store’s unwillingness to place a flyer in the window. It was the social media equivalent of a vigilante gang, and it got very ugly very fast.

What would you do in this case? Okay, maybe you would have posted the flyer, but the same thing could happen if you turn down a request for donation or other possible reasons.

Here are some things to consider:

1. Assess the potential damage. Could what happened blow up into something bigger? Is this something that the mainstream press might pick up and run? Are you in danger of losing large number of customers?

In this instance, I don’t think that was the case.  There was a group of passionate pet owners who were upset with the store, but the overall long-term threat wasn’t high. If this was a pet store and they hadn’t helped, the potential damage would be off the charts.

2. Apologize for what happened. Remember, saying you’re sorry doesn’t mean you’re saying you did something wrong. In this case, I don’t think the retailer should apologize for not placing the flyer in the window.  The retailer can say he’s sorry that people are upset and apologize for the store not considering other ways to assist the owners of the lost dog. The store could even offer up some new ideas on how they can help.

Here’s what’s interesting. This store did apologize, offered to take some action, and the comments only got more negative. Which takes me to my next point.

3. Remember, just because someone is loud doesn’t mean they speak for all of your customers. This is true whether they’re in your store or online. Sometimes loud people are just passionately opinionated.  Sometimes, frankly, they are bullies.  Either way, they don’t represent all customers. Our customers know we’re not perfect, and as long as we apologize if something goes wrong they’ll stay with us.  That said, we do need to address the loud voices.

4. Own the storyline. A social media disaster happens when the store or brand loses control of the story.  You can’t afford to argue with customers online. A Boston chef did that after a woman posted a poor review on Yelp, and the bad press just about put him out of business.  What you can do is own the storyline.

If you’ve apologized and someone still posts a negative comment, directly address his/her comment.  Own the storyline so the other person can’t keep fanning the flames even after you’ve apologized.

I might say something like, “I’m sorry that you’re still upset even though we did apologize for what happened. I’d love to talk with you offline to discuss what else I could do to rectify the situation. Please call me at the store at your earliest convenience” It’s highly unlikely you’ll hear from them, and your customers will see that you’ve extended the olive branch.

5. Last but not least, time is a great healer.  People go on with their lives, and customers will still come into your store.  That is, as long as you’ve addressed a negative situation as it happened.

The good news is that most of us won’t experience our own social media disaster, but if it does happen, I hope you’re now better prepared to manage it.

Have a great week.

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Doug Fleener, a proven retail and customer experience expert and consultant, helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit the Dynamic Experiences Group website, or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create an extraordinary experience and results.

A London shopping excursion

On a recent trip to South Africa to work with a client, I had a 13-hour layover before continuing on to Johannesburg. After a shower to freshen up, I headed off for my London excursion. I took the Tube, London's subway system, directly to Piccadilly Circus from Heathrow. Here's a recap of my London expedition, with ideas you may be able to use. 

My first stop was Burberry's new flagship store on Regent Street that had officially opened just a few days before. What a store! It's truly where the past and present converge. The building was built in 1829; in the twentieth century it was one of London's first movie theatres. The architectural detail throughout the 44,000 square foot store is just amazing.

When you first come into the store you walk down a set of stairs into the main room, where your eyes are immediately drawn to the 22' video screen. This is only one of the 100 video screens in the store, but because of the architecture and fixtures, the store doesn't feel overly contemporary. This blend of modern and traditional reinforces a great brand message for Burberry.  Here's another shot of the main floor.

The technology in the stores enhances the customer's experience without overpowering it. The most interesting technology is the use of RFID tags. When a customer brings a product into the dressing room a video screen shows a video of the product on the runway, as well as video of a complimentary product. Very cool.

Burberry also has the best use of iPads I've seen in a store yet. Here, the iPads are attached to a mannequin, showing how the jackets can be the customized. They're actually wirelessly transmitting HD content throughout the store.

Each staff member is also equipped with an iPad. The iPads are in a leather case with a shoulder strap. They can do all of their clienteling, check inventory and customer history, and complete the transaction on the iPad. The staff itself is well educated, engaging, and ready to deliver a great experience.

Moving on.

 

Nespresso, the coffee capsule brand advertised by George Clooney, brings a luxury store experience to a commodity product. Who knew that selling coffee machine and capsules could be upscale? This 5,000 square foot store includes a tasting area where customers can taste and learn all about Nespresso's 16 Grand Cru coffees from the specially trained boutique specialists. They even have a private area for club members.  

Notice in this picture that the staff is dressed in suits, as well as the large display of capsules displayed behind the counter.

I don't remember which store this is, but the use of mannequin legs in the window stopped me in my tracks.

Even though the Folli Follie store is not that big, they used a primary wall display at the front of the store to display the fashion press and pictures of the products being used by celebrities. I thought that makes a bigger statement than product itself.

Here, Reiss highlights their online experience with the messaging on their windows. I especially liked how they displayed the "follow us" online.

Hamleys, a famous toy store in London, makes great use of product demonstrators throughout the store. I especially like the "Thank You For Playing" message as you exit the store. That is something you toy stores could adapt in your store.

I liked this window message from Armani Exchange. I could see college stores and other retailers that want to connect to their community doing this.

At this point I ran out of time and headed back to the airport to catch my flight.

It isn't retail, but here is a picture of Buckingham Palace and the ubiquitous London buses.  

Thank you London for a great couple hours of shopping and learning. I hope you enjoyed it as well.

Have a great week.

- Doug

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Doug Fleener, a proven retail and customer experience expert and consultant, helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our Dynamic Experiences Group website, or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create an extraordinary experience and results.

Customer birthdays

Since I've just spent two days last week celebrating family birthdays, let me share with you some birthday thoughts and business building tips.

I recommend that just about every specialty retailer and other customer-focused service business should try to capture his/her customers' birthday. Whether it is part of a loyalty program or through clienteling, the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate in a customer's birthday is a great way to build a stronger connection with the customer, and when done right can create incremental visits and sales.

Some sales associates might feel awkward asking customers for their birthdate. The best way to ask is to state the benefit first before asking the birthdate question. "We love to celebrate our customer's birthdays, and if you'll share yours we'll be sure to do something special. What is your birthdate?"

Here are some specific ways you can celebrate customer birthdays.

1. Send a card signed by your entire staff. One of the first birthday cards I get every year is from Southwest airlines, signed by their executive team. Obviously, the cards aren't hand signed, but it is still a nice touch. It is especially effective because it arrives every year; this is probably the tenth year I've received a card from them. I highly recommend that you send a hand signed birthday card to at least your VIPs.

2. Send a birthday email. Not as personal as the card, but it is still a nice way to connect with your customer on their special day. I got a nice note from my insurance agent and several businesses with which I've done business.

3. Send the customer a special birthday offer. I got a number of birthday specials last week including ones from MLB.com, JetBlue, and a few others. Most were 10% or 15% off a purchase, which, frankly, wasn't enough to motivate me.

My favorite thing to do is to send the customer a $10 or $20 gift card in the mail or something via email that can be printed. That, to me, is a real gift. The retailers I know who do this tell me they always make money on these sales.

4. Have the customer come to the store for a birthday gift. I like this idea as it creates an incremental visit.  The staff can have on hand a number of pre-made gift bags containing small treats and a small gift. Including a gift card is also a nice way to prime the sales pump.

5. Call your customers and wish them a happy birthday. I know some stores that call their best customers and sing happy birthday to them. If you heard me sing you wouldn't think that was such a treat, but it is a great way to stand out to your VIPs.

6. Host a monthly birthday party. Invite your customers into the store to celebrate birthdays on, say, the last Wednesday of the month. Serve cake and drinks, and consider giving a small goodie bag away. Of course, you'll invite all of your customers who come in that day to join in the celebration, which if anything creates a fun atmosphere during an often-slow time of the week.

So let me ask, are you leveraging your customers' birthdays to make a stronger connection, and drive incremental sales and visits?

Have a great week!

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create an extraordinary experience and results.

How to maximize a GWP

If you're not sure what a GWP is, then this post probably isn't for you. For those of you who frequently offer a Gift With Purchase, this might help you see how to better leverage these types of programs.

A GWP is a great way to promote products and drive incremental sales without discounting. The most common GWP promotions are 1) buy product XYZ and get an xyz at no charge 2) buy a certain amount of XYZ products and get a free xyz or 3) spend a certain amount of money and get a xyz. Most GWP promotions come from manufacturers, although retailers would do well to consider doing them on a regular basis.

There are many ways to use a GWP.

1. Use the GWP as a way to engage the customer. I'm not a big fan of using the GWP as the way to initially engage a customer. "Welcome to ABC. We have a great gift with purchase promotion today." While the GWP definitely makes it easier to approach customers, I think the effectiveness is diminished when it's the first thing you tell your customer.

I would rather tell a customer about the GWP after establishing a personal connection with him/her. This way you can personalize and use the GWP to add even more value to the person's visit and purchase. "Since you own a lot of XYZ, today is the perfect day to add to it with our Gift With Purchase offer." It's also an effective way to reengage a customer you couldn't connect with on the first attempt.

2. Delight the customer who would be purchasing the product anyway by telling him/her about the GWP after the fact. While I'm all in favor of exceeding a customer's expectations, this doesn't leverage the GWP.

3. Use the GWP to increase the store or brand's average sale. This uses the GWP as a "carrot" for the customer to spend more. The key is to use the GWP as appropriate with every customer.

Say something like, "If you spend another $30 you'll get the xyz at no charge. It's almost like the extra $30 is free!" (Notice how we make the additional sale "free" rather than the GWP.) Most of our clients see a nice bump in their ADS during a GWP promotion.

4. Use the GWP to increase conversion. Since the GWP is either limited in time or inventory, it can be used to motivate the customer to buy now rather than wait. I find it's best to not to talk about the ending date or limited supplies until you can use that information to help motivate your customer to take action now.

5. Use the GWP to create incremental sales. A GWP will often create purchase intent in the customers. The GWP often gives the customer the motivation to buy something they normally wouldn't buy. The key is to create value in the free gift. Some associates put too much focus on what the customer has to buy rather than the gift itself.

6. Use the GWP as an opportunity to communicate with your customer. This should be a given. Every GWP should be communicated in your newsletter, on social media, and possibly cards and postcards.

While all of the above methods except the first two are great ways to use a GWP, this last one is my favorite and leverages the GWP.

7. Create incremental visits from your VIPs with your GWP. A GWP is the perfect opportunity to call your very best customers and schedule a personalized shopping experience to take advantage of the gift with purchase offer.

As you can see, when used well the GWP is so much more than just a free gift. It's a great way to drive higher performance.

So let me ask, are you taking advantage of the many ways to maximize a gift with purchase promotion?

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create an extraordinary experience and results.

Valentine's Day marketing ideas

Whatever you sell, Valentine's Day offers all retailers an incredible opportunity to create incremental sales and visits.

Let's start with those who don't sell the typical Valentine's gift products. You can put together a one-week "We Love Our Customers" event that lets your customers know how much you appreciate them. You can promote the event on the run-up to February 7th, and then hold seven days of We Love Our Customers specials, events, and giveaways. I'd promote the heck out of it. There's still plenty of time to put something together.

Those of you sell typical Valentine's Day products can also do We Love Our Customers events, of course. Your challenge/opportunity is to figure out how to get your message to shoppers who may not get your newsletter or be a member of your Facebook community.

I recommend a fun, Valentine's-themed campaign suggesting how your customers can leave hints for the perfect Valentine's gift. It could include things like little cutout notes in your newsletter to be left for the reader's significant other, or Facebook posts that a follower can share so his/her significant other will read. There are lots of fun possibilities with this one. Don't be afraid to take it over the top. You need to stand out!

Also, here's a thought for those of you who sell very traditional Valentine's Day gifts like flowers, chocolates, and jewelry. You need to do something that makes your products/gifts stand out above and beyond anyone else's. Consider adding a free $5 or $10 gift card for the buyer to add to the gift they're giving. The gift card acts as a bounce back to drive the recipient into the store to make an additional purchase.

Ah, there are so many possibilities this Valentine's Day - if you put your mind to it and dare to be better than good!

So let me ask, will your Valentine's plan bring you results you'll Love?

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create an extraordinary experience and results.

Go BIG on your holiday events

There are many reasons to host holiday events. They're great ways to drive your best customers into the store and best of all, most of them arrive intending to make a purchase. Events are going to be key for a lot of independent specialty retailers this holiday.

If you go BIG and follow these tips you'll not only deliver a better customer experience, you're also more likely to sell more, a lot more, at your event.

1. Go BIG - even overboard - with your event.  I've been to a lot of store events in my life and the ones that stand out the most are the ones that exceeded my expectations at the time. If you're going to go to the hard work and expense of hosting an event for your customers, by all means spend the extra money to impress your guests.

Surprise people by taking your food and drink up a level. Use higher quality plates, utensils and serving pieces.  Give out gifts and prizes that people will remember. Do something that you know will wow your guests. Although you may not see the extra effort and expense pay off at the event itself, the impression it makes on your customers will pay long-term dividends.

2. Make a BIG effort to get your best customers to the event. You can't leave the important subject of which customers attend your event up to chance. You need those top 10-25-50-100 customers to show up. You also want those customers who spent big at last year's event to come back this year.

Take time right now, before you get too busy, and create a customer wish list for your event. You know, the customers you want to attend.  Right before the event these customers should be sent handwritten invitations and called. You may need to take an employee off the floor to do this, or bring in a temp.  The owner or manager should consider personally calling the top five or ten customers on the wish list.

3. Go BIG on staffing by bringing people in for non-selling activities. This is especially important for holiday events. I once attended a men's night at a boutique where it seemed the staff was doing everything except selling. Use temporary staff such as family members and friends of the staff to serve food and drinks, gift wrap, and take care of any other non-selling activities. You want sales people selling BIG.

4. Offer BIG incentives for your staff the night of the event. Not only do you want sales people selling, you want them to maximize every customer opportunity. Consider having progressive payouts and prizes for higher levels of performance.  If you can, make an even bigger impact by paying out the incentives at the end of the night. 

5. Have a HUGE sales goals for your event. If you're going big with everything else, then you should be able to put up huge sales numbers at a holiday event. Aim high!

So let me ask, are you going BIG enough for your upcoming holiday events?

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.

Purposeful parties and events

Last week one of our clients announced to their employees that the traditional holiday party will not be held this year. The employees were very disappointed. The annual event has long been a high point of the year because it brought families together together for an evening of food, drinks, and socializing.

The disappointment turned to excitement when the owner announced that the holiday party hasn't been completely cancelled, but will be replaced by a smaller scale event that will enable people to give back to their community.

The company is giving each employee a gift card to use to purchase holiday gifts for children in need. The employees, along with their families, will bring their purchases to a giftwrapping party held over consecutive nights at the company's office. The giftwrapping party will be catered and is shaping up to be a wonderful evening.

LOVE IT!

It's a holiday party with a purpose. Employees are still recognized for their contribution to the company, but at the same time the organization is able to give something to their community. It's a win/win that makes a difference, and in this particular instance it could spell the difference between a child having a present under the tree or not.

Whether you currently do something like this or not, it's a great reminder of the opportunities to touch more lives we have in our businesses. You also can't underestimate the impact this has on both employees and customers.

Here are a few more suggestions for ways to add more purpose to holiday parties and events:

* Donate a gift or make a contribution for every customer who shows up at a VIP or Wishlist event. This gesture could be the tipping point for a customer who is undecided about whether to attend or not.

* Ask customers to bring a gift or canned goods as the price of admission for an event. Even better, match the donation.

* Offer a gift card or discount for bringing in a gift or canned goods. This is a great way to start the sale. It's up to you and your team to finish it.

* Let customers vote on Facebook and/or in the store for your holiday charity.

* Partner with a local shelter or charity to create a Wishlist tree. Customers can purchase an ornament that helps a particular person or family in need, and those customers are invited to an exclusive evening or weekend holiday event.

So let me ask, how can you add more purpose to your parties and events?

 

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.

Different ways to WOW your VIPs

In my previous post I shared how to identify and leverage the three types of store VIPs.  The three types of VIPs are:

* Top VIPs. These are the top 10-25 customers.

* Current VIPs. The top 50, 100, or 250 customers.

* Community VIPs. These are customers who are important to your store but not necessarily big spenders.

Here's different ways you can WOW your VIPs and maximize your relationship with them.

Private shopping hours. Offer your VIPs exclusive private shopping hours before the store opens.  To increase the value, make the private shopping hours seem to be in limited supply.

First look events.  Invite your VIPs to be the first to see and purchase new products at exclusive events. You'll be amazed at how special this makes your VIPs feel.

Limited product opportunities. Got a hot product that's limited supply?  Don't put it on the floor for sale, call and offer them to a couple of your Top VIPs.

Breakfast with the designer or expert.  Host a VIP breakfast before your next trunk show or event.

Dinner with the designer or expert.  Invite a Top VIP to join you for dinner with the visiting designer or expert.

Birthday gifts. While recognizing every customer's birthday with a card and gift card is good business, you might consider sending a Top VIPs and select Current and Community VIPs a gift directly to their home.  What a nice surprise!

Surprise and special occasion gifts.  There are numerous opportunities to WOW a VIP - if you listen for them.  For example, a customer who is shopping for something to wear for her anniversary could be sent a gift certificate to a local restaurant.

Follow-up thank you calls from the owner or manager.  If you miss the chance to thank a VIP when he/she is in the store, why not call and say "thank you" for their business or visit?

A call or email about a new product you think might interest that customer.  This is obviously a key action of clientele-ing.  I always like to remind people that clientele-ing isn't keep a customer book....it's using a customer book!

Thank you card. While you probably want to send all of your customers a thank you card for a substantial purchase, send your Top and Select VIPs a thank you card for being your customer. You can also thank the Community VIPs for supporting your store.

So let me ask, did I miss something that you do to WOW your VIPs?  Did you see something new you might try?

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.

Identifying and leveraging your VIPs

Of course all of your customers are important to the success of your business, but your top customers are even more important.  Let's call them your VIPs.  There are three types of retail VIP customers.

One set of VIPs are customers who buy the most over a given time period.  I like to measure spending over an 18-24 month period. This makes it easier to spot customers who are falling down or coming up the list. The number of VIP buyers you track depends on how big your business is. Most retailers track the top 50 to 100 per store.

I like to break the VIP buyers into two groups. The top 10-20 customers are my Top VIPs; the rest of the top 50-100 customers are my Current VIPs.

Another group of VIPs aren't actually big spenders but are still vital to a store's success. These are either loyal advocates who bring in a large number of new customers, or someone in the community we benefit from being associated with.  Examples include someone famous, a political mover and shaker, and well-known businesspeople.  Call this group your Community VIPs.

Most retailers have identified their Current VIPs but haven't necessarily segmented the Top VIPs or officially identified their Community VIPs.  It's important to not simply identify your three different groups of VIPs, but to also to leverage each group.

Do you keep track of when a Current VIP last visited your store?  Do you call or send a note or gift to your Top VIPs to invite them in to see the newest products?  Are you making sure your Community VIPs are getting special invitations for key events?

Loyalty cuts both ways.  The customer who spends a $2,000 a year deserves more of your attention and an even better experience than the one who spends $50 a year.  As always, the goal is to WOW every customer, but elevate the WOW and personal service to an even higher level for the VIPs. This also enables us to create incremental visits and sales from our VIPs. 

So let me ask, are your very important customers getting enough of your attention and a VIP experience?

 

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.

Summer events

Summer often brings a slowdown in sales and traffic for retailers who don't depend on the seasonal customer.  As a result, stores cut back or even stop holding customer events all together.
 
It is easy to understand why, but isn't a slowdown in sales and traffic exactly the time you want to increase your sales and traffic?  I advocate doing more events over the summer, not fewer.
 
Here are some thoughts and recommendations on leveraging summer events:
 
1.  The goal of summer events is to create incremental visits.  Imagine the impact on your summer business if every customer in your community visits your store one extra time this summer.  Cha ching!
 
2. Events give customers a reason to visit the store besides the need/desire to make a purchase. Your top-notch staff can turn that visit into a sale.
 
3. Events give you an easy way to stay in contact with your customer without being overly promotional.  Promoting your summer events via email and Facebook reminds customers about how special your store and store experience is.  Your summer events may not be well attended, but promoting them may lead to a different visit over the summer.
 
4. Simplify your summer events compared to the rest of the year.  You want to do this for two reasons.  First of all, because most summer events are less productive than the rest of the year you probably want to reduce your costs.  Second, most stores run with less staff over the summer since many of the employees are taking vacations, so making your events less labor intense allows your focus to remain on the customer already in the store.
 
5. Do lots of fun mini one-day events. It can be something as simple as inviting a local Girl or Boy Scout troop in to celebrate Lemonade Shopping Days.  Most stores can do a Customer Appreciation Ice Cream Social from 12-3 and 6-9.  A baby store could hold a Stroller Wash. A hobby store can do a Remote Control Car Demo Day.  A boutique reader of ours hosted a High Heels and Highballs Shopping Night with a percentage of the sales going to charity.
 
6. Partner with other stores and companies to reduce your costs and promote the event together.  Maybe a local ice cream store will work with you on ice cream social.  Maybe the local liquor store could sponsor the daiquiri and shopping night.  A vendor could sponsor the Stroller Rodeo.
 
7. Just as with bigger events, have employees invite their regular customers to a summer event.  It doesn't matter if the customer doesn't answer the phone or if they reply to the email to say they're on vacation. The employee still connected with the customer and the customer appreciates being invited.
 
So let me ask, are you planning on increasing or reduce the number of events you're doing this summer?

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.