Retail Contrarian

Don't ask permission

I have a question: Is your customer's experience better when someone on your staff is involved in their experience than when you're not? 

Of course it is. You and your team have the knowledge, experience, and information that benefit your customer. You can help them find the right products(s) that meet their needs and wants.

If they're in a hurry, you can get them out the door faster. If they're not, you make their shopping experience much more enjoyable.

So if we add value to the customer's experience, why do we ask permission? Shouldn't we just do it?

We ask for permission more often than we know.

"How may help you?" That's asking permission.

"What can I help you find?" That's adding value.

 

"Can I answer any questions?" That's asking permission.

"That's a very popular widget." That's adding value.

 

"Would you like help carrying your purchase out?" That's asking permission.

"Let me get someone to carry your purchase to your car." That's adding value.

 

"Would like to see the matching wallet?" That's asking permission.

"Here's the wallet that goes with that bag." That's adding value.

 

That's why we don't ask for permission.

Even if a customer says "no" to our offer, we've at least demonstrated that we add value to his/her experience. That's something many of our competitors never do.

The same holds true for exceeding your customer's expectations. Don't ask for permission.

 

"Can I get you a bottle of water?" That's asking permission.

"Here's a drink for you to enjoy while shopping." That's exceeding the customer's expectations.

 

"I can call the other store to see if they have them in stock." That's asking permission.

"I'll call the other store to see if they have them in stock." That's exceeding your customer's expectations.

 

"I can call you a few week's before your wife's birthday." That's asking permission.

"Hello, Mr. Jones. I'm calling to see if I can help you pick out a couple of gifts for your wife's birthday." That's exceeding a customer's expectations.

 

Even if your customer declines your offer, you have still demonstrated your point of differentiation and your desire to WOW them. That's what makes you special.

So let me ask, are you asking for permission to deliver an extraordinary customer 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.

Your 2012 resolutions

I know how busy for the last few weeks, so I've taken the liberty of putting together some potential resolutions for you and your team in 2012.

This is a fairly extensive list, and you're probably already very good at most of these things. Even so, there might be one or two areas where improvement will have a positive impact on your business.

If you will, let me know which of these are right for you, and tell me about any of your resolutions that I've missed.

1. Taking your customer experience to the next level. Your store/company's customer experience is good, but deep down you know it could be so much better.  

2. Improve your staff's sales abilities. Your staff is really nice and delivers a very good customer experience. Now you aim to translate that to higher conversion and average sales.

3. Better clienteling. As online sales continue to grow and outpace traditional retail, in some segments the personal relationship between the customers and staff will become vital to keeping and maximizing customers.

4. More relevant marketing. The good news is you've got your Facebook page up and you're posting on a fairly regular basis. The bad news is you have no idea the impact it's having on your business. That probably means it isn't having much.

5. Increase accountability within your store/company. This could be in all sorts of different areas. Maybe it's expecting more from your frontline employees. It might also be holding managers and district managers more accountable for each store's sales performance.

6. Move the underperformers up or out. If you're tired of talking about the same underperformers over and over, maybe 2012 is when you finally improve their performance or promote them to customer. Yes, this goes hand in hand with #5.

7. Challenge and grow your top performers. The worst thing you can do is to not continue to develop your top people. It might be time to either create a new program for high-potential employees or, at the very least, figure out a way to better leverage their talents.

8. Invest more time and focus on developing your people. Unless you're competing on price you're probably competing with your people and the service/experience they deliver. Are you spending the appropriate time and energy on them?

9. Be more comfortable giving people the direct feedback they need to be successful. One of the managers I work with recently said to me, "I can't believe I coach without thinking about it! It feels natural now to give feedback at anytime, to anyone, and not worry about how it will be taken. We all "get it" that it is just information we need to get the results we want!" That's how we all need to think.

10. Improve your hiring process. This could be interpreted to be about improving the quality of the people you hire, but I don't want anyone to think that you haven't hired good people. You just need to get better at your process so you can do that more consistently. 

11. Standardize your training and development. Chances are you and your stores/staff are good at training new people. The challenge is that no two new hire trainings are the same.

12. Work more strategically. Some people say you should work smarter but not harder. I think if you've survived the economy we've had for the last few years you're pretty smart. A lot of people they just need to work from a better-defined plan and then work the plan. 

13. Delegate more. I hesitated about putting this on the list since most of the time delegation isn't the real issue. It's usually either that people can't give up control or they don't have the quality of staff to delegate to. Whatever the reason, you probably need to do less.

14. Become a better merchant. Whether it's buying, visual presentation, or financial management, you know that if you improve in this area you'll see an improvement to the top and bottom lines. Frankly, I put this at the bottom of the list since I know that most of you I know are stronger at these things that the above items. But hey, they're your resolutions.

15. Be more action oriented. Your list of things you were going to do or wanted to do is probably longer than what you did. Don't feel bad, that's true for most of us. But did you do what you know you needed to do to be more successful? The road to mediocrity is paved with good intentions.

So let me ask, what will your resolution be for 2012?

 

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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.

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.

Looking for Love in all the right places

In my last post I wrote that specialty retailers whose competitive advantage is their staff and the experience they deliver must have employees who Love their jobs.

The difference in the passion, energy and conviction of Love people compared to Like people impacts both the top and bottom lines.

How do you build a staff of people who Love their jobs?  Consider these tips:

1. Be incredibly particular about why you hire someone.  It starts right here. You can hire potentially good employees based on their past experience, or you can hire people who would truly Love to work for your company/store.  You can teach product knowledge and selling skills, but you can't teach the passion and desire to be associated with your store(s).  While candidates obviously need to possess some skills and attitudes, I'd be concerned about any applicant who doesn't convey their Love.

2. Show the Love to get the Love.  I firmly believe that employees give their customers what they themselves receive from the company.  One of my favorite sayings is, "You can't expect your employees to give service with a smile unless you first give them something to smile about."  This is why employee recognition, appropriate rewards, a strong culture, and managers and owners simply saying thank you is so important.

3. Refuse to accept Unlike behavior. I think we can all agree that retail is not as easy as it may look to outsiders, and that it can be hard to be "on" every minute of the day.  So while it's only natural that some employees might have a bit of an off day, we can't accept any employee demonstrating any behavior to customers or their peers that communicates they don't like their job or the products.  

Too many managers/owners look or explain away such behavior by saying, "Oh, he's having a bad day."  Well, that employee bad day may have just cost you a sale and a customer.  Directly address any employee who has an Unlike day, and either turn around or remove the frequent Unliker.

4. Mirror the Love. Employees follow their leader's behavior.  That's why it's called leading. If you want your staff to be Love people, not Like people, you must first demonstrate the Love.  Do you engage customers with passion and energy?  Do you unfailingly avoid any negative talk about customers and competitors?  Do you demonstrate all the expected elements of the customer experience?  Most important of all, do you Love what you do?

While I believe that a Like owner or manager can run a good store, I'm not sure that person can create a store staffed with employees who Love their jobs and deliver an experience customers Love, not just Like.

So let me ask, are you finding the Love people you need to be a wildly successful store?

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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.

Like or Love?

When a post is titled "Like or Love" you might think I am going to recommend that Facebook update the Like button.  It would actually be interesting if they added a Love link next to the Like link, but that would require yet another new layout I'd get lost navigating.  But I digress.

Like or Love.  Most employees like working for certain companies or managers; some even love it. I think that's fine if you're a typical retailer who competes on price, promotion, or convenience.

It's not fine if you're a retailer whose competitive advantage is your staff and the in-store experience they deliver.  Like doesn't get it done.

Think about the difference between two people telling you about a local restaurant.  One of them really Likes the restaurant.  They will tell you where it is, why they like it, and maybe recommend their favorite dish.

The person who Loves the restaurant will share the same information, but with more passion, energy, and conviction. They wouldn't be just telling you about the restaurant, they'd be selling it. The Like person would say try the shrimp, and the Love person will tell you that you HAVE to try the shrimp.

While you may or may not end up going to the restaurant, I believe the Love person gets you to make a decision on the spot.  I'm sure the person who Loves the restaurant sends a lot more new customers to the restaurant than the person who merely Likes it.

Can you really staff a store with more Love than Like people?  I don't think you have a choice if you're a specialty store that needs its people to sell with passion and conviction.

So how do you do that?

That's next week’s post.  Today, I have a homework assignment for you.  Okay, homework may bring back bad memories so let's call it a challenge.

As you go through your day today I want you to label every person you interact with in a work setting (either your work or theirs) as either a Like or a Love person.

Does the barista Like or Love their job?

Does the bank teller Like or Love their job?

Take a walk through a few of the stores at the mall or downtown and determine if the employees you meet are Love or Like associates.  Big hint: If they don't engage you, they don't Love their job.

Look at your own team and determine the ratio of Like to Love.

And finally, look in the mirror.  Is it a Live or a Love person looking back at you?

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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.

The 3 P's of the Engagement

One of the differences between average and extraordinary specialty retail associates is the ability to comfortably and effectively engage the customer. No, I'm not talking about the person who walks up and asks how they can help someone.   I'm talking about the associate who can create an immediate and effective relationship with a customer.

These are the three P's of Customer Engagement that extraordinary associates execute so well:

1. They are Personable - They're comfortable approaching and addressing customers.  It doesn't matter if the associate's personal style is energetic or laid back; they're friendly, outgoing, and good conversationalists.  

I've never forgotten the time I realized I'd made a mistake in hiring someone. When, after this woman been with us for about two months, I pulled her aside to discuss her performance she told me that she hated talking to people. When I asked her why she worked in retail she said that even though she hated it, it paid well. Needless to say, she did not remain our employ very long after this conversation.  Extraordinary associates like talking with people.

One thing I hear from time to time is that associates don't believe they can "be themselves" when asked to work within a structured approach to engaging the customer. I don't agree.  I see a structured approach as critical to a specialty retailer's success. To me, such an approach is a roadmap. Not a script. It guides the associate through the expected customer experience outcomes, but he/she is still at the wheel.  Structure should have no bearing on how personable someone is with a customer.

2. They make it Personal - Unlike associates who approach all customers the same way, extraordinary associates relate individually to each customer. They are truly interested in the person they are engaging.  They know that the more personal the experience, the more productive their time spent with the customer will be.  Even that is not quite enough, though.  Extraordinary associates seem to enjoy that personal connection as much as the customer does. They create a relationship.  It's no wonder that these are the same employees customers come back and ask for time and time again.

3. They engage with Purpose - Every conversation with a customer should be undertaken with purpose and a desired result in mind. Consider the initial small talk when a customer first enters the store. That initial non-sales related conversation helps breaks down barriers that naturally exist between customers and retail associates. It's almost like a verbal decompression that needs to happen before the customer and associate relationship to form. Many retail associates skip this small but important step and as a result they struggle to initially engage the customer.

Extraordinary associates use the initial small talk to begin learning about the customer.  They can discover if it is the first time the person has been in the store, what they might already own, the occasion that brings them out shopping, their name, and on and on.  If a sale takes one hundred steps, they're ten steps closer after that initial conversation. (By the way, that's a metaphor and not an endorsement for 100 steps to a sale.)

Every question is asked for a reason. Every answer from the customer is used to determine either another question or a comment.  It's also used to determine which product or products to show the customer.  It's almost like a chess game - except both the customer and the employee are on the same team.

As you work with customers ask yourself if you are nailing the three Ps - being Personable, Personal, and Purposeful.  If you are, you're sure to add another two Ps - Productive and Profitable!

 

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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.

Moving towards your future success

I believe that we're always moving either toward or away from success.  This is true for companies and individuals.  Our challenge is that that success is also moving, driven forward by changes in market and industry conditions, technology, changing consumer preferences, and local and national events.

So not only do we need to make sure our strategy and tactics are moving us towards success, but we have to be moving as fast, if not faster, than the speed of change.  That was a lot easier fifteen or twenty years ago.

I see six key areas of focus in which a specialty retailer must develop and grow to create the necessary movement forward toward future success.

1. Leadership development.  It doesn't matter if you're an owner, executive, or manager - you need to be growing by leaps and bounds.  It doesn't matter if you're a single store, a national chain, or somewhere in-between - you need to be growing by leaps and bounds. This is the area that is probably receives the least attention in any size company.

2. Staff development.  Especially as it pertains to adding value to the customer's experience and maximizing the sales opportunities.  Specialty retailers who fail to do this and cannot compete on price stand a good chance of being insolvent before 2020.

3. Customer community marketing.  The specialty retailer's future success depends on the ability to emotionally connect with customers at the store and extend that connection into the customer's life.  Simply being transactional is like dragging an anchor while chasing future success.

4. Seeking out opportunity-centric vendor and product mixes.  Just a few years ago we advised retailers to select vendors and products based on their targeted customer. While that's still true, it's also vital that retailers select vendors that offer retailers the best opportunity to be successful. That means not only selecting the right companies and brands, but also removing those that don't properly support your path to success.

5. Leveraging technology. This is going to be a challenge for all retailers, but especially for smaller independents and regional chains.  As consumers, especially those under the age of 35, blur the line between online and brick and mortar retail, retailers need to integrate more technology into their customer experience. Greatest opportunities are with customer engagement tools and mobile point-of-sale. 

6. Proactively managing experience elements. We've said for years that retail is detail, and with today's finicky customers the details are the difference between winning and losing customers. From visual presentations to customer engagement, the ability to create and manage repeatable authentic experiences is essential.

Here's a quick exercise.  Score yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 in each one of these categories. 

So let me ask, how are you doing in the six areas? More important, are you moving forward fast enough?

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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.

Delivering a great experience with customer knowledge

The more you know about your customer, the easier it is to deliver a great experience and create a sale. There are three levels of knowledge you can obtain in every customer interaction.

The first level of knowledge is surface information. These are the basic things you learn about your customer at the start of her experience. You learn how her day is going, why she's out shopping, what she thinks about the weather, if she's been to your store before, etc.

While surface information is important in building a relationship with the customer, it is of little use in creating a sale.  Good specialty retail salespeople understand that it's vital to go to the next level if and when the customer is ready.

The second level of knowledge is customer specific.  At this level you begin to know who your customer is as you learn particular information about him/her.  You might learn his name, when he last shopped at the store, what products he owns or has bought at your store, the motivation for coming in today, etc.

Knowing these things enables you to personalize your customer's experience, show and recommend specific products he/she may choose to purchase, and definitely meet and hopefully exceed the customer's expectations.

How do you gain this knowledge?  Easily, by asking open-ended questions when connecting with your customer and when you're transitioning to talk about the products.

Here's a simple test to determine if you're reached level two.  If you were called away in the middle of working with a customer, could you easily introduce her to a colleague, mentioning two or three things about her that would enable your colleague to easily continue to serve the customer as well as you had been.

For example, "Bob, this is Sandy.  Sandy is a first time customer and is considering purchasing the blue widget I recommended for her friend Mary's fortieth birthday.  She's also thinking about treating herself to a green one."

The third and deepest level of knowledge is understanding your customer.  At this point you understand why your customer would choose a green widget over a blue one. You know why the customer would never buy the ABC brand widget over the XYZ brand.  You might also know where and when the customer will first use the widget.

Getting to level three is much easier than people know.  It is as simple as asking the customer what and why questions after he/she makes a comment and/or when you're showing the product.

"So why would choose the green one for yourself over the blue?"

"Why would you not buy XYZ?"

"What do you like or dislike about this widget?"

When you've reached level three you have created a level of trust and connectivity that elevates your customer's experience from ordinary to distinct and memorable.  You're also able to make more specific recommendations, find new products that he/she would never have even considered, and WOW him/her throughout his/her experience.. 

Not only do you positively win the customer at level three, but you'll also maximize your opportunity and create dramatically higher sales just by taking the time to make it through all three levels of customer knowledge.

So let me ask, at what level do you normally operate?  Are you at the surface, specifics, or do you make it to understanding your customer?

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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.

Five tips for ruining a customer's experience

On a recent shopping trip to the local mall, it seems like everywhere I went some small but annoying thing happened that negatively affected my experience. Since it happened so often I came to the conclusion that there must be some people who get up in the morning with the goal of ruining other people's shopping experience. I guess we all have a calling and it was obvious to me that these people found theirs.
 
I realize now that I've done a poor job of serving these people focused on delivering memorably poor retail experiences. (PARODY ALERT!) So, out of fairness, I present five tips for ruining a customer's experience.
 
1. Tell the customer everything you can about yourself even though it's clear they're not interested. If you're going to be stuck at work being miserable you might as well take some hostages, right? I met a saleswoman once who holds a black belt in too much information. In return for making one small purchase I was treated to her complete life story. It's amazing how many bad relationships that woman has had before the age of thirty. I'm told that the key to success with this bad experience tactic is that the minute the customer starts to share details about himself you ring him up and send him on his way. Who has time to listen to customers?
 
2. Continue to have personal conversations with your co-workers whenever a customer is near you. Why should you have to quit talking just because a customer wants to look at something you're standing next to? Give yourself extra points if you talk about recent drinking escapes or the last customer that was a pain in your you-know-what. Newer employees may have to make things up but that's okay, it's all in the name of bad customer service.
 
3. Answer the phone by speaking as fast as you can and then put the caller on hold. When you think about it, it's not really rude because you did say "please" before hitting the hold button. The only time you should avoid this tactic is when you're ringing up a sale and the phone rings. In that case by all means carry on a phone conversation, especially if it's a personal call.

During the call, avoid eye contact with your customer until you can see that he/she is obviously annoyed. Once you see the customer in front of you is about to lose it, smile innocently and shrug your shoulders in a way that places all the blame on the caller. It takes a lot of skill to deliver a poor experience!
 
4. Never give a customer an estimate of how long they'll have to wait. This is a favorite tactic of bad customer service people since it usually leads to a long slow steaming buildup in the customer. Most customers really don't mind waiting as long as they know roughly how long a wait it will be.
 
But when a customer has no idea how long a wait to expect the minutes can feel like hours. For this to be truly effective, avoid talking with your customer while they wait. For fun you can look her direction but the minute she makes eye contact quickly look away and go back to what you were doing.
 
5. When a customer says she's ready to buy something, ring her up quickly and get her out the door. I'm sure you've got more important things to do than help a customer find additional products that will enhance her purchase. If she needs accessories or additional products to go with her purchase she can always come back. Then again, she probably won't. I'm thinking that's the whole goal of bad service.
 
Obviously readers who want to deliver a memorable great experience will NOT be inclined to follow these tips. Whatever your experience goals, I hope you work for them with passion and a sense of purpose.

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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.