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Author: Phil Wrzesinski

Toy Store or Summer Camp?

Over the past several months my staff has been looking at all the parallels between our store and summer camp.

Summer camps are built around a theme (i..e. space and science camp) and a set of core values (i.e. YMCA camps). Our store is built around the theme of toys and baby products with core values of Fun, Helpful, Educational, and Nostalgic.

Summer camps have core activities that are the whole reason you are there (canoeing, horseback riding, writing, etc). We have products that are the whole reason you are here.

Summer camps have Rituals, time-honored traditions that are unique and special. They have rituals that only those who attend will know, making the campers feel like insiders. We have rituals, too, such as the birthday bell, Saturday flag raising ceremonies, story times, game nights, etc. that make our customers feel like insiders.

Summer camps have special events and activities like playing Capture the Flag, doing a swamp stomp, or star gazing on a moonless night. We have special events like play days and author book signings.

Summer camps have all kinds of kids in the cabin that require skilled counselors to work with them. There is the homesick kid, the bully, the know-it-all and the natural leader. We have all kinds of different customers who require skilled employees to work with them in different ways, too. Just knowing and acknowledging those differences makes the cabin and the store a whole lot better.

Summer camps know a few other things we should copy. When is the best time to get a kid signed up for next year’s camp? On the last day of this year’s camp, when the memories and emotions are at their strongest. When is the best time to create a happy customer? At the moment of checkout by praising her purchasing decisions, helping her complete the sale by making sure she has everything she needs, and giving her some tips for how to use her new items.

Summer camp is a powerful metaphor for how you should run your retail store. Watch how summer camps do everything from hiring and training their staff to planning their activities to marketing their programs to making sure the memories last. The best camps do things you should be doing, too.

Anyone who has been to summer camp has memories etched forever in their minds. Do what the summer camps do and you can etch similar memories in the minds of your customers.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS There are other industries from which we can learn to be better retailers. Look at amusement parks. You can ride their coattails (pun fully intended) to lots of great lessons and ideas.

A Great Use of Stories

I ran into Molly on a Saturday morning at the bank.

“Phil, we’re having tours of our new building this summer. What are you doing this Tuesday at 5:30?”

Molly runs the Center for Family Health, a healthcare facility for Jackson that is especially helpful for low-income, uninsured, and under-insured patients in our community. They just consolidated two facilities into one shiny building a couple blocks from our store.

I went, expecting the usual, a high-ranking person, maybe Molly herself, walking us through the building with a bunch of blah blah numbers about healthcare and how important they are to the community.

Oh we got that. But we also got a whole bunch more. At each stop along the tour we met a new person who shared a few facts with us. Then that person gave us a testimonial from a patient, put a face on that department and showed us with tear-jerking reality what a difference they make in the lives of people we know.

By the third stop I was looking for a tissue box.

The stories were real. The stories were emotional. The stories were about situations you and I could relate to. The stories were illustrative of the services offered by the center. I sat in a dental area and saw a picture of an 8-year old girl with teeth black and rotting. Then I saw a picture of the same girl at 16 with a full, beautiful toothy smile. I didn’t need a dentist with facts and figures and flow charts to figure out what they do. I knew from those pictures and her story.

I’m glad I went. More importantly, I’m glad they understood the power of stories. I cannot remember a single fact they shared with me (well, except the 500 births they do each year – that was surprising and useful information), but I remember all the stories in detail. I walked out of the building wanting to share what I had learned with the world.

I just did.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS You have stories. Tell them. They are more memorable and make a stronger, more emotional connection than facts and data ever could. Remember, we make more decisions with our heart than our mind and when the heart and mind are at odds, the heart almost always wins. We use our brains to justify what our hearts have already decided.

How Much Can You Remember?

We played a game at a baby shower for an employee. Someone brought out a tray with random items on it and we were supposed to look at it for about 30 seconds and then write down everything we could remember.

While my memory is not quite photographic, I was the hands-down winner, getting sixteen of the twenty-two items down on paper in the allotted time – 73%. The next closest was eleven items or 50%. Most people had in the five to nine range. And that was after being asked to pay attention.

Just imagine how much less you would have noticed if the tray came around while you were engaged in conversation, or driving a car, or making breakfast?

Yet that is what most businesses expect out of their radio ads. I know. I used to be one of them. I used to tell my radio and TV people that I couldn’t use 30-second spots because I couldn’t say all I needed to say in less than 60 seconds. Until I realized that the more I said, the less people remembered.

Try to make five points in your radio or TV ad and even the customers paying attention are likely to only remember one or two of those five points. The ones cooking bacon won’t remember a thing. So give up on the notion of saying everything in every ad.

Make only one point. Make the only point they need to remember, the one point that will move the needle. Make one point and make it so interesting that even the bacon chef will sit up and take notice. Make that one point often enough and they’ll have to remember it.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Three things you can do to get people to notice your ads and notice your business…

  1. Tell a story that relates to your Core Values.
  2. Tell it in as few words as possible.
  3. Make only one point.
Do all three over and over again and your advertising will get you the results you want.

Less is More (Powerful)

Take two bottles of perfume. Pour out half the perfume in each bottle. Now fill one of the bottles the rest of the way with water. Leave the other bottle with only perfume.

Which perfume is more potent and powerful?

Take a 60-second radio ad. Cut out all the black and unnecessary words, the words that do not interest or delight or move the point forward. Keep cutting until you get it down to 30 seconds while making the same point.

Which ad will be more potent and powerful?

You get the idea.

“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” -Thomas Jefferson

“I have only made this letter rather long because I have not had time to make it shorter.” -Blaise Pascal

-Phil Wrzesinski
wwwPhilsForum.com

PS One of the best exercises Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads, ever did during my trainings with him was to take a green sharpie to my written ads and cross off all the boring, dull, black words. The paper looked like green Morse code when he was done, but the words left behind had incredible power and impact. Give your ads the same treatment and watch their impact rise with every slash of the pen.

Most Ads Suck

What is the big draw about satellite radio? No ads. We all hate that break in the station when we get bombarded with ads. Boring, blah, blah, blah ads.

It isn’t that we don’t like ads. We actually do. We tune in to the Super Bowl just to see the ads. We like great ads. We watch and listen to great ads. We talk about great ads. We remember great ads. Just this morning one of my employees came in and said, “Time to make the donuts.” And everyone over thirty knew exactly what she meant.

The problem is that most ads suck. They aren’t interesting. They aren’t memorable. No one wants to listen to them, let alone repeat them. Yet there is hope.

One way to make your ads more interesting is to understand your listener. She tuned in to the radio to hear music and stories. So give her what she wants. Maybe not music (unless you’re a professional musician and accomplished songwriter), but you can definitely tell stories.

Tell your best stories, the ones that show who you really are, the ones that line up with your Core Values. They don’t have to be long, just interesting. Here are some examples of 30-second radio ads that I have used over the years. Remember that my Core Values are Fun, Helpful, Educational, and Nostalgic. See if you can figure out which one is which…

Ice Cream – June ‘10
I served them ice cream.  8:30 in the morning and I served my staff ice cream.  Some looked at me like I was crazy.  Others dug right in.  Yeah, I’m a little unconventional that way.  Kinda like how we staff the store.  I have more staff on the floor than stores double our size.  Some think I’m crazy.  Others love it.  There’s always someone available to help you.  It takes a little more ice cream, but it’s worth every scoop.  Toy House in downtown Jackson.  We’re here to make you smile.

Home for Christmas –Dec ’06
Christmas Eve, nineteen sixty-five.  He didn’t know if he would make it.  Nine months of active duty, he missed his family.  And he was an uncle now.  His sister had a baby girl, a precious little child for which a stuffed animal from an airport gift shop just wouldn’t do.  As his dad picked him up in the family sedan, he asked, “We got time to stop by the Toy House?”  “Of course, son.  Welcome home.”  Merry Christmas from the Toy House in downtown Jackson where Christmas magic happens.

Game Night – April ‘09
The big four-oh,  Whatever she wanted.  Dancing?  Dining?  Dinner and a movie?  Her birthday, her choice.  She chose Game Night.  A dozen friends playing Pictionary, Yahtzee, Egyptians, Empire Builder.  Eight of us rolling on the floor laughing playing a new game called Consensus.  Four of us still laughing at two a.m.  Yeah Game Night.  How hard did you laugh on your last birthday?  Toy House in downtown Jackson.  We’re here to make you smile.

The Trunk – July 2012
My grandfather had a trunk.  He filled it with his favorite toys and drove them all around, telling their tales, how these toys would be the most beloved toys in the toy box, the kind of toys you kept because you knew your grandkids would enjoy them, too.  The trunk may be in storage, but the lessons about great toys are still the same.  Stop in and see us.  We’ll teach you what we know.  Grandpa knew a few things about toys in his day.  We still do.  Toy House in downtown Jackson.  Great toys to make you smile.

You have stories. Every business does. Tell them and people will listen.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS There are a number of ways to make your ads more memorable. Telling stories is just one. We’ll look at a couple more ways over the next few posts. But for those of you who want more stories, here are some of my favorites.

My all time favorite…
The Men’s Bathroom – August ‘08
I couldn’t believe it.  They were taking customers into the men’s bathroom.  Yes, my staff was taking men and women, young and old into our men’s bathroom.  And the customers were coming out laughing and giggling, oh yeah, and buying, too.  I guess when you find a product that cool, you just have to show it off however and wherever you can.  (laugh) The men’s bathroom, gotta love it.  Toy House in downtown Jackson.  We’re here to make you smile.

A series of three…
When She Was Three – Oct ‘10
When she was three she galloped down the aisles on stick horses.  At six, she brushed the mane of her My Little Pony.  At nine she used her own allowance to start her Breyer Horse collection.  And on her sixteenth birthday, she drove the car here just for a book on how to draw horses.  Now on her way to college, her parents wanted a gift.  I handed them Horse-opoly.  They smiled and said, “How did you know?”  Just a guess.  Toy House in downtown Jackson.  We’re here to make you smile.
His First Car – Oct ‘10
His first car was a coupe that he drove Fred Flintstone style up and down the drive.  As he got bigger his cars got smaller until they fit in the palm of his hand.  Fast cars, fancy cars, fun cars – he owned hundreds.  Now he’s a graduate.  His parents smiled when we showed them how to hide the real car keys inside the box of the model car.  Don’t know which he liked more.  The model was built and painted before the weekend was over.  Toy House in downtown Jackson.  We’re here to make you smile.
Horses and Cars – Nov ‘10
She saw the model car on his desk.  He was a man of detail.  He saw her drawings of horses.  She had talent and passion.  On their wedding they compromised, he promised not to wear the NASCAR jacket if she didn’t wear the cowboy boots.  But when they said it was a boy, we were ready with both horses and cars.  Once again they found a compromise.  They smiled when they saw it – Froggies.  Toy House and Baby Too.  No matter where you are in life, we’re here to make you smile.

My favorite memory…
Earliest Christmas Memory – Dec 07
What is your earliest Christmas memory?  Mine was grandma and grandpa sitting on a bench handing my sister and me our gifts.  I was only three, but I tore open that package with the speed of a six-year-old.  A towel, a white, Raggedy Ann towel.  I smiled a big smile, unfolded my towel and plopped down.  I couldn’t figure out why my sister was crying.  After all, she got Raggedy Andy and he’s way cooler.  Merry Christmas from the Toy House in downtown Jackson.  We’re here to make you smile

New Dad – Sept 09
He came in needing help.  One look at the dark circles under his eyes and the telltale plastic wristband, I knew there was only one thing to say.  Congratulations.  He smiled and said, “Thanks.  It’s a girl.  They’re coming home today.  Can you help me install my car seat?”   Of course I can.  I’d be happy to.  Welcome to the club, Daddy.  Toy House in downtown Jackson – get your car seat installed for free because we’re here to make you smile.

Gardening, Training, and the Three Bears

The rains have been pouring down here at my store. Last night the river crested to the highest I have seen it in over 20 years. It touched the back corner of the building.

My wife reported that all of our potted plants at home were swimming in their pots.

That’s not good for potted plants. Almost as bad as no water at all. Everyone knows that gardening requires continued diligence; a little watering, a little weeding, a little pruning done consistently and continuously. You can’t just do the weeding and watering once and expect the garden to thrive.

Yet isn’t that what we often do with our staff?

They show up. We give them a name badge, show them where the restroom is, teach them how to run the cash registers, and set them loose. No follow up, no continual training.  No additional information. If they’re motivated, they’ll learn it on their own (or at least that’s what we tell ourselves).

Then we wonder why there is no growth.

Training is like gardening. It needs to be consistent and continuous if you want your staff to grow to their full potential. A little training, a little evaluation, a little polishing, a little pushing.

Just like the Three Bears, you also have to find that “just right” amount of training. Too little and they don’t get the skills they need, too much and like my potted plants at home, they cannot absorb it all.

Staff training should be a lot like how we water the potted plants. Pour some water in. Wait until it is absorbed. Pour in a little more. Keep checking back, pruning, weeding and watering. Add in a heaping amount of sunlight (praise), and watch them grow.

Are you tending to your staff garden?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Thanks to my wife for this powerful analogy. Thanks to Mother Nature for this awesome display of her power. And Thank God that the water receded back to normal levels rather quickly. Forty seven years on the banks of the Grand River and that is the first time the water touched the building.

What Can You Get for $99?

What kind of return would you get if you learned one new technique that cost you nothing, but delighted customers even more than you do today? How would that impact your business for the remainder of the year?

What kind of return would you get if someone revealed to you the secret to consistently getting Word-of-Mouth referrals? How would that impact your bottom line?

What kind of return would you get if you replaced your worst employee with a clone of your best employee? How would that affect your profit & loss?

What if you did all three?

Put a number on it. Guess if you have to. How much more would your business make this year?

One thousand dollars? Five thousand dollars? Fifteen thousand dollars?

What if someone offered you five thousand dollars in return for ninety-nine dollars? Oh, and four hours of your time? Would you jump at that chance?

You can!

In two weeks (Thursday, July 11) I will be offering a Summer Business Boot Camp on Shareworthy Customer Service (thanks, Tim, for that wonderfully apt word). 

In the class you will learn the truth behind what makes customers talk about your business. You will create two Word-of-Mouth techniques that you can use the very next day. You will learn how to step up your levels of customer service beyond what the customer expects and learn how to delight her at many different points in the transaction. You will learn how to hire and train employees that fit your culture and delight your customers all the time.

It only costs you $99 and four hours of your time. I’ll even throw in a free lunch.

All you have to do is call the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce (517) 782-8221 to sign up.

Only four steps to get an incredible Return on Investment.

  1. Pick up the phone. 
  2. Invest your $99. 
  3. Do what you learn. 
  4. Reap the benefits. 

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I’ll be doing another one in August specifically on Marketing and Advertising. The two together will rock your business regardless of whether you are a retailer or service provider. Make the call. Invest your time and money and I’ll make sure it is worth your while.

Herds, Flocks and Gaggles

When a lioness approaches a herd of zebras, she searches for the stragglers, the loners, the ones who have strayed too far away. She isn’t attacking the whole herd. There is safety in numbers and the zebras know it.

When a flock of birds flies in formation, they can fly farther than a solitary bird alone. There is strength in numbers. Predators do not disrupt their formation.

When a gaggle of geese starts honking, the message is clear. Stay away. Stay far away. Maybe they are protecting some goslings. Maybe they are just protecting themselves. There is strength in numbers. The predators would much rather go after a solitary goose than attack the gaggle.

Herd of zebras, flock of birds, gaggle of geese, crash of rhinoceros (one of my favorite group names), obstinacy of buffalo (my new favorite). All animals know there is safety in numbers. Stay in the group and you’re safe. Stray from the group and you may be attacked.

What do you call a group of sales clerks? 

A clucker of clerks? A chattering of clerks? A confusion of clerks? Or my other favorite group term (works with every type of animal), a “whole mess of” clerks?

By any name, the rules still apply. There is safety in numbers.

Stay close to the group and you won’t have any customers attacking you looking for help. You won’t have the boss singling you out for a project. You won’t be under the glare and spotlight.

You’ll be safe in the group.

Or will you?

We aren’t talking about a lioness hiding in the tall grass looking for the weakest member. We’re talking about a customer needing assistance. We’re talking about projects needing to be done. We’re talking about the work your clucker is supposed to be doing.

The point is that you aren’t the prey. You are the pride of lions, who only rest and play after the kill. You hunt alone. You are not the Leap of Leopards, just the lone Jaguar ready to pounce at the chance to accomplish and do more than expected. You are not the convocation of eagles, just the single eagle ready to take flight and soar.

In other words, watch how you congregate. That chattering could be costly.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Here are some of my other favorite Animal Group Names…
Congregation of Alligators
Shrewdness of Apes
Quiver of Cobras
Cast of Falcons
Implausibility of Gnus
Scourge of Mosquitoes
Gaze of Raccoons
Rhumba of Rattlesnakes
Congress of Salamanders
Ambush of Tigers
Wisdom of Wombats

Insurance Agents Don’t Understand Customer Service

I was in a company store to make a few changes to my cellphone plan (got a new phone for my 12 year old son, which is a whole ‘nuther topic). Got there about thirty minutes before they closed. They were busy. At least six sets of customers in the store at this time. I had to wait about ten minutes to be helped.

My helper was extremely helpful. Friendly and engaged, he understood everything I wanted to do, He did it all flawlessly with good humor. It was a painless transaction, even for one that lasted about thirty minutes past their closing time.

The pain was in watching the woman in tears right outside the door.

Her crime? She showed up one minute late.

This store has a company policy dictated by the insurance company. Lock the doors at closing time. Let no one else in. No one. Not even a woman who had driven six hours in a frantic hurry to get there on time only to find out she was sent to the wrong store and had to cross town in early evening traffic only to arrive one minute too late.

One minute late.

There were still five of us customers in the store.

No…

Wait…

Now there are only four. One guy, after watching the way they treated this poor lady, put down his iPad purchase and walked out before they swiped his card.

My helper explained that he would lose his job if he tried to help her. Insurance company said it was a liability issue they wouldn’t cover. With cameras everywhere, the employees feared losing their jobs more than helping a sobbing lady pick up a phone they were holding for her.

I hope the cameras picked up the fact that this one lady will cause them to lose more business and more money than any liability issue for delighting a customer one minute too late ever could.

Don’t let your insurance company dictate your levels of customer service. Delight your customers. The only crying should be tears of joy.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS My apologies to all the insurance AGENTS out there. The title really should have read “Insurance Companies”. But I wanted to get you to read this. Maybe you can talk to the principles at your agency to make sure you don’t do this to your clients.

PPS Want to create a culture that consistently puts the needs of the customer first and relishes in delighting them? Start by reading Customer Service: From Weak to WOW! (free download).

I Tore Up My Office Yesterday

I freely admit it. I am not an overly organized guy. I hate filing papers away. I would rather just push it aside for later.

We all know later never seems to come.

Back in 1998 I moved into the office I currently occupy. Before then I had a desk on the sales floor in our baby department. But now I was Vice President and I needed to be in the office. We bought some new office furniture and built a desk in the corner of my dad’s office. Yes, I sat with my back to him all day working on my computer, etc.

Dad retired in 2005 and I took over as President. We moved his big desk to his man cave and replaced it with the round table that had previously been in the corner where my desk now sat. I stayed put, tucked in the corner with my messes piled all around me.

Soon my messes spilled over to the round table. Once every month or so I would bring in a big box and purge everything I could, clean up the piles and file/recycle as many papers and catalogs as possible. While cathartic, it was really only a stop-gap. The books in my library were still stacked two feet high. Piles from previous purges sat mocking me. Worst of all, a couple slips of urgent papers always seemed to go missing.

Before

Until yesterday.

Yesterday I blew it all up. It was time to get out of the corner. I removed the round table. Replaced it with a long, rectangular table that will serve as my desk for now. Moved my computers and printers. Cleaned and dusted. Put an old hutch on the credenza behind my desk. Filled it with books.

Today I will be going through every pile, every drawer, every nook and cranny. A place for everything and everything in its place. I don’t expect to have everything done today, or even this week. But eventually I will have a newly organized and newly designed office.

Will I be more organized going forward? I can’t say for sure. But I knew I would never be more organized doing everything the same old way. Albert Einstein gets the credit for this simple thought…
If you want a different result, you have to do something different.

I’m doing something different.

After

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS The lesson in all this is to evaluate everything you are doing and the results you are getting. Not getting the results you want? Do something different. Not getting the traffic you expect from your marketing? Market differently. Not getting the kind of referral business you expect? Train your staff differently. Not getting the margins you want? Price your products differently. Not as organized as you want to be? Set up your organization differently.