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Author: Phil Wrzesinski

How Well Do You Know Your Product?

My wife sent me into one of the big hardware stores to look at a product for refinishing cabinets. Rust-Oleum has a simple 4-step process that restores, changes, or simply transforms your wooden cabinets without having to strip and sand and labor for weeks.

Sounds good to me.

Our only concern was that our cabinet doors are recessed. They close inside the frame, not on top, and it’s a tight fit already. Would this product work on such a tight fit?

The guy at the hardware store said yes. Reggie said no.

My wife wasn’t convinced by the guy at the hardware store. She sent an email directly to Rust-Oleum. And in less than 24 hours she got the following reply…

Shannon,

Thank you for contacting Rust-Oleum Product Support.

Thank you for your interest in Rust-Oleum’s products.  Unfortunately, we do not recommend using this product on this type of frame.  The paint will chip or rub off.

Thanks,
Reggie

Whew! That saved me a few hundred bucks and a lost weekend… and lost cabinets, and another lost week or two fixing the problem, and another few hundred (thousand?) bucks replacing the cabinets, and a few choice words my boys don’t need to hear, and a bunch of times telling people how much that hardware store sucks, and…

You get the point.

But do you get the lesson? Your sales staff needs to know the products just as well as the company (if not better). You need to know when to say no to the sale. You need to be comfortable enough to realize when your product won’t solve the customer’s problem.

I have far more faith in Rust-Oleum now because of their honesty in saying no, their product won’t help me. I won’t forget that, either.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS The only thing they could have done better is recommend a product that would help me – even if it wasn’t one of theirs. Your first goal in delighting a customer is to solve her problem. Do that and you earn the chance for another transaction.

The Squeegee is Broken

I stopped to get gas while on the road today.  The back window of our van gets dirty quickly and the small wiper only creates a partial arc of viewing.

I grabbed the squeegee and went to work. First impressions, I knew I was in trouble.  You know that fabric around the end of the sponge, the meshy thing that is supposed to help scrub the bugs off? It was flailing in the breeze and literally hanging by a thread.  No worries, though. No bugs on the back windshield, only grime.

But then I used the other end, the scraper that is supposed to pull the dirty liquid off and leave a clean, streak-free shine behind. Yet, this poor squeegee was so worn and tired it had seen its better days in the previous decade.

I looked at the clerks hiding behind the plexiglass and thought to myself, “Really? You can’t afford a couple new squeegees?”

It made me wonder what else they couldn’t afford. Toilet paper in the bathroom? To rotate their food stock? Purel for their employee’s dirty hands?

Yeah, major turnoff. I hope I don’t have to stop there again.

Sometimes we overlook the smallest details and forget that they can send the biggest messages.

Do you have any broken squeegees to fix?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS There is a gas station in northern Michigan, in the city of Petosky. I’ve been there three times while on ski trips with the family. I know they would never have a broken squeegee. Ever.

A Full Day of Customer Service Training

In a couple of weeks I’m going to Manistee, MI, a beautiful small town on Lake Michigan with an active Main Street DDA program and some lovely shops.

They’ve hired me to spend a few days working with them on Customer Service. When I get to town, I’m going to visit a few stores and ask them about their hopes and dreams, ask them about their challenges, ask them how they define Customer Service.

The following day I’m going to present them all of this…

CORE VALUES
This session will be a workshop where each participant will be led through a process of uncovering the 3-4 Core Values that drive both them and their business.  We will use three different techniques for helping each participant create his or her own Character Diamond.  Depending on time, we will have each person share his/her diamond with the entire class.  We will at least have a few people share so that others can learn from the examples.

Purpose: To create a framework around which every element of Shareworthy Customer Service (SCS) is derived. (thanks, Tim Miles, for the word Shareworthy).

WORD OF MOUTH
This session will illustrate the different ways in which a business can generate Word of Mouth – including Over-the-Top Design, Over-the-Top Service, and Over-the-Top Generosity, Secrets and Surprise.  Participants will be given a number of examples of each, then asked to come up with one form of Generosity/Design and one method of Sharing Secrets that they can easily incorporate into their business.

Purpose: To show what it takes to get customers to actually Share their experiences.

PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
This session will explore a variety of interactions a customer has with a typical (retail) business and talk through the various levels of Customer Service from Weak to WOW

Purpose: To show what it really means to put the customer first, how to delight her, and how to make the experience memorable and share-worthy

TEACHING YOUR STAFF
This session will teach the participants how to plan a training program for teaching their staff everything they are learning today.  The seminar will show them the basics for planning meetings and trainings that the staff will look forward to attending, how to make the information stick, how to prep the staff for meetings/trainings, and how to follow-up after the meeting/training is over.

Purpose: It is one thing to learn it yourself.  It is completely different to be able to teach it to others.  Since most participants will have a staff, this session is to show them how to create staff meetings and trainings that will help them teach this to their frontline workers.

CREATE A TRAINING WORKSHOP
This session will be a hands-on workshop where the participants will split into teams and be given different elements of Customer Service around which they will plan a meeting/training (based on the method learned in the previous session)

Purpose: To put into practice what they have learned both on creating a staff training session and on SCS.  To create camaraderie and bonding.  To have fun.

HIRING AND TRAINING A MASTERPIECE
This session will show the participants how the steps a potter uses to create a work of art can be applied to the hiring and training process, turning your staff into a masterpiece.  The session will include creating a non-teachable traits list for a variety of positions in your company, including some interview questions to help draw out those traits.

Purpose: To illustrate the point that all the training in the world won’t help if you don’t have the right people in place.  To show how to consistently find the right people.  To give the participants a blueprint they can follow for hiring and training.

SHARING YOUR PLANS
After creating their trainings, each group will share their plan with the rest.  After presentations, the plans will be copied/shared for everyone to use with their own teams.

Purpose: To help each participant have a developed plan for teaching SCS to their staff.  To make sure we have taught our points well.  To give a review of everything discussed throughout the day.

Results:  At the end of the day each participant will have…

  • Created a Character Diamond
  • Learned how to generate Word of Mouth
  • Thought up at least two ways to generate Word of Mouth with their business
  • Learned a new definition and way of looking at Customer Service
  • Learned a method for planning Staff Meetings/Trainings That Everyone Wants to Attend
  • Created a training session for one particular element of SCS
  • Received a complete portfolio of training sessions for all elements of SCS
  • Learned a method for consistently hiring and training the right people to implement higher levels of SCS

Yeah, it is going to be a fun, packed day of learning. And when we’re done, Manistee will never be the same.

Would your town be interested in a program like this?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS If you’re anywhere near the west side of northern, lower peninsula Michigan and want to attend, contact Travis Alden. If they have space available, he might just let you in.

Travis Alden
Director, Manistee Main Street
Downtown Development Authority
231-398-3262
www.manisteedowntown.com

Why Your Ads Go Viral

I just watched an interesting TEDTalk about Why Videos Go Viral from Kevin Allocca, a YouTube Trendwatcher (yes, he watches YouTube videos as a profession).

He explains there are three things that make a video go viral.

  • Tastemakers
  • Participation
  • Unexpectedness

The same three things are true of your advertisements.

TASTEMAKERS

If someone of importance takes note of your video – a “tastemaker” whom people follow – then others will take note. In advertising, you have to speak to the people who influence the decision.

McDonald’s has made a mint by advertising to the backseat influencers. A clown and funny characters and toys have been so effective at reaching this audience that people concerned about our children’s health have pushed to ban the golden arches from putting toys in their Happy Meals.

We have a local bra store that advertises on the local sports talk show. Yes, she advertises bras and lingerie on a radio show heavily skewed towards men.  Her message? “Guy, are you tired of hearing your wife complain about her bra not fitting? Send her to Bras That Fit.”

They are speaking to the influencers, the tastemakers.

Your ads should be targeted to the tastemakers, the people who have the influence to send customers your way. Sometimes that is the customer herself, but sometimes it is someone within her circle that has the power to influence her. Let me ask you what would be more effective? A radio ad to a woman about bras, or her husband saying, “Honey, you’ve been complaining so much about your bras. Why don’t you try out that store…?”

PARTICIPATION

What do the Harlem Shake, NYAN Cat, and the Friday Song all have in common? Besides millions of views, they have thousands of knockoffs and spin-offs, and copycats. They have audience participation.

People love to be involved. People love to be included. People love to be loved. In fact, the most seductive word in the English language is a three letter word and it doesn’t include an X.  The most seductive word is…

YOU

Do your ads speak directly to the customer (or influencer)? Do your ads talk about the customer twice as much as they talk about your company? Do your ads include the customer as an insider, as a participant? Can your customer see herself doing what you want her to do? When you talk more about her than you do yourself; when you paint a picture of her doing what you want her to do, when you include her as part of you, then you are creating participatory ads.

UNEXPECTEDNESS

How many times have you watched a video and wished you had those three minutes back? You aren’t sharing those videos. There has to be something exciting and unexpected for you to hit the share button.

Let’s face it. The expected is so… boring. The expected is so cliche, uninspiring, blah, blah, blah. We are bombarded with thousands of advertising messages a day. We have learned to filter anything that looks or sounds like an ad. We have learned to ignore the mundane. We have learned to pass over the unexciting.

Your ads need to be unexpected, too.

The most effective radio ad I ever ran started with these words… “I couldn’t believe it. They were taking customers into the men’s bathroom…”

After hearing that, you know everyone wanted to hear more. Can you say something totally unexpected to get their attention? Can you then tie that into one interesting point? Can you surprise and excite and delight people in a way that makes them want to hit the share button?

The same principles that make a video go viral also affect the effectiveness of your advertising. You might not get a few million views, but if you follow Kevin’s advice, you can make your advertising budget a heck of a lot more powerful without spending a penny more.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads, calls this the Impact Quotient of your ads. Here is a free download called How Ads Work Part 2 that I wrote to give you examples of how to make your ads more memorable and impactful.

Praying for Customers

I know it was tongue-in-cheek (kinda), but when a fellow store owner asked a group of us on FB what we were doing to attract customers, the first response was “Praying”.

This might seem like a religious post. If I offend anyone, so be it. But I found the answer to be not only funny, but also appropriate. Yes, praying can have a place in your business.

Remember what I have said over and over about being true to your Values? If religion and faith are part of your values, praying should be a regular event. Include your staff in a holy huddle. Make sure your policies also reflect your faith. It can be a powerful attractor of customers who share your faith. (See Chick-Fil-A and how they share their faith.)

Here are some prayers you can say.

Pray that your advertising will be effective.
Pray that your staff will have a good day and take care of your customers.
Pray that you will accomplish your to-do list efficiently.
Pray for thanksgiving of the blessings that have allowed you to be in business.
Pray for the blessings of your wonderful staff and all that they do (and have done) for you.
Pray for your wonderful evangelists who tell your story to all their friends.
Pray for your vendors who supply you with the products that solve your customers’ problems.
Pray for your government leaders that they have the strength and will to do good for your community.

If faith and religion are part of your Core Values, then you should be Praying for Customers.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I say a modified version of the Jabez Prayer every single day…
Oh that you would bless me indeed
And enlarge my territory
That your hand would be with me
And lead me to good

Delight People, and Solve Their Interesting Problems

I’m a big fan of Seth Godin. His blog is one of the first I read every day. (He posts Every. Single. Day. and it is usually something quite thought-provoking.)

I’m stealing this from Seth, via the good Doctor Rick Wilson, who writes it this way.

  1. Delight people
  2. Solve their (interesting) problems

The more interesting the problem, the better.

Reading this, however, I am stunned at the simplicity and beauty of it all. This is the core of giving WOW/Shareworthy Customer Service.

DELIGHT PEOPLE

Do the unexpected. Go above and beyond what any customer saw coming. That’s how you delight. Surprise them with an extraordinary level of kindness and professionalism. Do things they never thought possible.

SOLVE THEIR (INTERESTING) PROBLEMS

Customers choose to visit you for a reason. Most often that reason is to solve a problem. Mistakenly, we too often think they came to buy a product, but the reality is the product is simply their idea of a solution to the problem. When you know the problem, then you – the expert – can offer the best possible solution.

A person in a camera store isn’t buying a camera, he is buying a picture, a memory. Don’t sell the camera until you know the picture he really wants.

A person in a toy store isn’t buying a toy, she’s buying a tool or a gift. Don’t sell the toy until you know how the tool or gift will be used.

A person in a shoe store isn’t buying a shoe, she’s buying a lifestyle. Don’t sell a shoe until you know what lifestyle she needs.

There is a lot of fun in solving problems. When you look at sales that way, you will find your staff enjoys it far more than just “selling”. Teach them how to ask the right questions to find the true problem needing to be solved. Teach them how to look beyond the product into what the customer truly wants and needs. Teach your staff how to connect in meaningful ways to be partners in your customers’ solutions.

Do all that and everyone (you included) will be delighted.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Sometimes the solution is to send the customer to a competitor. That’s okay. Solve their problem anyway. Call the competitor and make sure they have what your customer needs. Have your competitor hold the item. Get directions if necessary. They will remember that and they will talk about you to someone who has a problem you can solve. Remember that every transaction is about one thing… earning the right for another transaction down the road.

What is Your Least Favorite Job?

You are an independent business owner. You wear many hats. You do many jobs. It is the nature of the beast. Let me ask you one question…

What is your least favorite job?

What is the one hat that you dread wearing the most? What is that task or duty that you fear, that you would rather put off, that you just wish it would go away?

Let me ask you another question…

What would you do with the time you have left over if you didn’t have to do that job?

Everything can be hired out. There is someone capable of doing whatever it is that you don’t want to do. For a price, of course. But, there is someone. The only question you really have to answer is whether the time you have left over can be productive enough to afford the person you hire.

Just remember when you calculate the “afford” part you include your lack of stress, your better sleep, and your peace of mind. Sometimes that is worth far more than the salary.

Give up the one job you hate the most and you will find you have more time and energy to do the things you love.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Yes, that even includes the hat of hiring and firing. Many successful business owners hire a manager to run the day-to-day operations and they spend their time marketing, buying and paying the bills. Yes, that includes paying the bills. Other business owners want to run the day-to-day operations and hire an office manager or AR/AP person to handle all the invoices and bills. Yes, that includes a tech person, a warehouse/receiving clerk, a gopher, an event coordinator, or a marketing/advertising coordinator. Owning and running a small business is supposed to be fun. Do the fun stuff and hire someone else to do the stuff you hate.

The Five Drivers of Traffic – Delight

I posted that JC Penney was struggling because it was losing in all five of the main drivers of traffic… Price, Product, Convenience, Trust and Delight.  Let’s look at each one of them separately.

DELIGHT

Delight is probably both the easiest and most difficult of all the drivers to own. 

Easy because so few companies even try to own it. Sure, they give it lip-service, but outside of a handful of retailers (Apple? Zappos?) and companies (Disney?), few major chains or national businesses really even try to delight anyone other than the shareholders and owners.

Difficult because the bar of expectation is constantly shifting and changing. What delights the customers of today might seem ordinary tomorrow.

You can increase your Delight Factor a number of ways…

  • Sell things that make people happy. The more whimsy and uniqueness you bring to the table, the higher the delight factor in the customers’ minds. The more fun and interesting your product selection, the more you will delight customers.
  • Sell things that solve problems. Customers buy items to solve a problem. Identify the problem and you can delight the customer by solving it.
  • Host Events. Bring in authors, experts, and celebrities. Teach classes. Host parties. Play games. Show movies. Serve food and beverages. 
  • Bend over backwards to help. When you put the customer’s needs above your own, you raise the delight factor exponentially. The easiest way to do this is to say “Yes!” every time a customer asks, “Can you…?” and then go figure out how to do it.
  • Exceed expectations. This may seem simple enough, yet once you consistently exceed the expectations of today, you raise the bar for the expectations of tomorrow. Keep raising the bar, though, and you’ll continue delighting your customers in new and exciting ways.
  • Do something no one else would even think of doing. How about a downtown toy store offering Valet Parking at Christmas? How about a clothing store offering free dry cleaning for a year? How about a bookstore that gets you a signed copy every time you buy a book from a living author?

The advantages of delighting your customers are numerous.

  • They become more loyal.
  • They bring you more customers like them.
  • They do your advertising for you.
  • They make your job more fun.

You can do Delight. In fact, you need to do Delight! It is the one driver you can consistently do better than any of your competitors. It is the one driver you are expected to do better than the chains and online stores. It is the one driver you can most easily own all to yourself.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Want to know which driver (if any) you already own? Check out this free download – How to Measure the Strength of Your Brand. When you do your survey, be sure to use the five drivers as part of your word association. You’ll know exactly which of your competitors owns which driver and what you need to work on.

Pendulum Made Easier to Understand

I’ve talked about this new book by Roy H. Williams and Michael R. Drew called Pendulum. It really has been an eye-opener for me to understanding how advertising, marketing and selling has changed over the last couple decades.

The hard part is trying to explain it. The elevator pitch takes too many floors. Although I read the book in one sitting – I was already pumped up about it, having seen the presentation by Roy twice and by Michael once – most people are looking for a simpler, quicker way to understand this swing between a Me and a We generation.

Thanks to the folks at PendulumInAction, here is a simple graphic that explains it quite well.

Click to get complete graphic…

Thanks Leigh Jeffery for putting this together!

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Warning: Reading and understanding Pendulum can be hazardous to your mental well-being. Often readers are left with a feeling of dizziness, followed by a frustration caused by instantly seeing evidence of this pendulum swing all around you even when you are not looking.

The Five Drivers of Traffic – Trust

I posted that JC Penney was struggling because it was losing in all five of the main drivers of traffic… Price, Product, Convenience, Trust and Delight.  Let’s look at each one of them separately.

TRUST

Trust is earned. You don’t get it automatically. Trust is earned one transaction at a time.  Trust is fragile, too. Trust earned over a period of years or even decades can be blown up by one single encounter.

How do you earn Trust? Through consistency and honesty. Do what you say you are going to do time and time and time again. Yes, it is that simple. 

Fast food restaurants are built around the model of consistency. A McDonald’s Big Mac tastes the same all over the world so that you know what to expect and get what you expect every single time. Franchises and chain stores in general are designed to offer consistency. Time and time again, the same experience (at least that’s what they hope).

More importantly than discussing how to build trust, it might be better to look at how easily you can break that trust.

You can break trust in any of the following ways…

  • Play games with your pricing. Mark it up to mark it down. Hide the real price through some fine print. Change your prices all the time. Dicker and deal on price.
  • Don’t deliver. Don’t do what you say you will do. Make promises to get the sale that you know you won’t keep.
  • Lie. Be dishonest about mistakes you have made or things you have done that you don’t want customers to know about.
  • Change your policies. Making up policies that favor the company over the customer on the spot are quick trust slayers.
  • Be rude or apathetic. If you don’t treat your customers well, they won’t trust that you do anything well.
  • Load up on Fine Print. Sure, there always seems to be fine print. There always is an asterisk, an exception. Of course, the more fine print, the more exceptions, the less trustworthy you become. Just sayin’.

Here are some simple things to help you maintain trust with your customers.

  • Admit your mistakes. We all make them. Be honest and up front when you make a mistake and say, “I’m sorry. We screwed up. What can I do to make it better?”
  • Fulfill your promises. if you promise something, you better move mountains to make it happen. Period.
  • Be Professional and Kind. As my friend Tim Miles says, these are the two cornerstones of Shareworthy Customer Service. Do both and your customers will notice. Your customers will trust you. Your customers will tell others about you.

If you want to drive traffic on the basis of Trust you need to be honest and consistent. You need to do the right thing all the time, regardless of how much it hurts you. In fact, the more pain you are willing to suffer to maintain that trust, the more believable you will be.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS To grow Trust as an indie retailer you need two key elements; a trustworthy staff and credible marketing. Here are two books to help you do both better…

Read those books, do what they teach. If you don’t get far more back than you invested, I’ll buy the books from you. Yes, I trust them that much.