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Author: Phil Wrzesinski

Who’s Training You?

I talk a lot about the importance of training your staff. But who’s training you?

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m honored that you’re here reading this post. That’s a fabulous start. What else are you reading? Other blogs? Books?

Are you attending any conferences? Sitting in on any workshops? Listening to any podcasts or webinars?

Are you visiting other stores and seeing how they do things?

Here is one of my favorite ways to learn… Teach!

You can’t teach what you don’t know, so agree to teach something. Then you’ll be forced to learn it. That’s what I did to write my free eBook Reading Your Financial Statements. I took a topic that was tough for me and forced myself to learn it. Talked to accountants. Talked to other retailers. Read articles. Got professional opinions. Wrote a rough draft. Took the criticism like a man. Re-wrote it. And learned.

How do you get the chance to teach something? Simple. Ask.

Ask your local chamber if they are looking for an presenters for upcoming workshops or academies. Offer to speak to philanthropy groups like Lions Club or Rotary. Talk to your shop local group about doing a training.

Don’t worry if you don’t think you know enough. First, you know a lot more than you think. Second, once you book it, you’ll do what you need to do to learn the rest, and you’ll be all the smarter for it.

Your staff will model what you do. If you keep learning, so will they.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS If you would like a suggestion or two for good books to read, send me an email. Tell me the subject and what you hope to learn. Chances are there is a book I’ve read or one on my to-read list that will fit the bill.

PPS For our last staff meeting I put a dozen or so of my favorite business books on a table, gave a quick synopsis of each book and offered the staff 3 bonus hours if they do an oral presentation on the book at the next staff meeting. You would have been amazed how many grabbed a book.

Building Your Customer Email List – Stolen Idea Made Better

I stole this idea from George Whalin.

To build your customer email database, put a fishbowl on your counter with a sign-up for your email and offer a drawing for a $25 gift certificate each month for anyone who signs up that month.

Works like a charm.

I shared this idea with some of my toy store owner friends. Tracey Harding of Kidz Enterprise in Tyngsboro, MA took it one step smarter.

She posted that the winner would be announced in her monthly email.

Guess what her open rate is?

Yeah, a lot higher than yours and mine.

Thanks, Tracey!

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Follow this link for some words of wisdom I wrote on how to make an email newsletter campaign work for you. I wrote it in 2009 and the principles haven’t changed.

Get Rid of Your Dogs

What if you bought this shiny new crib for your store. It measures 62″ wide and 35″ deep. It takes up 15 square feet of your store.

What if six months after you bought it, you still hadn’t sold it?

One calculation some stores use to see how healthy their sales are is Sales per Square Foot. Take your total annual sales and divide it by square footage of selling space to find out your Sales per Square Foot.

Now you know how much business you should be doing for those 15 square feet.

But if you haven’t sold a single crib, where are you? You’re in the hole. You’re out whatever it cost to bring that crib in. You are in negative numbers.

Not only have you not made any money, you’ve lost money on that space.

And chances are, since no one wanted that crib in the last six months, just taking 10% off the price isn’t going to move it any faster.

The best move is to mark it at cost and sell it quickly. Get it out of there. Get back to zero for your 15 square feet. Then you have six more months to try something else in that space that will make you money.

Hey, we all make bad buying decisions, dogs that just won’t hunt. That’s part of the retail game. But a worse decision is not getting rid of the dogs soon enough.

Make sense?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS If you want to know more about managing your inventory including the two formulas every retailer should know and track, download my FREE eBook on Inventory Management.

PPS Follow this link for my post on the best way to make your dogs bark.

PPPS Check with your industry to see if there are standards for what your Sales per Square Foot should be. But understand that every store is different. The bigger your store, the more of your space might be used for extra cash registers or wide aisles for shopping carts, thus lowering your numbers.

Customers Can Be Frustrating

She loves to tell you how your prices are high, how she can get everything cheaper somewhere else. She does everything but call you a price gouger and cheat to your face.

You feel your blood pressure start to rise. You know she doesn’t know the truth.

She doesn’t know that you check prices at your competitors a couple times a month so you know you are at the right price.
She doesn’t know that 70% of your product mix isn’t even available in any of your local competitors.
She doesn’t know that all those 40% OFF signs she saw in the other store were off some inflated price no one would ever spend on that product.
She doesn’t know that your competitor bullied the vendor into a better deal on that product.
She doesn’t know that you pay more for your staff, pay more for your property, pay more in taxes, and offer more services than your competitor.
She doesn’t know the research you did into finding the best products that make the most sense (unlike your competitors that only research which products make the most dollars).

And frankly, she doesn’t care about most of that.

She is a Transactional Customer who is driven by one fear – paying too much.

She will drive to four or five stores (well, maybe three or four with these gas prices) to find the best deals, oblivious to the costs of time and gas.
She will do all the research she can to find the best deal.
She will only buy from you the stuff that offers her the best savings.
She loves watching Extreme Couponing.

She will not make you profitable in the long run.

Treat her well. You treat everyone well, don’t you? But don’t lose a minute of sleep over her comments or attitude.

For every one of her there is a Relational Customer who wants the expertise you have, who wants the knowledge you share, the services you offer.

As frustrating as the former can be, the latter is why we are independent retailers.

They are the customers who bring us the most joy because they get all that stuff above.
They know we want to steer them into the products that make the most sense.
They know we offer competitive prices, convenient services, and expert advice.
They understand the impact of shopping local.

You can’t win them all. And some customers you’ll never win. So don’t fret the losses. Just celebrate the victories and move on.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I learned about Transactional and Relational Customers from Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads. Want your socks blown off? Sign up for any one of his programs. Want to know more about Transactional & Relational Customers? Download his free eBook.

I Couldn’t Have Said it Better

I stole this…

Bob Phibbs wrote this on his blog yesterday and it is worth repeating.

So many “retail brand experts” and C-level executives have bought into the belief “our customers just want to get in and get out.”

Do you know why?

Because their customer experience sucks wind, blows chunks, is one step up from the necessary evil of a root canal by a guy in a clown mask.

Your store will not succeed if you take this approach. The one true advantage every independent store holds over the big box discounters, the vast majority of chain stores, and the Internet is the Customer Experience.

You can give your customers an experience like none other.
You can make customers have so much fun they do not want to leave your store.
You can make customers so happy they have no choice but to tell others about you.

In fact, you have to do those things. You and me both. That’s our calling card.

Thanks, Bob, for the reminder! (If you’re not following Bob’s blog like I am, you should! You can find the link in my sidebar.)

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS It starts with you and your attitude. And it continues with the type of employees you hire. If you don’t get the right raw ingredients in your frontline staff, no amount of training will make them better.
PPS (Not sure what I mean by “raw ingredients”? You need to read the book Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel: Turning Your Staff Into a Work of Art. It will change the way you do your hiring and training forever.)

What if the Coach is Wrong?

Everyone knows in sports you do not question the coach.

The coach says.. You do…

Everyone has to be on the same page for the team to be successful.

But what if the coach is wrong?

Every season someone ends up in last place. Someone is the biggest loser. Even though the team did everything the coach asked. Either the team didn’t have the talent or the coach was wrong.

But in sports, unlike retail, if you’re the biggest loser this year, that’s okay. Next season you start 0-0. In retail, if you go 0-16 this year you start next year in a deep hole. There is no reset.

Two quick lessons from this…

1) If you’re the coach, you better be right. You better have done your homework, planned for all contingencies and plotted a fabulous course. Then all you need to do is get the team to buy in.

2) If you have a coach and you know the coach is wrong you have to decide. Do you try to change the coach’s mind or simply do the right thing?

Yes, I do advocate mutiny. If your coach is obviously leading you into last place, you need to do what you can to change that, even if it means subordinating the coach.

There is no reset in retail. You carry over your wins and your losses from last year into this year. The bank and your customers will remember and judge you on your previous season.

When the coach is right, all is good. But when the coach is wrong…

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Before you choose mutiny, however, you have to understand. Following a coach into last or subordinating the coach are both going to lead to struggles. But as long as you’re playing to win, at least you have that to fall back on. And if you don’t know where your coach is leading you or why, you need to ask first. They may have a vision they just haven’t explained well.

How Many Customers Can You Afford to Anger?

I’ve been following a handful of private conversations in my industries about how to treat customers who really aren’t our customers.

You know these people.

Bleeding You Blind
They find every loophole to get the most out of every transaction with you. They rarely shop at your store unless there is a discount or special going on. They always want more, trying to squeeze every penny out of your turnip. Rarely do you even know their names because they never come in until they need a donation or want to complain. They always want to use a coupon after it has expired, get a discount because the corner of the box is crushed, or complain about how they are a regular shopper at your store (even though no one on the staff has ever seen them) and should get a better deal.

These customers cost you money. They bleed your profit margins, take up your staff’s time, and keep you away from more profitable customers. They frustrate and anger you and bring down the entire store’s morale.

Best Buy took the approach years ago to fire these customers, send them to Circuit City.

What do you do?

Better yet, what should you do? Can you really afford to anger somebody in this economy? Are you big enough to take a PR hit because you wouldn’t put up with an unreasonable customer?

What I Do
I’m not Best Buy. I don’t believe I have the capital to purposefully anger any customers – even the customers I don’t like. Oh, I’ve done it a couple times. We all have. But more often than not I look at it this way… I get to choose whether I am nice to someone or not. And it doesn’t matter whether they are nice to me.

  • If I let someone use a coupon after it has expired, I am showing generosity.

  • If I give an extra discount because an item is crushed or the customer makes a fuss, I am being compassionate.

  • If I allow a customer to return an unopened item 10 months later, I am being helpful.

  • If I apologize to a customer for our failings even when she made the mistake, I am being understanding.

Generous, Compassionate, Helpful, Understanding. Yeah, I’d like to own those words in my customers’ eyes. Wouldn’t you?

The essence of Branding is simply…

Every single interaction a customer has with your business plus how they feel about it.


You cannot always control the interactions, but you can control the feelings by how you treat others. And don’t ever believe that your best customers are not watching. Fair or not, they will measure you not at your best, but at your worst.

So make your worst pretty darn good by treating even your worst customers pretty darn good. You might just turn one of them into your best customer.

-Phil Wrzesinski
http://www.philsforum.com/

PS Even if you do have to fire a customer, do it with kindness and respect. At the end of the day the one thing you always have left is your character.

Another Basic to Wow Example

I got a couple emails asking for more examples of Basic to Wow customer service against which you can measure your own business.

Here’s one for the simple act of greeting a customer at the front door…

Basic Customer Service: Look up from your station and say “Hello” to everyone who walks through the door.

Good Customer Service: Spice it up with a hearty welcome (and actually mean it).

Great Customer Service: Get out from behind the cashwrap. Greet the customer by name. Speak to their kids.

WOW Customer Service: Hold open the door (especially for people pushing strollers or wheel chairs). Offer to hang up their coats. Greet them like a friend. Chat casually with them, not about why they are there but what’s up in their lives. Ask about the previous purchases they have made (what do you mean you don’t know?). Customers love to know they have been recognized and remembered. Give them all the time they need to decompress and feel comfortable before getting to the business at hand.

Exceeding customer expectations is your goal. That’s what makes people talk positively about you. Simply meet their expectations and at best you’ll get a “Thanks”. But when you go way beyond what they expect, they’ll tell their friends about you.

WOW Customer Service exceeds their expectations every time. It is as much an attitude as a skill.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS If your staff doesn’t already have that attitude there are only two reasons. Either you aren’t modeling and teaching it, or they just don’t have it in them. More often than not it’s the former. But don’t be afraid to cut loose those who don’t have it in them.

Everyone Thinks They Have It

Every store thinks they have Great Customer Service. Even Wally World thinks a greeter at the door qualifies them for the customer service hall-of-fame. But unfortunately, most stores barely offer the basics.

And even then Great Customer Service isn’t enough to move the needle for customers these days. You need WOW Customer Service!

See where your business stacks up in this example of dealing with a Customer with a Problem…

Basic Customer Service: Go find a manager to deal with the problem.

Good Customer Service: Take the customer away from other customers and go find a manager.

Great Customer Service: First attempt to solve the problem before calling a manager.

WOW Customer Service: Own the problem from the start. Apologize and admit you made a mistake. Solve the problem to the satisfaction of the customer. Report your solution to the manager. Follow up with the customer later to make sure she is still satisfied.

It doesn’t take much to go from Basic to Great. But to get to WOW requires a dedicated and well-trained team. Ask yourself…

  • Does your management team allow for WOW to happen?

  • Is your staff capable of making WOW happen?

It takes WOW to get WOM (word-of-mouth). Give your customers the WOW treatment and your needle will move. Guaranteed!

Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I’m working on a new eBook… “Customer Service: From Basics to WOW” I would love your feedback on what you consider to be WOW service that you’re currently using in your store. Any submissions used will get both credit in the eBook and a FREE copy of my book Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel: Turning Your Staff Into a Work of Art

The No List

Carole Bernstein owns Get Smart! Carole Bernstein is Smart.

She works on her business as much or more than she works in her business. But she still keeps a pulse on what is happening in her business at all times with a clever communication tool used by all her staff.

I don’t know for sure what she calls it, but I call it the “No List”.

At the end of every shift her staff are required to fill out a worksheet that includes every request to which they said “No” that day.

Think about that for a moment…

What if you knew every time your staff said, “No, we are out-of-stock”?
What if you knew every request a customer made for a product that you did not carry?
What if you knew about a service for which multiple customers were asking but you didn’t offer?
What if you knew exactly what your customers expected but didn’t get?

Would you be a better retailer with this information? Of course you would. And Carole just showed you how to get it.

That’s why I love attending good conferences and meeting smart retailers.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Not sure how to train your staff to communicate with you in this way or any other way you choose? Check out my free eBook Staff Meetings Everyone Wants to Attend and the accompanying worksheet. You’ll have your staff fired up and wanting to learn more in no time at all.