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Thoughts From a Wedding

I attended my sister-in-law’s wedding last Saturday out in sunny San Diego and have some random thoughts for retailers from my weekend trip.

Hide the Backroom

The lovely couple did all of their own planning for this backyard wedding including doing all the food themselves (with the help of their families).  I was there to help out for the two days leading up to the wedding.  Although chaos seemed to ensue, and there were a few hiccups along the way, by the time the bride strode down the aisle, everything was ready.  The vast majority of the wedding guests never saw the chaos or mess.  They all had a wonderful time and enjoyed a beautiful event.

More importantly, no one talked about the mess.  We all just focused on making the event special for the wedding couple and guests.  Your customers don’t care what it took to make their trip to your store special, all they care about is that it was special.

Complete the Sale

We made numerous trips back and forth to the store.  A good sales clerk eliminates those multiple trips by asking questions, finding out why you are buying what you are buying and making suggestions of items needed to complete the sale.  If you are buying multiple carts full of soda, water and beer, even a minimum-wage clerk should be asking if you need ice.

Know Your Audience

The food, the entertainment, the location, even the service itself were planned not only for the wedding couple but also for what their guests would want.  They purposefully chose to delight their guests by planning a wedding celebration that fit the desires of their friends and family.

Build your store experience around your customers’ expectations more than your own and you will delight them more often than not.

Tell the Story

The bride and groom each wrote their own vows.  When the groom started his vows by telling the story of their first date ending with the phrase, “I told [Jason] then, ‘I am going to marry this girl,'” he had me hook, line and sinker.

Stories are more powerful than facts just as emotion is more powerful than logic.  Speak to your customer’s heart by telling stories that matter and you will make a deeper and more lasting impression.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  There are lessons for retailers all around us.  Keep your eyes open.  The next great lesson or idea may come when you least expect it.

Stay Above the Fray

Mudslinging and politics seem to go hand in hand.  You’ve read enough articles about how effective negative campaigning is for political contests that you realize it isn’t going away any time soon.

Some of you have even wondered if it will work for your store.

It won’t.

Here is why…

When it is a one-time vote between only A or B, you can win votes for B by telling everyone how bad A is.  But retail is not a one-time vote between only two candidates.  Retail includes many candidates including None of the Above.  You don’t have the resources to attack each one of those options (including None of the Above) negatively.  And even if you did, the feelings people will have about you will be far from positive before they even step foot inside your door!

In a political election people will choose the “lesser of two evils” mainly because they have no other choice.

Going negative at best only makes you the lesser of two evils.  

The cool thing is that you don’t have to go negative to point out how you are better than your competitor.  Take the, “Here is what we do and why we do it,” stance.

Talk about your virtues that make you different from your competition.
Talk about why you do it that way.
Talk about how that benefits your customers.

That is the campaign that wins time and again in retail.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Not sure what are your virtues?  Read this short document Understanding Your Brand and do the following worksheets.  You’ll know better who you are so that you can be who you are better.

Get the Wizard for FREE!

You all know I am a huge fan of Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads.  I have trained at Wizard Academy and owe much of my success to the lessons I learned there.  I am also a devoted follower of Roy’s Monday Morning Memo.

For me it all started with his book Wizard of Ads, the first in a trilogy that I read cover to cover to cover to cover to cover.  Best set of business books I have ever read. Period.

Right now you can download all three books in pdf for FREE!  Yes, FREE!  (Don’t ask me why.  The Wizard did not tell me, nor do I get anything for telling you.)

Just go to…  http://www.rhw.com/youll-laugh-youll-cry/

Now!

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  If you want the printed version, go here.  It will cost you $25 plus shipping.  Either way, your ROI is through the roof on this.

Magnetic Love and Hate

Take two magnets and push them together.  See how well they connect.  If they are strong enough, one can actually attract the other one to it.

Now turn one magnet around.  See how it pushes the other magnet away?

Magnets are governed by universal laws of physics.  The stronger the magnet’s ability to attract, the more it will also repel.  Your advertising works the same way.

You cannot attract everyone.  It is impossible to be everything to everyone.  So focus on those you wish to attract the most (hint: like the magnet, it is those who are already aligned with your way of doing business), knowing full well that the stronger you try to attract them, the more you will repel others (who weren’t aligned with your way of business in the first place.)

Your goal should be to have an ample supply of people who love your advertising and hate it.  No middle ground.  The opposite of love isn’t hate, it is indifference.  And the worst thing your ads can stir up would be indifference.  If they do, you’ve just wasted your money.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Yeah, I learned that from the Wizard.  Have you signed up for his free Monday Morning Memo?  It is the first email I read every Monday morning.

Advertising Versus Public Relations

I may be different because I look at Advertising and Marketing and Public Relations as just similar types of the same product – exposure of your business to the public.  You can add Location to that mix, too.  You can even add Customer Service.  All five serve the same purpose.  They just do it a different way.  Some companies have completely different departments to carry out each function, often without one knowing what the other is doing.

They are not entities to themselves, just tools you use to promote your business, promote your message.  I found this joke on the website AJokeADay.com that pretty well sums it up. (You’ll notice that the message is quite clear;-)

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, “I am very rich. Marry me!”

That’s Direct Marketing.

You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl.
One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you and says,
“He’s very rich. Marry him.”

That’s Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and get her telephone number.
The next day you call and say, “Hi, I’m very rich. Marry me.”

That’s Telemarketing.

You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
You get up and straighten your tie; you walk up to her and pour
her a drink.
You open the door for her; pick up her bag after she drops it,
offer her a ride, and then say,
“By the way, I’m very rich. Will you marry me?”

That’s Public Relations.

You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
She walks up to you and says, “You are very rich.”

That’s Brand Recognition.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, “I’m rich. Marry me”
She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.

That’s Customer Feedback!!!!

Read more: http://www.ajokeaday.com/Clasificacion.asp?ID=13&Pagina=3#ixzz21qTE0vQO

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.Philsforum.com

PS If you are unsure of the purpose of your Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations, Location, and Customer Service… they all serve to let people know your Core Values.

Return on Investment

In June 2011 we launched a generous Birthday Club.  We offered our customers a $10 gift certificate on their birthday and a chance to ring the Birthday Bell – a thirty-two pound brass bell hanging on a pole in the middle of our store.

We were looking for three things from this promotion.  Traffic, Smiles, and Word of Mouth.

Traffic
Prior to the launch of the Birthday Club we had been in a traffic decline due to the economics of this region and severe decline in youth population in our area (almost 10% drop in children under 18 since 2000).  Since the Birthday Club we have had five months with increased traffic, even as our population base continues to decline.  

Smiles
We take a picture of each kid after ringing the bell.  The current month gets posted on the wall.  The previous months are cataloged in a posterboard-sized book that customers are always looking through.  Those smiles are evident.  Some of the most telling smiles, though, are the comments on my Facebook page.  We asked how the Birthday Club was doing and had a dozen comments in a couple minutes all raving about it.

Word of Mouth
Some of that is happening right now on Facebook.  Some of that is happening as people take pictures with their own cameras and send them to loved ones and friends.  Some of that is happening when people talk about their plans… “Oh. we’re going to the Toy House today to spend our Birthday Gift Certificate.”

So far so good.

But at What Cost? 
So far year-to-date we have redeemed over 53% of the coupons we sent out.  The average ticket has been much higher than projected.  Our profit margin on those sales even after the costs of printing/mailing/redeeming the gift certificate is 32% compared to 48% on non-birthday gift certificate sales.  

So the big question is… Is the 16%  in lost revenue on those sales worth it?  

The Birthday Club generates Traffic, Smiles, and Word-of-Mouth, oh yeah, and Sales.  Would a 16% off coupon generate the same?   

Yeah, some might say there is a better way for me to spend those dollars to increase my sales.  And they would be right… if sales were the goal.  

The most important element for me is the long-term investment in the Smiles. 

Since I am in toys, my customer base is always shifting.  The kids shopping today will take a short break until they have kids of their own.  The parents shopping today will take a short break until they become grandparents.  The Birthday Club is one way I invest in their return, first by giving them an incentive to return even in the “non-toy” years and second, by creating long-lasting memories that will bring them back when the time is right (and still generate that WOM as they talk about me to their friends, even when they aren’t in a buying phase.)

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  The key to any promotion is to know exactly what you hope to accomplish.  Then measure your results based on your goal.  That is the only way to really know the Return on Investment of any advertising campaign.  The best method I have for determining your goal for anything is to finish the following statement…
“This will be a success if…”

Pinterest and Twitter and Facebook, Oh My!

The Social Media mavens tell you that you have to maximize your presence on Twitter… and Facebook… and Pinterest… and Google+… and LinkedIn… and…

I mean, they’re free, right?  Why wouldn’t you?

Of course, these are the same gurus who used to be in traditional advertising and told you to make sure you had your message on TV, Radio, Newsprint and Billboards so that you would reach everyone in multiple ways which would make the messages sink in better (it doesn’t – read page 3)

And guess what?  They are both wrong!

You don’t have to do all the social media.  You don’t really have to do any of them.  Sure, they all work in one way or another.  Sure, they all can help your business.  Sure, they all cost time instead of money.  Sure, you can still go broke investing all your time into them.

Advertising and marketing are and have always been about maximizing your ROI – return on investment.  The difference between the social media and regular advertising (besides that they are used completely differently – but you already knew that) is that one costs time, the other costs money.

But you still need to make sure you are not spending too much capital.  Your time is more valuable than you think.

The advice I give for social media is the same advice I give for regular advertising.  Pick one medium and do it to the absolute best of your ability.  Don’t worry about the other media.  You only have time/money for one, so pick one and do it better than everyone else.

It really is that simple.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  For Toy House I picked Facebook.  I like FB for pictures and videos and conversations.  For Phils Forum I primarily use this blog.  I like the framework.  It gives me enough room to make my point.  Yes, I use Twitter, but only as a means for delivering my blog.

Different Campaigns for Different Customers

I learned this from Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads…

I use radio as my primary source of branding advertising trying to attract the Relational Customer.  But I also use radio for my one and only Transactional Customer event – our Summer Fun Sale.  Both campaigns are on the same medium but trying to reach completely different people.  Sound crazy?  Not really.

Both types of customers listen to the same radio stations.  But they listen to different types of ads.

So each campaign has its very own signature, style, and scheduling.

The Relational campaign is me telling stories in a relaxed voice, carrying on a conversation with people who share my values and the emotions I am selling.  The campaign runs continuously year-round.  The ads change every month, but the message doesn’t.  It is all about having fun, helping others, education and nostalgia, told through stories and scenarios painted for the listening audience.

The Transactional campaign is rushed.  I speak faster.  I speak more excitedly.  I speak louder.  I speak with urgency.  I shout out facts.  Date.  Time.  Place.  What’s the deal.  The whole tone and tenor is different.  In fact, some of my regular customers ask me what I was “on” when I recorded it.  The Transactional customers don’t notice.  They just show up for the sale.

I also stack the sale ads.  They start running three days before the event and run once an hour right into the first couple hours of the event.  The repetition adds to the urgency and fires up the Transactional customer.

Do you have a signature and style to your advertising campaign or is it just whatever the latest ad salesperson sold you?  One way grows your business.  The other way just grows theirs.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS   I use radio.  You might prefer another method.  All mediums have a way they work, and many ways they don’t.  Unfortunately, your ad salesperson usually doesn’t know (or care) how his own medium works best.  Do your research.  There are 93 posts on this blog about Advertising and half of the blogs I follow are about advertising.  That ought to be enough to get you started. If you need more, hire me (I do more than just seminars).

Raindrops Keep Falling on My (Son’s) Head

For the last 2 hours my 13-year-old son and I have been on a search of a raincoat.  We live in Michigan, one of the top ten states for # of rainy days per year.  All we wanted was a simple raincoat with a hood, size adult small.

We went to four department stores, no luck.  Only one even had a raincoat of any kind and only in L or XL.  One of the stores told me they sold them but only during the season.  What season?  April showers?  Last I checked we get rain in MI from January through December with the bulk of it from March to October.

We went to both sporting goods stores.  One had only ponchos.  Really?  The other had the same style and brand as the department store, oh yeah, and same sizes, too – L and XL.

We went to two mass market discounters.  400,000 square feet, zero raincoats.

With gas prices the way they are, I don’t see us driving 45 minutes to Lansing or Ann Arbor to the bigger sporting goods stores.  Hello Internet.

The Lesson In All This
Do you have seasonal items in your store ALL season long?  Do you have seasonal items even after the season is over?  Do you have hard-to-find items that the national chains just don’t think is worth carrying any more?  (Do you have a plain colored simple raincoat with a hood in an adult small?)

Are you advertising that knowledge like crazy?  You should.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  If you need a raincoat in Jackson, MI, don’t go to Target, Meijer’s, JC Penney, Sears, Elder Beerman, Kohl’s, Dunham Sports or MC Sports.

Buy the Book, I’ll Speak for FREE

(I know you know someone who could use this.  Please share it with that person.)

My book, Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel: Turning Your Staff Into a Work of Art comes packed 60 books to the carton.  What would you do if you had 60 of these books?  Do you know some businesses who could use help hiring and training a better staff?

60 books at $19.99 equals $1199.40.  I want to make you an offer.  Round it off to $1,200 even and I will throw in 4 FREE hours of me.

Yes, that’s right.  Buy one carton of books for $1200 and I will show up at your door anywhere in the continental USA and give you 4 hours of my business knowledge to use as you see fit.

If you are a Radio Station…
You will get 60 books to give to your clients that will help them hire and train a better workforce, thus ensuring they will be in business (and buying radio ads from you) for a long time.  If you think about it, that’s a far more memorable gift than the mug, candy or flowers you have been giving them.

Plus, you will get me teaching your sales staff how to sell your product more effectively, how to create killer campaigns for your clients, and how to craft powerful messages that drive serious traffic to their door.  Plus you can use me to help mentor your favorite clients, teaching them how to powerfully brand their business, and how to uncover their core message that will resonate strongest with your listening audience.

If you are a Chamber of Commerce, DDA, or Shop Local organization…
You will get 60 books to strengthen the quality of employees in your district, making your core businesses rock solid and recession-proof thus increasing your influence and the size of your district.

Plus, you get to choose from a vast array of training programs that will rock their worlds and make your businesses the envy of all the surrounding communities.  You can even ask me to show you how to plan Staff Meetings that people WANT to attend.

If you are a Trade Organization or Buying Group…
You get 60 books to help your members make hiring decisions and develop training programs that will turn them into the shining stars of your industry.  When they see how great your stores are doing, you will have other stores begging to join your proactive organization.

Plus, you get four hours of some of the best retail ideas on everything from Inventory Management to Customer Service to Pricing Strategies that put money in your members’ pockets (so that they can pay their dues on time.)

If you are an individual store…
You get 60 books to give away to all your business friends and family for Christmas.  You can even sell them in your store to get your money back if you want.

More importantly, you get four hours to pick my brain.  Use me to help train your staff on the kind of customer service that gets talked about.  Use me to help craft your marketing campaign into a traffic-driving force.  Use me to look over your financials and help you find lost profits and put them back in your pocket.  Use me to teach you how to make staff trainings fun again.

If you are a Nationally Syndicated Talk Show Host… (Stewart? Colbert? Kimmel? Dave? NPR?)
You get 60 business books that are soon to be the talk of the nation.  Heck, I’ll bring extra books so that you can hide one under every chair in the audience.

Plus, you will get a guest who is as comfortable behind a microphone as you are.  You get a savvy businessman who knows retail, has opinions, and is not afraid to share them.  Not only did I host my own radio show for three years, I have plenty of camera time sitting in the guest chair.  Plus, you will get top-notch ratings from the Jackson, Michigan market.

You buy 60 books and I’ll pay my own way to get there plus one night in a hotel*.  And you get to choose what business training you want for your purchase.

I have four full cartons of books ready and waiting to ship to the first four people/groups who contact me.  Send an email to phil@philsforum.com to set up your four hours of kick-ass, kick-starting presentations and trainings.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  If you want more than 60 books or more than 4 hours, I am more than willing to negotiate.  I will be happy to work with your schedule as much as possible.  Just remember that I have my own store to run, so we might both have to be flexible to schedule something.

*PPS This deal is good for USA travel only (unless you want to pay for the flight, too).