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Two Days to Take Your Customer Service to Shareworthy Levels

I’ve written about Wizard of Ads partner – the incomparable Professor Tim Miles.

He wrote the e-book on Shareworthy Customer Service. He also wrote a book called Good Company. He’s tall. He’s smart. He makes up (really cool) words. And he knows more about how to improve your Customer Service than most people walking this planet.

In fact, he is teaching it to businesses all around this planet right now and they are posting growth numbers that would make you blush.

I’ve done my own writing about Customer Service. Most of you have already downloaded my free e-book Customer Service: From Weak to WOW! Some of you have seen the live presentation. Many of you have found new ways to raise the bar in your business because of it.

Tim likes what I’m doing to raise the bar.  I like what Tim’s doing to take the bar galactic.  So we are combining forces and taking what we know to Wizard Academy!

Announcing a new class!

January 29-30, 2013
Austin, Texas

Two full days of instruction from two likable guys who have been transforming businesses through better customer service for years.  (Click the link above to read a full course description.)
Two full days of a true Wizard Academy experience (which in its own right is more than worth the price of admission.)
Two full days of learning what, why, where, who and how to make your customers’ experience so memorable they write books about you and your company (and you don’t have to give either of us the credit!)

Go sign up.  The investment is deep.  The return is deeper.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  If you’re one of the first people to sign up for the class, you get FREE LODGING on campus at Wizard Academy.  That is soooo worth it! Soooooooo worth it!! Soooooooooooo worth it!!!

I Went to Harvard

Well… umm… I went to Harvard yesterday… while I was in Boston visiting another toy store owner.

I thought about applying to Harvard when I was in high school.  I had the grades.  I had the test scores.  I had the extracurriculars.  I only needed to take three more tests and I could apply.  Problem was, I knew that even if I got in, I wasn’t going to go there.  I had already been accepted to the University of Michigan, which meant I had season tickets for football.  Plus, I didn’t want to take any more tests.

But it sure would have been nice to say…

“Yeah, I turned Harvard down.”

Today, however, those same grades and test scores and extracurriculars probably wouldn’t even get me into the first cut in the application process.  The stakes have gotten higher.  The bar has been raised. What I did in the early 80’s isn’t enough in 2012.

The same is true of your business.

The stakes are higher.  The bar is raised.  Your customer service has to be amazing and unexpected.  Your product knowledge has to be over the top and relevant.  Your inventory control has to be fine-tuned and adaptable.  Your marketing has to be refreshing and memorable.

What you used to do isn’t good enough anymore. 

I was thinking all of this while walking around the Harvard campus knowing that I was smart enough to go there 28 years ago. But I better get smarter if I want to be able to compete with those kids today.  Being smart back then isn’t enough in 2012.

What are you doing to get smarter?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  The one thing I do have over that kid back in 1984 is that I am a much better student today than I was back then.  I had the grades to get in to Harvard, but I’m not sure I had the study habits to stay there.  Now I’m trying to learn everywhere I go.  And I promise to share what I learn with you right here on this blog and in the Freebies section of my website.  Maybe we can all get into Harvard some day.

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…”

What You DID Build

There is a lot of furor over President Obama’s statement,

“If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.”

I know when I first read it, it made my blood boil.  Then I stopped, took a deep breath and went looking for the complete quote to see how it had to have been taken out of context.  Did you, too?  The next thing I did was look for all the usual rants and raves from all sides.  Predictable.

I think the best take on the whole matter was written by The Washington Examiner’s Senior Editorial Writer Philip Klein (great first name).  Enough said on that issue.

Instead of my own rants on the subject, I have two other thoughts.

First, we can argue until the cows come home about what he actually meant.  And that won’t accomplish a single thing.  Arguing won’t build a road or a business.  Businesses have to be built by someone who is willing to quit arguing and start doing.  You cannot argue or complain yourself to success. You should also get all the help you can. There are resources out there for you.  I like to remember what Harry S. Truman said,

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”.

So go out there and build.  Build what you can.  Build with your heart.  Build with your mind.  Build with passion.  Be proud of what you build.  Be amazed.  Be humble.  Yes, you took all the risks and did all the heavy lifting, and you got some help along the way.  As Sir Isaac Newton reminds us,

“If I have seen farther than others, it is because I am standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Second, although passion drove you to build your business, control your passion enough to let wisdom and patience guide you as well.  When a customer or sales rep or vendor (or President) says something that makes your blood boil, stop, take a deep breath and try to see the other side of the story.  You cannot control what other people say, only how you respond to them.

The one thing we all can build is goodwill towards others.  Build goodwill with your customers.  Build goodwill with your employees.  Build goodwill with your vendors.  You don’t need anyone’s help to do that. And no one can ever take that away.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Hopefully you got that this post was more about how to deal with an unhappy, unruly, or unreasonable customer than it was about politics.

Thanks! It Works!

I have been teaching a class for new and expectant fathers through our local hospital for the past ten years.  Twice a month I sit these daddies-to-be around a table and teach them how to change a diaper, swaddle a baby, and take care of the mother.  Our two-hour time together is one of my favorite moments each month.

Today I got a Thank You Card in the mail from one of the dads along with a birth announcement.  It totally made my day.  In the card he told me which tip he found to be the most helpful (it was about keeping more than one diaper bag packed and being responsible for packing them daily, so that his wife could leave the house multiple times.)  It was easily my favorite moment of the day.

In fact, it changed the entire outlook of my day.  And today was a heck of a day.  Mistakes on the cash registers, money shortages, a visit from the police (no, I didn’t do anything wrong), employee issues, scheduling conflicts.  All that faded into the background because of this one note.

Yes, thank you cards can be that powerful.  Which reminds me that I need to write more of them.

I need to thank my top customers, my big spenders.  And I should also thank some of the medium spenders and see if I can turn them into big spenders.

I need to thank my best sales reps and let them know how much I appreciate the time they put into working with me.  They work long hours, spend a lot of time on the road, and have to put up with a lot of crap. Yet the best ones still have my best interests at heart.

I need to thank my vendors.  After all, without them I don’t have the largest selection of toys under one roof. They are not my suppliers, they are my partners.  Some of them bend over backwards to help me, sending samples for display and prizes for giveaways.  They deserve to be appreciated for inventing and producing the great toys that make me money.

If I can feel this good about getting a thank you in the mail, imagine how good your customers will feel about you when you write them a personal, hand-written note.  Imagine how much more your reps will want to help your account when you acknowledge all the hard work they do.  Imagine how pleasantly surprised your supplier will be when he receives a thank you in the mail. Yes, he will look at your account more favorably.

Frankly, I will admit that I am bad at writing these kinds of notes.  But today was a stark reminder to me how powerful they can be and why I need to write more.  And now I’ve reminded you, too.  If I could just find a pen…

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  A friend of mine keeps a stack of blank note cards and envelopes on her desk.  She starts out every morning by writing notes and getting them in the mail.  She says not only does it help her stay on top of the thank you’s she needs to write, it also puts her in a good mood to start the day by being grateful to all those who have helped her.  (I also imagine her desk is a lot less cluttered than mine – but it is a worthy goal to aspire.)

What Would You Do With…?

What would you do with 60 copies of the book Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel: Turning Your Staff Into a Work of Art?

  • Would you use them to prop up a table leg or two that is out of balance?  
  • Would you use them as a door stop to keep the front door open when the wind blows?
  • Would you try to sell them and make some money?
  • Would you give them out as favors at your next big gathering?
  • Would you wrap them and give them as thoughtful gifts to anyone you knew who did a lot of hiring?
  • Would you have a contest to see who could stack them in the most interesting way?
  • Would you create a wall covering with the book jackets?
  • Would you use them to start a bonfire on your next camping trip?
  • Would you use them to hold down the floor or hold up the dust?

What would you do with four hours of time with an award-winning, creative-thinking, trend-setting retailer whose store was named One of the 25 Best Independent Stores in America?

  • Would you use him to train your staff to take Customer Service to levels you never knew existed?
  • Would you use him to give you one-on-one advice on your marketing, your inventory management, your hiring & training, or your financials to help you find the extra $10,000-$20,000 you know is hidden in there somewhere?
  • Would you have him help you uncover your Character Diamond so you will have a blueprint and guide for every single business decision going forward?
  • Would you get him to write you new advertising copy that will drive more of your type of customer through the door?
  • Would you share his talents with other businesses in the form of a seminar or workshop that helps everyone become stronger, raising the tide for all the boats in your area?
  • Would you ask him to bring his guitar and harmonica for a little performance?

What if I told you that you could have both for only $1200?  That’s it. 


Twelve hundred dollars gets you:

  • Sixty copies (one case) of my book Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel for you to use as you please.
  • Four hours of my time and business knowledge to help you succeed.

I’ll pay my own way to travel to your location (Continental US only).  I’ll pay for my own room for one night.  I’ll bring the books, handouts, and whatever other resources available to me to help you meet your goals.


What are you waiting for?  Contact me.  (Or share this with someone who could use it.)


-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com


PS  In case you’re wondering if this is a good deal…  I typically charge $1000-$2000 plus travel expenses for a one hour presentation.  Books sold separately.  This deal is two-fold.  First, to help spread my book out to the world.  There is a lot of bad hiring going on right now that this book could remedy.  Second, I love to help others.  The more I get to do that, the more inspired I am to do more.

In the Shark Tank

I was watching my new favorite Reality TV Show last night – The Shark Tank.

Entrepreneurs with dreams go before five filthy rich people like NBA Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and QVC celebrity inventor Lori Greiner to make a pitch for money to help them launch a new product or service.  The Sharks then tear into the entrepreneur asking pointed questions to see if the idea really can make them money.

If the idea is good the sharks make offers.  If the idea is bad, the entrepreneur walks away empty handed.

I watched two episodes last night and then couldn’t get the show out of my mind.  I dreamt all night that I was standing before them asking for money and they were grilling me with tough questions about the viability of my store, the reasons why I thought we were successful, what we were currently doing to achieve our goals, and what I thought we needed to improve.  The big question, of course, was what would I do with the money I was asking for, and how much of the company would I give up to get that money?

Man, was my subconscious telling me something last night or what?

Fortunately, my over-sized ego and tireless efforts to understand my business better were more than up to the dream-based challenge.  I stared down the sharks, answered all their questions, and had them fighting over who was going to help me.  The best thing was I woke up refreshed with some new clarity to what I really needed to do to accomplish my goals.

You might not be so lucky as to have such an active, imaginative subconscious.  That’s okay.  Here is an exercise that you can do in broad daylight.

First, watch an episode or two.  (Be careful, though, or you might get hooked like me.)

Then, pretend you are going on the show to ask for money.

  • How much would you need? (write it down)
  • How much of a stake in your company would you give up for that money?  
  • What would you do with the money?  
  • What makes you confident you would get a good return on that investment for your new partner?
  • How will you answer the criticism for your past record?
  • What haven’t you thought of yet? (I know, that’s a toughie, but watch a few episodes and you’ll think of new questions.)

Those questions might not be easy to answer.  But if you want to swim with the sharks, you have to be prepared.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  The best part of the dream was when I handed them each a copy of my book, Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel: Turning Your Staff Into a Work of Art and Mark Cuban nodded his head in approval.

Schedule to the Peak

I just received my Profit Survey back from the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA).  Every other year they have toy stores submit their financials to help us see what the Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss might be for a typical indie toy store.  It is a fascinating document full of amazing facts and percentages and one of my favorite benefits of belonging to ASTRA.

Going through all the numbers, it is fun to see how a store my size (the largest family-owned indie toy store in America) compares to other stores.  For instance, we buy from more than twice as many vendors as the typical toy store (540 versus 230).

The number that is always fun for me is the breakdown of payroll.  My payroll is much higher as a percentage of sales than my fellow toy stores.  It isn’t because I give myself a big bonus.  Owner payroll is significantly lower than other stores.  It is because I have a big staff.

Maybe too many people if you look at what other stores do.

But there is a purpose for that.  I like to schedule my staff to the peak.  In other words, when the peak moment of the day happens, I want enough staff here to handle it easily and smoothly without a single drop in levels of service.  The hard part is trying to guess when that peak will happen.  As you know in retail, there are no certainties on when the customers will show up.

So I schedule more than enough staff to handle the average moments, knowing that I will be able to give customers a great experience even when we’re “crazy busy”.  Sure, it drives up payroll costs.  But it helps me save it in other areas.  WOW Customer Service brings Word of Mouth, which saves on advertising.

Still not sure it is worth scheduling that way?

Think about it from a customer’s perspective.  If you don’t schedule to the peak, here is what your customer sees.  She doesn’t know what your peak looks like.  All she knows is that you don’t have enough staff to help her right now.  Your staff might tell her, “Sorry, we got really swamped.  We’ll be with you in a moment,” but what does that tell her?  Some of those customers will think, Wow, that is great that they are so busy.  Others will think, Wow, they didn’t expect to do much business. I wonder how things are going.

Schedule to the peak and when that busy moment happens, she might think, Wow, they expected to be busy.  This store is the happening place.

Just make sure when it isn’t the peak that you have plenty of projects to keep the staff occupied so that they always look like they are working.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Make a checklist of everything that needs to get done for the day and give it to each person on the staff.  Challenge them to see who can do the most on the checklist without ignoring a customer.  Reward your winners.  You’ll get more people trying to accomplish more on those checklists every single day.

A Tough Question

I have been asked to apply for a position on an advisory board for a new retail organization.  Part of the application process includes a questionnaire.  I am stuck on the last question…

Without regard for funding, what is one area of concentration or program you would implement today to help independent specialty stores survive? 

There are so many ways to go with this…

I could focus on vendor programs slanted in the favor of indie stores such as Minimum Ad Pricing policies, exclusive products, not selling to online discounters, etc.
I could focus on advertising and marketing to promote the value of shopping local and shopping independent.
I could focus on websites to help customers find their local indie store, or even website design for all local stores so that everyone would have that electronic presence required necessary to compete in today’s electronic world.

But the first place my mind went when I read that question was Training.  In many ways, we are our own worst enemies.  We undermine our own stores through weak customer service, bad inventory management, or ignorance of our financials.  We put out horrible ads that do nothing to attract customers.  We hire poorly, neglect training and wonder why our staff doesn’t get it.

Sure, most indie retailers do one or two things well, some impressively well.  But often that is not enough.

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli believes independent businesses need to be strong in three areas – product, marketing, and finances – to be successful, but most individuals have a passion for only one, maybe two of those.  It takes all three to be successful so his approach is to pair people with different strengths together.

I believe you can learn to be good at all three, but you have to first want to learn.  And that may be the hardest hurdle to overcome.  You can lead an indie retailer to training, but you can’t make him learn.

I guess in the end I will probably go with Vendor Programs in my answer.  But just imagine a world where every independent shop truly had WOW customer service, excellent cash flow, strong finances, and magnetic marketing…

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Yes, I was talking about you… and me, too.  I have a whole bunch of areas I need to improve.  Are you seeking yours out as actively as I am seeking out mine?

PPS Have you seen my 2-day Retail Success Academy course?  Get your business friends together and you can hire me to share what I know.  (The offer for 4 hours of training with the purchase of 60 books is still available, too)

Open For Business?

It is 5:26pm as I type this.  My business is still open a little bit longer.  But the local appliance store where I need to go to get the replacement filters I ordered will be closed before I publish this post.

They won’t be open this weekend when I have time off either.

Guess it is a lunch hour trip one day this week.

Are your hours designed around the lifestyle of your customers or your own life?  Are they built to accommodate the primary shoppers for your category?  Or are they designed around the old 9 to 5 work day just because that’s how you always did it?

If you sell large-ticket items like appliances that might require a joint decision by a couple shopping, you may need weekend and evening hours.
If you sell primarily to the bread-winner, you may need weekend and evening hours.
If you sell primarily to working folk, you may need weekend and evening hours.
If you are located in a theater or restaurant district with lots of evening traffic, you may need weekend and evening hours.
If you are located in a region with lots of two-income families, you may need weekend and evening hours.

Hey, I’m guilty, too.  My store is open 7 days a week, but only one night past 6pm.  We may all need to think outside the box in regards to our hours of operation.

Closed Tuesdays but open Sundays?
Open 7am to 2pm and 4pm to 9pm?
Open Noon to 9pm daily?

Our customers are going to the Internet or the big box stores because of one main reason – convenience.  And the main convenience is time of day.  I work until 6pm.  I get home at 6:30pm, eat dinner, help get my boys to bed.  Now it is 9pm and most of the stores are closed.  Yeah, the Internet looks inviting at that time.

If you believe you are losing market share to the big box stores and the Internet, maybe it is time to rethink your hours.  I know I am rethinking mine.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Some of my mall store friends who are required to stay open until 9pm lament that their type of customer isn’t out in the evening.  That may be true.  It also may be a symptom of the perception of the mall being full of teenagers in the evening.  The topic still merits discussion for your business.