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Category: Customer Expectations

I Want a New Front Door

Our front doors suck.

Okay, they could be worse. They could be something other than glass, heavier than hell, and hard to hold open. At least you can see through them into and out of the store, and most of the kids can push them to get in.

There used to be a store downtown that kept their heavy front door propped open almost all year long. They had heavenly scents wafting out onto the sidewalk. You had to stop and enjoy the smells when you walked by, even if the inviting doorway didn’t draw you in.

About the only thing our doors do is slow you down to a crawl when you have a head of steam built up from the trek across the parking lot. If you have a stroller, wheelchair or walker, heaven help you.

For our store, the front door is our Bad Table. It is our Achilles heel. Along with our 1967-built bathrooms, it is one of the few design flaws of our store.

For that reason, I have instructed every single member of our staff to always keep one eye out the window. Sure, they need to focus mostly on who is in the store, but keep that one eye out for someone crossing the parking lot who might need help with the door. Keep one eye out for strollers, walkers, wheelchairs, and young kids.

Yes, we rush over and open the door for our customers all day long. Coming and going. It takes a little more work. It takes a little more hustle on the part of the staff. It also takes one of the negatives of our store off the table.

Average stores that cater to average customers don’t even think about their front doors. They figure every store has a front door and every customer is versed on how to use one. And they are right. But not every front door is the same. Not every front door sends the same message to the customer. Amazing stores have amazing front doors because they know it is the first impression the customer has of their business.

One day I will have an amazing front door. For now, we hustle to make sure it is at least above average. Helpful is one of our Core Values.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS The Coat Check is another one of my plans for making the front door more amazing. What can you do to your front door to at least make sure it isn’t a barrier to business? My grandfather wanted to build a carousel that kids could ride into the store. Now that would be an amazing front door!

I Hate Slush

Winter weather has finally arrived in Jackson, Michigan. Snow, ice, wind chills below zero, the whole nine yards. Every trip to the bank means sloshing through the slush that accumulates at the curb. My shoes and boots are a mess.

I hate slush.

I can deal with the snow and the cold. I just don’t like the slush.

I also have a big parking lot – 58 spaces. That’s the potential for a lot of slush. But not if I can help it. We go through tons of bags of salt and multiple shovelings to try to keep the lot as clean as possible. My snowplow guy knows I want it plowed at any sniff of snow, far less snow than his other clients. He charges me a little more, but it is worth it.

It isn’t just my hatred of slush that causes this behavior. It is my love of my customers. I figure I am not the only one who hates slush. I want to send a strong signal to those people that we will keep our parking lot as slush-free as possible.

You don’t think that matters? People make decisions daily on where to go and what to do based on tiny little factors like this. Your attention to details (or lack thereof) is sending signals to potential customers Every. Single. Day.

My customers might not even be consciously aware of why they like going to my store in the winter. But I am certainly going to make sure I eliminate as many possible things they don’t like.

When you are trying to give your customer the best possible Experience, it starts when they park the car. If you can control that Experience, you need to control that Experience. These things do matter and do make a difference.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Ask yourself this question… Which costs more? A dozen bags of salt or a lost customer?

PPS One other benefit is that we rarely have that situation where our carpets are soaked from all the slush dragged in. Don’t those blowers you see at the big box stores just make you feel dirty?

Here is a Year-End Evaluation Most Retailers Won’t Do

Try to describe in as complete detail as possible the typical experience your customer has in your store. Be as specific as you can from her parking spot through the front door all the way through checkout.

Take your time. This is an important exercise. You can even do this with your staff. Write down all the touch points, all the interactions she has with your business, your displays, your products, and your staff.

Once you get it all down, take a close look at each touch point.

  • Which ones are remarkable? 
  • Which ones are experiences she will not get at any of your competitors? 
  • Which ones are above and beyond even her lofty expectations? 
  • Which ones surprise and delight her? 
  • Which ones are simply average, similar to what everyone else is doing? 
  • Which ones are worse than your competitors?

In today’s high-tech economy where shopping online has a better selection, is more convenient, and often has better prices, the primary way indie brick & mortar stores are going to compete and grow and win the hearts of customers is through the experience you offer them.

Shopping is still a contact sport. Shopping is still a touch & feel activity. Shopping is still a multi-sensory Experience with a capital E.

To win the customer, her Experience has to be remarkable. Her Experience has to surprise and delight her. Her Experience has to go above and beyond her lofty expectations. It cannot be at or even near the same levels as your competitors. By all means, it cannot be average.

Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Interactions all have to shine together.

Most retailers this time of year look at your numbers, look at your product selection, look at your local economy, look at your marketing for reasons why your business did what it did. Few will take a critical eye to each touch point of the customer’s Experience. Yet that is where your success will be.

I’ve read all the predictions for 2015 about mobile shopping, online and big data, For big companies with average products and average services, all that data is important for them to compete in their race to the bottom.

You are not average. You are not going after average customers by selling average products. If you want to win the race to the top, make sure your customers’ Experiences are so far above average that they don’t think of it as shopping so much as an outing or an event. I predict that will be the biggest key to your success this coming year.

The Red Hat Ladies Having Fun at Toy House

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS If you need some ideas on how to look at all the touch points in your store and raise the bar of Experience, download my FREE eBook Customer Service: From Weak to WOW!

What Kind of Candy are You Giving Out?

There was a house on the next block that gave out full size candy – Milky Ways, Snickers, Butterfingers and M&M’s. My friend Peter and I spent one Halloween changing into multiple costumes and running up the street to that house at least five times.

There was another house on the street we just avoided. Stingy old man who gave out only one single piece of that orange/brown wrapped tootsie roll wannabe. Wasn’t worth the hassle to go to Mr Stingy’s.

Are you the Mrs. Generous House that everyone goes to multiple times or are you the Mr. Stingy House that everyone ignores?

Depends on the candy you’re giving out.

This Halloween is a good time to think about how you can be more generous this holiday season. Word gets around quickly where Mr. Stingy and Mrs. Generous live.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Generosity is one of those gifts that comes back to you in droves. It is one of the key drivers of Word-of-Mouth advertising. You need to incorporate it into your way of doing business.

PPS Happy Halloween!!

Do You Have Enough Staff or Just Enough Staff?

There are two ways to determine the right amount of staff to have on your floor.

You can have enough people to handle the average traffic expected that day.

Or you can have enough people to handle the peak traffic moment that day.

Yes, the second one costs you more in labor expenses because you never know when that rush will occur. But look at the pluses.

  • You’re never under-staffed. You never have to worry about a customer having a bad time and flaming you on Yelp because your staff wasn’t able to handle the rush of customers. Whelming? Yes, but never overwhelming.
  • You have plenty of extra bodies to do all the other stuff that you never seem to find the time to do. Make a list for your go-getters. Sweeping, dusting, rearranging merchandise, creating fabulous window displays, making signs, tagging merchandise, updating social media, etc.
  • You have the ability to exceed customer expectations on a regular basis. To get customers to talk, you have to do more than they expect. Imagine their delight when you have extra bodies to help them shop, wrap their gifts quickly and carry them out to the car. 

You can’t do all that with average staffing and above average traffic. As for costing you more, if you think of your staff as your greatest asset, the more you invest, the more it pays off. My grandfather had an old adage that served him well for his life – it’s impossible to overpay for great help.

Keep that in mind as you do your seasonal hiring.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS There are ten employees in the above picture (some hidden behind big boxes). There are another ten employees not shown out serving other customers. My payroll is a higher percentage than most stores. I take that money out of my ad budget because delighting customers is every bit as important as a marketing tool as running great ad campaigns.

PPS If you need help hiring a better quality of employees, read the book Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel: Turning Your Staff into a Work of Art. It is the method of hiring that has made the biggest difference in the quality of my staff.

Lose the Battle to Win the War

We all have those unreasonable customers. Ones that want to bring an item back months after they bought it, not in resell-able condition. Ones that demand money back without a receipt or they will flame you on Yelp. Ones that want you to do something that your stated policies say you don’t clearly do.

You could take a page from Best Buy and fire those customers. You could be like the Soup Nazi on The Seinfeld Show – no soup for you!!

Here is another approach I want you to consider.

Kill ’em with kindness. Break your policy and do what they ask. Bend the rules and give them what they want. Do it with a HUGE smile on your face, sincerity in your heart, and genuine concern for their needs.

“I’m really sorry that item didn’t work out for you. Yes, I can see why your husband would cut it in half. We’d be happy to take it back. Would you like to pick something else out? Maybe I can offer a couple suggestions of items that might work better? No? Okay, here is a refund. Let me know if there is anything we can do to help you out in the future.”

It might sting a little bit. You might lose some money on that particular transaction. But don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish.

When you kill these customers with kindness, a few things could happen.

They might not notice and continue to be a thorn in your side.
But your other customers noticed. They didn’t get the whole story of what was going on with the customer. They didn’t see how unreasonable she was. But they did see how you reacted. They saw how you took incredible care of the customer. They saw how you had the customer’s back. They noticed how you were calm and friendly and respectful and helpful and caring.

They might become one of your best customers ever. 
I could regale you with many tales of unhappy customers we have turned into mega profit machines because we bent the rules a little. Heck, you can regale me with many of the same stories. In fact, retail is the only place I have actually seen true alchemy – turning lead weight into gold.

At a time when we are all screaming about how to draw more traffic, maybe firing our current customers isn’t always the best tactic.

As one anonymously brilliant person said… Your customers will get better when you do.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Never let short-term profits get in the way of your long-term goals. This strategy may “lose” you a battle or two, but you’ll win the war. Yes, it requires patience. Yes, it requires eating a little crow (but crow sprinkled with a helping of cold hard cash can be rather tasty sometimes). Yes, there will be customers who make you duck into your office for a few minutes. Yes, they got more than they deserved. Isn’t than the hallmark of incredible over-the-top customer service?

Your Frontline Staff are Your Ambassadors

Seth Godin nailed it today.

“Would you send the clerk on aisle 7 to speak to a head of state or vital partner on behalf of your company? Because that’s what he’s doing right now.”

If you cannot answer a resounding Yes! to Seth’s question, you need to re-think your hiring and training program today.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Hire for certain traits. Hire for people who want to represent you and your store. Hire people who already have the ambassador gene in their DNA. Then train them on all the rest.

Beating Amazon?? Win Your Customers’ Hearts

I just read an article from Entrepreneur.com called 5 Ways Your Small Business Can Topple Amazon This Holiday Season.

Usually I like what Entrepreneur has to say, but they got me this time. Shame on them. (Next time shame on me).

First, let’s start with the obvious… No small business is going to “Topple Amazon”. Not you. Not me. Not any of our friends.

Second, only two of the five tips were really tips. Two of them were just standard business procedures you should be doing regardless of who you are. And the last was “keep your chin up”.  As if just having a positive, Pollyanna attitude would keep my competition at bay. Sheesh. As far as I’m concerned they shorted me a tip just so that they could put an odd number in their headline.

As for Amazon? You shouldn’t worry about them at all. They are not your target. If you want to have the kind of holiday season you can take to the bank, you need to focus on one thing and one thing only – your current customer’s heart.

What is in her heart? What moves the needle for her emotionally? What solves her problems? What fulfills her needs?

Tim Miles and Co. gives you a great way to find this out here.

One simple truth of retail is this… If you take incredibly awesome care of your current customers, you don’t have to worry about what the competitors are doing. You only have to worry about how to continually raise your own bar.

Customers are going to shop where their needs are met – all of them. Make your store that store.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I’m not saying to ignore Amazon completely. You can always learn from them. In fact Entrepreneur.com redeemed themselves with this article here. Number two is spot on!

PPS Great Customer Service is giving your customer exactly what she expects every single time. You want to win her heart? You gotta take it one step further and give her more than what she expects. Do that and you won’t ever have to worry about the competition other than whether you want to move into their now empty space.

photo credit: Ben K Adams via photopin cc

Sometimes Second Place is the Winning Position

If you’re an indie retailer, quite often you get customers in your store that have already shopped (and even bought from) the competition. They know the big chains thanks to multi-million dollar ad campaigns. They know the big chains from the huge signs over the giant buildings on the busiest streets. They know the big chains. They visited the big chains. They purchased.

Your first thought is often one of dismay. Another sale lost to the big guy. Another customer shopping at my competitor. When you ask them what they are looking for and they tell you about buying something from another store, it is hard not to show your disappointment.
Except you shouldn’t be disappointed. You should be happy. Why?
First, they came into your store. Not everyone who shops the competition is coming through your door, too. But this customer did. Celebrate her! Here’s a deep dark secret… even your best customer has been to your competitor more than once.
Second, you now have access to a spy. Rather than change out of your uniform and take the time to go scout the competitor incognito, you have someone who just did that for you. And from the point of view of a customer, too (instead of your jaded, biased, store-owner mentality). Get her to talk about her experience and you’ll learn far more than if you went yourself.
Third, you have the easiest opening ever into discovering what the customer likes and wants.
When you find out a customer has been to another store, simply say, “That’s awesome! What did you see there that you liked?”
You’ve praised her, which makes her feel good. 
You’ve asked her expertise, which makes her feel good. 
You’ve listened intently, which makes her feel good. 
You’ve identified what rocks her world so that you can rock her world, too, which makes her feel good. 
You’ve gained valuable insight into both your customer’s mind and what your competitor is doing, which makes you feel good.
Sometimes being second can be a real winning proposition. You just have to look at the opportunity the right way.
-Phil Wrzesinski
PS Most importantly, if you listen closely, your customer just told you how you can treat her better than your competitor, so you now have a blueprint to win her over. Sure, you may have lost the initial sale she made at the other place, but if you can win the rest, you can win her friends so that you’ll be first with them.

Reinvention as a Strategy

I was out in Las Vegas last week for a trade show. I hadn’t really been on the strip in a few years. Things had changed.

The casinos were still there, still filled with blinking lights and maze-like aisles of machines. The fancy restaurants still stood guard on the edges of the gambling areas. The shows still crowded the walkways with ticket-goers waiting for something special.

But there were three changes I noticed.

  1. Every casino had empty gaming tables. Not just one or two that they chose not to open, but whole pits of empty tables.
  2. Every casino had a burger joint. Not just some food court burger to grab on the go, but gourmet burgers. Expensive compared to the McDonald’s experience, but a bargain compared to the $59 bone-in rib-eye. 
  3. Every casino had a Night Club. Loud dance music pounded the casino walls, almost drowning out the cacophony of digital music from the slot machines. Oh sure, some casinos had clubs before, but that wasn’t where the party was. The party was wherever someone got hot on a craps table or roulette wheel.

I remember going to Vegas in the days of the $1.99 steak dinners and $5 buffets. I remember going to Vegas when rooms were so cheap, they were almost paying you to stay. But times changed and Vegas reinvented itself into a high-priced, upscale city with Broadway shows, hundred-dollar meals, and $25-minimum tables.

Vegas is doing it again.

Gambling is down, but traffic is strong, so they are finding new ways to get the customers’ money. Everyone wants to party, but not everyone wants to play, so night clubs and mid-priced restaurants are on the rise. I saw one casino where they had removed a whole section of gaming tables to put in “outside seating” for the night club. You could enjoy the music, drink and talk with your friends, and even watch the remaining gamblers.

The lesson here is simple…

If you aren’t getting the customers’ money the way you used to, reinvent yourself and give your customers what they want now, not what they wanted a few years ago. The smartest, most successful companies are already doing it.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I know some of you are going to say that Vegas has always had night clubs. You’re right. but they were an after-thought behind Shows, Restaurants and Gaming in all the promotions. Now they are front and center. Now they are taking over gaming areas. Now they are top-billed on the marquee. You gotta admit that is new.