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Category: Customer Expectations

It’s All About the Story

One final thought from my trip to Walt Disney World…

I took two teenage boys to the land of pink princesses, Frozen queens, and fairy tales come true. I took two roller coaster freaks who think Cedar Point (a mere 2.2 hour drive from us) is the Mecca of amusement parks to the land of talking mice, mermaids, and musicals. I took two teenage boys on rides that one would expect them to find more boring than the 21 hour drive we took down I-75.

My older son summed up his experience in two words, “My Childhood!”

My younger son only needed one word, “Epic!”

Walt Disney World delighted an entire family including two boys who on the surface wouldn’t seem to fit their demographic. But Walt knew what he was doing. It’s right here in this quote I took from an area under construction…

“It is my wish to delight all members of the family, young and old, parent and child.” -Walt Disney

How did he accomplish that? It’s all about the story.

We didn’t go on a roller coaster. We took a limo across town to get to the Aerosmith concert.
We didn’t go on an up-and-down thrill ride. We visited a haunted hotel in the Twilight Zone.
We didn’t go on a water ride. We were told the story of Br’er Rabbit.
We didn’t go on a G-Force simulator ride. We flew a spacecraft to Mars.

From the moment you got in line, the story was being told. Costumes, decorations, and activities while you waited were all designed to tell you the story. No detail was spared.

Were the rides as thrilling as Millenium Force? No. But they were every bit as fun. Even DINOSAUR, which my son likened to “driving on Michigan roads”, was fun enough to do it twice.

The lesson here is that the story sells it. The story makes it far more exciting, memorable, and likable than it is on its own. The story wins the heart. Most importantly, when you include the customer in the story, when you make her story your story, you’ll win her heart and all the members of the family, just like Walt.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS It isn’t as hard as you might think to come up with stories that include the customer. Just get the customer to start her story and then add your store and product stories to the narrative.

The Waiting Game – Disney Style

We waited in line for Space Mountain and played video games while we waited.

We waited in line for Toy Story Midway Mania and were transported to a room with larger-than-life toys and a story-telling Mr Potato Head while we waited.

We waited in line for Mount Everest Expedition and explored a museum of Yeti artifacts and stories while we waited.

We waited in line for the Hollywood Tower of Terror and watched a Twilight Zone video while we waited.

We waited in line for Test Track and designed our very own test vehicle while we waited.

We waited in line for Soarin’ and played an interactive screen game with our fellow line mates while we waited.

We waited in line for The Great Movie Ride and watched movie trailers while we waited.

We waited in line for the Aerosmith Rock N Roller Coaster and watched a 3-D short telling us a back story to our ride while we waited.

We waited in line for the Seven Dwarves Mine Ride and made music with water while we waited.

Most theme parks have you wait in line like cattle, mindlessly walking back and forth through the maze of barricades just for a few minutes of thrills. You hate the wait. You use Fast Pass or whatever other method the park offers to avoid standing in line.

Walt Disney World, however, turned this necessary evil into a back story, into an educational journey, into a team-building exercise, into an amusement all of its own. A couple times I was thankful we didn’t have a Fast Pass, just so that we wouldn’t have missed the stuff in the line. WDW turned the necessary evil into an enjoyment. That’s why they call it the Magical World of Disney.

Every business has that necessary evil. Do you know what is yours? How can you make it better?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS The back stories were my favorites. They made the rides much more enjoyable. But that’s a post for another day.

Making Memories One Guest at a Time

Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom averages around 47,000 visitors a day. Everything about the park, however, is designed to make one person feel special, not 47,000. Let me explain.

There were four young children on my left. My family sat to my right. We were all parked on the curb halfway between Main Street and the Cinderella Castle, waiting for the Electric Parade.

Many Disney characters were in the parade including Mickey and Minnie, Cinderella, and even Alice in Wonderland.

As Alice passed us by, she pointed to the children in the double stroller on my left and said, “Oh twins, how adorable!”

From the excitement that arose next to me, you would have thought they had just won the lottery. And in a sense, they did. Alice singled them out and made them feel like they were the only ones in the park at that moment. It only took a few seconds. But they will be talking about it for a lifetime.

No matter which Disney employee we met, each one treated us as if we were the only guests there. That’s the true magic at the Magical Kingdom.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS This is actually harder for store owners to master than for your frontline employees. As the owner, you’re constantly watching everything going on. But if you really want to impress the heck out of your customer, enough so that she says WOW and brags about you to her friends, you have to put the blinders on and give her that you’re-the-only-one-here-and-I’m-so-grateful-to-be-able-to-help-you laserlike focus.

Have You Tried This?

Another restaurant closed in town. They posted a wonderfully grateful goodbye on Facebook, thanking everyone from the staff to the suppliers to the customers to the city leaders (well, okay maybe not that last one). They even apologized for the inconvenience of closing. They said they gave it their best shot but just couldn’t make a go of it.

One of my staff, when hearing of the closure asked a profound question…

Why didn’t they try something else?

They had the kitchen, the staff, the liquor license, a small group of dedicated followers. Why didn’t they try something else?

They had a premium location downtown, a banquet room (a couple of them), parking out back. Why didn’t they try something else?

They had ambiance (although a little loud), great window seating along the street, outdoor seating, gigantic fish tank seating, and really cool bathrooms. Why didn’t they try something else?

Two things I didn’t see happen. They didn’t change the menu. They didn’t change the pricing. Two complaints I heard the most (besides how loud it was with all the wood floors and vaulted ceilings) were the menu and the pricing.

You gotta get those two right.

The right menu (products).

The right price.

Get those wrong and all the rest doesn’t matter. If you’re doing everything else right and your business is failing, chances are you got one of those two wrong. Why don’t you try something else?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I get it that they may have chosen a menu/pricing consistent with the type of restaurant they wanted to be (their brand), but there is a lot of wiggle room within “fine dining” and “upscale” and “top-shelf” and “gourmet” and “specialty” and “unique” and “quality” to work with your particular crowd. Also, it may be that it wasn’t the actual menu and pricing that caused the problem but the perception of the menu and pricing. Perception is reality, folks. You gotta win the perception battle.

PPS I’m sad to see them go. I’m not trying to criticize them, but to help you learn from their experience.

A Clean Business is a Happy Business – Three Reasons to Get Out the Paint Brush

I hadn’t washed my car in weeks. When it was sunny, I didn’t have the time. When I had the time, it was raining. I finally got it done two days ago.

As I was toweling off a few last sprinkles, I felt a little extra bounce in my step. There was a little more pride driving around town in a shiny vehicle. Even walking up to it, I thought my Pilot winked at me in the sun. The car was cleaner. I felt better. More pride.

Yes, a clean car is a happy car.

I felt the exact same way a few weeks ago. The cottonwood trees had slowed down enough for us to put a fresh coat of paint on the front of the store. Coincidentally, our business skyrocketed 20% after the paint job.

A clean store is a happy store.

I’m smart enough to know that our success the past three weeks is not just because we painted the building, but never underestimate the power of a simple cleaning job.

  • It puts you and your staff in a happy mood. A happy staff delights your customers more.
  • It sends a signal to your customers that you care about your business and, likewise, that you will care about them.
  • It sends a signal to your customers that you are fresh and new and on top of things.

Those last two are the kickers. A fresh coat of paint on the outside of your building is often a much cheaper and more powerful marketing tool than a month of billboard and newspaper ads.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Landscaping, painting the inside walls, moving the merchandise around, mopping/shampooing the floors, and updating the signs all have the same effect. The inside stuff, however, doesn’t send those signals to the outside world, only to the current customer base who already love you despite your messiness.

PPS None of that cleaning matters, however, if you aren’t first taking damn good care of your customers. Otherwise it’s just a band-aid on an amputation. If you don’t have a capital fund for repairs and improvements, take the money from your advertising budget, not your customer service training budget.

The Signals You Unwittingly Send to Your Customers

While we’re on the topic of Signals you send your customers, here are few more to think about…

The weeds growing in the bushes next to your store. Gee, they must not be into taking care of their environment. I wonder what else they don’t take care of.

The old, faded, peeling window clings from companies you no longer carry. Gee, I guess they don’t have any of the new stuff I just saw online.

The sloppy, unorganized displays with no rhyme, reason, or order. Gee, I hope I don’t have to ask them to find something. That could take all day.

The gum-chewing sales clerk leaning over the counter. Gee, I hope I don’t have to ask her any questions. I doubt she knows anything.

The misspelled signs. Gee, doesn’t anyone proofread anymore. They certainly aren’t the brightest bulbs in the socket.

Everything you do (or don’t do) sends a signal, one way or another. Make sure you are sending out the right message.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS The best signal is one that is consistent with your Character Diamond. When you make sure that every single signal matches your Core Values, magic is bound to happen.

You Wouldn’t do THAT to Your Customer, Would You?

Would you treat your customer with kindness right up until the end and then kick them in the face after they gave you their money?

No, of course you wouldn’t. Yet you do.

Would you tell your customers – Don’t come around here… We don’t want you… We’re all about ourselves, not you… – but let them in and treat them kindly if they by some miracle showed up anyway?

No, of course you wouldn’t. Yet you do.

If you have a really tight, restrictive return policy, you are doing that to your customers All. The. Time.

If you are generous to a fault, bending over backwards to give the best possible customer service, making sure all the customer’s questions are answered and all her fears assuaged, going over-the-top to do more than she expected, then you are offering the kind of customer service that specialty stores should be giving.

But all that good can be undone the moment she runs into your return policy and it is just over 30 days from purchase, or she took it out of the box only to discover it wasn’t what she thought, or she got duplicates as gifts, or she lost her receipt, or she has a defective/missing part, or, or, or. If she runs into a hassle trying to return an item, it may be the last time she visits your store.

You may have won the sale, but you lost the war.

Or let’s say you are upfront about your restrictive, me-first, return policy. You might as well shout to the customer that her concerns are secondary to yours. You might as well tell her that she takes a backseat to you. That you have your own back, not hers.

You think it is fine because no one complains about your return policy. They aren’t complaining because they aren’t even showing up. You gave them the reason not to shop with you in the first place, so they never got to see your wonderfully trained staff, how fabulously you’ve merchandised the store, or the way you meticulously curated your selection to only have the finest stuff.

Here are two concepts you should wrap your head around regarding your return policy.

First, if you’ve done all the heavy lifting – making sure you met the customers needs by finding her the perfect solution to her problem and made her feel great about her purchase – then you aren’t likely to have many returns to worry about in the first place. And when you do get that return, you get another chance to turn a customer into an evangelist for your store.

Second, if you have a really liberal return policy and someone actually does try to take advantage of you time and time again, you can fire that one customer without pissing off all the rest.

Return policies are really about the Signal you send your customer. Make a liberal return policy and you are telling your customer two really powerful things.

  1. We believe strongly in the merchandise we sell. So much so that we promise to take it back for whatever reason.
  2. We believe strongly in taking the utmost care of you. So much so that we’ll do anything to make you happy.

It really won’t cost you any more in the long run. In fact, I’m willing to bet it will make you more in the long run. Just ask Nordstrom’s and L.L. Bean.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS The best thing to do is to look at all of your customer policies and decide who they favor – you or your customer. If they favor you, change them. Change them now before you scare away another customer or kick her in the face.

Seven Reasons Why You Should Accept American Express Cards

I’ve heard the arguments against accepting American Express in your store. They charge too much. They don’t deposit as fast as other cc’s. Everyone has another form of payment. I’ve never lost a sale…

All valid (kinda).

Here are seven reasons why you should still accept it.

  1. The average Amex transaction is three times higher than the average Visa transaction. Yes, Amex users spend more. You need those big-spenders.
  2. Your competitors take it. Why would you give them that unnecessary advantage?
  3. Not accepting it makes you look cheap. If you would cut corners and inconvenience customers just to save pennies there, your customers are wondering where else are you cutting corners?
  4. American Express focuses on more affluent customers. Amex is already reaching your preferred customer. Fish where the fish are.
  5. Penny-wise, pound-foolish. The real difference between the costs to you for a Visa Rewards card and an Amex card is a lot less than you think. Do the math and you will see it isn’t costing you much more than the cards you already take.
  6. You look unprofessional. To attract the big fish, you have to look like you know what you’re doing. Exclusions and customer-unfriendly policies scare the big fish away. 
  7. Saying No turns customers off. Sure, they might have another card and you still won the transaction. But customers like these speak mostly with their feet. Saying No to something as simple as taking their money might be all it takes for them to not come back. You won the transaction but lost the war.

Your goal is to delight your customers, to become the expert they trust, to win their hearts. Although you can do those things without taking Amex cards, you make it that much harder and you exclude a huge group of high-spending, affluent people in the process.

Is that worth the pennies?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I do not work for or get any cut for promoting American Express.I only write this because of my deep desire to help you make MORE money. Yes, you will make MORE money by accepting Amex. How would your business change if you had higher transactions, more affluent customers, more delighted customers, and a greater feeling of trust between you and your customer? How much would you pay to get that?

The Perfect Sale

I was just at Bob & Sue Negen’s Whizbang Training Retail Success Summit and Bob talked about trying to achieve the Perfect Sale.

There are two Perfect Sales out there. From your point of view and from the customer’s point of view.

From your point of view…
You sold them everything you possibly could, including a bunch of old merchandise you were dying to get rid of, all at full price, with tons of add-ons, and plenty of extra features and warranties.

From the customer’s point of view…
She got everything she needed at a fair price. She won’t have to make any extra trips. She stayed within reason of her budget and has absolutely zero buyers’ remorse. She is thrilled with everything she purchased. She can’t wait to tell her friends.

When the two are one and the same – you’ve hit the grand slam of retail sales. But when you have to sacrifice one for the other, you can probably guess which one is better for you in the long run.

As Bob reminded us… Always, always, always go for the Perfect Sale from the customer’s point of view. Always. Period. Every. Single. Time.

Are we clear?

Grand slams are nice, but the goal of this game is to be able to keep playing. Perfectly happy customers keep you in the game for a very long time.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I talk to my staff about completing the sale. You never want a customer to go home and then realize she needs one more item to make the other stuff she bought work. Chances are she won’t go back to you for that item, and she might never come back if you weren’t smart enough to make sure she had everything she needed in the first place.

PPS There are some sure-fire ways to make sure your customer is perfectly happy with her purchases. Check out the Closing the Sale section of my FREE eBook Customer Service: From Weak to WOW!

Dollars Left on the Table

You have a front line staff. You pay them to work with the customers and sell your products. Sometimes they get it right and make more money for the business. Sometimes they leave dollars on the table.

All this year I have worked with my staff on how to raise the average ticket, how to get more from every sale. We reached the pinnacle of that training this past Monday as we talked about tips to close the sale and make it stick.

Then we played a game, something to reinforce everything we had been working on all year.

Every single bill on that table had a statement on the back that either started with “I Earned This Dollar…” or “I Left This Dollar on the Table…”

The staff took turns picking a dollar and reading it out loud to the rest of the team. If it was an Earned dollar they got to keep it, but if it was a Left dollar they had to put it back. We played until all the Earned dollars were gone. The fun part was when the staff started cheering all the Earned dollars and booing all the Left dollars.

Three days later, most of the staff have their Earned dollars still in their pocket with the statement still taped to the back. My office gal has hers pinned to the bulletin board above her desk.

You have to spell out the behavior you want and also the behavior you don’t want. There is power behind putting it all in writing and having the staff read it aloud to each other.

Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS The first question from the staff after we finished the game was, “Can you post all the statements somewhere so that I can read them again?” Of course. If you would like to see the list, send me an email.