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Category: Customer Expectations

Don’t Alienate Your Fans

At the Michigan Downtown Conference two speakers talked about sign ordinances. The first was Sheila Bashiri, City Planner from the city of Birmingham, MI, a well-to-do suburb of Detroit nestled in amongst the other wealthy suburbs.

Because Of or In Spite Of?
Birmingham has the most strict sign ordinance in Michigan, so strict that some of the slides Sheila showed us of attractive signage wouldn’t even be allowed in her city. Yet many retailers want to be part of that bustling downtown. And Sheila claimed that her sign ordinance was a main reason for their success.

I guess the dense population of millionaires is only a secondary cause of the businesses thriving there.

The next speaker, Robert Gibbs, mentioned how much he liked the Birmingham sign ordinance and how all communities should adopt it for their business districts. In a private conversation afterwards, he went so far as to tell me that all existing businesses in those districts should be given 5 years to change their signs or move out.

Does he really believe Frankenmuth should tell Bronner’s and their two million visitors a year to take down the billboards or get the f*** out? Or that Ann Arbor should give Zingerman’s a remove the ugly trailer and all that neon outside the Roadhouse or else ultimatum? Hugely successful, yet eccentric retailers are what give our cities their character.

Businesses do not thrive because of sign ordinances. They thrive in spite of them because the city has the population base to support them and the stores are taking care of that population. Period. End of story. Sure, a well-crafted sign ordinance can give a city a uniform characteristic and look, but that does not draw traffic or grow business. The stores draw the traffic because of who they are and what they do. And signs are what help you find those stores.

It is no wonder that most downtowns are struggling. There is a huge disconnect between the city leaders/planners and the businesses that pay their taxes. Both of these speakers advocated not having businesses in the discussion for things like sign ordinances. Both believed that only city leaders should make decisions on what they want their business district to be.

A Business Lesson
That would be the same as you not listening to your customers. You wouldn’t do that would you? Of course not! You will value some customers’ opinions more than others. But if you aren’t listening to your best customers, they won’t be your best customers for long.

Don’t make the mistake others are making. Listen to your best customers. Include them in your plans. Not only will you make better plans because of it, you’ll empower those same customers to become evangelists for your business. By giving them a say in the matter, they will be your strongest advocates, and give you incredible word-of-mouth exposure.

Not everyone has an unlimited supply of millionaires. Take care of those who are taking care of you. That’s a lesson for retailers and for cities.

-Phil

Credibility Shown

Tom Wanek wrote a book, Currencies That Buy Credibility.

The new CEO of Step2 Company – Jack Vresics – is an embodiment of that book.

Last Thursday I was in Streetsboro, OH for a meeting of Step2 Center dealers – the retailers who sell the vast majority of the Step2 line. Step2 is the largest manufacturer of toys still being made in the USA. But they’ve had a shakeup the past year replacing the CEO, the CFO, and the Director of Marketing.

I was looking forward to meeting the new CEO, but at Wednesday night’s informal gathering we were told that he wouldn’t be at our annual gathering because he had to drive his daughter up to Ann Arbor to move her in for her first year at the University of Michigan. Understandable excuse. I have every intention of being there to help my boys on their first day at away at college, too.

But right before we broke for lunch Thursday a new face entered the room – Jack Vresics was in the building! He drove 3 hours back from Ann Arbor after moving his daughter in just to spend 90 minutes with us before driving back another 3 hours to be with his daughter again.

You have heard that actions speak louder than words. That one action spoke volumes of how important we dealers are to Step2.

He paid the currency (driving an extra 6 hours) to earn credibility, and he earned it big time in my book. He showed me what he was willing to do to make sure I knew how important my business was to him.

What actions are you willing to do, what price are you willing to pay to show your customers how important they are to you?

Read Tom’s book (no, I am not affiliated in any way – just a fan of the book) and you can learn some simple ways to earn that credibility.

-Phil

Meeting Your Goals

Had another fun staff meeting this morning. More importantly, we met our Goals for the meeting.

Yes, every single one of my staff meetings has a Goal (or two). And I define that goal by finishing this simple statement…

This meeting will be a success if…

I had two goals for today’s meeting that finished that statement:

  1. The staff understands the importance of asking the customers questions and getting to know the special needs of their children
  2. The staff gains a new tool to make the experience more personal and special for our youngest customers

Across the Spectrum
The task I used to accomplish the first goal was a guest speaker who talked to us about Autism and the special toy needs of autistic children. If you know anything about Autism, you know there is a spectrum. What is good for one child might be completely wrong for another. But after the presentation the staff is now armed with a load of questions to ask a customer to help understand where her child might be on that spectrum.

What was even better, however, is that it helped them also realize that all children are on some sort of spectrum in their levels of play and that by asking the right questions of the parents they can better determine which toys to suggest.

Not Just Any Balloon
To accomplish Goal #2 I brought in an art instructor. This guy can teach any kind of art to any kind of student. The task I gave him was to teach to my staff how to doodle and draw in twenty minutes. He was up to the challenge. In no time at all he convinced my staff that they all had artistic talent, and he showed them simple techniques for doodling animal faces onto helium balloons.

Now my staff is empowered to not only give children free helium balloons, but to customize them with a quick little drawing. The kids don’t just get a balloon, they get a personalized work of art. It only takes a few seconds to draw, but it makes a lifetime of impact.

Best of all, the staff had a blast learning and have spent all morning practicing their doodling skills (wouldn’t you just love a job where the boss encourages you to doodle?). There’s a little friendly competition already begun to see who can draw the most balloons this week. Once again the staff is telling me how much fun they have at our meetings.

Are your staff meetings this fun?
Would you like them to be? All I do is follow a simple plan that you can follow, too.

Click Here if you want to learn how to plan Staff Meetings That Everyone Wants to Attend.

Or click here to go right to the worksheet to start planning an awesome meeting for your staff.

-Phil

Signs Sell

Rick Segal has said that proper signage will help an item sell up to 50% more than without a sign. Here’s why…

First, there is this group of people known as Introverts.
About half of your customers identify as Introverts. They tend to think to talk instead of talk to think as Extraverts would do. If they don’t know an answer, they’ll look first for a sign that might give them an answer before asking an associate because asking an associate puts them in an uncomfortable position.

Therefore, to make your Introverted customers feel more comfortable in your store, thus more likely to buy, give them signs that answer their basic questions and help them feel more knowledgeable. (Note: although I cannot prove it, I would be willing to bet that introverts make up a larger portion of online shoppers than extraverts.)

The second group that relies on signs is Men.
Yep, the guys shopping your store are far more likely to read signs than your women customers. Paco Underhill points this out from his own research in the book, Why We Buy (if you haven’t read it, it is a MUST for retailers!).

According to Deborah Tannen, men speak vertically and women speak horizontally. When men talk they are thinking in their minds, “Did what I say make you think higher of me or lower of me?” Vertical. That is why we are so afraid of asking for directions. The three hardest words for men to say are not, “I love you.” They are, “I don’t know,” because it makes you think lower of me.

No sign? No Sale.
When a man enters a store, the first thing he looks for is some sign telling him where to go. If he has a question, he’s going to look for another sign to answer that question. No sign? No sale. Some guys will actually walk away before asking for help. My wife knows this all too well. If I come home from a store empty-handed the first thing she says is, “Did you ask someone?” (No, I probably didn’t, although I’m getting better at it.)

Women, on the other hand, are thinking, “Did what I say draw me in closer or push me away?” Horizontal. They are quick to ask for directions because it brings them into the inner circle. You can put up all the signs you want but only the more introverted women will spend time reading them. They’d rather interact with someone.

50% of all the women and 100% of all the men (give or take a point or two) are looking for a sign. Are you going to give them what they want or let your competitors give it to them?

Rick is right on this one. Signs do sell!

-Phil

Help Me Choose A Workshop

At many conferences we have breakout sessions – three or four different topics and speakers from which you can choose.

I struggle with these because I usually want to attend more than one, and cloning has not reached the level to allow me that luxury. And trying to decide between one session and another is tough.

I need your feedback here…

I’m going to give you four options for sessions you could attend. For the sake of argument, let’s assume all the speakers are well-qualified to talk on their respective subjects and you can only attend one of those sessions.

Which session will you attend and why?

Session #1 – Marketing & Advertising on a Shoestring Budget
Learn the smartest ways to get the most out of your limited advertising resources. This class will show you how to use Social Media the right way, teach you new ways to market your business without spending a dime, how to get a guaranteed return on the money you do spend on advertising, and why you’re not getting the word-of-mouth you think you deserve (and how to change that). Every attendee will leave with at least four inexpensive ways to increase traffic and sales that they can implement right away.

Session #2 – Everyone has Customer Service, You Need Customer Delight
This session will show you how to train your staff to consistently give your customers far more than they expect. Topics covered include how to meet and greet your customers the right way, understanding the different customer temperaments, how to solve their problems, and how to finish each sale leaving the customer happier than when they came in. Each attendee will get a blueprint for training their staff including role-play examples and key phrases to avoid.

Session #3 – Knowing the Numbers, It’s Your Money After All
You can just hand over your financials to your accountant and hope for the best, or you can learn the numbers yourself and make them work for you. This class is for the financials novices who wish to learn simple ways to understand the financials behind their business. You will learn how to calculate important numbers like Cost of Goods Sold, Gross & Net Profit, and the many different ratios that banks use to determine if your business is growing or dying. When you finish this class, you’ll know exactly where your money is, what it is (or isn’t) doing for you and how to make it better.

Session #4 – Cash Flow Basics – How Smart Buyers Make More Money
When is a deal from your vendor too good to pass up? When is a discount not worth the loss of cash flow? How do you know when you have too much inventory? Too little? These and other questions will be answered in this buyer’s workshop including tools you can use to increase your cash flow and make you more money. You don’t need a point-of-sale system to be a better buyer. You just need to know these simple principles of buying that dramatically change your financial picture.

Which will you choose and why?

-Phil

Who is Your BFF?

Had lunch today with one of my best friends. Good food, good conversation, and more than a few laughs.

Got me thinking about why he’s my friend. We certainly have common interests – go to the same church, hang out with the same people, have boys of a similar age. But there are more than a few people that fit that profile with whom I am not close friends.

Why him over others?

Two reasons come to mind…

  1. Shared experiences
  2. Insider information

Shared Experiences

We’ve done a lot together over the past 15 years – parties, kid events, Red Wings games, travel. Just the proximity of doing things together builds a bond of friendship. Taking our kids to the fireworks, grilling in the backyard, and spending New Year’s Eve together bring us even closer.

Insider Information

You can’t do that much together and not know a little more about a person than the average public knows. Yeah, we share some secrets. More importantly, because we know how each other ticks, we know how to act and react appropriately to keep the friendship humming. Those insights are part of the glue that holds our friendship together.

That’s why we’re BFF’s.

Here’s a question for you…

How do you turn your customers into BFF’s?

I believe it’s the same way – Shared Experiences & Insider Information. When you actively get involved in their visits by getting to know more about them and sharing more about yourself, you will quickly find those customers becoming more loyal and more vocal about you.

There are thousands of people who fit the profile of what your perfect customer should be, but few of them are loyal, vocal customers. Put your focus on getting to know them and sharing experiences in your store with them and that will change. They will soon be your new BFF’s.

-Phil

Stand Up and Be Accounted!

Two nights ago I watched one of the most painful moments in baseball history. Yeah, I’m talking about my beloved Detroit Tigers and their pitcher getting robbed of a historic Perfect Game because of a blown call by the umpire on the final out.

That night, like a whole lot of Tigers fans and players, I was really angry at that ump. But a few hours later something happened that changed my mind.

Jim Joyce, the umpire, stood up and said, “I blew it. I kicked the (bleep) out of that call. I cost that kid a perfect game.” He went into the Tigers’ locker room and apologized to the face of both the pitcher and the manager. He went on radio and TV interviews and admitted his mistake and took his medicine.

Speaking of medicine, there were a lot of people expecting him to get roundly booed out of town when he took his place behind home plate for the following game.

Funny thing happened on the way to field, though… Instead of yelling nasty things at him, the fans shouted encouragement. Instead of booing, they clapped. Even he was shocked at the response which brought a tear to his eyes. Instead of ripping him, the fans embraced him.

All because he stood up and admitted his mistake.

No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. How we handle them, however, is both a testament to our character and show of our beliefs and values. Jim Joyce showed that he was a man of honor and integrity, and instead of being run out of town on a rail, he was praised for his accountability.

The same is true about your business. When you make a mistake, no matter how big or small, take responsibility for it. Stand up and be accountable. You’ll be amazed at how quickly those whom you have wronged will be to forgive you. I know. I saw it happen yesterday in Detroit.

-Phil

PS Kudos to Detroit Pitcher Armando Gallaraga and Manager Jim Leyland for the class they displayed in handling this situation, too. Both showed incredible restraint and dignity throughout the last couple of days.

Amazing what happens when you show a little class and character, isn’t it?

Give ‘Em What They Want

Next week I’m sending out a coupon. $20 off a $100 Purchase. I need to generate some cash flow and get some traffic through the door.

For the past two months we’ve been shut off from the community on two sides by federally funded construction projects (Mr. Obama, I’m not feeling very stimulated). So I’m sending out a coupon – givin’ it away – to generate some sales.

As I’ve said before, sometimes you gotta choose between profits and cash flow. This time I’m choosing cash flow.

The toughest part for my staff (besides ringing up the coupons properly:-) is dealing with the customers who want to skirt the system.

Even though the purpose of the coupon is to stimulate some new business, I’ll have a handful of customers who want to use it on a previous sale they did in the last few weeks.

Some customers will try to use it on sales less than $100 (It’s $95, isn’t that close enough?).

Others might buy $100 worth of stuff and bring $50 back the following week.

So how did I instruct my staff to handle these situations? Simple…

Smile and say, “Okay!” Yep, give it to ’em. Don’t hassle them, don’t belittle them, don’t upset them. Just do it and move on.

You see, the customers who do that are so few and far between – maybe 3% of the totally coupons used – that they aren’t worth the complaints they could generate. And they aren’t worth your energy. At worst, they aren’t profitable customers at all so don’t waste your time. Just give ’em what they want and move on. At best, they might return the kindness you show them later.

It’s not about “playing fair”, it’s about taking care of your customers – all of your customers.

As my good friend and fabulous writer, Becky Blanton said,

“When there are no score cards you’re not tied to a specific game. You’re free then to succeed”

Don’t get sucked into those kinds of games with customers, don’t get caught up in what is fair or not fair. And most certainly don’t keep score.

That’s how you win at customer service.

-Phil

I Served Them Ice Cream

Staff Meeting. 8:30am. Ice cream served.

Ice cream for breakfast?

Some loved it. One employee had two bowls.

Some hated it. Who would eat ice cream for breakfast?

Some were indifferent. “No thanks, I had a bagel.”

Kinda like your business, right? Some love you, some hate you, some are indifferent.

Do you know what causes people to love you – the proverbial ice cream for breakfast that you serve?

Are you willing to serve that ice cream at 8:30am just for those that love it against all conventional thinking? That’s what the best stores do (metaphorically speaking). And their best customers reward them with loyalty and evangelism.

Think about it…

Apple Stores – you can’t have a store without cash registers!
Whole Foods – there’s no long-term market for expensive, organic/natural/gluten-free foods being pushed upon the public through fancy displays
Nordstrom’s – you can’t take everything back no questions asked – people will take advantage of you

Yet, those three stores were ranked #1, #2, #3 in RetailWire’s survey of best customer shopping experiences.

They are all serving ice cream at 8:30am.

As Seth Godin recently pointed out, it’s easier to serve ice cream to those who want it than to change the mind of those who think it’s weird.

What are you scooping out for your best customers?

-Phil

Serving the Customers WHEN They Want to Be Served

My wife and I finished a wonderful meal at Pablos in downtown Fernandina Beach, FL. It was 8:15pm on a Friday night. As we strolled the shops of this quaint downtown on Amelia Island, one thing was noticeably absent.

No, it wasn’t the people.

The sidewalks were teaming with people out for an early evening stroll. There were easily 12-15 groups of revelers in a short three-block expanse, all of us engaged in the same activity… window shopping… because all the stores were closed!

Except for the two ice cream shops (both full of people), the bars and one jewelry store jammed with browsers, all the rest of the shops were closed, dark, not doing business, not making money. Yet, there were people with money to spend all over the place.

Are you open when there are people available or just when you are available?

And I don’t just mean your everyday hours. Do you open for special occasions in your area? Do you open when there are events on your street? Do you open for when the movie or show lets out at the theatre venue next door? Do you open early when there is a parade or morning activity on the street?

I went back this morning to the same area for the farmers market at 9am. Didn’t need much. But as we left the farmers market and strolled the same streets (still packed with people), I looked through many of the same windows of darkened shops not willing to be open when the people were there.

When these shops close for good, it won’t be “because of the economy”. Don’t let your shop think like them. When people are there, be ready to open your doors. That’s one of the first steps to great customer service.

-Phil