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Category: Influence

We Trust the Non-Sellers More

Late night infomercials have done more to harm the trust relationship between retailers and customers than almost anything else out there.

You’ve seen the shows where the person claims to be the expert on something, but you have a hard time believing them because they are also trying to sell you something. You doubt the veracity of their claims. You question their motive. No matter how much of an expert they prove to be, you just don’t trust them.

Yet, one of the Currencies that buy Credibility is the Time & Energy you invest in educating your customer base and showing off your expertise.

So how do you invest your Time & Energy in a way that builds trust instead of breaking it down?

BEFORE THE SALE – DROP THE SALES PITCH

The key to educating your customer base in a way that builds trust is to remove any sales pitch from the process. The sales pitch is what undermines trust, so drop it.

In Tom Wanek’s book, he mentions the REI website that is chock full of educational articles. Those articles are extremely useful and helpful to anyone thinking about camping and outdoor recreation. More importantly, they don’t try to sell you on one brand or another. They give you suggestions about the types of products you need, but stop short of pushing any particular product.

They have shown the customer that they are willing to invest their time and energy to make sure you know everything you need to know – even if they don’t get the sale! That’s the sacrifice they will make to build trust.

We do similar types of classes here – purely informational. Whether it is about toys or baby products, I take the approach of teaching the customers everything they need to know to make smarter choices without telling them what to choose. Yes, they can take that information and go shop elsewhere with confidence. At the same time, because I am building trust, I am winning them over to shop with me. I am training them to look at toys or baby products the same way I look at those items.

I know my customers are going to go to other stores. I know my customers are going to go online. I also know that at the end of the day they are going to buy from the store they trust the most. By dropping the sales pitch, I win the sale.

AFTER THE SALE – SERVICE THE CUSTOMER

Apple has a different approach. They invest their Time & Energy after the sale. They call it the Genius Bar. The Genius Bar tells customers…

“We understand our products have a learning curve. We so strongly believe you will enjoy our products that we will invest the Time and Energy to make sure you know how to use them properly.”

The power of Apple’s approach is that their willingness to help you out after the fact gives you trust and confidence in the purchase, and they reinforce the purchase decision by making sure you use the product to the best of its abilities, which creates loyalty.

You are an expert on your products and your industry. You can build trust by investing the Time & Energy to share that expertise with your customer base. Just drop the sales pitch. We trust the non-sellers more.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS The Internet has changed one thing about information – the expectation that information should be free. The gatekeepers of information are gone, replaced by a flood of information greater than anything Noah ever faced. With so much information out there, the information that is most trusted is the information that isn’t trying to sell you anything. Make sure your company is the source of that information and you’ll garner enough trust to not have to make a sales pitch at all.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles…

We all know the proverb… A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

We all know January is the month of making resolutions and getting started on that first single step.

I’ll throw another favorite saying out at you… Success is a journey, not a destination.

Maybe your journey really is one thousand miles. Maybe your journey only feels like one thousand miles. Maybe your journey has no end point, but is the purpose in the first place. The reality of that single step, however, can never be underestimated.

I took a step six years ago to launch Phil’s Forum Publishing, LLC and start writing this blog. At first I was lucky to get 6 people to read each post. Sometime last month, however, (while I was busy running the toy store instead of blogging, ironically) I reached one million views. It wasn’t a goal necessarily, but it sure is a cool milestone, that upon reflection, reminds me how far I have journeyed the past 6+ years.

You just have to take that first step.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I apologize for not writing much the last couple months. I have many steps to take this year to make up for it and hope you are ready to journey along with me.

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.

What are You Doing to Reach the Influencers

McDonald’s spent millions advertising the Happy Meal to children. Yet, who ultimately controls what a child eats? The parent, of course. Yet, McDonald’s made billions from the Happy Meal by advertising to the strongest influencer.

There is a bra store near me that specializes in custom-fitted and hard-to-find sizes of bras. They advertise on the local ESPN sports/talk radio station. Yes, a bra store on a sports/talk station. And they’re making a killing by saying, “Hey guys, tired of hearing your wife complain about her bra not fitting?”

Later this fall I am going to give out about seven thousand $5.00 gift cards to the students of one of our school districts. In a couple weeks I am going to wine and dine and bribe their teachers through a Teachers’ Night Out private party at our store with food & drinks, prizes, fun activities and incredible incentives for attending. I want to make sure that when the teachers hand out these gift cards that we get a great return on our investment.

Too many retailer make the mistake of thinking they have to focus all their efforts only on the person who might buy or use their product. The most powerful push someone gets to shop at your store usually comes from someone other than you. It seems counter-intuitive, but sometimes your best advertising and marketing needs to be directed at a non-customer.

If you can convince the influencer of the benefits of your business, they will convince the end user of your benefits.

There are two advantages to this approach.

First, since you are advertising to an indirect target, they are going to be more surprised (which is a good thing) and interested in your ad. It won’t come off as such a sales pitch. The bra ladies weren’t trying to sell a product, just to offer a solution to a common problem heard by married men all over the planet.

Second, the influencer has far more power to affect the actions of your intended customer than you do. Word of mouth from a friend always trumps advertising by a company. Let the friends and family and influencers do all the heavy lifting for you.

Yeah, it’s risky. All advertising is risky. At least this one has a pretty good track record (or why else would people be trying to ban the Happy Meal toys?)

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS To do this you just have to do two things. First figure out who is that non-customer that has the power to influence your shopper. Is it a parent, a child, a spouse, a friend, an authority figure? Second, figure out a message that will resonate with that person. It is powerful and it works.

Can You Call in Favors?

Could you call a media person right now and cash in a favor?

Maybe ask a reporter or photographer to cover an event you’re hosting?

Maybe get a little live air-time with the local morning-drive DJ?

Maybe get a quote in the paper?

Maybe get an article on the op-ed page?

Maybe get some air-time on the morning news show?

Maybe guest-host a local TV show?


No???

You have to give to receive. Start giving now. You never know when you might want to ask for that favor.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS What to give? Your time. Your expertise. Your praise. Your support. Your money. Your information. Spend a little time getting to know your local reporters, your local DJ’s, and your local news anchors. Praise them for the work they do. Offer them information that makes them look good/smart (and doesn’t promote you). Build trust by being reliable. Give them scoops. Do it without expectation of anything in return. You’ll cash in later.

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 Best Sweepstakes/Email for Small Businesses

You all know I’m a fan of Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads. (Look down the right-hand column to see how many posts I’ve tagged him.)

You also know I have studied a number of Wizard of Ads Partners like Tim Miles and Jeff Sexton and follow a lot of their work.

You also know that I am a life-long learner always looking for more information to consume to be better at what I do. If you’re reading this blog, it is likely that you are, too.

That’s why I’m telling you to follow this link…

http://www.wizardacademy.org/giveaways/foundations-of-the-academy/

The link will take you to a Sweepstakes offer of over $3000 in materials from Roy and others associated with Wizard Academy.

Most importantly, it will sign you up for an email newsletter that will bring you amazing articles from a wide variety of Wizard Academy Alumni – Nobel prize winners, best-selling authors, NASA scientists (yes, true rocket scientists!), marketing wizards, and business owners just like you and me.

I hope you win. (The emails alone will make us all winners.)

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I entered. I also get extra entries when I send people to enter, but I’m not sure if this blog will qualify to get me those extra entries (you can tell them Phil sent you). That’s okay. I’m more about getting you signed up for the email and all the goodies in it (I’ve already received one email and found tons of value). That’s the real value.

Go BIG or Go Home – A Lesson in PR

Your store just isn’t that important. You aren’t creating hundreds/thousands of jobs at one time. You aren’t attracting tens of thousands of people into town all at once. You aren’t creating multi-millions of dollars of economic impact. You aren’t raising tens of thousands of dollars for charity.

The news media isn’t going to cover you just because you’re nice and you’re local.

There are really only two ways for indie retailers to get into the media spotlight.

BE THE EXPERT

Set yourself up as the expert in your field by following this plan:

  1. Get the contact info for every reporter out there – print, online, radio and TV. 
  2. Follow their stories – all of them – to find out who is most likely to write about something in your field.
  3. Every time they write anything close to your industry, send them a note of praise for the article.
  4. When possible, send them a link to another source of info (not you, but a third party) for more information about the topics on which they have written.
  5. Continue until they begin to trust you as a reliable source of info.
  6. Wait for them to start asking your opinion.
  7. Give it freely, clearly, in sound bites, and backed up with reliable, checkable facts.

GO BIG OR GO HOME

Set yourself up in the spotlight by following this plan:

  1. Attend events where media coverage is already present. 
  2. Do something within the framework of the event that absolutely HAS to get noticed.
  3. Be larger than life. Take it to the extreme!

I just participated in our Fitness Council’s Smart Commute High Heel Bike Ride. The event includes people biking in heels and a fashion show where they crown the King & Queen. This is what I wore…

Yeah, I was voted King (or queen, I forget). Yeah, we’re getting a lot of coverage for it. Yeah, people are smiling. “We’re here to make you smile!” 

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS When you  get your chance to shine in the spotlight, remember that you have to be over-the-top if you want to generate word of mouth. People may think you’re crazy, but in a cunning way. Make sure, however, that what you do is within the framework of the event or they will just think you’re plain crazy.

Take More Risks with Your Advertising

(Warning: this blog post contains math – lots of math. Proceed at your own risk)

Your traffic comes from three sources…

  • Repeat Customers
  • Referral Customers
  • Ad-Driven Customers

I was asked once to write down the percentage of customers I believe are Repeat Customers. I wrote down 60%. I guessed 25% for Referral Customers. That left only 15% of my traffic being Ad-Driven.

With such a small percentage of our business being driven by our ads, if I want to move the needle through advertising, I have to take some big risks.

Here is the math…

Assuming you have 10,000 customers a year and your percentages are similar to mine you have the following:

  • Repeat Customers = 6,000
  • Referral Customers = 2,500
  • Ad-Driven Customers = 1,500

A 10% increase in effectiveness of your ads would only net you an additional 150 customers, a modest 1.5% increase in your overall traffic.

If you want your advertising to make a difference you can see, you need a 100% increase in the effectiveness of your ads. Anything less and you would be better off spending that money on Customer Service training.

But since you’re going to advertise anyway, you might as well climb way out on the limb where the fruit is.

To be effective, your ad campaign needs to drive another 1,500 new customers into your store. 1,500 new people. What can you say that will convince 1,500 people to take an action they haven’t yet taken? You have to say something fascinating and interesting. You have to say something emotional and heartfelt. You have to say something memorable.

You have to craft a message so powerful that it moves the needle for 1,500 people. That takes some risk. Are you willing to risk insulting someone who most likely wouldn’t be your customer anyway? Are you willing to say something that doesn’t sound like anything else in any other ad anywhere? Are you willing to be open and honest about your shortcomings as well as your strengths?

The good news is that the math also works in your favor. If your ad campaign backfires or falls flat, you still have that 85% of Customer Service-driven traffic to keep you afloat. And 1,500 people is a mere pittance in a trade area of 150,000 people. You just need to convince 1% more of the population to shop with you to get 15% growth.

Say something powerful and the math will all work out.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS You got the math. Here is the science… Download my free eBook Making Your Ads Memorable to learn four techniques that raise the power level of your ads.

Creating a Shareworthy Customer Service Culture

We all know Customer Service is our calling card. It is our path to success. It is the one thing where we can excel far greater than our competitors and kick their asses to the curb.

But how do you change the culture of your store to make Shareworthy Customer Service an every day event?

Tim Miles has a good starting point over on his blog. Make note of the Shareworthy events when they happen then try to deconstruct and learn from those events.

I want to take it a step further.

What gets measured and rewarded, improves.

Our Customer Service goal is smiley, happy people. Our marketing tag is, “We’re here to make you smile!”

At every meeting we start with what I call the Smile Stories – the Shareworthy Customer Service events. By sharing those moments with each other and making a big deal of them, we make a point of reinforcing what is important to the business.

You can even take it a step further and offer fun prizes such as gift cards to local restaurants and gas cards to the staff who has the best story. Not only will you get more stories each month, you’ll get a friendly competition of the staff each trying to out-shareworthy the other.

My staff keep notes for their smile stories. Some even keep notes for each other’s smile stories and remind each other of stories they may have forgotten. The culture is all about smiles – making them and sharing them.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS There is another huge benefit to starting your meeting off like that. Sharing your triumphs and victories first puts the staff into a much better frame of mind – less defensive and shutdown, much more open and listening – than the typical public flogging that most managers use to open meetings.