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One Thousand Dollars Back!

Do you know any retailers who would like $1000? (Better yet, do you know any that wouldn’t?)

The Jackson Retail Success Academy (JRSA) is looking for retailers who want to earn $1000 by taking ten three-hour classes to make their stores better, stronger and more successful

JRSA is looking for retailers willing to learn tips and practices that will help them better manage their inventory, their finances and their cash flow, making them more profitable.

JRSA is looking for retailers willing to learn marketing tips, practices and ideas that will drive the right kind of traffic into their stores and increase their fan base.

JRSA is looking for retailers willing to learn about solid hiring practices and training tips to raise their customer service to a level that creates raving fans that talk about their store to everyone they know.

Do you know a retailer who wants to improve in marketing, customer service and profitability?

Yes, it will take some work – 30 hours to be exact – ten Mondays from 6 to 9 pm. Yes, it will cost some money – $750 to be exact – payable prior to the first class.

But look at the bennies…

First, there is 30 hours of top-level classroom instruction on topics like financial statements, inventory management, cash flow, marketing & advertising, hiring & training, customer service and a whole lot more. This alone is worth $6000 (top level consultants earn $200/hour or more).

Plus, there are actual cash-back benefits.

JRSA Graduates get:

  • $250 in reimbursements for joining a trade organization or attending an industry trade show
  • $400 in reimbursements for advertising expenses
  • A one-year membership in the Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce ($300 value)
  • A one-year membership in the Midtown Association of Jackson ($50 value)

Add it up and it’s $1000 back to any retailer who signs up and attends the Jackson Retail Success Academy.

Oh yeah, and a pretty good chance you’ll learn something new to make you a whole lot more money on top of that.

The next class starts Monday, March 16th.

Tell your retail friends about this offer and have them contact Susan Franck (susan@gjcc.org) at the Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce (517) 782-8221 to sign up.

-Phil

PS JRSA is a collaboration of Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce, Jackson Local First, Midtown Association of Jackson, The Enterprise Group, The Small Business Technology Development Center, and the Jackson DDA

Is Price the Only Game to Play?

In earlier posts about Black Friday I made the claim that only half of all shoppers are driven purely by price. Some of you might disagree. But look at this study done this past fall.

According to the National Retail Federation’s 2008 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, 40 percent of shoppers say that sales or promotions is the largest factor when determining where to shop. Another 12.6 stated that everyday low prices were most important.

One story I read quoting these statistics concluded that price was the most important factor in where people shop. Of course, Winston Churchill once said that, “the only statistics you can trust are the ones you falsified yourself.”

Let’s look at the numbers more closely…

If 40% said sales and promotions were most important, then 60% did not believe sales and promotions to be most important. Three out of five people were not choosing where to shop based on sales and promotions! Selection, quality, service and location were higher up on those customers’ lists.

Remember… Transactional Customers look for sales, Relational Customers look for trust. Aren’t quality, service and selection trust factors? Of course they are. And the National Retail Federation has the statistics to prove that there are as many Relational Customers as Transactional Customers.

Just take the 40% wanting sales plus the 12.6% looking for low price and the split is 52.6% Transactional versus 47.4% Relational. In politics that’s a landslide. In business that’s a virtual split.

Yet, all the big retailers were going after the 52.6%, leaving a huge portion of shoppers not getting their needs met. It’s no wonder so many retailers are struggling. Here’s a tip. Go after the forgotten 47.4% Meet their needs and watch your business grow.

That’s what we do.

-Phil

Setting the Bar Too High?

One of my favorite lessons learned from the Wizard of Ads is the Advertising Performance Equation. This equation gives a quick lesson into the factors that influence how well your advertising works. The equation looks like this: SoV x IQ x PEF x MPo = Sales

I won’t go into details about the equation right now, but one of those factors has been weighing on my mind.

PEF stands for Personal Experience Factor. Roy Williams (the Wizard) teaches that your advertising creates an expectation of your store. And when a customer experiences your store it will have an effect on the power of your ads. If you do not meet the customer’s expectations, all future ads will be seen/heard with disdain and not work as well. If you exceed the expectations created by your advertising, your business will grow.

The goal, then, is to ALWAYS exceed the customers’ expectations.

This can be done two ways. Set a really low bar that is always easy to beat or set the bar higher and higher with each passing day.

As Stewart B. Johnson said, “Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves – to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by our today.”

I’ve always believed that success for Toy House falls more into line with Mr. Johnson. We need to constantly be striving to be better. Not better than our competition, but better than we were yesterday.

But with that said, there is some validity to setting a really low expectation. We see this every year in political debates. Who “won” the debate is primarily based on who met or exceeded the expectations.

In advertising, some say that you should never brag about your customer service because you raise a really high bar of expectations that will be increasingly difficult to exceed.

I’m not sure I’m fully in that camp. Raising the bar of expectations attracts a lot of customers. Plus, it gives you incentive to train harder, to prepare more, to be more creative in ways that you can please customers.

So, I’m just gonna lay it all on the line. I believe my staff are some of the finest retail workers in the toy industry. They are informed, helpful and friendly, and will give you the best shopping experience you can find in Jackson.

There. I’ve said it. The bar has been raised. I double dog dare you to give us the chance to exceed those expectations.

-Phil