The Dilemma!

Which would impact the number of customers coming through your doors more: a series of radio or TV spots running each day or a sweeping improvement in customer service?

Over the last few months many retailers have suffered a significant drop in store traffic. While they continue to employ radio, television, and print media to promote their stores and attract customers, they do absolutely nothing to ensure the customers who do come in have an amazingly pleasurable shopping experience.

I am by no means suggesting you stop or even cut back on your advertising. I am suggesting that you can profoundly impact your business both now and in the future by making sure customers leave your store bowled over by how easy it is to do business with you. In this economy, you truly have to amaze them.

A few weeks ago a grocer decided to put a greeter at the front door. Instead of simply standing there welcoming customers into the store, the greeter hands out a flier listing special value merchandise on sale that day. The grocer didn't hire someone new, but instead rotates his people in and out of this position every couple of hours. Within just a few days customers started telling him how much they appreciated this new service. Having someone put the value flier in their hands when they came in the store made it so much more convenient for them to save some money. Best of all, sales have increased and continue to do so every day.

Whole Foods notifies customers of what merchandise represents the best value through its launching of "The Real Deal Program." The cornerstone of the program is a 28-page value guide comprised of value-oriented meal plans, recipes, and merchandise from its "365 Everyday Value" selection. Stores in some cities also conduct "Value Tours." All this from a company often referred to as "Whole Paycheck." Thinking creatively, Whole Foods is making the changes necessary to combat a difficult economy.

Where are the opportunities to show your best values? How can you amaze your customers? You may think you already do a great job serving customers, but step back and take a hard look at everything customers experience in your stores. Are their interactions with your employees pleasantly memorable? Or do your people just go through the motions? Now is the time to reinforce how you want customers served, the value of every customer's experience, and the impact this has on the store's success. There's ALWAYS room for improvement.

---

Going to an Extreme!

When traffic is down, the goal should be to increase every transaction. Sometimes that means taking extreme steps. If yours is a business where sales associates directly help customers determine what to buy, this is the time to make sure your people can provide all the information a customer needs to make an informed selection. They must be capable of helping shoppers make the right choices and then give every customer the opportunity to buy. Most important, EVERY customer should be excited and thrilled with their purchases.

This is a good time for sales associates to follow-up with previous customers and tell them about new merchandise and merchandise that represents special values. Personal follow-up phone calls and notes help get customers into the store.

If yours is a self-service environment, take a critical look at every aspect of the customer's experience in your stores. Are you playing the right music? Is it too soft or too loud? Are the aisles wide enough for customers to easily get through? Are displays and all the merchandise easily accessible? Are signs in the right places? Is the temperature just right--not too hot and not too cool?

Is impulse merchandise well positioned throughout the store so customers can easily see it and pick it up? Are sale, clearance, or special value items displayed in high-traffic locations? Are signs for this merchandise prominent and easy to read? Is it time to re-merchandise your store and add some excitement to your presentation?

Are cashiers suggesting additional items to every customer? Are they friendly, smiling, and helpful? Are they thanking every customer and inviting them back again? Are cashiers asking customers if they need help carrying purchases out to their cars? Are customers surprised and delighted with your stores, your merchandise, and your people?

You can either complain about the current state of affairs or take steps to make changes in how you do business. If you choose to make some changes, start today!

---

Living in an Online World

In his excellent new book, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000, author Pete Blackwell writes about doing business in an age when customers can and do tell their retail, product, and service horror stories on the Internet. The fact is consumers today have plenty of recourse when they buy a bad product or receive poor service. Rather than just tell their friends, they go online and tell thousands of strangers.

Mr. Blackwell cites the example of Vincent Ferrari who called AOL to cancel his account and the customer service rep tried to talk him out of it. The obnoxious and combative customer service representative ignored Mr. Ferrari's repeated requests to cancel the account. He even asked Mr. Ferrari to put his father on the phone. The conversation, which Mr. Ferrari recorded, lasted 22 minutes. He then posted the entire conversation on his own blog and later on YouTube where it attracted 62,827 views on the first two days. The story was later picked up by major media outlets including The New York Times.

Product and customer service horror stories have become a big thing on the web popularizing web sites devoted entirely to customer complaints, such as theconsumerist.com, consumerspy.com, and ripoffreport.com. Company specific web sites allow dissatisfied customers to post complaints directed at consumer products manufacturers and service companies. Unfortunately, retailers are not exempt. Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Best Buy, and others have all been targeted by disgruntled consumers.

I am a long-time advocate of doing whatever possible to keep from alienating a customer. Make every attempt to satisfy their requests or fix their problems and do it quickly and without a fuss. It may be impossible to make every customer happy, but make sure all the people working in your store understand the ramifications at stake. You don't want to end up as an internet horror story legend.

If you want to learn how to avoid becoming an Internet horror story, I highly recommend Pete Blackshaw's Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers tell 3,000.

---

COLLEGE STUDENTS AND PARENTS BEWARE!

According to The National Association of College Stores, a Federal Grand Jury recently indicted an individual for creating 568 fake online seller accounts taking more than 100,000 textbook orders from students. These buyers were defrauded of $5.3 million. While it may be slightly more costly to buy text books from the college bookstore, there are two things to consider. First, students can be sure the bookstore will have what's required for their classes and second, the bookstore will stand behind the purchase. In this case peace of mind is better than a small discount.

HUG YOUR PEOPLE!

From Jack Mitchell, the author of Hug Your Customers, comes an exceptional new book on how to hire, inspire, and recognize employees to achieve remarkable results. Mitchell, the CEO of three very successful clothing stores in the Northeast, offers a unique perspective on how to get great performance from your people. Hug Your People is a must-read book for anyone with employees.

MAXIMIZING THE EXPERIENCE!

While visiting The Florida Mall in Orlando last year, I came upon Adrenalina, an unusually named sports apparel store offering such major surf-shop brands as Billabong, Hurley, O'Neill, and Quiksilver as well as bicycles and a variety of sports related merchandise. TV screens around the store play surfing and other board sports videos. Although the displays looked much like those in other surf shops, Adrenalina's FlowRider is one feature I had never seen and never would fathom in a major mall. This 20-foot by 50-foot sloped surf platform pumps water upwards on the surface creating an amazingly ocean-like surfing experience.

For $20 an hour using a modified surf or boogie board, surfers can practice their moves. It was one of the coolest attractions I've seen anywhere in a store. That first Florida Adrenalina store measures approximately 7,000 square feet. Newer stores measuring in the 12,000- to 15,000-square-foot range are being opened in malls all across the country.

Until next month...

---

Are your managers ready for the holidays?

Make the most of your pre-holiday managers' meeting with George Whalin's Special Holiday Edition of his "Great Store Managers Make Great Stores" seminar.

Store managers have a great deal of control over the attitude, tempo, atmosphere, and, ultimately, the success of a store. This edition of George Whalin's Great Store Managers Make Great Stores is specifically geared toward the challenges managers face during the holidays. In these tough economic times, retailers must take action NOW to make the most of the upcoming holiday season. This seminar gives managers the boost they need to give it their all.

George shows managers how to identify what it will take to improve the overall productivity of their stores. They will fine-tune their own communication skills, personal focus, and leadership abilities. And they will learn motivational tools and daily people-building activities to improve the performance of their associates whether full-time, part-time, or seasonal.

Your managers will come away from this seminar fired up, excited about their jobs, and ready to tackle this make-it-or-break-it time of year. Don't leave it to chance. Help your managers take control of what happens in their stores so that all your customers are served the way they should be served, are given every opportunity to buy, and have such a wonderful shopping experience, they will tell everyone they know to shop in your stores for the holidays and beyond!

Improve your odds for a successful holiday season!
Schedule this business building seminar for your next managers' meeting or holiday kick-off rally. Call 800-766-1908 today to check date availability. Time is running out!

---

Seminars and Training Programs for Managers and Associates

Delivering performance-enhancing speeches and seminars for retailers since 1987, George jam-packs his presentations with practical, real-world information. His seminars for managers and associates teach store management skills, customer service improvement, and sales techniques. If you want to improve store productivity and profitability, we encourage you to call George Whalin. Don't wait, his calendar fills up quickly.

Topics for managers' meetings and corporate conferences:
(Click on a topic for details)

Great Store Managers Make Great Stores!

How to Find an Eagle in a Flock of Turkeys! Finding, Hiring, and Keeping the BEST Retail Employees

Customer Focused Selling

Every Customer Every Day!

For more information go to our web site or call 800-766-1908.

---

Speeches and Seminars for Retailers

As one of the nation's best-known and most popular retail speakers, George's speaking schedule includes events for retailers and consumer products manufacturers all across the country. He's added some exciting new convention and trade show topics. If you are a meeting planner or are involved with speaker selection and would like to book George for your next convention, we encourage you to call as early as possible. George's calendar fills up quickly.

Topics for conventions and trade shows:
(Click on a topic for details)

NEW! Strategies for a Changing Retail World

Into the Future! Powerful Trends Shaping the Future of Retailing

Retail Success! Increase Sales, Maximize Profits, and Wow Your Customers in the Most Competitive Marketplace in History

Stop, Look, Touch, and Buy: The Dynamics of Merchandising

12 Powerful Advertising Secrets Every Retailer Should Know

Power, Punch & Pizzazz! Create Advertising that Grabs Customer Attention and Sells More Merchandise

Customer-Direct Marketing: Increase Retail Sales with High-Impact Direct Mail & E-Mail

Double Your Sales and Triple Your Profits with High-Impact Marketing and Promotions!

Competition? What Competition! Standing Out in Today's Competitive Retail Marketplace

How to Find an Eagle in a Flock of Turkeys! Finding, Hiring, and Keeping the BEST Retail Employees

Every Customer Every Day!

For more information go to our web site or call 800-766-1908.

---

Resources for Retailers

George Whalin's book RETAIL SUCCESS! is now in its ninth printing. A number of consumer products manufacturers have purchased the book for their retailer customers. Retailers have provided copies for their managers who regularly refer to portions of the book in their managers' meetings. And managers are referring to the book in their daily store meetings. If you haven't purchased a copy yet, what are you waiting for? For multiple copies, call us for volume pricing. For individual copies, there are also some very good deals to be had at amazon.

Go to our web site today where you'll find several other books in addition to RETAIL SUCCESS that George recommends. Check it out often, he keeps adding to the list.

---

If you have an opinion or thoughts about any of the topics posted, I invite you to comment at retailerblog.com It's easy to do. And if you have a topic you would like to see addressed on the blog, send me an e-mail at george@whalinonretail.com.

---

In addition to speeches and seminars, George also consults with retailers helping them improve the operation of their businesses. His consulting services include helping retailers with strategic planning issues, marketplace positioning, merchandising and store layouts, developing results-driven marketing and advertising programs, personnel management, and improving store performance. If you need solid, practical, proven insights and ideas to grow and improve your business, call us toll-free at (800) 766-1908.

We encourage you to pass this publication along to your associates and colleagues. If all or any portion of this newsletter is reproduced in another publication, attribution should read as follows: Copyright 2008. Reprinted with permission from George Whalin's Retail Management E-Letter. To occasionally reprint portions of this newsletter one time, no express permission is required. To reprint in more than one venue or multiple articles, please contact us at 800-766-1908 or info@whalinonretail.com.

---

To subscribe, click here. To return to list of past issues, click here.

---