Retail Contrarian

Updating the referral bonus

2012-01-25T09:39:37-05:00

We all know that finding and retaining great people is a vital element for any experience-based store or company. What might not be as obvious is how much harder it is to work and succeed in our stores. It's a heck of a lot harder to engage than clerk, or to maximize a sales opportunity instead of transact it.

Who better to help us find the people who can do this than the people who are already doing it? True, most retailers have some type of current employee referral program, but most of them are ineffective. How do you make them more effective? Here are some things to consider.

1. Substantially increase the amount of your referral bonus. Make the payout such a WOW amount that most of your employees are always recruiting. Forget $100 or $250 payouts...go BIG!

Here's an idea. What if you paid a $1,000, $1,500, or higher referral bonus for every new sales associate? Before you hit send on the email telling me I'm crazy, think about the cost of an open position or high turnover. And how much more can a really good employee sell versus an average one? This program will easily pay for itself.

2. Change the way you pay out. Most companies only pay a bonus after the new employee makes it past their probationary period. I think employees need more instant gratification.

With a $1,000 bonus, I would pay the employee who made the referral $250 on the referred employee's first day. I would pay another $250 if the new hire is still there after 90 days.

Here's the big change I would make. If the referred employee is still with the company after one year, the referring employee gets a $500 bonus! That is motivation to not only find good people, but to help them be successful in their job.

3. Keep championing your program. It's vital that your referral program remains front and center to your team. It takes more than a poster or annual announcement to keep the program viable. The key is to publicize every payout. Make it a big deal...because it is.

Here's a twist on finding and creating a great team.

4. Pay managers to develop new managers. This is a concept Chipotle uses. They pay a developmental bonus of $10,000 for managers who bring an employee up through the ranks into management. The manager gets $5,000 when the person gets promoted, and another $5,000 after the employee has been in the position for six months.

Check out the result. This focus on developing staff and promoting from within has had a significant impact on Chipotle's turnover at the management level. For salaried managers, turnover dropped from 52% to 35%, and entry-level hourly managers went from 111% to 47%! Sounds like that bonus is also paying for itself.

So let me ask, are you leveraging your staff to help you find and retain great people?

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Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create an extraordinary experience and results.

Are you an And or a But leader?

2012-01-18T00:44:09-05:00

One of the points I teach in our Extraordinary Coaching program is that leaders often inadvertently mitigate the praise they give their staff. It usually happens by linking criticism (which we call instructive feedback) to the praise with the word "but."

"Nice job on the sale, but you should have showed him the matching widget."

"That was a great event, but you came in over budget."

"Those products were a great buy, but we need to make more margin."

I like to tell people to keep their "but" out of their feedback and use the word "and" instead.

Look at how the praise remains positive when "and" is used instead of "but."

"Nice job on the sale, and next time show him the matching widget."

"That was a great event, and hopefully we can make the budget work."

"Those products were a great buy, and going forward we need to get the margin up."

I've also come to see how some leaders demotivate people with "but" even when it isn't linked to praise. More often than not it's the result of the leader redirecting the conversation because of a different perspective.

Here's an example of what could take place on a district conference call:

Store manager: "We had a strong weekend and finished the week at 110% of goal."

District manager: "Yes, but your ADS was down over $10."

In this example I doubt the DM is even aware the impact her "but" had. Here's a manager who is justifiably proud of her results, but the DM is looking at the possibility of missed opportunities with average daily sale being down.

I've also met and worked with many "But" leaders who constantly do this with his/her staff. If it is a pattern, it's usually because of some need to be right, or maybe his/her glass is always half-empty. Whatever the reason, the result is demotivated people.

Again, most leaders mistakenly use "but" to redirect, and just like praise all they need to do is replace "but" with "and."

Store manager: "We had a strong weekend and finished the week at 110% of goal."

District manager: "Great, and maybe we could look at why your ADS was down over $10."

Again, compare these two:

Employee: "It wasn't easy but I finally got her to buy two of the widgets."

Manager: "But why didn't she buy a third widget?"

Now compare the subtle but important difference using "and"

Manager: "And why didn't she buy a third widget?"

Here's my challenge for you. For the next few days listen to how often you use the word "but" with your staff when the word "and" might have been more effective.

If you discover you're more of a But person than you knew, you can begin to get your "but" out of the conversations with your team and start on your way to becoming an And leader.

By the way, the same approach works for parenting.

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Don't ask permission

2012-01-11T08:15:49-05:00

I have a question: Is your customer's experience better when someone on your staff is involved in their experience than when you're not?

Of course it is. You and your team have the knowledge, experience, and information that benefit your customer. You can help them find the right products(s) that meet their needs and wants.

If they're in a hurry, you can get them out the door faster. If they're not, you make their shopping experience much more enjoyable.

So if we add value to the customer's experience, why do we ask permission? Shouldn't we just do it?

We ask for permission more often than we know.

"How may help you?" That's asking permission.

"What can I help you find?" That's adding value.

"Can I answer any questions?" That's asking permission.

"That's a very popular widget." That's adding value.

"Would you like help carrying your purchase out?" That's asking permission.

"Let me get someone to carry your purchase to your car." That's adding value.

"Would like to see the matching wallet?" That's asking permission.

"Here's the wallet that goes with that bag." That's adding value.

That's why we don't ask for permission.

Even if a customer says "no" to our offer, we've at least demonstrated that we add value to his/her experience. That's something many of our competitors never do.

The same holds true for exceeding your customer's expectations. Don't ask for permission.

"Can I get you a bottle of water?" That's asking permission.

"Here's a drink for you to enjoy while shopping." That's exceeding the customer's expectations.

"I can call the other store to see if they have them in stock." That's asking permission.

"I'll call the other store to see if they have them in stock." That's exceeding your customer's expectations.

"I can call you a few week's before your wife's birthday." That's asking permission.

"Hello, Mr. Jones. I'm calling to see if I can help you pick out a couple of gifts for your wife's birthday." That's exceeding a customer's expectations.

Even if your customer declines your offer, you have still demonstrated your point of differentiation and your desire to WOW them. That's what makes you special.

So let me ask, are you asking for permission to deliver an extraordinary customer experience?

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Your 2012 resolutions

2012-01-04T08:09:58-05:00

I know how busy for the last few weeks, so I've taken the liberty of putting together some potential resolutions for you and your team in 2012.

This is a fairly extensive list, and you're probably already very good at most of these things. Even so, there might be one or two areas where improvement will have a positive impact on your business.

If you will, let me know which of these are right for you, and tell me about any of your resolutions that I've missed.

1. Taking your customer experience to the next level. Your store/company's customer experience is good, but deep down you know it could be so much better.

2. Improve your staff's sales abilities. Your staff is really nice and delivers a very good customer experience. Now you aim to translate that to higher conversion and average sales.

3. Better clienteling. As online sales continue to grow and outpace traditional retail, in some segments the personal relationship between the customers and staff will become vital to keeping and maximizing customers.

4. More relevant marketing. The good news is you've got your Facebook page up and you're posting on a fairly regular basis. The bad news is you have no idea the impact it's having on your business. That probably means it isn't having much.

5. Increase accountability within your store/company. This could be in all sorts of different areas. Maybe it's expecting more from your frontline employees. It might also be holding managers and district managers more accountable for each store's sales performance.

6. Move the underperformers up or out. If you're tired of talking about the same underperformers over and over, maybe 2012 is when you finally improve their performance or promote them to customer. Yes, this goes hand in hand with #5.

7. Challenge and grow your top performers. The worst thing you can do is to not continue to develop your top people. It might be time to either create a new program for high-potential employees or, at the very least, figure out a way to better leverage their talents.

8. Invest more time and focus on developing your people. Unless you're competing on price you're probably competing with your people and the service/experience they deliver. Are you spending the appropriate time and energy on them?

9. Be more comfortable giving people the direct feedback they need to be successful. One of the managers I work with recently said to me, "I can't believe I coach without thinking about it! It feels natural now to give feedback at anytime, to anyone, and not worry about how it will be taken. We all "get it" that it is just information we need to get the results we want!" That's how we all need to think.

10. Improve your hiring process. This could be interpreted to be about improving the quality of the people you hire, but I don't want anyone to think that you haven't hired good people. You just need to get better at your process so you can do that more consistently.

11. Standardize your training and development. Chances are you and your stores/staff are good at training new people. The challenge is that no two new hire trainings are the same.

12. Work more strategically. Some people say you should work smarter but not harder. I think if you've survived the economy we've had for the last few years you're pretty smart. A lot of people they just need to work from a better-defined plan and then work the plan.

13. Delegate more. I hesitated about putting this on the list since most of the time delegation isn't the real issue. It's usually either that people can't give up control or they don't have the quality of staff to delegate to. Whatever the reason, you probably need to do less.

14. Become a better merchant. Whether it's buying, visual presentation, or financial management, you know that if you improve in this area you'll see an improvement to the top and bottom lines. Frankly, I put this at the bottom of the list since I know that most of you I know are stronger at these things that the above items. But hey, they're your resolutions.

15. Be more action oriented. Your list of things you were going to do or wanted to do is probably longer than what you did. Don't feel bad, that's true for most of us. But did you do what you know you needed to do to be more successful? The road to mediocrity is paved with good intentions.

So let me ask, what will your resolution be for 2012?

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Flip It

2011-12-27T17:08:29-05:00

One of the keys to being successful this week is the ability to flip customers who come in for a refund or exchange into making a big purchase. It won't happen with every customer, but it rarely happens at all if you don't try.

The game/contest Flip It makes trying a lot more fun.

The goal of Flip It is to have the largest sale of the day that began with a return or exchange.

I like to make the prize a $20 bill or gift card and then have the prize passed around as one employee tops another. I used to do this back in my Sharper Image days, and I'm convinced some of the salespeople enjoyed taking the prize from a colleague more than the prize itself.

Here's an example of how it works. The first customer of the day comes in with a $20 return, but the salesperson then sells him $60 of additional items. That means the current top Flip It sale is $40. (You have to net out the return or exchange.)

The next customer has a $130 item to exchange, and the salesperson sells her additional items worth $200. The net Flip It sale is $70. He/she now gets to take the cash or gift card from the other salesperson.

Another way to play Flip It is to pay everyone a prize for flipping customers. You could, for example, say that any return or exchange that has a net increase of $100 or more wins a $5 gift card.

The key to flipping the customer is to NOT ask if he/she wants to see something else. Use proactive phrases like, "You have to see these items on sale" or "I have the perfect widget to go with the red one you're exchanging."

While I'm sure I don't have to remind you of this, it's important to make sure trying to flip the customer doesn't have a negative impact on his/her experience. It's all in the passion and enthusiasm you use to move your customer to other products, and remaining keenly aware of how each customer is reacting.

So let me ask, are you and your team successfully flipping returns and exchanges into bigger sales?

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Which leader will you be this week?

2011-12-19T10:38:23-05:00

How are you doing? You, not your store, although I'd love to hear about last week's sales. Right now I'm more interested in how you are. I ask because the energy and attitude you as a leader bring this week has a huge impact on your results.

This is the week to be an extraordinary leader.

Retail leaders usually fall into one of these categories at this time of year:

1. The tired leader. If you ask this owner/manager how he's doing he'll tell you how tired he is. If you don't ask how he's doing he'll still find a way to work it into the conversation. Not surprisingly, everyone on the staff is pretty tired too, or at the very least tired of hearing about it from the owner/manager. And of course when everyone is that tired, more opportunities are lost than are created.

2. The stressed-out leader. You can find these owner/managers without ever setting eyes on them. All you have to do is talk to stressed-out staffers. This owner/manager might try to tell you everything is fine, but the short fuse and tense facial expression is a dead giveaway. The stress could result from any number of other reasons, none of which really matter. It all leads to more lost opportunities.

3. The overworked leader. This owner/manager loves to tell anyone who will listen how much he/she is working. I had a manager once who would refuse to take a day off between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then spend every day talking about how she hadn't had a day off! This owner/manager's need to talk about him/herself results in lost opportunities.

4. The overwhelmed leader. While this owner/manager may at first appear to be a stressed-out leader, you can spot them by the lack of leadership and confusion within the team. This manager/owner is working extremely hard but the store is slowly spiraling out of control, taking opportunities out of reach.

I'm the first to admit that at one time or another in my retail career I've been every one these leaders. I also learned from some great mentors to become the fifth type of leader.

5. The crunch-time leader. This leader is far from perfect. As a matter of fact they're just as likely to be tired, stressed-out, overworked, or maybe even overwhelmed, as any of the other leaders. The difference is that they're not showing it.

The crunch-time leader leads. The busier the store, the more she elevates her game. She shows more energy, not less. She's demonstrating more passion and giving out more encouragement to her team. She's keeping everyone focused on the customer and, most importantly, she's keeping it light and fun.

Leaders lead, especially in busy times when the opportunity is there.

So let me ask, which leader will you be this week?

Here's wishing you a Merry Christmas - or Happy Hanukkah - or if you have no holiday preference a Happy Holiday! - Doug

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Rock the boat!

2011-12-14T09:26:31-05:00

I recently spoke with a retailer who is disappointed with the performance of one of her key employees. When I asked how she is handling the situation she replied, "I haven't really said much. I don't want to rock the boat this close to Christmas."

I hope your reaction is the same as mine. Rock the boat!

Here's why. A mentor of mine recently explained that people and organizations have a finite amount of energy and focus at their disposal. This energy and focus is used both externally in creating sales and building your community, and internally in dealing with organizational problems, challenges and opportunities.

What he said next really stood out for me: Any additional energy and focus that's required internally is taken away from the external customer side. We may fear rocking the boat during the holidays, but not quickly resolving issues during the holidays will cost you a lot more money than will rocking the boat.

Here's my advice for that retailer and any other owner/manager in the same position. If an employee is falling short of your expectations, address it now. As I've said many times, most employees want to do a good job. They can't improve if you don't let them know what to work on.

Nine times out of ten these conversations go better than we expect. Remember, keep the focus on future behaviors and don't dwell too much on past actions. Keep it positive. Express your support of the employee and be done with it. Take the internal distraction, fix it, and get the energy and focus back on the customer.

Also, don’t forget to praise and thank all of your employees at the end of each day. It’s Showtime!

So let me ask, do you need to rock any boats?

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Assume a HUGE weekend

2011-12-07T09:57:07-05:00

Can you believe that after this weekend there is only one more full weekend until Christmas?

Every customer who comes into your store offers you the chance to connect, deliver a memorable experience, and win him/her as a customer with the biggest possible sale.

When I talk about making the biggest possible sale, I'm not saying that we should be pushy or try to sell people a bunch of stuff they don't need or want. What I am saying is that by maximizing the relationship you build with your customers, you can help them purchase more of your wonderful products for the people on their list.

Most salespeople believe that the outcome of a sale lies in the customer's motives and actions. I believe that our actions, and the language we use, influence sales as much as anything the customer thinks or does.

Let's go into the weekend assuming that if you use these three tips, you and your colleagues will have a HUGE weekend.

1. Assume that every customer is walking into your store to make a purchase. I know this sounds line a no-brainer, and I bring it up from time to time, but my own shopping experiences remind me that not everyone thinks this way. At 7:30 on Black Friday morning a sales clerk actually asked me if I was out shopping. I felt like responding, "No, I'm playing a round of golf and I think I sliced my shot into your store." Of course I'm out shopping!

And we want to go beyond that initial assumption. Don't just assume the customer is out shopping; assume the customer is walking into your store with his holiday list. With less than three weeks to go and the crowds only getting bigger every day, why wouldn't a customer be out buying?

If you're assuming that your customer is ready to buy more than he thinks he is, remind him of the benefits in buying now. (Shorter line, better selection, faster gift wrap, getting to work with you as their sales associate, etc.)

2. Use assumptive language to maximize your opportunity. Of course, this goes hand in hand with assuming the customer is coming into your store to buy for their list. Assumptive language conveys to your customer that you are ready to help her make a purchase, and helps her picture the people on her list receiving and using the gifts she gives. It also does the same if she is buying something for herself.

Try these key assumptive words:

Will - "You will really enjoy this" or "This will look beautiful on her."

When - "When he opens this" or "When she puts it on for the first time."

Use or Wear - "When you use this you'll be amazed at how well it works" or "When you wear this I'm sure you'll just love it." (Come to think of it, Love is another great assumptive word.)

3. Assume your customer will buy multiple products for multiple people on his list. As I've said many times, let the customer decide when he is done. Here are some examples of using assumptive language to continue the sale

"Here are the matching earrings" instead of "Would you like to see the matching earrings?"

"This smaller one is a perfect compliment to this one." instead of "If you're interested, there is a smaller version."

"Who else is on your list?" instead of "Will there be anything else?"

Remember, it's only rude if you keep showing the customer products when she says she is ready to leave. Give yourself a goal of allowing every customer to make the decision to go to the register.

So let me ask, are you ready for a wildly successful and assumptive weekend?

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Don't wait - create!

2011-11-29T17:36:19-05:00

On Monday I was in a store and asked a few employees who were standing around how business was. Well, I really wanted to ask why they were standing around talking among themselves, but I restrained myself. But I digress.

The employees said they had been pretty busy over the weekend, but now they were "just waiting to get busy again." I totally get it. The first full week of the holiday season is always a bit maddening. At times it doesn't even seem like it's the holiday, and then BAM you get slammed for a while. Then it's back to slow again.

You can approach the next couple of weeks in two different ways. You can wait for success or you can create it. Don't miss the opportunities that are before you because you're waiting for future opportunities to show up.

The slower periods offer an incredible opportunity to get to know your customers better and deliver an experience that is second to none. As matter of fact, these slower times should allow you to greatly increase your average sale and units per transaction.

When not with customers I would be on the phone or on email inviting customers to come into the store. Work off a short script that gives your customer three benefits to coming in soon.

1. During the early part of the holiday it is more relaxing to shop in the store.

2. You are able to spend more time helping them find the perfect gift and/or items for themselves.

3. More products are in stock. You especially want to share this if you have a gift with purchase that is in limited supply.

Don't wait for success to find you this holiday...create it!

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The leadership holiday effect

2011-11-23T08:21:30-05:00

There are several somewhat intangible staff attributes that separate the good from the great stores over the course of the holiday season. They aren't things we train on, but are the result of the leadership and the effect they have on his/her team.

These intangibles directly impact the customer's experience and, ultimately store results, in a positive or negative way. Here are some key intangible for your consideration.

Attitude

Well-led teams are excited about the upcoming holiday. They know that the next six weeks will be very busy and at times very tiring, but they're also eager to get started because they know how important Christmas is to a store's long-term profitability.

In other stores, the staff is dreading the holidays. They're talking about how difficult customers are, how the store hours stink, and everything else they believe is going to be bad about the holiday.

The attitude of the leader is the attitude of the team.

Beliefs

Well-led teams believe they control what happens this holiday. They don't dismiss how challenging the economy has been for a lot of people, but they also know they have the products and store experience that people will pay for.

Other teams are already preparing for failure. They've been told that customers prefer other stores so they just do the best they can. Unfortunately for them, when the bar is set so low the best isn't going to be good enough.

Staff beliefs come directly from the leader.

Energy

This may well be an outcome of attitude and beliefs, but customers can feel the energy and passion from a well-led team. Energized teams have a bounce in their step as they work the floor and enthusiastically welcome their customers into their store.

Not so for the other teams. Maybe they'll find it when the holiday crowds hit - but if they don't have the energy now I'm not sure they'll get it later.

The daily energy level of the leader sets the energy level for the team.

Focus

Well-led teams are laser focused on the customer. Their goal is to win every customer who walks in the door, maximize the opportunity, and extend the relationship by setting up the next visit. Everything else is secondary. The holiday is well underway in these stores.

Other teams are still waiting for the holiday customers and are juggling current customers with getting everything ready for the big day. They fail to see that every day is now the big day.

A team's focus is determined by the leader's expectations and own actions.

As a leader, all you have to do is look around to see what your attitude, beliefs, energy, and focus are. Your team is displaying them today. I hope you like what you see.

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Go BIG on your holiday events

2011-11-17T08:43:11-05:00

There are many reasons to host holiday events. They're great ways to drive your best customers into the store and best of all, most of them arrive intending to make a purchase. Events are going to be key for a lot of independent specialty retailers this holiday.

If you go BIG and follow these tips you'll not only deliver a better customer experience, you're also more likely to sell more, a lot more, at your event.

1. Go BIG - even overboard - with your event. I've been to a lot of store events in my life and the ones that stand out the most are the ones that exceeded my expectations at the time. If you're going to go to the hard work and expense of hosting an event for your customers, by all means spend the extra money to impress your guests.

Surprise people by taking your food and drink up a level. Use higher quality plates, utensils and serving pieces. Give out gifts and prizes that people will remember. Do something that you know will wow your guests. Although you may not see the extra effort and expense pay off at the event itself, the impression it makes on your customers will pay long-term dividends.

2. Make a BIG effort to get your best customers to the event. You can't leave the important subject of which customers attend your event up to chance. You need those top 10-25-50-100 customers to show up. You also want those customers who spent big at last year's event to come back this year.

Take time right now, before you get too busy, and create a customer wish list for your event. You know, the customers you want to attend. Right before the event these customers should be sent handwritten invitations and called. You may need to take an employee off the floor to do this, or bring in a temp. The owner or manager should consider personally calling the top five or ten customers on the wish list.

3. Go BIG on staffing by bringing people in for non-selling activities. This is especially important for holiday events. I once attended a men's night at a boutique where it seemed the staff was doing everything except selling. Use temporary staff such as family members and friends of the staff to serve food and drinks, gift wrap, and take care of any other non-selling activities. You want sales people selling BIG.

4. Offer BIG incentives for your staff the night of the event. Not only do you want sales people selling, you want them to maximize every customer opportunity. Consider having progressive payouts and prizes for higher levels of performance. If you can, make an even bigger impact by paying out the incentives at the end of the night.

5. Have a HUGE sales goals for your event. If you're going big with everything else, then you should be able to put up huge sales numbers at a holiday event. Aim high!

So let me ask, are you going BIG enough for your upcoming holiday events?

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Purposeful parties and events

2011-11-10T00:07:16-05:00

Last week one of our clients announced to their employees that the traditional holiday party will not be held this year. The employees were very disappointed. The annual event has long been a high point of the year because it brought families together together for an evening of food, drinks, and socializing.

The disappointment turned to excitement when the owner announced that the holiday party hasn't been completely cancelled, but will be replaced by a smaller scale event that will enable people to give back to their community.

The company is giving each employee a gift card to use to purchase holiday gifts for children in need. The employees, along with their families, will bring their purchases to a giftwrapping party held over consecutive nights at the company's office. The giftwrapping party will be catered and is shaping up to be a wonderful evening.

LOVE IT!

It's a holiday party with a purpose. Employees are still recognized for their contribution to the company, but at the same time the organization is able to give something to their community. It's a win/win that makes a difference, and in this particular instance it could spell the difference between a child having a present under the tree or not.

Whether you currently do something like this or not, it's a great reminder of the opportunities to touch more lives we have in our businesses. You also can't underestimate the impact this has on both employees and customers.

Here are a few more suggestions for ways to add more purpose to holiday parties and events:

* Donate a gift or make a contribution for every customer who shows up at a VIP or Wishlist event. This gesture could be the tipping point for a customer who is undecided about whether to attend or not.

* Ask customers to bring a gift or canned goods as the price of admission for an event. Even better, match the donation.

* Offer a gift card or discount for bringing in a gift or canned goods. This is a great way to start the sale. It's up to you and your team to finish it.

* Let customers vote on Facebook and/or in the store for your holiday charity.

* Partner with a local shelter or charity to create a Wishlist tree. Customers can purchase an ornament that helps a particular person or family in need, and those customers are invited to an exclusive evening or weekend holiday event.

So let me ask, how can you add more purpose to your parties and events?

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Looking for Love in all the right places

2011-11-02T08:23:57-04:00

In my last post I wrote that specialty retailers whose competitive advantage is their staff and the experience they deliver must have employees who Love their jobs.

The difference in the passion, energy and conviction of Love people compared to Like people impacts both the top and bottom lines.

How do you build a staff of people who Love their jobs? Consider these tips:

1. Be incredibly particular about why you hire someone. It starts right here. You can hire potentially good employees based on their past experience, or you can hire people who would truly Love to work for your company/store. You can teach product knowledge and selling skills, but you can't teach the passion and desire to be associated with your store(s). While candidates obviously need to possess some skills and attitudes, I'd be concerned about any applicant who doesn't convey their Love.

2. Show the Love to get the Love. I firmly believe that employees give their customers what they themselves receive from the company. One of my favorite sayings is, "You can't expect your employees to give service with a smile unless you first give them something to smile about." This is why employee recognition, appropriate rewards, a strong culture, and managers and owners simply saying thank you is so important.

3. Refuse to accept Unlike behavior. I think we can all agree that retail is not as easy as it may look to outsiders, and that it can be hard to be "on" every minute of the day. So while it's only natural that some employees might have a bit of an off day, we can't accept any employee demonstrating any behavior to customers or their peers that communicates they don't like their job or the products.

Too many managers/owners look or explain away such behavior by saying, "Oh, he's having a bad day." Well, that employee bad day may have just cost you a sale and a customer. Directly address any employee who has an Unlike day, and either turn around or remove the frequent Unliker.

4. Mirror the Love. Employees follow their leader's behavior. That's why it's called leading. If you want your staff to be Love people, not Like people, you must first demonstrate the Love. Do you engage customers with passion and energy? Do you unfailingly avoid any negative talk about customers and competitors? Do you demonstrate all the expected elements of the customer experience? Most important of all, do you Love what you do?

While I believe that a Like owner or manager can run a good store, I'm not sure that person can create a store staffed with employees who Love their jobs and deliver an experience customers Love, not just Like.

So let me ask, are you finding the Love people you need to be a wildly successful store?

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Like or Love?

2011-10-26T10:18:46-04:00

When a post is titled "Like or Love" you might think I am going to recommend that Facebook update the Like button. It would actually be interesting if they added a Love link next to the Like link, but that would require yet another new layout I'd get lost navigating. But I digress.

Like or Love. Most employees like working for certain companies or managers; some even love it. I think that's fine if you're a typical retailer who competes on price, promotion, or convenience.

It's not fine if you're a retailer whose competitive advantage is your staff and the in-store experience they deliver. Like doesn't get it done.

Think about the difference between two people telling you about a local restaurant. One of them really Likes the restaurant. They will tell you where it is, why they like it, and maybe recommend their favorite dish.

The person who Loves the restaurant will share the same information, but with more passion, energy, and conviction. They wouldn't be just telling you about the restaurant, they'd be selling it. The Like person would say try the shrimp, and the Love person will tell you that you HAVE to try the shrimp.

While you may or may not end up going to the restaurant, I believe the Love person gets you to make a decision on the spot. I'm sure the person who Loves the restaurant sends a lot more new customers to the restaurant than the person who merely Likes it.

Can you really staff a store with more Love than Like people? I don't think you have a choice if you're a specialty store that needs its people to sell with passion and conviction.

So how do you do that?

That's next week’s post. Today, I have a homework assignment for you. Okay, homework may bring back bad memories so let's call it a challenge.

As you go through your day today I want you to label every person you interact with in a work setting (either your work or theirs) as either a Like or a Love person.

Does the barista Like or Love their job?

Does the bank teller Like or Love their job?

Take a walk through a few of the stores at the mall or downtown and determine if the employees you meet are Love or Like associates. Big hint: If they don't engage you, they don't Love their job.

Look at your own team and determine the ratio of Like to Love.

And finally, look in the mirror. Is it a Live or a Love person looking back at you?

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Are you getting your additional 13%?

2011-10-19T20:44:47-04:00

The 2011 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer finds that 70% of American consumers are willing to spend an average of 13% more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service.

13%! That's up almost 50% over last year, when 58% of consumers said they would spend an average of 9%. So even more people are willing to spend even more money for excellent service.

Here's the news that's either good or bad, depending on the quality of your customer experience. Four in ten (42%) said companies are helpful but don't do anything extra to keep their business. And one in five (22%) think companies' take their business for granted.

The problem is that most retailers think about the experience, or talk about the experience, but don't have the discipline or leadership to actually deliver an excellent experience. It comes down to basic fundamentals delivered with every customer.

1. The customer is the only highest priority. Everything else comes second.

2. The staff is attentive and available.

3. The customer is acknowledged/welcomed upon entering the store.

4. The staff adds value to the customer's experience without pestering.

5. The staff is passionate about helping their customers make a purchase.

6. The staff is driven to meet, and attempts to exceed, their customer's expectations.

The key for specialty stores to maximize their opportunities is to execute those last three fundamentals extremely well. If that doesn't happen employees are either perceived by customers as annoying, or they miss sales.

Here's my challenge for you. Rate your store/company on a scale of 1-10 for each of the seven fundamentals, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. Take your lowest number and come up with two or three specific actions (things someone can see or hear) that each employee can take today to improve that fundamental.

So let me ask, are you getting that extra 13% from the 70% of customers who want that better experience? They don't give it to us....we have to earn it!

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Different ways to WOW your VIPs

2011-10-11T20:42:25-04:00

In my previous post I shared how to identify and leverage the three types of store VIPs. The three types of VIPs are:

* Top VIPs. These are the top 10-25 customers.

* Current VIPs. The top 50, 100, or 250 customers.

* Community VIPs. These are customers who are important to your store but not necessarily big spenders.

Here's different ways you can WOW your VIPs and maximize your relationship with them.

Private shopping hours. Offer your VIPs exclusive private shopping hours before the store opens. To increase the value, make the private shopping hours seem to be in limited supply.

First look events. Invite your VIPs to be the first to see and purchase new products at exclusive events. You'll be amazed at how special this makes your VIPs feel.

Limited product opportunities. Got a hot product that's limited supply? Don't put it on the floor for sale, call and offer them to a couple of your Top VIPs.

Breakfast with the designer or expert. Host a VIP breakfast before your next trunk show or event.

Dinner with the designer or expert. Invite a Top VIP to join you for dinner with the visiting designer or expert.

Birthday gifts. While recognizing every customer's birthday with a card and gift card is good business, you might consider sending a Top VIPs and select Current and Community VIPs a gift directly to their home. What a nice surprise!

Surprise and special occasion gifts. There are numerous opportunities to WOW a VIP - if you listen for them. For example, a customer who is shopping for something to wear for her anniversary could be sent a gift certificate to a local restaurant.

Follow-up thank you calls from the owner or manager. If you miss the chance to thank a VIP when he/she is in the store, why not call and say "thank you" for their business or visit?

A call or email about a new product you think might interest that customer. This is obviously a key action of clientele-ing. I always like to remind people that clientele-ing isn't keep a customer book....it's using a customer book!

Thank you card. While you probably want to send all of your customers a thank you card for a substantial purchase, send your Top and Select VIPs a thank you card for being your customer. You can also thank the Community VIPs for supporting your store.

So let me ask, did I miss something that you do to WOW your VIPs? Did you see something new you might try?

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Identifying and leveraging your VIPs

2011-10-05T19:02:29-04:00

Of course all of your customers are important to the success of your business, but your top customers are even more important. Let's call them your VIPs. There are three types of retail VIP customers.

One set of VIPs are customers who buy the most over a given time period. I like to measure spending over an 18-24 month period. This makes it easier to spot customers who are falling down or coming up the list. The number of VIP buyers you track depends on how big your business is. Most retailers track the top 50 to 100 per store.

I like to break the VIP buyers into two groups. The top 10-20 customers are my Top VIPs; the rest of the top 50-100 customers are my Current VIPs.

Another group of VIPs aren't actually big spenders but are still vital to a store's success. These are either loyal advocates who bring in a large number of new customers, or someone in the community we benefit from being associated with. Examples include someone famous, a political mover and shaker, and well-known businesspeople. Call this group your Community VIPs.

Most retailers have identified their Current VIPs but haven't necessarily segmented the Top VIPs or officially identified their Community VIPs. It's important to not simply identify your three different groups of VIPs, but to also to leverage each group.

Do you keep track of when a Current VIP last visited your store? Do you call or send a note or gift to your Top VIPs to invite them in to see the newest products? Are you making sure your Community VIPs are getting special invitations for key events?

Loyalty cuts both ways. The customer who spends a $2,000 a year deserves more of your attention and an even better experience than the one who spends $50 a year. As always, the goal is to WOW every customer, but elevate the WOW and personal service to an even higher level for the VIPs. This also enables us to create incremental visits and sales from our VIPs.

So let me ask, are your very important customers getting enough of your attention and a VIP experience?

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The 2011 holiday outlook for specialty stores

2011-09-28T13:13:52-04:00

With Black Friday just fifty-nine days away, it's time to take a look at this year's holiday predictions. Here are some recent headlines about the upcoming holiday.

Joyless Holiday Retail Forecast Wall Street Journal - Sep 21, 2011

Moderately healthy holiday sales forecast Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Sep 22, 2011

Holiday season may be a bah-humbug for retailers The Associated Press - Sep 21, 2011

Retailers Expect More Sales, Fewer Shoppers During Holidays KBOI - Sep 22, 2011

Forecasts point to modest holiday growth BusinessWeek - Sep 22, 2011

Holiday Apparel Sales Will Increase Despite Lower Foot Traffic Sporting Goods Intelligence - Sep 23, 2011

That cleared things up, right? What's funny is that these headlines are all based upon two different holiday predictions that have fairly similar outlooks.

And there's the key word: Outlook. I believe your holiday success will be determined more by your outlook than any national predictions. With a zero national market share, you have the ability to influence your results more than the outside influences driving the national predictions.

Here are three reasons I believe some specialty retailers will have a terrific holiday:

1. Deal fatigue and the experiential purchases. Although deal-of-the-day sites like Groupon and online shopping sites including Amazon have saved consumers a lot of money, they've also added a new level of stress to shopping. Of course shoppers want a deal, but they also want to enjoy shopping.

Most consumers will be looking for deals this holiday, but these same consumers also set aside part of their budget to shop with stores that deliver a stress- and deal-free memorable holiday experience. I 'll write more on this topic as we get closer to the holiday season, but as every year I'll be challenging you to create a unique and memorable in-store experience that differentiates you from the competition. This customer is going to appreciate it even more this year.

2. Focus on events. Almost every holiday report is predicting a decrease in store traffic. I'd say that's a pretty safe prediction, since that's already happening in most stores. Specialty retailers that can successfully use events to create incremental visits from their customer base won't be as affected by this trend. Even more important, these events are exactly the type of feel good holiday experiences at which consumers will make incremental purchases.

3. The staff's ability to deliver a great experience and create a sale. Ultimately, the stores with the right product and the best staff will be successful. WOWing customers while at the same time focusing on conversion and average sale will be essential to success. Frankly, most stores can't or won't do this. Now is the time to work with your staff so they're ready to maximize every customer opportunity this holiday season.

One of my favorite sayings is, "Optimists are right. So are pessimists. It's your choice." Forget the national predictions...let's make our own.

Here's my headline prediction:

Select specialty stores to have a very successful holiday Retail Contrarian - Sep 27, 2011

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The 3 P's of the Engagement

2011-09-21T06:20:54-04:00

One of the differences between average and extraordinary specialty retail associates is the ability to comfortably and effectively engage the customer. No, I'm not talking about the person who walks up and asks how they can help someone. I'm talking about the associate who can create an immediate and effective relationship with a customer.

These are the three P's of Customer Engagement that extraordinary associates execute so well:

1. They are Personable - They're comfortable approaching and addressing customers. It doesn't matter if the associate's personal style is energetic or laid back; they're friendly, outgoing, and good conversationalists.

I've never forgotten the time I realized I'd made a mistake in hiring someone. When, after this woman been with us for about two months, I pulled her aside to discuss her performance she told me that she hated talking to people. When I asked her why she worked in retail she said that even though she hated it, it paid well. Needless to say, she did not remain our employ very long after this conversation. Extraordinary associates like talking with people.

One thing I hear from time to time is that associates don't believe they can "be themselves" when asked to work within a structured approach to engaging the customer. I don't agree. I see a structured approach as critical to a specialty retailer's success. To me, such an approach is a roadmap. Not a script. It guides the associate through the expected customer experience outcomes, but he/she is still at the wheel. Structure should have no bearing on how personable someone is with a customer.

2. They make it Personal - Unlike associates who approach all customers the same way, extraordinary associates relate individually to each customer. They are truly interested in the person they are engaging. They know that the more personal the experience, the more productive their time spent with the customer will be. Even that is not quite enough, though. Extraordinary associates seem to enjoy that personal connection as much as the customer does. They create a relationship. It's no wonder that these are the same employees customers come back and ask for time and time again.

3. They engage with Purpose - Every conversation with a customer should be undertaken with purpose and a desired result in mind. Consider the initial small talk when a customer first enters the store. That initial non-sales related conversation helps breaks down barriers that naturally exist between customers and retail associates. It's almost like a verbal decompression that needs to happen before the customer and associate relationship to form. Many retail associates skip this small but important step and as a result they struggle to initially engage the customer.

Extraordinary associates use the initial small talk to begin learning about the customer. They can discover if it is the first time the person has been in the store, what they might already own, the occasion that brings them out shopping, their name, and on and on. If a sale takes one hundred steps, they're ten steps closer after that initial conversation. (By the way, that's a metaphor and not an endorsement for 100 steps to a sale.)

Every question is asked for a reason. Every answer from the customer is used to determine either another question or a comment. It's also used to determine which product or products to show the customer. It's almost like a chess game - except both the customer and the employee are on the same team.

As you work with customers ask yourself if you are nailing the three Ps - being Personable, Personal, and Purposeful. If you are, you're sure to add another two Ps - Productive and Profitable!

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How to build a more effective team

2011-09-14T06:17:50-04:00

The quality of your employee's work experience has a direct impact on the quality of your customer's experience. Give me five minutes shopping in a store and I can usually tell you how the staff feels about working there.

One of the key drivers of the employee experience is how the staff feels about their colleagues. That's why teamwork at the store level is such a vital component of a store's success. When a staff works well together and feels proud to be part of the team, and is lead by a customer-focused leader, the quality of both the employee and customer experience is superior to that of a weaker team.

The key to effective teamwork is leadership. It's leadership that makes teamwork an expectation. It's leadership that holds people accountable to contribute to the betterment of the team. It's leadership that is able to take a group of individuals and make them one.

To that end, here are four actions that will create a more effective team. You'll see that the list doesn't include a ropes course, walking over hot coals, or any other popular "team building" activities. It's the day-to-day actions we take that truly determine a team's success.

1. Stop drama in its place. Nothing tears apart a team more quickly - or more quietly - than drama. If people are complaining about someone, address it immediately. If two people aren't getting along, sit them down together and put a stop to it. I find two words are very effective for dealing with drama: STOP IT.

2. Regularly communicate your assessment of your team's teamwork. Share what you see are the strengths and areas of improvement needed in teamwork. The more you talk about your teamwork, the better it will be.

3. Don't enable poor performance and unacceptable behavior. Teams begin to splinter when the majority feels that one or more individuals aren't contributing to the team. Most employees can look past someone who is struggling in their role. What they can't accept is when those employees are allowed to continue to underperform, or act in a way that negatively impacts the others.

Of course you obviously can't discuss how you're working with/coaching one employee with the rest of the team, the team should be able to see that you're working with that person to create a stronger and more effective team.

4. Recognize and celebrate effective teamwork, behaviors, and results. It's important to not only encourage teamwork from your staff, but to recognize and celebrate it when you see it. Just as we coach individuals, be sure to call out the behaviors and actions you saw and heard that created the effective teamwork. Sometimes leaders label a successful day as "good teamwork" without being specific about why the teamwork was good, but the more we recognize positive behaviors and actions the more likely they are to be repeated.

So let me ask, how are you doing in building a more effective team?

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