Posted by retailmakeover on June 24, 2011 0 Comments
If it doesn't make sense to hire a greeter for your store, rotate these duties to all your staff.
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This descriptor will give you an idea what the greeter 's job is.
Click for a copy of a Store Greeter job description.
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on June 23, 2011 0 Comments
I think greeters are a good idea and want all of you to start testing greeters in your store asap.
"We create this friendly, but non-threatening environment by greeting the customer warmly and personable, not mechanically.
A feigned, half-hearted or forced smile is a dead giveaway to the entering customer that you rather they would go away and not bother you. Customers entering the store may be in a hurry, themselves preoccupied or even in a bad mood. The greeter's job is to change that customer's mindset, if only for a moment, by eliciting from them a responsive smile to that of the greeter. I will venture that you too have experienced this. You fly through the door of a store, stressed and anxious from being behind schedule and having three more stops to make on your way home, when suddenly you are arrested by the warm smile and genuine "hello" of an unknown individual adding to your life a much needed ray of sunshine at that moment."
Article I found on this subject. It's by John Di Frances who is an internationally recognized
expert on Strategic Business Issues. Click to download a PDF copy.
Send me pictures of your store greeter and I'll post them on my blog.
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on June 22, 2011 0 Comments
Inevitably, the customer will answer ,"No thanks, I'm just looking" and end the conversation. Instead, instruct salespeople to ask, 
"Hi, have you been in our store before?" If they say no, the answer should be "Let me show you around." If they say yes, the response should be, "Welcome back, let me show you a couple of new things we just got in." That way, you don't give them an opportunity to say they want to be left alone. Role play these ideas with your staff today. Watch what a difference it makes.
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on June 21, 2011 0 Comments
Is there room for improvement in your store? There is always room!
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If 30 people come in your store today, and you sell only to 15 people, that means only 50% of the customers that came in made a purchase. You can barely pay the bills with that conversion rate. You spend a lot of money to try and get new, and existing, customers to come into your store; start selling to more of them.
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on June 20, 2011 0 Comments
"Retailers too often focus on increasing the volume of shoppers they bring into their stores when they should be paying more attention to the results obtained from shoppers already in the store. The customers on the premises are a lot more likely to buy something than those outside the doors."
Start counting!
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on June 17, 2011 0 Comments
"Timing is key, give yourself at least a few weeks in advance for some prep time. You will use this time to get some flyers, and advertising materials that will best showcase your promotion. Think about what kind of sale you will be running as well as what is within your budget. Will you be offering food etc.? Will you be giving out prizes? Will you hold a raffle and so on.
Spread the word out! Every single customer , every single day leading up to the promotion. Consistency will help, let your customers know that there will be a sale, tell them the date, and hand them a flyer. Create a sense of urgency, let them know this sales does not happen often, this gives the event a sense of exclusivity. Tell your customers to bring a friend. Let them know if there will be free stuff (food, prizes, gift certificates, etc) people love free stuff. This is a great time to e mail your customers and let them know you will be holding this sale.
Spread the word like your life depended on it, be excited, this vibe will transfer well to your customers.
On the day of the big event or time frame , decorate your store accordingly, get balloons, streamers, and crank up the music. To keep your customers coming back create small goody bags, these can contain flyers, samples, advertising materials from other businesses near by, and the golden item that will have them coming back is give out free gift certificates. They don't have to be a high amount, just enough to get them to come back and buy, buy, buy."
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on June 16, 2011 0 Comments
- Getting a person's email address and cell phone number allows you to recontact them directly and inexpensively through email, text messages and calls. You can send them email newsletters, alerts about sales and invitations to events.
- If you have their mailing address, you can send them direct mail postcards, letters, brochures, catalogs.
- If you know what they've purchased, you can recognize what other products/services you offer that they don't buy that would be relevant to tell them about. This is called cross selling.
- If you know what and when they last purchased, you can anticipate when they might be ready to purchase again and proactively send them information at the right time to make it easy for them to place their order or come in again.
- If you know if they are married or have kids, you can identify other members in the family who you could sell to.
- You can isolate prospects and nurture those new business leads.
- You can also use this information to identify your most profitable customers to give them VIP service; your new customers to nurture them until they become loyal; your steady customers who always buy the same thing (to try to get them to buy other products/services); the customers you wish you didn't have because they don't pay or don't pay on time or are cause a lot of angst whenever anyone has to deal with them (so you don't spend any money sending them any marketing or promotional offers). You get the idea. You can customize and tailor your marketing messages to be most relevant.
- You can also track and measure your marketing to know what works and what doesn't.
" We'd like to stay in touch and keep you up-to-date with our events and special promotions. Can we have your email address and/or Twitter account, or are you on Facebook?"
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on June 15, 2011 0 Comments
Main Job Tasks and Responsibilities:
- manage and coordinate all marketing, advertising and staff related activities
- develop yearly promotional calendar alined with sales goals
- conduct market research to determine market requirements for existing and future products
- analysis of customer research, current market conditions and competitor information
- manage the productivity of the marketing plans and projects
- monitor and review all marketing activity and results
- determine and manage the marketing budget
- develop an on line strategy
- create and develop social media strategy
- create and develop monthly e-news blast
[caption id="attachment_779" align="aligncenter" width="358" caption="The Apprentice"]
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Have a look at Donald Trumps' Bio
Please arrange to spend 4 to 8 hours a week on marketing activities that:
- Increase the number of times current customers come into your store. You pick - once a day, once a week, once a month, every two months, every three months, and so on... You really get a say here. You can change your customers shopping patterns.
- An all out focus on new people being aware of your store and coming in for a visit. Every business needs to feed their base with NEW customers.
Remember: Awareness = Traffic = Sales
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on June 14, 2011 0 Comments
If you are looking for ways to differentiate yourself from your competition, keep reading.
You build your business 1 client at a time, 1 interaction at a time, and 1 sale at a time; it's the 1:1:1 rule. It’s no secret that the customer experience is responsible for Apple outperforming many other retailers in, and out of category.
I recently visited an Apple store where I bought my new IPAD2; here are the several things that stood out for me in the customer experience department:
- Greet your customers when they walk in the door. It's simple, not rocket science and goes a long way to make people feel at ease and welcome.
- Train your staff to deliver best customer service. You set the bar, and then train your staff to take ownership and deliver the customer experience. (Visit Barb's Sales Training Classes)
- Go the extra mile; keep in touch with your customers, develop that relationship, and bring them closer to you. Invite your customer to be part of your monthly newsletter. Share you expertise, your product knowledge, and promotional activity.
- No misunderstanding about roles; the retailer services and sells products, consumers come into a retail location open to buy.
Have a look at the Apple Store, Covent Garden, be impressed.
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on June 13, 2011 0 Comments
Why Display is Important to your Retail Business:
- Over stimulated customer, and there are a lot of us around these days, need things made easy. Good displays make an easier shop with products presented in a unified way.
- First Impressions. You don’t get a second chance here. Displays that are done right support your brand image and what you are all about as a retailer.
- Competition. There’s a lot out there. Be the retailer everyone else talks about. Make a commitment to have great displays thru out your store.
- Entertainment. We want to be entertained as consumers. Display can be one way to bring a smile with whimsy or something a little out of the norm. Be the retailer to offer displays that entertain.
- Educate the customer. Effective display can teach on so many levels. Best example of this - displaying the newest products in the hottest colors. May be your a retailer that believes in being Eco friendly? Your displays show product from this important area. And so on.
- Makes shopping easy. Having good display in each department of your store will help better traffic flow. Better traffic flow gets consumers seeing more of your merchandise and staying in your store that magic 7 minutes - when they start to make more buying decisions.
- Multiple sales. Magical words to retailers.
- Best use of space. Rents are going thru the roof these days. Commit to better displays you’ll be glad you did. You will see a dramatic increase in traffic and sales.
LEARN what you need to know to design displays that sell.
Barbara
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