The
Business Owners' Dilemma
You spend a great deal of time, energy & money on the
positioning & imaging of your business. From your unique
selling proposition to your logo, promotional materials, appearance
& placement of every component of your business in-store and
on-line; no details are overlooked. You understand that you
don't get a 2nd chance to make a
1st impression.
However, are you aware of what potential customers
are feeling when they come into
contact with your brand or walking into your store? Not what
you'd like them to feel, what they actually
experience?
Real
Experiences in Retail...
Here are some recent observations.
:( A national moving company that has not returned
my calls twice.
:O An auto parts store that when open on Sunday, told me
to come back tomorrow to order a part. When I told them I
would prepay now and they could order the part when the
supplier was open tomorrow, they claimed it would be better
come back tomorrow. "We can be pretty forgetful around here"
was the explanation.
:) A grocery store bagger who asked my name and
thanked me for shopping at the store.
:)) A local garage that told my repairs required by
another garage were not needed.
The last 2 experiences I tweeted about with specific mention
to Sobeys and Trail
Tire. Fighting my emotions, I didn't tweet
about the 1st two because I wanted to stay
positive. However, not everyone feels that way on social
media. They do have a right to express their opinion as
social media has enabled word of
mouth to become word on
keyboard.
Ouch! That hurts really
bad...
Now imagine if you were the owners of the
1st two businesses. Every effort you've made
to market your company and put your best foot forward ends in
disaster. You have made me proactive all right; Proactive to
tell as many people as possible to run away from your
business. You can easily discourage customers from
doing business with you ...it's simple, just go do it without
spending time, effort and money ;)
Your
product is the EXPERIENCE of buying your product
Compete with other business product to product and you wage war
on the price point front. Someone always loses that
battle. When you understand that
the experience of buying the
product is what your business should be focused on,
you compete against
yourself and can actually charge a
small premium. If I
really like your product and your staff, I might pay a little bit
more, repeat my purchase and tell my friends of family about your
business. Then I might use social media to spread the
word. I am your most powerful salesperson, capable
of being a great advocate & I'm not even on your
payroll.
OK, What
should I do?
Monitor Social Media. Yes, you
have to. No more denial. Procrastinating about social
media is like disregarding what people think about your
business. In the case of the 2 great experiences I had at
Sobeys and Trail Tire, they weren't aware of them. If they
were, they would've thanked me & retweeted my message.
That's a missed opportunity on a massive scale. Last week,
one of my tweets had a reach of 565,364 people. It continues
to grow because of it continues to be retweeted in the
Twitterverse. That's powerful stuff...
Walk your Sales Floor. I'm
not suggesting that you berate your staff for every little thing
they say to a customer. Listen to the conversations that your
salespeople are having with customers. Robert Kiyosaki said
it well "Communication is not what is said or written, but what is
heard and received." Train your staff to become better at
their sales skills. Invest in them and they will invest in
you.
Hire a secret shopper or ask trusted people to shop
you regularly. We are not trying to be the
Secret Service - we are trying to ensure that we capitalize on
every person who walks through the front door. Not sell them,
close them or break their legs. Help them buy for emotional
and logical reasons.
Following these basic guidelines should help you ensure that you
practice the art of Business
Convergence. It means that the branding &
imaging you transmit is the actual
experience customers have with
you.
I always welcome your comments & encourage you to subscribe
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BLOG. It can arrive in your inbox conveniently
& serve as a means of free education & insight.
Thanks for reading!
Dave Warawa - PROSALESGUY
TRAINING