People Power - October 2010

By Scott Humphrey

As we enter what all hope will be—and many desperately need to be—a successful fall selling season, it’s a great time to consider whether your store is set up for retail success. Historically, the months after Labor Day and the kids’ return to school are a prime time for redecorating the old home place. While traveling in San Francisco recently, I had the opportunity to put myself in the shoes of the average flooring retailer. As I have done in the fall of previous years, I want to share some of the strategies that successful retailers are using to grow in this challenging economic climate, including ideas on how to make a retail environment stand out.

Refresh the in-store environment—Assume that you have invited someone very special to your home. You anxiously await their arrival and look forward to entertaining and spending time with them. You want them to feel comfortable and special while they are with you. How would you want your home to look? Cluttered? In disarray? Dirty? Why should welcoming someone into your business be any different? Create an environment in your store that you and your customers will look forward to entering.

Have you ever been to someone’s home and the environment made you uncomfortable? This likely changed your perception of that individual. If so, you understand that you can alter the mindset of your customer by changing the environment they enter. A clean fresh environment creates an impression of organization and professionalism.

Hint: Tap into the resources available from your product partners, including signage and point of purchase materials for an inexpensive way to update the interior and exterior of your store.

Make certain that your store is appropriately staffed—People buy from people. Though there are many things that may determine if someone shops in your store, nothing has a greater impact on whether they actually buy from you than the professionals they interact with while they are there. You need a staff that is consumer friendly and highly motivated, not interested in only making the sale but also in meeting the needs of the customer. Because of the challenges of today’s economy, there are many qualified hires available. Seek out individuals with a service background, like teachers, waiters and waitresses, or those with previous retail experience.

Hint: You can provide the knowledge to get your employees up to speed, but you can’t train someone to like people or to want to meet the customer’s needs.

Make sure staff is well trained to handle the questions of Ms. Consumer—Training is often cut first when the economy goes south. This is unfortunate and unnecessary. In the floorcovering industry, there are numerous resources to pull from; in fact, several flooring manufacturers currently rank in the top 100 of Training Magazine’s top training organizations. In addition, there are manufacturer’s representatives who are highly qualified in product knowledge and will make themselves available to train your retail sales associates at no cost. You can create a stronger partnership and a win/win by utilizing their knowledge with your people. The manufacturing reps win by increasing their credibility and creating confidence with your team. You win by receiving information and training from a highly competent professional who is vested in your customer’s product knowledge. Be careful only to select those reps you respect to train your employees.

Hint: You don’t receive because you don’t ask. Don’t assume that training is unavailable or that you can’t afford it until you research the expertise you currently have available to you through your product providers.

Advertise in a manner that produces results in your market—I was surprised in my recent travels at the response I received to the question, “How do you advertise?” The consistent answer was “word of mouth.” I understand that retailers like to build on relationships that they have already established, and it is imperative to have a good reputation in the community. But there are some drawbacks to a word-of-mouth-only approach. The main disadvantage is that word of mouth rarely translates generationally. The people that bought from you ten years ago are likely not reaching the consumers of the younger generation.

While change is difficult, it makes no sense to continue doing what you have always done when the environment within which you are doing it has changed. Is the economy the same as it was ten years ago? Of course it’s not. So why would you use the same means to reach consumers? Find out how other retailers are having advertising success and replicate it.

Hint: Research less expensive advertising options like web advertising and movie theater advertising.

Utilize the web—Research shows that some 70% of consumers research flooring on the web before going into a physical location. What does your web presence say about you? Would it make you want to shop in your store? The web is here to stay. Not being comfortable with technology is no longer an option. Your web presence is one of the most economical investments you can make. Numerous providers within the industry, including manufacturers, can help host your website.

Hint: Look for a provider that can also offer cataloging capability. This allows the online consumer to see visuals of your in-store products before coming to your physical location. Some providers will automatically update your online catalogue every time a new product is added to your price sheet.

Simplify the process—Consumers have choices, and, in the end, they like to go where shopping is easy. Anything you can do to simplify the process, to eliminate the guess work, and to create confidence in the buying decision will ultimately solidify your opportunity do business with any consumer.

Hint: There is no better way to create positive word-of-mouth advertising than to simplify the process of doing business with you.

I hope that these hints will encourage you to make any necessary changes in your retail environment. Though there may be some time, effort and cost involved in enhancing the retail experience for your customers, the cost of not changing, while your competition does, is even greater. Here’s wishing you a great fall selling season!

Print the Article