How to Turn Non-Customers into Customers

By Kizer and Bender

 Sometimes, you just have to go back to the basics and take another look at how you are doing business. Our world has changed; customers have plenty of choices when it comes to buying what you sell. Customers themselves have changed: different generations want different things. And Gen Y and Gen Z are dragging some retailers kicking and screaming into using new technologies. But make no mistake, you will have to adapt to these new ways of doing business.

 

We get lots of questions these days about how to conduct business. Is there a new etiquette? The answer to that question is yes. And no. Consistently great customer service is still great customer service but it’s not always enough. Let’s take a look at three of the challenges and opportunities facing retailers today:

 

“Do I have to repair or service products that people purchase elsewhere?”

 

The easy answer is, you don’t have to, but if you want to stay in business you need to serve the people who need your help.

 

It costs up to five times as much to get a new customer than it does to keep an old one happy. Think about that for a moment. If a potential new customer comes to your store seeking help, help her. You didn’t get his first sale, so don’t miss the second. If you turn her away, you are not only walking potential sales, you are hurting your store’s reputation and potentially creating harmful word of mouth.  Who wants to be known as the store that isn’t willing to help?

 

It’s fair to charge for your services, just smile and explain your policy. Hang a sign in your store that politely tells these potential customers what you can do for them, and what it will cost. Then get to work turning them into lifelong fans of your store.

 

“What about customers who buy online or from another retailer and come to me for advice on how to use the product?”

 

This is an age old dilemma facing all retailers. We’ve met retailers who are openly hostile with customers like this who have the audacity to ask for their help. And we’ve met retailers who embrace the opportunity to get their future business. Think outside of the box! We know a scrapbook retailer who was getting killed on Cricut machines – everyone wanted them, but the big boxes were selling them for less than her cost. So she got creative and started a series of Cricut training classes, and people lined up to attend. At the end of each class, she gave attendees a coupon they could use for future purchases in her store.

 

So, offer classes and invite these customers to attend. Host in-store clinics where you teach the basics. And sell private lesson packages. Hang a sign in the window, and on the sales floor, that reads something like this, “It’s one thing to have a new toy, it quite another to know how much fun it can be when you know how to use it properly. We’re here to help!” Add this message to your website and social medias. Get the word out that your store is the Go-To store!

 

“Browsers drive me crazy. I need buyers.”

Questions like this make us scratch our heads, wondering why the person who asked it ever got into retailing.

There’s a home décor store not too far from where Georganne lives, and she and the owner have become friends. It’s a fun place to go and get ideas and to dream about changing or updating your home. Georganne used to go there a lot, and over the years she made many purchases, but then she stopped going there because the owner got snotty when she did not buy. Here’s the thing: Your store has an ambiance that customers can feel when they enter the front door. This ambiance comes directly from the owners or managers personality. In other words, if you’re not happy, customers can feel it.

 

Once a shopper enters your store there is a world of possibility to turn them into buyers. Show them around, if they don’t buy this time how they are treated will determine if they come back. Sign them up for your newsletter and email blasts. Tell them about events and promotions, offer ideas, and invite them to hang with you on social media. You know the drill!

 

To view original article: http://www.retailadventuresblog.com/2015/04/how-to-turn-non-customers-into-customers.html?view=magazine

To View Original Website : http://www.kizerandbender.com/

To View Kizer and Bender's Bio:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U5HAdsik2dzbykqW4LtIehOanBXmTa3t_BKy2PO6fLI/edit?usp=sharing

What devices are shoppers choosing when they shop online?

Last year (2014) was a historic year for mobile. For the first time, according to a number of sources, access to digital content via mobile devices overtook access via "fixed assets" — desktop and laptop devices.

While the use of tablets and smartphones has skyrocketed in recent years, the big quandary for marketers has been figuring out why it's taking so long for mobile buying behavior to follow suit. Certainly, mobile shopping is not accelerating at the same rate as general digital media, but according to a study conducted by Bronto and Ipsos, the device preferences of online U.S. shoppers is indeed evolving — and the trends reveal clues as to the future of mobile shopping and buying.

In the early 2015 study, online shoppers were asked about the devices they own and how they use them, with results broken out by gender, age and U.S. region.

Overall, in terms of device ownership, desktop and laptop computers continue to be most prevalent in the homes of online shoppers. And yet desktop and laptop ownership declined by 4 percent and 2 percent respectively year-over-year. Meanwhile, in 2015, both tablets and smartphones breached the 50 percent ownership threshold for the first time. Smartphone ownership jumped 12 percent from the previous year and tablet ownership grew 13 percent.

For many marketers, the most useful findings from the study may relate to the contrasts in ownership and usage by age group.

In terms of ownership, laptops are clearly the most prevalent device for shoppers under 65, while those 65 and older favor desktops (72 percent own them), with laptops close behind (63 percent). After laptops, the next most owned device for shoppers under 40 is a smartphone. In fact, in the 18-29 age group, 77 percent own smartphones compared with 43 percent of seniors.

And yet the 65 and older set are by no means resisting the mobile movement. The number of seniors who say they own tablets jumped from 35 percent in 2014 to 41 percent this year, and smartphones went from 26 percent ownership to 43 percent.

The sweeping behavioral changes brought about by mobile tech, however, have not yet carried through to the shopping and buying habits of U.S. consumers. According to the study, laptops and desktops are still strongly preferred as the primary device for shopping and buying across all ages.
Overall, 63 percent of those surveyed prefer to buy with desktops and 62 percent prefer laptops. That contrasts with just 10 percent for smartphones and 7 percent for tablets.

Smartphone and tablet preferences, understandably, are strongest for those under 40, with smartphones the more commonly used of the two. Twenty-three percent of online shoppers ages 18-29 prefer shopping on a smartphone, and one in five prefer shopping on a tablet.

  

Although the migration to mobile shopping and buying may seem glacially slow to marketers, it appears inevitable. As generations, young and old, integrate mobile into every aspect of their lives, seamless mobile shopping is becoming an expectation. As mobile payment methods gain adoption and designers optimize the mobile user experience, mobile shopping and buying stats will no doubt catch up with device ownership. The writing is on the wall.

To View Original Article: http://www.retailwire.com/tip/1365/what-devices-are-shoppers-choosing-when-they-shop-online

KIZER & BENDER Interview: What’s Happening in Retail Store Layouts

By Kizer & Bender

Guess What’s Changing in Retail Store Layouts?

Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender are professional speakers, retail strategists, authors and consultants whose client list reads like a “Who’s Who” in business. Companies internationally depend upon them for timely advice on consumers and the changing retail market place. KIZER & BENDER are experts on generational diversity, consumer trends, marketing and promotion, and everything retail. They are widely referred to as consumer anthropologists because they stalk and study that most elusive of mammals: today’s consumer.

MANTHAN: What are you seeing as a new or recent trend in store displays?

KIZER& BENDER: Customers today have more shopping choices than ever before so if the sales floor doesn’t stack up to their expectations they just go somewhere else. Retailers are realizing that a trip to the store is more than a just trip to the store: it’s an interactive and fun experience. Displays are well thought out so they are irresistible; products are cross-merchandised so that shoppers pick up more than one item. Product is placed in specific locations and fixtures are set so that shoppers don’t miss a thing.

MANTHAN: What key questions does a retail store planner need to ask themselves in order to choose the right store layout?

KIZER& BENDER: Store planners definitely need to know the demographic and psychographics of the store’s customers. They must be familiar with the shopping experience the store’s competition has to offer. Every retailer, large and small, chain and independent, has a brand message. The planner must understand this message; it needs to be visible in the décor and signing throughout that sales floor, exterior, etc. The layout should also reflect what customers expect to find once they enter the front door: plush carpeting, soft lighting, and classical music, for example, won’t cut it in a sporting goods store.

When we do a remodel or a makeover we spend time standing and watching shoppers: where do they naturally go, where do they linger, and what do they avoid? Which displays encourage them to pick up product? We document the behaviors shoppers’ exhibit and use this information in choosing which type of layout to use for that store’s unique foot print.

MANTHAN: What would be your best "freebie advice" for retailers looking to improve their in-store experience?

KIZER& BENDER: Do our “V and the Vista Exercise”: Stand inside your front door just beyond the Decompression Zone (about 5’ inside the store) and spread your arms out at shoulder height with your index fingers extended. What’s inside the V your arms make is called is the Vista – the area that builds a shopper’s first impression of your store. The space inside the Vista needs to be clean, uncluttered and full of not-to-be-missed product. This is where you should place your Speed Bump displays.

The V will help you find your store’s Power Walls. Follow your nose down your right arm to the tip of your right index finger: the wall you are looking at is your front right Power Wall; the most important selling wall in the store – that’s because 90% of shoppers will enter your store and look or turn to the right. We call this wall and the sales floor at the front right lake front property. Use it to feature new, hot and happening product.

Now, follow your nose down your left arm to the tip of your left index finger. This left front Power Wall is also important, display it with as much thought and care as your right front Power Wall. It’s what people see when they make a loop around your sales floor. Like Speed Bump displays, Power Walls need to be changed frequently.  At least once a quarter.

MANTHAN: What kind of in-store technologies are you seeing gain more popularity?

KIZER& BENDER: We are seeing all sorts of retailers utilizing promotional videos that highlight the store set strategically throughout the sales floor. And because 70% of purchase decisions are made on site, we’re seeing iPads used as interactive signing. The iPads allow shoppers access to what’s available from the retailer online, find ideas for product usage, and more. iBeams that interact with a retailer’s app that’s installed on a customer’s smartphones are gaining popularity.

MANTHAN: How much does data and analysis help in influencing store layout and display?

KIZER& BENDER: There is so much information available to retailers today, including how time is spent by customers in the store, purchase behaviors, flow tracking, merchandise turn rates, financial statics and analyses, and so much more. Here’s the thing: All of the data garnered should serve as a guide to layout and display, but the retailer cannot rely just on data analysis alone. Retail is a science but it’s also an art. Retailers need to spend time on the sales floor doing cycle counts, tweaking displays that aren’t reaching full potential, and observing customers and their shopping habits.

To View Original Article: http://www.retailadventuresblog.com/2015/09/kizer-bender-interview-whats-happening.html

To View Original Website: http://www.kizerandbender.com/

To View Kizer and Bender's Bio:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U5HAdsik2dzbykqW4LtIehOanBXmTa3t_BKy2PO6fLI/edit?usp=sharing

Last Chance to Register for Go Beyond the Sale Webinar 7.23.15

 

Turn your Paper Receipts into Social Shares

Customers who use digital receipts spend up to 40 percent more than those who only want paper receipts. Join One Step Retail and flexReceipts, Retail Pro’s exclusive partner of enriched digital receipts for a primer on electronic receipts. Learn how this post-transaction marketing opportunity is far more than a mere paper replacement.

Register today: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5807517431395293441

5 Customer Engagement Best Practices That Will Dramatically Boost Your Business

by: Kathy Caprino

We can find a hundred articles a day online today about “customer engagement” but to me, a good deal of it sounds like lip service – slick advice about how to appear deeply interested in and connected to your customer, and how to “convince” (dare I say “trick”) customers into thinking you really care. “In reality, says Zendesk’s Founder and CEO Mikkel Svane, “many organizations still view customer service as a cost center that is an unfortunate necessity.”

I was intrigued to learn about Svane’s new book, Startupland: How Three Guys Risked Everything to Turn an Idea into a Global Business that shares the real-life story of how he and two thirty-something Danish friends started a company in the kitchen of a Copenhagen loft. It’s a modern “making it in Silicon Valley story” that will resonate with founders just getting started to serial entrepreneurs with similar battle scars. It’s a story of people who pursued their dream—and who against a lot of odds had a chance to live it. It’s also a story about growing up—and how balancing vulnerability and curiosity isn’t always easy. Now, Zendesk is an 800-person company based in San Francisco that has made a significant impact on the customer service industry in just seven years, with over 45,000 clients in 140 countries.

Mikkel Svane Photo Courtesy of Zendesk

Svane shares this:
“You often hear this advice heading into marriage: don’t stop working at making the relationship better, and don’t ever take the other person for granted. Learning how to build a great customer relationship is not that different from learning how to build meaningful relationships in our personal lives. The sooner we are able to understand that we are not the center of the universe, and that it is a privilege for us to be in the lives of our customers, the better our company will do.

In my new book Startupland, I chronicle our entrepreneurial journey from three guys in a Copenhagen loft to launching and building Zendesk, a global cloud-based customer service platform. It’s a very personal story about how we started in the early days, but most importantly, it’s about all the relationships that shaped us along the way. These experiences have deeply impacted our company culture and values and how we interact with our customers on a daily basis.

Along this journey, we learned some great tips on how to build better relationships with customers. Here are five of my own customer engagement secrets to help improve your business.”

Svane’s five customer engagement best practices are:

Consider the entire customer experience.

Customers have a much better memory than companies do. The better you are at putting yourself in their shoes and having empathy to see what the entire customer journey looked like for them, the more successful you will be. The customer who was extremely excited and waited in line for hours to buy the new iPhone is the same person who tweets and blogs about it when it breaks. Those two moments are connected, and you must connect the dots.

 

Tip: Did you get an angry email with a customer wanting a return on something? Have your customer service team browse the customer’s public social channels back a few weeks or months to get an idea for their “entire experience.” Maybe they were a brand evangelist just three months ago, or the purchase was a birthday present for their child. It is important to know the context outside of the initial complaint and to understand the entire relationship of a customer to your company.

Recognize the right relationships and adapt.
Not every relationship is created equal. Some friends are great to meet up with at the bars, others are lifelong friends you keep in touch with despite differing geographies, and others simply wave when you pass by. The goal is to have the right relationship with each individual – and being able to speak to each person in a language that resonates with them. This requires becoming skilled at reading people. Figure out how to accept and improve the relationships you have, and say “no” when a customer relationship is unhealthy.

Tip: Ever heard of the book, The 5 Love Languages? The New York Times bestseller posited that people give and receive love in different languages, and that it’s all about making sure two people are speaking the right languages to each other. Although the book is meant for personal relationships, it’s a great concept you can apply to customer relationship building. Each customer is unique and can feel “loved” in different ways. Does one customer care more about the tone to which they are spoken? Or another care less about tone and more about a quick solution? Think about what these categories are and how you can speak the right language to the right person.

Be something actual humans can relate to.
People like talking to humans, not robots. Back in the day, when we were first starting out with the company, we tried making fancy emails that were perfect and without typos. No one responded. Then we decided we would change it up a bit. We’d craft more personal and unique opening sentences. We added spelling errors. Soon, we realized that we were getting a higher response rate. Once our customers saw that there was a human being (and not a robot) writing all these responses, they were more willing to write us back and interact with us.

If you asked any customer to choose between a “bot” that worked behind some virtual customer service desk versus a real, smiling, human being, of course they would choose the latter. It is not just a “nice to have” when it comes to having a personality as a company, it is vital, when customers have so many other choices in the marketplace. Many companies don’t succeed because they forget to be human.

Tip: In every message that you send to customers, leave one line where you add in something unique and personal. Is your customer back in the east coast going through the worst storm of the year? Include a line wishing that they are staying safe and warm this week. Talk to them like you would talk to your friend.

Empower people to do what’s best.

You should always encourage your employees to act like people.  This means giving them the freedom and room to be who they are – listen how they would listen to a friend – or solve a problem creatively, with their special touch. Did you really screw up on an order? Send them a pizza with the words “I’m Sorry” spelled out in pepperoni. I am sure your customer would appreciate this much more than a canned “I’m Sorry” email. Little mistakes or inefficiencies will inevitably occur when you allow people to make their own decisions, but the business can embrace these as the very things that make the business easier for customers to relate to – and ultimately, more human.

Tip: Encourage each member of your customer service team to come up with one thing that is their “personal signature.” Do they love inserting funny GIFs into messages to get a smile from a customer? Do they have one “grand gesture” they can offer if there is a key customer you’re trying to make happy or win back (i.e. spontaneous pizza delivery)? Empower them to bring to the table how they can best help customers in their own personal, unique voices.

Be truly transparent.
Once you lift the veil between you and your customer and they see that you are being real with them, you’d be surprised how much more empathy you will get from their end. People relate to and appreciate organizations that are open and honest. It’s not a perfect world, and sometimes you will not be able to serve up a solution on a silver platter in exactly the way they would want. Give them all the information you have – good or bad – and in a timely manner. We are up against years of people feeling like companies are not on their side and that they are out to get them with hidden fees and confusing return policies. The only way to build the kind of trust that lasts is to show your cards.

Tip: Don’t be afraid to share reasons for a delay in response. Are you understaffed because a team member had a personal family emergency? Share that. Once you show that behind your brand is a team of real, breathing people, just like them, it becomes easier to build a mutual understanding of trust and empathy.
Finally, remember there has never been a more important time for a company to focus on building authentic, real, relationships with their customers than now. For a lot of businesses, building customer loyalty means rewarding repeat behavior. You buy a sandwich five times and you get the fifth one free – but are they coming back because they love your sandwiches and the interactions they have with your employees, or are they coming back for a free meal? Customers are people who have a very tangible experience with your product and brand, and it should be the mission of your company to make sure it is an authentic and meaningful one. The customer voice has never been louder.

To view the original article please visit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2015/01/19/5-customer-engagement-best-practices-that-will-dramatically-boost-your-business/3/

15 Customer Retention Strategies that Work

About the author: Gregory Ciotti

Customer retention is incredibly important for growing a sustainable business, but before we look at some strategies for improving it, let's put an important data point front and center:

 

According to the Harvard Business School, increasing customer retention rates by 5 percent increases profits by 25 percent to 95 percent.

This is important to consider when evaluating your own customer loyalty strategies because in the customer service echo-chamber there is a lot of "hoo rah" about taking care of customers, but little discussion on the business side of things.

At Help Scout, we do things differently; we're all about loving customers, but we also aim to prove that great service is more than just the right thing to do—it's also good business sense.

In order to help you increase your own retention rates, we've compiled a list of our 15 favorite tips (backed by academic research and case studies) on increasing customer loyalty, divided into five easy-to-browse sections.

Let's begin!

Communication

It's hard to create loyal customers if they aren't paying attention to you. Given this fact, below are our favorite bits of research on clear communication with customers.

 

1. Stand for something.

The quickest way to get customers to ignore you is to not stand for anything. A study by the Corporate Executive Board that included 7,000 consumers from across the U.S. found that of those consumers who said they had a strong relationship with a brand, 64 percent cited shared values as the primary reason. If you want loyal customers, you need them to care about you ... so what do YOU stand for? 

2. Utilize positive social proof.

While negative social proof ("Nearly 90 percent of websites don't use heat mapping software!") has been proven to dissuade customers rather than encourage them, numerous studies on customer motivation have shown that positive social proof ("Join 20,000 of your peers!") is often the most effective strategy for getting people to listen.

 

3. Invoke the inner ego.

Despite what we often say, most people like things that resemble them in some way. This cognitive bias is called implicit egotism, and is an important thing to keep in mind when communicating with customers. In order to attract the sort of customers you want, you need to identify your target customers down to the last detail and then craft a brand message that perfectly matches their pains, goals and aspirations. It's easier to fill this existing demand than to create one.

Selling

If customers don't enjoy your selling process, they'll likely never do business with you again. Thus, selling to customers the "correct" way is an integral part of creating customer loyalty. Below are a few studies to help you improve the process.

4. Use the words they love to hear.

Not all words are created equal. Certain persuasive words encourage customers to buy more than others, in particular: free, new and instantly. When customers hear these words (and the promises they imply are backed up), they'll enjoy their purchases more than they would have otherwise.

 

5. Reduce pain points and friction.

All businesses, no matter the industry, are going to have to sell to the three types of buyers that are out there. According to neuroeconomics experts, nearly a quarter of these buyers will be conservative spenders, or "tightwad" customers. George Lowenstein of Carnegie Mellon University recommends using bundles, reassuring words (e.g., change "a $5 fee" to "a small $5 fee") and reframing as strategies to better sell to these conservative buyers. Read more about his advice here.

Reciprocity

Reciprocity is the social construct that makes the world go 'round ... or in your case, keeps your customers coming back. The premise is simple: Go above and beyond for customers and get rewarded with repeat business. The execution, however, can be trickier, so below is a compilation of interesting research on how to improve reciprocity with your customers.

 

6. Realize that budget is negligible.

Giving back to customers can appear incredibly costly, but it doesn't have to be. Instead, embrace the art of the frugal wow by understanding that reciprocity is built even with small gestures. In fact, psychologist Norbert Schwarz found that as little as 10 cents can create reciprocity between two individuals (it really is the thought that counts!).

7. Utilize surprise reciprocity.

Although reciprocity works incredibly well on it's own, research shows that it is even *more* powerful when started by surprise. For a simple example, recall a time that someone did something nice for you unexpectedly; the gesture probably wasn't all that unusual, but the fact that it came out of nowhere left a strong impression on you.

8. Make it personal.

In a study from the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, researchers found that waiters could increase their tips by 23 percent by the simple act of returning to tables with a second set of mints. So do mints have magic powers? Apparently not: The researchers concluded that the mints created the feeling of a personalized experience among the customers who received them. So it was the personalized service received that made them enjoy their experience so much more.

Support

This one is a no-brainer: You can't create a tribe of loyal customers without an exceptional customer service experience that keeps them coming back. In this section, we're going to bust a few customer service myths wide open, as well as tackle some important things you need to keep in mind when offering support online.

 

9. Speed is secondary to quality.

When it comes to customer service that keeps people coming back, the research shows that quality matters more than speed. According to a study by the Gallup Group, customers were nine times more likely to be engaged with a brand when they evaluated the service as "courteous, willing, and helpful," versus the "speedy" evaluation, which only made customers six times more likely to be engaged.

10. Customers enjoy businesses who know them.

Telling your employees to spend more time with customers might seem like folly, but smart entrepreneurs know that isn't the case. Numerous behavioral psychology studies have shown that everybody views their service experience as more positive when they don't feel rushed or ignored. Don't spend time idly, though; have employees attempt to find out key customer traits, just like Derek Sivers did with his employees at CD Baby.

 

11. Choose the right platform.

The best way to improve your online customer service efforts is to utilize the channel your customers most prefer. Although recent research has shown that a majority of people still prefer and use email more than other services (including social networking), you need to pick the channel that makes the most sense for your business. Hosting companies know that online chats are critical when their customers’ sites go down, but other businesses may have customers who are just fine using email as their primary method of contact.

 

12. Make it a communal effort.

Countless case studies have made one thing clear when it comes to creating an efficient support system: You need to keep everybody in the loop. At Help Scout, we use tools like Campfire to access real-time notifications of what's happening on the customer end; we were able to improve our response time by 340 percent by enabling a support room that all employees can access. Read more about how we did it.

Loyalty Programs

The key to creating customer loyalty programs that work is to know why customers use them and what gets customers to keep using them. Below you'll find consumer research that answers these questions.

 

13. Get people started.

Consumer researchers Joseph Nunes and Xavier Dreze are known for their studies on The Endowed Progress Effect. Their results have conclusively shown that the biggest wall that prevents customer loyalty programs from sticking is getting people started. They've shown through their notorious "car wash study" that people are twice as likely to finish loyalty cards if they are automatically started (or rewarded) as soon as they sign up. Read more about this process here.

14. Get ideal customers to be VIPs.

Additional research by Nunes on loyalty programs has shown that people just love being VIPs or gold members of programs. There is one caveat, though. This only works when people know there is a class below them on the totem pole. Speaking to human nature, Nunes saw a notable increase in gold members’ participation as soon as he implemented a lesser silver class.

 

15. Label your customers.

A research study on voting patterns conducted by Stanford University conclusively showed that people are more likely to participate in something if they are labeled with a positive trait. Our friends at Buffer refer to their premium customers as "awesome" members, and even label their upgraded payment plan as the "Awesome Plan"—a much easier phrase to embrace than "paid member."

To view the original article visit: http://www.helpscout.net/blog/customer-retention-strategies-that-work/

10 Retail Experts Share Their #1 Tip for Marketing and Growing Your Store

by Humayun Khan Humayun Khan 

As a small business owner with a brick-and-mortar store, it can be easy to hit a slump and feel frustrated when sales are down or when you're just not getting enough foot traffic.
It's time like these when you'd like to be able to consult with an expert and get help turning your store around. Even if it's just for a single piece of advice that you can put into action right away. Luckily for you, I've collected ten pieces of advice for that exact purpose.

Below you'll find ten takeaways from some of the most renowned names in retail, marketing, and branding, all neatly packed for your consumption in this post. These experts were kind enough to answer my question:

"What's the #1 thing that retailers can do to better market their brick-and-mortar store?" 
The tips and insights contained in their answers listed below pack a lot of punch but will only work if you pick one and decide to put it into action.

Let's dive right in.

---

#1. Give People a Reason to Go to Your Store

“The #1 thing retailers can do to better market their brick and mortar stores is to give people a reason to go to their store. I have seen shops that hold exclusive events, limited and only available items in stores and use online coupons to use in-store only to promote their stores.”

Bryan Eisenberg, Founder and CMO of IdealSpot, and Best-Selling Author

---

#2. Focus on How You Sell What You Sell

“Assume that no one really needs what you sell, because they probably don't. In a little over 25 years, we've gone from an economy based on scarcity of goods and services to one that offers unimaginable abundance. There's very little you can sell that can't be gotten elsewhere. Focus instead on how you sell what you sell. Completely differentiate your customer experience and make sure it's remarkable. Products come and go but there will always be a market for truly remarkable experiences.”

Doug Stephens, Founder of Retail Prophet and Author of "The Retail Revival"

---

#3. Sweat the Small Stuff

“Sweat the Small Stuff – design your customer experiences to bring your brand to life in the finest of details and deliver on them with excellence to express your brand in every customer interaction.”

Denise Lee Yohn, Brand-Building Expert, Speaker, and Author of "What Great Brands Do"

---

#4. Never Stop Researching

“Never stop researching. Research your sales - or lack of them - to previous days and even years. Research your inventory sell-through and vendor sell-through. Research your competition and research their customers. Research your customers and the customers you want to gain. Research your employees before hiring, and research selling techniques and customer service care to help them succeed. The list goes on and on... very simply, always research what you can do to improve your sales, your marketing, your merchandising, your employees and even yourself. Never stop researching.”

Nicole Leinbach Reyhle, Founder and Publisher, Retail Minded

---

#5. Motivate Customers to Take Action

“Holiday shopping engenders a feeling of urgency. Customers have a limited time to get their lists from loved ones and check them off. It's a unique time to entice them with items that are uniquely packaged for this special time of year. You may stock your store with exclusive gift sets (like Sabon bath and body products), limited edition collectable pieces (like Build-A-Bear workshop items with Disney’s Frozen and Marvel’s superheroes), as well as limited time collaborations (like Bauble Bar X Anthropologie).

Be sure customers feel that they are limited by time and inventory, so they are motivated to take action. As long as your brand has a clear message, because of the timeframe that they’re there, this urgency only enhances the experience and stresses to the customers that they need to get it now or they won’t have an opportunity to get it again, at least, not in the same kind of way. That’s key.”

Melissa Gonzalez, Founder, The Lion'esque Group, and Author of "The Pop-Up Paradigm" 

---

#6. Be Locally Relevant

“Local relevance - to the extent that they are able to, retailers need to get grounded in and familiar with the communities they operate within. This gives rise to marketing and outreach ideas that organically make sense for the people in those communities.”

James Bickers, Sr. Editor, Retail Customer Experience

---

#7. Embrace Shoppertainment

You need to run one MAJOR and two to three MINOR events in your store each month. A major event is one that builds traffic and packs your store with customers. Don’t confuse a major event with something that takes a long time to plan. A class or fashion show can be a major undertaking, but it’s not a major event unless it attracts potential customers who not only participate, but buy something while they are there.

A minor event might be a Saturday full of demonstrations and mini-classes. Minor events draw customers to your store but should not take a lot of time to plan or implement. If the concept of events and promotions is new to you, then begin by running one major event and one minor event for each month of the year. If you’re already running events on a regular basis, you can add as many as you are comfortable adding."

Rich Kizer & Georganne Bender, Founders and Speakers, Kizer & Bender

---

#8. Don't Just Play the "Small Business" Card

"Don’t count on just stating you are a “small business.” Give them a reason to shop. My favorite reason: Offer unique well-crafted items that are limited."

Mercedes Gonzalez, Founder, Global Purchasing Companies

---

#9. Connect Online with Offline

“With the entirety of human knowledge available at their fingertips, today's shopper is way savvier than ever before. To cater to these empowered shoppers and to facilitate unplanned purchases, it's critical that retail environments provide access to rich product information, and especially provide social proof for in-store purchases, such as making online reviews available in the store.

While more than half of shoppers now use digital tools to pre-shop, the overwhelming majority still want to complete the transaction in store. When retailers think about their digital marketing, they shouldn't just think in terms of capturing online sales. Providing a great store locator, giving access to real-time in-store inventory and having a well executed local SEO plan are amongst the highest value digital activities for any brick and mortar retailer.”

Jason Goldberg, Founder at RetailGeek, GVP Commerce Strategy, Razorfish

---

#10 Tell a Visual Story

"If you are in a popular destination with great foot traffic, create a great window that tells one story and tells it well. Your window display must be your invitation to the passerby. A well-designed window display encourages impulse sales and peaks a customer’s curiosity. It might even tug at their heartstrings."

Bob Phibbs, Speaker and Consultant, The Retail Doctor

To view the original article visit: http://www.shopify.com/blog/16185976-10-retail-experts-share-their-1-tip-for-marketing-and-growing-your-store

Top 5 Mistakes Brick-And-Mortar Retailers Make That Hurt Their Business

By: Donna Knight, Business Analyst

By now, most retailers know that an increasing number of shoppers are buying online. Does this mean that offline businesses should be afraid? Of course not. There are places where you can still see shopping malls with full parking lots and lines of people at the register waiting to check out. The prevalence of online shopping simply means that brick-and-mortar businesses cannot afford to continue running their business the same way they did 10+ years ago.

As a point of sale consultant, I have worked with retail businesses for 15 years, and I still see old and new businesses making the same mistakes other businesses did over a decade ago. Some of these mistakes include:

1. No Internet Presence: I am always surprised when I come across a well-established business that does not have a web site. Even if you don't want to sell products online, you should at least have a web site that touts your address and phone number, what products and services you offer, and pictures of your store. Many people, like myself, research brick-and-mortar stores online before they actually travel there. And if you don’t want to sell online, you might want to consider whether there are people in other states who are looking for what you sell. They may not have products like yours anywhere near them. You could be leaving money on the table by not selling online. No matter what you decide, you should at least have a simple web site to let potential customers know you’re right there in their neighborhood. 
   
2. Using Outdated Cash Registers: The fact is cashiers can make more sales in a shorter period of time with a computerized point of sale system than they can with a traditional cash register. In addition, the reporting functionality of cash registers, if they have any, are no match for those of even the most basic point of sale system. 
   
3. Little Or No Security Measures In Place: I’m sure your employees appreciate the fact that you put complete trust in them, but no one knows who is dishonest until merchandise starts disappearing without sales receipts to justify their absence. There are multiple security measures you could be using, including:
   
   
   1. Installing security camera systems that not only show you what a salesperson was doing behind the counter, but also what receipt the salesperson was working on at a specific moment in time.
      
   2. Assigning an individual username and password to each employee so you can track their sales or other activity when using a computer.
      
   3. Exercising strict control over what employees can do in your business software.
       
4. Not Collecting Customer Information: One of the things that successful companies do is follow up with their customers. I recently bought a new car. I got a survey from the sales person who sold the car to me and from the car manufacturer. This company clearly cares about the quality of their service since they follow up after your purchase in multiple ways. The best source of future sales is not new customers, but existing customers. You might consider offering a coupon in exchange for your customer’s contact information. If you don't collect any customer information, you have no way to encourage them to come check out your newest merchandise or your latest sale. If the customer didn’t find everything they wanted and doesn’t plan to return, you’ll never know why if you don’t follow up. Building customer relationships should be an important part of your business. It will help increase your bottom line.
   
5. Waiting Years In Between Physical Inventory Counts: How can you be sure you’re not overstocking poorly performing merchandise or underselling due to shortage if you don’t have an accurate count of your merchandise? You should perform an inventory count at least once a year. The largest companies do cycle counts of certain departments more frequently. For example, you might want to keep better track of your best-selling departments so that you can order more merchandise before you run out.

The good news is that all of these mistakes can be corrected. Even if you start by just correcting a few areas, you may see a measurable increase in your sales or decrease in shrinkage. Once you start making small improvements, there’s no limit to how many new insights you can gain into what factors are hurting your business.


Donna Knight has worked for One Step Retail Solutions for 15 years and has been doing training and consulting for 13 years. She is certified in Retail Pro, CounterPoint, QuickBooks Point of Sale, LightSpeed Point of Sale and Retail Teamwork. She has been troubleshooting computer problems for over 20 years, starting out by building her first computer in the 1990s. Donna manages One Step Retail Solutions Knowledgebase. Since she began managing it, the Knowledge Base has gone from 250 articles to 3,071 articles.

To view the original article visit: http://www.retailtouchpoints.com/features/executive-viewpoints/top-5-mistakes-brick-and-mortar-retailers-make-that-hurt-their-business

3 Ways to Attract Repeat Customers

Written by: Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle

There’s a misconception in retail that you need to gain new customers all the time when in reality, repeat customers are what any business should aim for. Of course, gaining new customers along the way should remain on any business owner’s to-do-list – but if you treat all customers in way that makes them want to return, merchants are more likely to gain long-term success.
Below are three strategies to help retailers and other small business owners alike in combating “one and only” sales and instead gaining repeat, loyal customers.

Employee Engagement 
Many businesses overlook the value of their employees and the impact they have on their customers. Particularly in retail, restaurant and service oriented businesses, employee and customer engagement is a key piece to the customer loyalty puzzle. The reason for this is actually very simple. People like to go to places that they enjoy, and they like to go places even more when they respect and enjoy the people who work there. This includes the employees – not just the owner or manager – whom they engage with.

Making employees a priority through customer service trainings, expectations and overall store standards can help create a destination that customers will enjoy not only for the product or services offered, but for the employees, as well. Setting standards within your own hiring and training habits can strengthen this, while delivering quarterly, bi-annual or at the very least, annual reviews can help, also.

Customer Value 

Keeping employees top of mind isn’t the only piece to the customer loyalty puzzle. Customers are a key ingredient here, and they want to believe you recognize this, as well. Delivering experiences that make your customers feel valued and appreciated is a great way to gain repeat, loyal customers. Among the ways you can do this is as simple as expressing gratitude – communicating a sincere “thank you” goes a long way – but even more so, offering incentives for referrals and repeat business is both recognized and valued by customers. Their response to your actions not only increase your sales, but strengthen your brand reputation.

The Barking Cat storefront in Salem, MA is well known for it’s outstanding customer service and in return, repeat customers.

Christopher Barnard, President and Co-Founder of Points – a company dedicated to making loyalty programs more valuable and engaging – believes that offering rewards, miles or “points” is key in attracting repeat business.

“Today’s shoppers are looking for more than just products to buy: they’re also looking for points, miles and rewards to accompany their purchases. At Points, we recently surveyed over 1,500 loyalty program members from across North America to learn more about the ways that consumers want to earn with their favorite loyalty programs. The results revealed that the majority of shoppers have redemption goals in their programs (81%), and they are willing to work toward them. 66% percent of consumers agree that earning even small amounts of points or miles in a loyalty program is important to them,” explains Barnard.

 

Product Knowledge
Let’s face it – if you’re a small business owner competing with the big dogs like Walmart, Target TGT -0.97% or any other nationally recognized business, you have a few disadvantages at your side. This said, you also have countless advantages to your side… such as knowing your product or services offered better than anyone in your marketplace. By positioning your brand, store or business as a leader in product knowledge, customers will return to your business for stronger support, trusted expertise and valued insight over your competitors. Plus, this also puts you in a position to gain media attention by becoming your local market’s go-to-resource whenever it comes to needing insight on what you sell.

With this in mind, sharing your expertise is also a great way to lure consumers of other businesses to yours – particularly when combined with stellar employees and reward based incentives. In fact, the Points study mentioned earlier also revealed that 69% of consumers said they would break their own habits and buy a different brand or from a different company to earn more points or miles.  As Barnard explains, “this information can really help pave the way for retailers and merchants that are interested in developing a loyalty program to woo shoppers.”

To view the original article visit: Forbes

The Key to Event Marketing Success

From our friends at SnapRetail

 

A successful in-store event is the perfect way to drive traffic, get to know your customers and have a great time doing it! Follow these tips to host a store event that will be one for the books.

 

Choose a theme

In the beginning stages of planning for your event, first choose a theme. The possibilities are endless, but could be based off of a holiday or special occasion - like your store's anniversary. To make an even bigger impact with your event, consider pairing up with a charity. Any avenue you choose when selecting a theme will make promoting your event easier and more enticing for your customers.

Choose a time and date

Plan your event far in advance to allow you enough time to promote your event and gather all necessary materials for the big day. If you're planning your event around a holiday or special occasion, choose a date and time that is most convenient, not only for your store, but for those attending as well. You could host events during store hours, but also have the option to stay open late with an "after hours" event. To determine which option is best for your event, take everyone's preferences into consideration.

 

Develop your marketing plan

Promoting your event is one of the most important parts of the planning process and is a huge reason why choosing a date far enough in advance is important. Rushing a promotion will make it less likely to be successful. Plan out enough time to allow you to draw in and hook your audience.

Tease your audience on social media, email and in-store to generate excitement. Make statements and ask questions that get customers interested. Consider using messages like, "Something big is happening at our store! Want to know more? Stay tuned!" or "Sign up for our email list if you want to be the first to know about our big surprise!"

 

Invite your customers in every way possible. Tap into social media, email, traditional advertising, print advertising and any other way your creativity takes you, to spread the word. This step in your marketing plan is crucial to make sure your event is well-attended. Inviting your customers and their friends goes hand-in-hand with teasing your audience. You will be adding to the excitement by providing the details they have been waiting for.

Another way to invite customers is to utilize Facebook. Create a Facebook event page to bring everyone invited together before your event. This will serve the purpose of sharing updates and all details in a centralized place for those attending.

 

Remind your customers of your event. After generating all of the excitement and releasing the details of your event, you need to seal the deal with reminders. You can remind your customers by sending out an email and scheduling posts to your social networks at several different times of the day to reach as many people as possible. Remind your customers on social media five, three and one day(s) prior to your event.

 

 

Pull out all of the stops

There is a lot that needs to go into making your event successful. Don't leave any stone unturned when making your store event the best of the year. Add elements that take your efforts above and beyond.

Provide live updates by uploading photos and videos in real time for your social media following who were unable to attend. This is an easy way to encourage them to come to your next event!

Encourage customers who have attended to also upload photos, tag your store and use your hashtag to their own personal social networks. This will allow your awesome event to reach an even broader audience and create (free) buzz.

 

Document your event

In addition to live updates, document photos and videos that you can upload to social and send in an email at a later date. Documenting your event will serve multiple purposes. You will be able to show off what a wonderful time you had with your customers, and bring more customers to your next event. Additionally, updates serve as a way to reflect on your event and aid in planning/improving your next event.

 

Give thanks and follow up

After all that has gone into planning this spectacular event of yours, it wouldn't have been possible without your customers who have attended. Once your event has passed, thank your customers who have attended in addition to those who didn't, but have been supporting your brand all along. A little thanks goes a long way and customer appreciation should become a habit.

 

 Despite the planning and effort that goes into hosting a successful event, it will be well worth your while. Events give you the opportunity to get to know and interact with your customers, while giving them a chance to appreciate all that you do. For everything you need to know to make your event the talk of the town, download our Event Marketing Success Bundle!

 

To view the original article visit: http://www.snapretail.com/posts/2014/the-key-to-event-marketing-success.aspx

The Small Biz Suggestion Box

 

Your store may not have a physical "suggestion box," but there are many new ways to find helpful feedback that may not be so obvious. The more you know your audience, the better you can tailor your messaging to resonate with their interests and needs. Owning and/or operating an independent business is hard work, and sometimes it's easy to be too close to the project to see the bigger picture.

Customer feedback is the key to a successful business. In the age of social media, chances are if a customer has a bad experience, you can say goodbye to that customer AND their friends. That's why embracing customer feedback is the key to keeping your business alive and well. A cardboard box sitting on your retail counter can't always get the job done. Here are some suggestions on getting productive feedback:

1. Use Email Marketing. Send regular emails to customers about sales, new products and store updates to keep them involved. You can simply send out an email campaign that says, "Tell us what you think!" for an open-ended approach. Depending on your mailing list size, you can prompt your customers to reply back with feedback or an answer to your open-ended question. Another option is to provide a small survey for customers to fill out online using a free tool such as Survey Monkey. Asking for feedback through email gives customers the time to think through their answer rather than putting them on the spot.
2. Include Incentives. When asking customers to give feedback, try to incorporate an incentive, "Please take the time to fill out this customer survey and automatically be entered to win 50% off of your next purchase." This way people who may not have thought about giving their feedback initially, may reconsider. You can give away prizes such as gift cards or a basket filled with some of your most popular products. These incentives can help boost online engagement and drive more customers into your store. Incentives can be used for more than just feedback. If you're gathering donations for a charity or hosting a contest; be creative!
   
3. Ask Your Employees. More often than not, employees have great suggestions but aren't sure if it's their place to speak up. Encourage your employees to submit any ideas they might have to boost sales or improve business. Have a "brainstorming" meeting with your employees and encourage everyone to speak freely about their new ideas.
4. Use Facebook and Twitter. Facebook and Twitter are the perfect ways to reach a massive audience in one or two simple sentences. Update your social media sites with a status or tweet reading, "We want to hear from you! Comment below (or tweet us) your favorite product that we carry. Those who comment will be entered to win our latest giveaway!" Give a deadline to create a sense of urgency and encourage more people to participate. On a Facebook Page, there is an exclusive tab for customer reviews built into the profile. Customers can give your business a rating based on a five star scale as well as write a brief testimonial. First time visitors to your Facebook Page will see your business's average rating on the left-hand side of the page.
   
5. Let customers stock the shelves. There is always a chance that there are great products out there that you have never even heard of. Have a "Stock Our Shelves!" event, where customers come and submit their ideas about products they believe would be a good fit for your store. Take these new products into serious consideration because it's a great way to keep customers coming back if you are the only store in the area that carries their favorite brand.
6. Build a presence on review platforms. There are websites that serve the purpose of an online suggestion box. Add your business's information to websites such as Yelp, Google Places, Truelocal and more. Refer to our roundup below and update your listings.

Google Plus
Google My Business
Yelp
TrueLocal
YP
City Search

 

Encourage customers to give your business a review. Include links to these sites in your monthly newsletter or in-store signage. The more reviews and traffic you receive, the more likely you are to appear in search results. This is a great way to gain new customers through the feedback and loyalty of existing ones.

 

Try out a few different ways to get customer feedback to figure out what works best for your store. Whether you host contests, develop email campaigns or build your presence on review platforms, you'll be sure to hear a lot of suggestions to implement into your marketing.  

 

To view the original article visit: The Small Biz Suggestion Box