Here's how you judge how good your business is.
November 23rd 2011 10:41
Link: www.theprofitfrog.com
If the catch-cry in Real Estate is "Position, Position, Position", then...
There is a catch-cry you should be staunchly proclaiming in your small business.
"Service, Service, Service"
This is especially true for retailers. It is - undoubtedly - becoming tougher to get customers in your doors, yet I have had countless experiences, and made countless more observations that THE MAJORITY OF SMALL BUSINESS OPERATORS demostrate NO apparent control over the delivery of, or capitalisation on, true customer service - or the interest in same.
If you've read my other blog posts here, you'll be aware that I work a day job in a garden centre. I have absolutely not a drop of previous experience and I have no hesitation in saying so, and it was clear to those who hired me. They took a risk on me because I confidently explained to them that customer service is THE single most important duty I can perform as their employee.
Let's take this week for examples:
Today, I had a young gentleman approach me with the garden centre catalogue. He pointed out the Mango Trees and wanted my help to find a good one.
After a few detours helping another customer, I returned to find this young man somewhat lost. The catalogue image was different to the actual plant - as was the advertised price.
Beyond that, he wanted to know if Victoria's cold weather would be any good for growing mangoes. Here's how I answered him.
I advised him that the most critical thing he had to do was protect the tree from frost. He thought that meant covering the tree. I explained that it meant in fact that he must encircle the tree with protection, because frost "rolls" in, rather than settling over the garden.
I stated that the soil must drain well and he needed me to clarify what that meant. I detailed the difference between clay soils and sandy soils and water retention. I also stated that the tree must get full sun as often as possible across the day. I talked about fertiliser and I suggested that the plant might not produce fruit for several years (this gem was offered beneficially from a customer standing nearby also taking in my advice).
I further added that the most significant thing to be mindful of was the height of the tree. It grows between 5-8 metres.
My advice regarding this was to keep the tree well pruned after the fruiting season, to keep the tree at a manageable height. Why? Well, I explained to him that there are few people who climb 5-8metres up their overgrown fruit trees to pluck the fruit - and the only winners are the birds.
I said it is best to keep the fruit tree pruned to arm's reach or no more than 2-3 metres that is comfortably reached without more than a step ladder.
The other customers milling around - 3 more of them - all agreed and added their own comments to support my statement.
I felt I had only delivered the obvious. I had gleaned most of this information from the ticket on the tree, and also used a bit of common sense plus information from gardening shows and magazines.
When I asked the young man if I had helped him enough, he blew me away with his answer. He said I was amazing and thanked me so profusely I had to laugh off his comments. I said I didn't think I was amazing, but he said my advice was excellent and that I was most helpful.
Here's my aim - every day - when I am at work.
To have every single customer I speak to almost fall over themselves with praise and enthusiasm for my work and my help and my advice. I rarely walk away from any engagement with a customer without that customer saying, "Thank you, you have been really helpful, thanks so much for your advice."
To further exemplify this, I had a lady come up to me to ask what I knew about broccoli. (Aside from the fact that I LOVE the stuff, and it grows similarly to cauliflower, I have very little idea...)
She asked me a range of questions, and I was feeling a bit stupid because I couldn't answer her question when she asked if there was just one flower head from each plant, or, how many broccoli flowers would she get from each plant?
I honestly didn't know for sure but I suspected it repeatedly produced from one plant. As she wandered around the garden centre I went to a gardening resource book we sell instore and I read about broccoli - and took the book with me when I went up to the same lady and said, "I've just checked out this book and this is what it says about broccoli..."
She was, to say the least, mega-impressed that I would even bother to go to such lengths.
Now, will either of these experiences guarantee the customer will return?
No.
Do I believe that they may have spent more in the store because of my super-expertise?
Probably not.
BUT what I know I have done is given them something to tell their family, friends, colleagues, whoever else they talk to. They received the most superior customer service that I could give them, given I work in a garden centre.
The point of this story today is to emphasise to you - the small (to medium or even LARGE) business owner - that those of us who work at the grass roots level, face to face with the customer, are key to your successful cash flow longevity (or at least play a very significant part). You cannot say - ever - that economic times are tough, if you have shoddy, poor or disinterested, disengaged customer service staff.
If you have not trained them to be the SUPERIOR staff they can be, and if you do not treat them well when you have them, you are putting yourself in the position of having tough economic times to whine about.
Seriously.
I am sorry if that seems offensive - but I have been more than a few times inside many major retail outlets and I may as well have been invisible or devalued in the eyes of the staff.
It is your responsibility to ensure you fully engage your customers.
Speak with them genuinely.
Smile and say something really cheery.
Show your personality - be a bit of a goose, be cheeky and funny, make a fool of yourself, pay attention to what they say to you and ask them more about family, their hobbies or the motivator behind their purchase with your store. Ask NICELY and sound genuinely interested and friendly - they will love to TALK ABOUT THEMSELVES.
MAKE THE CUSTOMER the centre of your attention. After all, it is RUDE to think that just because you have a store of goodies that you expect customers to part with their cash in YOUR store... when they can and will shop elsewhere.
Times may be tough but it is up to you to be tougher - smarter, friendlier, wiser, more caring, more engaging and ten-times more appreciative of how hard it is for customers to part with their money.
I like to end this with the reminder of the lipstick story. During the 1930s Depression, sales of Lipstick (and other cosmetics) rose - the theory has it that when times are tough, customers will still buy things that make them feel good in their own personally tough situation.
Customers will still find justification to spend, they may spend less overall but you can do all you can to ensure they spend MORE with your business when they do spend by ensuring you deliver not just great customer service - but exemplary - the finest, the best, the most superior you can deliver.
Think of it as if you were helping your favourite grandmother (or elderly person).
You would love to help them - so why not treat every person with that exact same consideration and care?
Get in amongst it and deliver - in fact, the old maxim says, "underpromise and overdeliver" - it has never been more critical.
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