By Ellen Fruchtman, President
It's hard to believe the holidays are literally here. You’re making sure everything is in place to have a successful season. And while the days will hopefully be busy, it’s easy to forget some important fundamentals to ensure the success carries into 2023 and beyond.
Here are a few:
Staff Training and Incentives. Over the next week or two, make sure you have a holiday pep talk and meeting with your team. This is the time to ask and answer any questions. This is also the time to announce any processes that need to take place and ensure your team is completely trained on literally everything that needs to be done. And, this is the perfect time to announce any staff sales promotions and incentives. Get them jazzed up and excited. And truthfully, make sure each and every morning before the doors open you continue the pep talks. Pump up fun, energetic music and make sure your staff is getting everything ready before the doors open. It’s time to rumble!
Collect customer data. This is by far the biggest time of year for new customer acquisition. If you (and your marketing team) have done your job, you should be driving many new customers to your door. And, you’re busy. Don’t let that be an excuse for securing important information at the time of purchase. Making sure to secure their customer information may take an extra few minutes, but it is extremely important this step is not missed. Address, emails, birthdays, anniversaries, mobile number, etc. It’s not a hard ask. And your staff needs to know that it cannot be missed. Perhaps as part of a sales promotion, with each new customer that is entered into the POS correctly with all data fields, the sales associate will be entered to win something really special. Perhaps there are multiple prizes from everything to a paid day off to a gas card, to dinner on you.
Show appreciation. As owners, you play an important role with new customers as well. Make sure (by end of January or early February) you send an actual hand-signed letter from you thanking them for their business; welcoming them to your retail family; and provide them with a gift certificate to come back by a certain date. This is above and beyond the obvious hand-written note from your staff. Do you have thank you notes? If not, order them now!
An element of surprise. Make sure you surprise and delight those customers. What does that mean? Everything from refreshments and drinks to something completely unexpected at check out, such as a small gift already wrapped that's handed to them as a gift from you. Maybe it’s a small picture frame with a note that says “Hope Your Holidays are Picture Perfect”. Brainstorm with the staff. It doesn’t need to be expensive. Imagine how surprised they will be. Imagine how they will talk about it and remember it. You all know suppliers. But even if you had to go retail, here's a source.
Upsell when possible. At point of sale or in an obvious place on the showroom floor, have a display of wrapped, ready-to-go products for purchase. These should be affordable products, something shown and mentioned at the time of check out. Think of an inexpensive add-on or extra gift for someone on their list. It's an easy purchase. Fundamentals matter. Do these few easy things and it will make a difference in your store experience!
Looking for a successful 2023? We’re all about the fundamentals. And more. Contact suits@fruchtman.com.
