Passion

About a month ago, I made a comment on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn about Passion. This is something that yourcustomers can see, feel, smell and taste in the way you do business with them. You can do the same at other places you shop at. People who have passion for what they do stand out and make you feel good. Here is an excellent example of someone who stood out to me recently.

Working the National Flute Association Conference in Charlotte, NC a couple weeks ago, Amy Pribulick (Conn-Selmer Flute Product Manager) and I were heading back to the hotel and we stopped to take a picture of the marquee at the convention center to post on the Avanti Facebook page. While taking the picture, Reginald, a worker at the Convention Center made a suggestion on a time to get the best shot. However, in addition to this he also suggested taking a trip across the street to check out the small park with the great picture opportunities. This might not seem like much... but the cordial nature and enthusiasm that he spoke about that little park was amazing! It made me smile and look forward to the show!

Do you present that type of passion with your customers? Do you show how much you love what you do and the fact that you have the opportunity to do what you do?

It feels great to make money. You love the feeling of a great sales day. But most of the time, You are not really paying attention to those sales as they happen. You are "in the zone". You are so wrapped up in expressing your passion (without actually saying anything) that those sales just happen.

Your customers can feel your love for what you do... but are you doing what you love?

Laying the Foundation

I am very fortunate to be able to see many different approaches to business in my territory. Something that has stood out to me in my travels is the way dealers look at the things they do for their teachers. I am not really talking about folders or calendars or even lunches. What I am talking about are clinics and events.

In our current economy and business world you are forced to look at every expenditure and your return on investment. However, there are things you do that you are not going to see an immediate return on investment. That return comes over time and is often very difficult to calculate. Some people might look at it as building your "Brand". I look at it as Laying the Foundation.

Think about the impact a clinic with an artist who inspires a handful of students to take their level of performance to another level. Down then road, when they look back at their influences, they will see that artist and remember their interaction with them. If you have done your job well, your name/brand will be in their head as part of that event. You may not see an immediate sale of an instrument or accessories, that might come down the road. You may not see the immediate change in business from an account, but they will remember what you did and work towards doing more with you.

Here is the obstacle though... a one time event will not make a lasting impact. All the little things you do over time lay the foundation. As that foundation is built, the stronger your house gets. Once you build a firm foundation, it becomes difficult for someone else to come in and move your house.

What types of things work? It is hard to give a generic answer... but if you know your marketplace well you should have an idea. Do you have a lot of young teachers who are lacking rehearsal techniques? Bring in a well respected conductor to provide a clinic with a group of teachers. Have you seen a decline in clarinet students? Bring in the young hotshot clarinetist who connects with the young students and makes it fun to play clarinet.

The biggest thing to remember is your motive. Your customer will smell a sales pitch. Do it with the desire to help your customers and they will want to support you with the desire to help you!


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No One Cares About You!

Well, maybe not that harsh, but your customer does not care about you. They do not care about how your day has been. They do not care about how difficult your last customer was. They do not care what you had for lunch. When they are in front of you all they care about is what they are there to buy. You can open conversations to find out things you have in common to help build the initial rapport with them but beyond that, they do not care about you.

Your goal when working with a customer is to find out what they care about. You need to find out what makes them tick. What are they looking to accomplish with their purchase? People buy with their emotions and justify with logic. They want to feel assurance that they are making the "right" choice. To quote one of my favorite authors, "People don't like to be sold, but they love to buy".

How do you keep the customer engaged without talking about yourself? Ask questions about them and their likes, their goals and their experience.

- What have they been playing?
- What do they like about it?
- What would they change about it?
- How do they plan to use it?
- What do they want to use it for?
- What things do they want it to do?
- What interested them in this product?

Once you have answered those types of questions, you can then move to finalizing the sale. If you have asked enough questions (qualified) you will not have to sell. You will be able to guide your customer to the right solution and allow them to justify that purchase with logic. They will justify the price by weighing it against what they want to accomplish. They will weigh the purchase against what they already have and how their new item is an upgrade.

Make it easy for your customer to buy. That is all they want to do.

Is Your Phone Ringing?

Are you connecting with them on the way they communicate? If only it was a simple question. You want your customers to come back time and again because they enjoy doing business with you. However, if you are updating them with new offerings or services, they will not want to come back. There are a few things you need to think about before you can effectively communicate with your customers.

First, who are your customers? Do you have a specific demographic that does a lot with you or many different groups that do little bits here and there. Do you know who your key customers are?

Second, after you have identified your customer base you need to identify how they prefer to do business. Do they like fact to face interaction? Are they phone call or email buyers? Do they work 9-5 jobs and come by after work? What are your peak business hours, by not only dollars but total sales tickets?

Third, what are your customers buying? What are your biggest movers? What are your biggest profit makers? You probably have an idea, but do you have the stats to back that up?

So, now you have looked at three points of your business (and we could probably break it down even further). How do they all go together? Let's say your primary customers are 18-25 purchasing new accessory items between 9-10am. What can you do with that information? Well, the time frame and age they are buying is most likely on their way into work and the smaller ticket items tell you they do not have a large disposable income. Here are some ideas to help boost those sales even more!

- Send a weekly email with a deal of the week during that peak time.
- Send a monthly email with your NEW accessory offerings. That age range is always looking for the newest toy!
- Start a loyalty program. Buy 10 sets of strings or boxes of reeds and get one free. Create a small card for them to present and have initialed each time they purchase.
- Offer a Deal A Day type program on some of your stale inventory. Something that has been sitting around collecting dust is not putting any money in your pocket. Price it cheap, move it and put some money in the register. Here's the kicker, Tweet It!

There are many other things you can try, you just have to get creative. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt!

Going the Extra Mile

You have heard it many times, "There are no traffic jams on the extra mile" (Zig Ziglar or Roger Staubach, depends who you ask!). But what exactly does that mean in your business? What you do and how you handle your customers are what separate you from your competition. Have you looked at your business as a customer? What can you do differently to make your customers say WOW! and want to come back and do business with you again?

There are too many times I have seen folks in a store have a very passive or lax approach to taking care of their customers. Think about the big box home improvement stores. When you ask someone where you can find the piece of plumbing to fix your sink, how do they respond? Do they point to the other end of the store? Do they tell you the aisle to find it on? Or, do they go the extra mile and walk you to the part and ask you what you are needing to fix and offer suggestions on the repair? I would bet if they brought you to the part, you would leave the store happy and tell someone else about your experience. Are your customers leaving your store feeling that way?

Here are a couple ideas to give a try.

- Train all your employees to walk a customer to the product they are asking about. Make sure they are asking questions about how they plan to use it and make suggestions based on the customer's answers.

- Find your niche. You are never going to be everything to everybody. If you can pinpoint your market, find a way to be the best in that market. Focus on products that appeal to that market. Highlight events that appeal to that market. Present Clinics, Masterclasses or other experts in that market.

- Do the unexpected. Handwritten notes, private invitations for special events, special promotions just for key customers, etc. And do not skimp on the extra touches. Make up stationary for your notes or cards. When you host an event, have top notch food. It is the little things that people remember!

People love to feel special and wanted. If you can do the extra things that make them feel wanted in your store, they will come back. Not only will they come back, they will tell other people. Remember, you do not sign the paycheck... your customers do!

What is Your Power Question?

When a customer walks in your door, how do you engage them? Do you use the standard, "How are you?" or "Can I help you find something?" If you are, you are losing sales! It might not seem like much, but the way you interact with a customer when they come in your door can set the tone for a repeat visit and many dollars in sales.

Why not take a guess at what instrument they play? "I'll bet you play trumpet and are looking for a new mouthpiece." What type of response do you think you'll get? They'll most likely smile and say something like, "No, but my son plays clarinet and I need to get him some reeds." If you respond back, "Oh, I that was my next guess!" you will have grabbed that customer's attention and have a starting point to add more items to that sale! All it takes is a little creativity and some fun!

If you have multiple employees on the floor, sit down with them at your next sales meeting and discuss different ways to start conversations with your customers. (You say you don't have sales meetings? Well... that is a completely different topic and we'll just have to cover that at another time.) Give a prize to the employee that comes up with the most creative and engaging question. Try them out on each other.

Shop other businesses in your area to see how they are engaging you? How many times have you walked into a clothing store and been asked, "May I help you?". Too many to count! What if that salesperson came up to you and said, "I bet you are looking for some socks". If you were looking for socks, you would probably laugh. If you were looking for a shirt, you would probably say, "No, actually I am looking for a new shirt". The salesperson has now been able to pull more information out of you than the plain "May I help you?" greeting. And if they are really good, more sales than just the shirt you were looking for!

Give it some practice, exchange ideas and try it in your store. After all, if people like coming into your store, that means more repeat business. Or in business terms, more profit!!!