Bikinis and Quitting Time
Mornington, Australia. Five-minutes-to-five. Three bikinis in hand. Checkout counter two feet away.
“We close at 5 o’clock. You’ll have to leave now.”, ambushed the sales woman.
Jaws agape. Words choking. Julie and her two daughters calmly place the merchandise back on the shelf and exit the seashore boutique.
And one-hundred and three dollars walk out with them.
Counter-signaling good service and a pleasant experience, the employees at the boutique failed to invest the time and energy necessary to stay open five minutes longer allowing my partner’s wife and daughters to pay for their swim wear.
The boutique’s shortsighted policy was to close exactly at five o’clock.
Showroom straight and tidy.
Lights turned off.
Doors bolted shut.
Tragically this counter-signal is all too prevalent in business today. A common sense hiccup unseating tremendous growth opportunities for business.
Might the actions of your employees be limiting your success?
Consider the following questions:
1. Have you properly trained your staff?
Do employees know exactly what their job duties are? Do they have everything they need to succeed?
Uncover what knowledge and expertise your staff may be lacking. Give employees the confidence to address customer questions and concerns. Develop a system to keep them updated with any changes and new product information.
2. Are your employees relentlessly searching for opportunities to elevate the customer’s experience?
Or are they standing around chit-chatting? Encourage your staff to religiously open those windows of joy that will elevate a customer’s experience. Reward them for it.
3. Are policies and procedures handcuffing your staff?
Give employees the authority to make meaningful decisions. And give them permission to break the rules when they feel it will create an exceptional customer experience. Make certain employees are placing the customer’s priorities ahead of their own. Even if it means staying open past closing time.
4. Are your employees professionally dressed?
Butt cracks covered? Hair neatly groomed? Clothing laundered and ironed?
Yes, I hate to even bring this one up. I believe appearance is a superficial signal. But l admit, customers will choose not to buy from you based solely on an employee’s appearance.
The actions of your staff are not silent. They send credible signals to your customers. And your business is far too valuable to allow these non-verbal signals to snatch sales from your hand.
Are you managing the signals your employees send?
From the Editor: Tom Wanek (WAY-nek) is a retailer of work boots and work clothes. Tom faces big competitors. Just like you.
Tom is winning against those Big Boys because Tom understands how to make powerful statements believable. Like to find out how? Attend Fight the Big Boys and Win at Wizard Academy 13 & 14 MAY 2008.
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