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Loading ...A week ago, my brother answered a phone call. It was a computer voice saying “Happy Birthday”. The call was from Drapers & Damon’s in Pasadena, and was a phone invitation for my Mom to come over and do some shopping. Well, while it wasn’t quite her birthday, she did have to go over to Pasadena that afternoon, for a follow up routine appointment she had with one of her doctors.
When that was taken care of, my Mom told my brother she wanted to just “go by” Drapers & Damon’s to see if she could find a few more suitable tops or blouses.
So, they drove down Lake Avenue, and turned in behind. My brother let her off at their rear entrance, and tried to find a parking space. Soon after he saw my Mom making her way back across the alley empty-handed.
She got into the car, and the first thing she said was “Not a soul in there even bothered to acknowledge me.” She’d gone in, found a rack with some possible blouses, taken them into a fitting room and tried them on. But, nothing fit, and after ten minutes, she didn’t care to keep searching. So, she returned the tops to the rack, and walked back the length of the store (150′ or more) without anyone saying a thing to her.
She thought it all seemed rather rude, especially since they’d made the specific effort to call her on that very day and invite her to do some shopping! Mom wasn’t in the best of moods for a while.. understandably.
This scenario is being played out equally across the country from the big-boxes where we take it as the norm, to the department stores like Macys and into the premium boutiques where we demand more.
The number one reason people don’t return to stores is when they are ignored, the other three are being lied to, under-appreciated and pressured.
My message to all retailers is simple: don’t invite people to a party that’s no good. Marketing got my mom in, but the lack of sales people drove her out. It’s not the economy that’s failing, it’s store management. Poor execution on the sales floor will drive you out of business and no amount of marketing – computer or human- will save you.
