(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
I talked with a major retailer executive the other day. Premium. High quality. Known brand.
She shared with me that when they put on a sale, they get a whole different customer than their regulars. I found that particularly interesting because conventional wisdom would have predicted their own customers came out in droves, but they really didn’t.
Case in point, I was reading the Los Angeles Times one Sunday in 1986 when I spotted an ad for a five-piece Lenox Autumn china setting for $48.88.
Now my first paying job a dozen years earlier was to clean and polish the china and silver at Slavick’s jewelry store – back when a place setting cost $125– I knew that this was an incredible deal.
I didn’t want or need china; but since it was such great bargain, I called the South Coast Plaza Bullock’s store to order it. The department manager firmly said it was a typo; no dice.
I called their store in Del Amo Fashion Center in the hopes of finding a disempowered employee. Bingo! The salesperson, Bruce, told me he would honor it and asked how many settings I wanted. I said six.
He told me it would take a few months for delivery and that I’d save an additional 10% if I opened a credit account.
So I did, and upped the order to eight.
Over the next few months, Bruce called and offered yet another special discount and told me each time that he’d re-ring that day so he could win a sales contest.
I ended up with (12) five-piece place settings for somewhere around $30 each – about the cost of two regular place settings. As a customer, all the deals he gave me were great.
As a business consultant, they were terrible.
I wasn’t their regular customer, I was an opportunist.
When you as a merchant buy into the “deal” fever of Groupon, LivingSocial or the like, you are courting those opportunists who have no desire to get anything but the deal.
Instead of trying to jump on the bandwagon, why not really look at the experience you are providing to your customers? Bullock’s used to cater to the carriage trade but was gone within six months of my purchase.
OK, not because of my purchase but partly because they had compromised the people they had representing their tony brand.
A lot of retailers give up on their people first. Consider the video store…
Once so cool and fun to explore with employees who were movie afficienados it became a great experience to have someone recommend a new film for you.
Then they got full of themselves and had clerks who knew nothing about people, relationships or movies. But they did know to ding you for a late return. Technology finished what they themselves initiated -their own demise.
Until we acknowledge and fix the people side of retail, owners will be tempted to grasp for the deal. And attract the opportunists. That’s no way to build a profitable business.
Have you gotten a deal from a disgruntled employee?
Bob Phibbs is the Retail Doctor® providing inspiration, sales training, marketing strategies and success programs delivered by his in-person appearances, books and videos. Two special reports you might be interested in:
- 1) If you are an industry executive you should check out my Manifesto: Bricks and Mortar Retailing At Risk in the Digital Age which you can preview here
- 2) If you are an owner or CMO contemplating using Groupon – you should read my 11-part blog including case studies beginning here.
