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Retail Consultant Small Business Makeover

As a retail consultant, I’ve done plenty of small business makeovers and thought this time I’d bring you along through the process.

As we go, we’ll look at marketing smarter than the competition, visual merchandising, retail sales training, and more.

It’s important to note, every small business is different – there are no cut and paste formulas as each business’ needs vary – could be marketing issues, issues among the principals, wrong merchandise, bad location – you get the picture.

Meet my new client, Black Horse Farms and their two principals, Lisa and Chellie. They peg their start to 1791, when the site of their current location was the Black Horse Inn. This family operation, located in the mid-Hudson River Valley, has been around for generations.

With over 1000 acres that provide produce around the state, this family’s country store and greenhouses lie right off Route 9W (the original Indian Trail to Albany, which starts out as Broadway – yes that one – in NYC) north of Catskill. It is a seasonal store and was due to open on the first day of Spring. Continue reading Retail Consultant Small Business Makeover »

Retail Sales Consultant Tip: Words That Sell For Different Personalities

When I was selling cowboy clothes at South Coast Plaza the (then) world’s highest-grossing mall per square foot, I noticed an employee trying to sell a pair of expensive boots to a woman.

The customer had tried on the baby blue ostrich cowboy boots – the ones with white tops and royal blue stitching and liked them. Yet, even at 20% off, our guy just couldn’t make the $600 sale.

I went over and asked her why, if everything was a go, she still had reservations? Dressed in a pair of orange slacks and a fairly conservative top, she said, “I just don’t think I’d wear them very often here in Southern California.” Realizing that this was an Expressive personality in front of me, I immediately understood that she just wanted to be reassured.

I said, “They are really unique – you won’t find another pair for 1000 miles.” She hemmed and hawed and was getting ready to leave when I said, “And I’m sure you don’t have a fur or dress you only wear once in awhile in your closet. That wouldn’t be practical.” She smiled. “You’re good,” she said. “I’ll take ‘em.”

But it wasn’t about me, it was about realizing that the customer had a personality style that was open to being impractical rather than being practical. Continue reading Retail Sales Consultant Tip: Words That Sell For Different Personalities »

Retail Sales Consultant Tip: The question you ask

The first question you ask in a conversation steers the outcome. You get them to listen or put them on the defense.

“Why didn’t you put the trash out last night?” immediately puts the other person on the defensive.

When we are in the presence of a great salesperson, they mindfully stay away from the untrained masses of, Continue reading Retail Sales Consultant Tip: The question you ask »

Case Study: Using The Best Retail Consultant

Even though I am a Driver personality, I rarely use my blog to tout my services.

The challenge to that is that I assume everyone knows what I have done or could do for their company.

So today I want to share a case study about Freddie’s; a company with multiple locations. The CEO saw me speak and came up to me afterwards asking, “How can we work with you?” I asked him to call me. He did, twice before I got on my plane home that weekend. I’ll let the CEO take it from there… Continue reading Case Study: Using The Best Retail Consultant »