Providing A Rewarding Experience for Customers – Part 2

retail_stanley2By John Stanley

Successful retailers take consumers on a journey. In this series of articles I will explain the journey to you giving you examples on how to implement it in your business along the way.

The Four Steps:
Journey of Discovery
Journey of Inspiration
Journey of Excitement
Journey of Trust

Step Two: Journey of Inspiration

In the last article in this series we looked at the Journey of Discovery.  Consumers need to discover you exist. If you are innovative in your marketing and external promotions they may just get in their car and journey to your business. Your next challenge is that you have 30 seconds to inspire them. Yes, that’s right, only 30 seconds!
Researchers tell us that the majority of potential customers will judge your business based on three, 30-second zones.  Seventy percent of that decision will be based on what they see, therefore you need to create a visually inspiring view of your business.
Within such a limited time frame you need to create a focal point that is simple and different.  Easy to put into words, but difficult to put into practice, so let’s look at the three zones and at some easy methods of being visually inspirational:

1.    Start in the parking lot – the first 10 seconds

The image zone starts outside your business. Your adverts, external landscaping, paint work and shop window displays are all going to play an integral part in creating a mental picture of what customers are going to expect from the whole experience they will have within your business.
For example, I recently worked with a public library. All the team members came to work via the ‘back’ door. As a consultant, I entered via the front door. My visit was 10 days after a national holiday on which all businesses were closed. As I entered, there was a large sign across the front door informing everyone that the library would be closed next Thursday for the holiday. When I pointed out that the holiday was the previous week, it became clear that nobody in the library was walking the building as a customer. They were all entering by the wrong door!
Image can change by the moment. Litter on the floor or dirty fingerprints on windows can change your image in just seconds. It’s essential that all your team members are aware of how important the ‘image zone’ is and that they are empowered to take appropriate actions to correct any flaw in the image immediately.
All progressive retailers must do a walk “in the customer’s shoes” every day to check their external image. In Think For Your Customer, (Lizard Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-9750118-1-2), there is a daily checklist to keep your business looking sharp.

2.    What does your entrance say? – the second 10 seconds

The ‘transition zone’ in an establishment is usually the first three steps that a potential visitor takes once he or she has crossed the threshold. They don’t concentrate on products or signs in this zone; they take in the whole environment. Keep this zone uncluttered, clean and inviting.

3.    Displays that dare to be different – the final 10 seconds

Finally, customers focus on what I call the power position, which is the excitement/product zone.
This is a focal point directly in front of them as they pass through the transition zone. This point should clearly state what you do and it should stimulate the visitor’s interest.
Keep it simple; create circular, conical displays that promote key issues about your business. Dare to be different in how you get this message across!
If the marketing team brainstorms ahead of a topical and seasonal event, it has an opportunity to think through adventurous props that will catch the consumer’s eye.
Remember, you have to play “unsafe”. You have to dare to be different in order to inspire.  In today’s retail world, “safe” displays will not be registered by the consumer’s eye.

So where do you find inspiration?

To be visually inspirational means you need to be one step ahead of other businesses within your catchment area.

Consider the following:

  1. Check out other retailers’ displays in your area, but outside your industry sector, and adapt them to your sector.
  2. Read lifestyle magazines that consumers are reading to enable you to interpret consumer trends and adapt them to your business.
  3. Subscribe to merchandising and display magazines from around the world to enable you to obtain inspirational ideas.
  4. Encourage the team to be observant wherever it goes. The world is full of inspirational ideas, all you need to do is adapt them to your store.

These three zones are the most memorable part of the customer’s journey. A customer may spend 20 minutes or more in your business, but take home a picture based on a maximum of (the initial) 30 seconds spent in your establishment.
Continue the journey in your customers’ shoes in our next article and learn how to provide a rewarding experience that will have your customers promoting your business for you – for free!

John Stanley is an internationally recognized conference speaker and retail consultant with more than 25 years experience in 18 countries, and has authored many books.
For more information on John Stanley and his services, please hop online and visit his website at www.JohnStanley.cc.


Aug.
2009
Posted in Columns
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