Yesterday we visited a quaint little town about an hour and a half from here on a lovely river. We’ve been talking about going here for ages and were really hoping to have a great day.
Unfortunately we did not.
We ended up leaving after thirty minutes. Everything about the experience felt uninviting and assaultive. From the sidewalks literally lined with cigar and cigarette smokers to the streets filled with motorcycles tuned to full sonic volume, Manhattan is less smoky and noisy! I was wheezing and coughing the entire time and you could literally see a cloud of exhaust and smoke above the streets. Everyone including the retailers seemed determined to make our afternoon...horrid. What should have and could have been a great experience was so awful, I don't see myself ever returning to this town.
When my husband and I had a shop, it was in my mind an extension of our home. Our customers were our guests. We wanted them to feel welcome to stay awhile and look around and not feel like we were ignoring them or trying to sell them. The sales happened because my husband and I worked tirelessly to have the most innovative products of any store in our little town. We had great merchandise, beautifully displayed at fair prices and we were pleasant. It’s not enough to have great decorations if the party sucks...if you’re going to sell anything you need to work on your ability to connect.
The one thing we can not outsource is service. It used to be what America did best. Those days have passed and I think it’s a monumental tragedy. Tourist towns need to consider the importance of making a visit enjoyable. We have to remember that one person's rights and freedoms however important can't supersede the rights and freedoms of others. I think it's okay to have sound ordinances and designated smoking areas. Retailers need to show gratitude and respect for their customers. The tourist, the customer is the reason you are there and you should do everything you can to make them feel valued. Retailers need to think deeply about how to lure customers back into their stores these days and I can assure you that good service is the ace in your hand.
1. Don’t make your customer your enemy.
The one store in town I wanted to visit yesterday had a fabulous huge window display filled with cool vintage clothes and accessories. As we approached the door we saw it was blocked with a sign that read, “Oink, oink. 20 cents admission fee. Can be used towards purchase.” Now twenty cents isn’t much...but the assumption that anyone who wants to enter your store is a ‘pig’ is a pretty offensive assumption or if they were announcing that they were a pig that demanded my pocket change in exchange for what may...or may not have been an interesting retail excursion was presumptuous at best. And so on principle...I refused to give them my damn twenty cents.
How about you give me twenty cents and if I like what I see I’ll give it back when I buy something? Hmmm?
I know how annoying people can be and how hard it is on super busy days to deal with crowds futzing up your merchandise, but you either opt to be open and be friendly or you take the day off. The way we viewed busy days like these in our shop was to think of them as an Open House. We knew sales wouldn’t be high, but we also knew if we were friendly and the store looked enticing, people would remember us when they needed a gift. I probably would have spent far more than twenty cents in that shop yesterday, but instead they got nothing.
2. Quality matters.
We stopped at a charming restaurant for an early dinner on our way out of town. The atmosphere was delightful and the waiter was attentive. The food was expensive and HORRIBLE. I had a gazpacho made with mealy tomatoes in a pulpy blob and an uninspired side salad served with the wrong dressing. I ate it all begrudgingly, but I wasn’t happy about it. The home made chips with my husband’s bean burger were stale and impossible to chew. My daughter’s Caesar salad was a wilted, gloopy mess. All signs indicated that the food would be fabulous. We really wanted to love our meal, but we couldn’t. Did the manager taste the food, look at the plates before they left the kitchen, test the recipes to be sure they were good, make sure they used quality ingredients...ask the guests if they were happy? Atmosphere is important...but quality is key. No one wants to eat crappy food no matter how nice the setting.
Whatever you’re selling, make sure it’s not just pretty on the outside. Quality matters.
3. Make it easy for your customers to do business with you.
We decided on the way home to treat ourselves to some home made ice cream. We drove up, parked and went in and placed our order. There were no signs indicating what methods of payment they took. We got our cones and then the cashier told us they only took cash. What? Are you kidding me? My husband had to take his drippy cone and drive across the street to an ATM that charged us THREE DOLLARS to get cash. We could have bought several pints of Ben and Jerry’s for what those cones cost us. Why wasn’t there a sign on the front door and on the register saying “Cash Purchases Only”? Why...because this merchant wasn’t serving his customer. I am fully aware that credit card companies charge fees to merchants for using their machines and processing transactions, but it’s a cost of business and you can write it off. You can build that cost into your prices to defray the loss in income. We’d have gladly paid another 25 cents per cone for the convenience of being able to walk in, buy our cones and sit down and enjoy them.
When you are in a service industry it’s not all about you...it’s all about your customer. Make it easy for them to do business with you and they’ll return again and again. I think this is a lesson that can also be applied to online sales. Treat your customers well. They are in essence your guest and it is your job as the host to make them feel welcome. I can’t tell you how many online purchases I’ve made and not even gotten a “thank you” from the seller. Is it really so hard to shoot an email and let your customer know you appreciate their business?
Good service is important. Remember that when you do business and you’ll never starve for customers.
Curmudgeonly yours,
Madge
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