How to Walk the Floor and Talk to Customers
This may seem a strange topic to introduce. Yet, it is the most under-used skill by many retail managers, but one of the most important roles in their supervision.
1. You Are the Maitre of Your Business
Your role is take that of a maitre d’hotel. You should meet your guests (customers), welcome them and ensure they leave with a positive feeling about your business. You should set aside at least one hour a day to walk the store and talk to customers.
2. Overcoming Embarrassment
Many owners will not walk the floor and talk to customers because they get embarrassed starting a conversation. If this applies to you, then take out a sample of products and ask customers to try them. This always starts a conversation and then you can ask them what they think about your store.
3. Clean the Tables
An alternative approach is to clean the tables in a restaurant or work on bag filling at the checkout. These are ideal locations to start a conversation and really find out what customers are thinking about your store.
4. Walking The Floor Should Be Done Openly
When walking the floor introduce yourself to the customer as the owner. Get them to provide you with ideas on how they believe you could improve the service to your customers.
5. Vary The Time Of Day You Walk The Store
It used to be traditional for owners to walk the store at opening time. This is still a strong tradition in Japan where it still is a very formal arrangement. You will gain more from varying the time of day that you actually walk around. This will enable you to meet different customers and see your team and store at different activity points.
6. How Much Time Should You Spend On The Floor
Some of the leading retailers spend as much as 20% of their time walking the store. They also believe this is the most important and enjoyable part of their working week.
7. Feed Back The Ideas
Make sure you feed back comments to your team. Remember, praise in public, reprimand in private. Your team will be interested in your comment. Make sure they are aware of why your walking the floor. Make sure you talk to them as you walk the floor. This will relax them and make them feel your part of their team.
Management Memo
A message from McDonald’s
One day while on his way back to the office from an important lunch in the best restaurant in town, Ray Kroc, owner of the McDonald’s chain in the United States, asked his driver to pass through a few McDonald’s car parks. In one he spotted papers caught up in shrubs along the outer fence.
He immediately went to the nearest pay phone, called his office to get the name of the manager, then called the manager to offer to help him pick up the offending rubbish.
Both the owner of the McDonald’s chain in his expensive business suit and the young manager met in the carpark and got down on their hands and knees to pick up the paper.
As managers we are frequently more interested in the activity inside our business premises than in the building’s outside appearance. The appearance of your building and it’s surrounds is at the front line of your organisation’s public image – as Ray Kroc was well aware.
John Stanley is a conference speaker and retail consultant with over 20 years experience in 15 countries. He regularly contributes to retail magazines around the world and has authored several successful marketing and retail books including the best seller Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know. Visit www.johnstanley.cc
Previous Articles Highlighter:
Become A Customer EnthusiasmGuru (1)
Consistency is as simple as always answering the phone the same way, using the same tag-line in all your promotional materials and most importantly, delivering the same outstanding service and product each and every time your customers hire you.8.
Yesterday’s Project Manager Is Today’s Project Engineer (2)
Now-a-days young/junior engineers are trusted with more increasing responsibility because of their ability to multitask with the help of cutting edge technology. This makes me wonder whether the technology is friend or foe to the younger engineers?
What You Must Know When Marketing Your Business (3)
What to do about it? How attractive is your product or service to the consumer?HOW DO YOU GET THERE? Target market Staff involvement Most effective strategies for marketing and selling your services/product What is your plan of action?
Characteristics Of High Performance Teams (4)
Traut is the president of Entelechy, Inc., a company that helps organizations unlock the potential of their people through customized training programs in the areas of sales, management, customer service, and training.
How Your Auto Insurance Rates Are Determined By A. Chris Tijerina (5)
So business, work, and school usage is higher than pleasure usage. The area you live in affects your rates due to the fact that one area or town may have a higher incidence of claims than another area.
The 21st Century Way To Build Equity (6)
The bad news is that time is not on you side with a standard monthly mortgage payment on a 30 year loan. As a matter of fact, you are not getting the most for your money.
Why Choose A Bad Credit Personal Loan (7)
Secured on your home, a UK Bad Credit Personal Loan can give you the freedom, for example, to do the home improvements or buy the new car you really wanted.With a UK Bad Credit Personal Loan you can borrow from £5,000 to £75,000 and up to 125% of your property value in some cases.You may freely reprint this information on your website provided the following caption remains intact.“This information courtesy of http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk Click here to see full range of loans.”John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help UK homeowners find the best available online secured loan via the http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.
Want To Loosen Uncle Sam’s Grip On Your Wallet (8)
Taxes will be due upon withdrawal at ordinary income tax rates. Withdrawals made prior to age 59 1/2 may be subject to an additional 10% penalty.Jim Larranaga is Executive Vice President of Priority Publications, a Minneapolis-based publisher of financial newsletters.Courtesy ARA Content, www.ARAcontent.com; e-mail: info@ARAcontent.com EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to run "Talking About Money" as a regular weekly column sponsored by a local financial institution, contact Jim Larranaga at 1-800-727-6397.
Can You Really Improve Your Organisation Skills (9)
Character qualities are learned behaviours that develop throughout our whole lives - not just while we are children.""Yes, everybody can be taught organising one's life. It's only a question of changing habits, however, everything is connected.
Who Is Running Your Business (10)
Currently available are the books 101 Ways to Attract Prospects and 101 Tips to Generate Referrals. Gerry has nearly 30 years' experience directing business owners how to grow their businesses.
Social Engineering The Real ETerrorism (11)
The technical support operator expressed an interest so the hacker sent him an e-mail with a photo of the car attached. When the operator opened the attachment it created a back door that opened a connection out of AOL's network, through the firewall, allowing the hacker full access to the entire internal network of AOL with very little effort on the hacker's part.The above is a true story and it is an excellent example of one of the biggest threats to an organisation's security - social engineering.
The Rules Of The Road By Kevin Schappell (12)
Also, heavy trucks while on the highway will slow down while going up large hills but pick up speed on the downhill side. This can lead to a game of leap frog which will frustrate you and the truck driver.
Temp Gretta And The Great Seattle Race (13)
Suddenly, she whipped the flag through the air and jumped into the cab of her rig.Diesel engines instantly roared to life, bright headlights came on and Hairless Harry’s eyes turned dark and mean.
How To Take Your Stalled Projects To The Finish Line (14)
I'm pulled in so many different directions -- and I end up with nothing to show for my efforts!A. While you're in a creative mode, you're most likely to be swamped with ideas!
To Grow Out Of Unemployment (15)
This cannot be said about the second, more insidious, type, the structural unemployment. It is this kind of unemployment which really bothers governments and worries social planners. It has long term psychological and social effects and limits both economic growth and social cohesion.
What Is Road Hazard Warranty? Do You Really Need It? By Gene Grant (16)
Regular maintenance is the best way to extend the life of your tire and get as many miles as possible for your investment.Next time you are ready to purchase tires, ask your tire dealer for the road hazard warranty.
Using Sector Funds To Construct Diversified Mutual Fund Portfolios (17)
By dividing assets across, say, 8 sector funds in the Fidelity Select Portfolios, e.g., Fidelity Select Biotechnology (NDQ: FBIOX), Fidelity Select Computers (NDQ: FDCPX), Fidelity Select Energy Service (NDQ: FSESX), Fidelity Select Home Finance (NDQ: FSVLX), Fidelity Select Medical Delivery (NDQ: FSHCX), Fidelity Select Multimedia (NDQ: FBMPX), Fidelity Select Retailing (NDQ: FSRPX), and Fidelity Select Wireless (NDQ: FWRLX), one can build a customized diversified portfolio.
Venture Leasing A Smarter Way To Build Enterprise Value (18)
Also, the best venture lessors deliver other value-added services - such as assisting in equipment acquisitions at better prices, trading out existing equipment, finding additional venture capital sources, working capital lines, factoring, temporary CFOs, and introductions to potential strategic partners.
Useful Tips On Buying A New Or Used Car By John Mussi (19)
Before you buy a used car whether from a dealer or an individual: Examine the car using an inspection checklist. You can find checklists in magazines and books and on Internet sites that deal with used cars; Test drive the car under varied road conditions—on hills, highways, and in stop-and-go-traffic; Ask for the car’s maintenance record from the owner, dealer, or repair shop; Hire a mechanic to inspect the car.
Why Your Mutual Fund Doesn’t Return As Much As You Think (20)
That's about a 3% decline rather than the 0.37% drop reported recently by fund-tracking firm Lipper Inc. The 0.37% decline is the gross return of the average US stock fund and does not include taxes or fees."Mutual fund investors should be offended by the amount of taxes and fees they have to pay," says O'Shaughnessy.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
Negotiating Rates With Your Credit Card Company (1)
Therefore, you should always display this “take them or leave them attitude” while conducting your negotiations. Draft up a script and memorize it. It can be as simple as “Hello, my name is Bill and I have been a cardholder for X years and I consistently pay my bills on a time.
What Is Optimum Performance (2)
Well it can be...and will be!Do not confuse having fun with not putting in effort. You will achieve results in every area of your life in direct proportion to the effectiveness of the effort you put in, not the effort.
How To Turn Business Losses Into Cash Flow (3)
It would be prudent for the partnership agreement to record the reasons for the ratio used.So, how does it work? Most businesses start off making losses, and small businesses and home-based businesses are not exempt from this.
Closing The Deal By Kevin Schappell (4)
The dealers will take clunkers but they end up on the auction block the next week. Once all the numbers are crunched and the papers are filled out double check everything before you sign.
Why “Good Enough” Isnt (5)
If employees are told that they should only strive for what's "good enough," then that's precisely what they'll deliver-not just to the customer, but to the employer as well! A mediocre attitude will result in mediocre products, which ultimately benefits nobody.
Taking The Guesswork Out Of Finding A Good Auto Technician By ARA Content (6)
With more than 430,000 currently certified professionals, the ASE program has industry-wide acceptance and recognition. ASE-certified technicians and parts specialists can be found across the nation at every type of repair facility, from dealerships, service stations and franchises to parts stores, independent garages and even municipal fleets.Certification Benefits MotoristsASE certifies the technical competence of individual technicians, not repair facilities.
Trading For A Living Part 1 (7)
You cannot distance yourself from the money-aspect of the trade if you are relying on the money.Living expenses are only one part of the financial equation. Next you must consider how much trading capital you need.
What To Ask Before You Hire Security Services For Your Buisness (8)
This has a variety of adverse affects on your business right away! First the old cliché, “You get what you pay for” has never been more appropriate than when you hire security at a low rate per hour!
A PR Surprise For Managers (9)
Then by using the high-impact, fundamental premise of public relations to deliver external stakeholder behavior change the kind that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives. And finally by revving up the creative potential of your assigned PR team or agency and involving them in a way that positively impacts the behaviors of the very outside audiences that MOST affect your unit.
Why Small And Medium Sized Businesses Should (10)
It is still important how the people living in the community where you are located react to your business. It is still important that you are among the first who catches a new trend concerning your product range – or otherwise another small enterprise may come up with the innovation that you could also have produced.
The Rules Of SEO And Content (11)
The most critical element for good web content management is that all the copy be original and fresh. One of the more unethical practices was copying the existing content from a website that had an outstanding ranking.
Copywriting Tip: How To Infuriate Your Readers, Easily And Effortlessly (12)
"Would you rather see me on the street begging?" she asked. Gimme a break. I would just share my announcements, ignore any complaints and maybe keep the call in organizer mode a few minutes longer.
Sales Letter Subhead And Prehead (13)
But more than that, your subhead and prehead also act as the ties that bind the headline and the rest of the letter or article. Needless to say, as important parts of the letter - conspicuous at that, they can make or break the effectiveness of a sales letter.
Keep Your Sales Letters Simple (14)
Using anecdotes, controversies, colorful language, and powerful phrases and words are good ways to keep the attention of the readers to your simple sales letters. However, you should try to avoid trite, overused words and cliches.
The Sales Letter Call To Action, Why It's Necessary (15)
It seems that Isaac Newton's First Law of Motion, which states that an object will stay in motion or at rest unless an outside force acts on it, also applies to human beings.
Affiliate Marketing - Create Passive Income With Affiliate Products And Services (16)
We now have the benefit of social networking to make everything we do on the internet faster, easier, and more personal. I like to include some personal information when I am on these social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, but the rest of the time I am promoting and endorsing affiliate products and services, as well as my own now that I have them.
How To Plan Your Sales Letter Theme (17)
And there you have it: being successful with landing pages really is a repetitive process. If you follow the tips outlined and use good examples, you should have no problem constantly increasing your conversion rates.
How To Write Headlines For Sales Letters (18)
Remember, in making headlines, you need to grab the attention of your target market and clearly tell them the product benefits while reading your sales letter. Michael Wright is a software developer and internet entrepreneur owning a network of domains and websites.
The Honeymoon Is Over Once You Gain A Publisher For Your Business Book (19)
Carol and I headed off for a much needed vacation. As a last minute thought, we shipped off a copy to Peter Drucker for his comments. It would take several books to describe all of the mistakes we authors made that are contained in that history.
Thinking Of A Freelance Writing Career? (20)
The number one priority for running any online or offline business should always be your health to you. Without your health, you will be hard put to work at all and earn an income.