Your “Things to Do” List
22. Do our 360 Degree Pass-By every, single day. Begin at the front door and walk the entire store – every aisle, nook, cranny, restroom, and service area. Note things that need to be attended to before the store opens for the day.
23. Are your windows set to sell? Window displays need to be refreshed as necessary and set to a new theme on a monthly basis.
24. Each morning create a Store Opening Checklist that outlines tasks that must be completed by the day crew.
25. Each afternoon create out a Store Closing Checklist. These are the things the closing team must accomplish before they leave for the night.
26. Set a daily sales quota for each person working that day. If it’s not written down, it’s not a goal. Your people will perform better if they know what’s expected of them.
27. Make time each day to quietly observe your customers. This daily exercise will help you come up with new ways to amp up the customer experience.
28. Host one MAJOR in-store event and two – three MINOR in-store events each month. Major events fill the store with shoppers; minor events limit the amount of participants. Think demos and classes.
Your Team
29. Hold a New Hire Orientation for each new associate. Let them know what’s expected and give them an assignment they can easily accomplish on the first day – this will boost their on the job self-esteem.
30. Implement our “7-Tile Rule™": Each time and associate comes within seven floor tiles – that’s seven feet – of a customer they must acknowledge that customer.
31. Don’t react to customer questions. Respond. When you react you tend to give a short, unfocused answer. But when you respond to a customer, you look them in the eye and really engage them in conversation.
32. Associates must also do a daily 360 Degree Pass-By. They need to know the products they sell, and where they are located in the store. Associates must also memorize the prices and locations of key items.
33. Unless the customer looks like they need help ASAP, never ask, “May I help you?” Talk about the customer’s kids, the weather, or local news – the best opening lines have nothing to do with the store. Schmooze a little before you talk about product.
34. Have associates carry product you don’t what customers to miss (or that you just can’t seem to move). After a little schmoose time, the associate can talk with the customer about the item.
35. Encourage every associate to practice add-on selling – the goal is to sell the primary item, plus additional merchandise. Ethically adding on to the sale actually strengthens customer relationships because it saves them time and money. If they forget a key item, and have to come back, they aren’t going to be very happy about it.
36. Do a monthly add-on selling exercise. Hold up an item and ask associates to shout out complementary they could add on to the original item. If they can’t come up with a complementary add-on they can always suggest a sale or value-priced item.
37. Each month ask associates to write three things they could do to exceed customer expectations. Implement their suggestions.
38. Reward associates when they do a good job. Programs like “Associate of the Month” and “Super Star of the Week” are great motivators IF they are well run. Have associates nominate one another and vote for the winner.
39. Be flexible with scheduling. According to a recent survey, 61% of working women would leave their current jobs if they were offered more flexible hours elsewhere.
40. Offer on-going education. Hold monthly in-store training classes, keep a library of books and DVDS, and ask vendors what they have available to help train your team.
41. Two words: Dress code. Every associate should be properly dressed to meet your customers. Even when you provide garments you still must be very specific about what is acceptable to wear to work and what is not.
Build a buzz about town
42. Pick an e-mail marketing company and send out monthly e-mail blasts. Send your blasts on the same day each month and customers will look forward to receiving them. We use EmailContact.com because it offers lots of templates and it’s easy to use.
43. Add a “Forward to Your Friend” link to every promotional and marketing e-mail message you send to customers.
44. Create a weekly Bag Stuffer and hand one to every single shopper. DO NOT pre-stuff them in your bags – they never get read if you do that! Some weeks use your Bag Stuffers to advertise specific product or events, other times create a monthly calendar that’s loaded with in-store goings-on.
45. Make a list of all the services and conveniences you provide and build a “Brag Sheet”. Print it on the back of your weekly Bag Stuffer, add it to your website and e-mail blasts. You can also turn it into a big sign to hang near the checkout counter. Soon you’ll begin to hear, “I didn’t know you did that!”
46. Watch QVC and HSN and the infomercials on television. Each time they feature a product that you sell, hang "Same As Seen on TV!" signs over that product in your store.
47. Make your own “radio” advertising campaign. Play it over the intercom system and it use it as your telephone on-hold message.
48. Contact local medias and pitch stories about your store, product lines, services, in-store events and promotions, charity events, your people, trips to trade shows, and more. 80 percent of the stories in local medias come from a press release, so send one for each legitimately newsworthy thing you do in your store.
49. Contact your trade associations and ask to put on their Reporter Referral List. Who knows? You just might end up on national TV!
50. Collect customer testimonials and add them to your e-mail blasts, newsletters, website, and other marketing materials. Customer quotes are also great additions to your in-store signing program. A customer testimonial is 10 – 20 times more powerful than what you have to say about yourself!
Send an e-mail to info@kizerandbender.com and put “Wow” in the subject line, and we’ll send you the forms mentioned in this article, plus additional customizable templates and employee motivational tools to help you stimulate store sales!
22. Do our 360 Degree Pass-By every, single day. Begin at the front door and walk the entire store – every aisle, nook, cranny, restroom, and service area. Note things that need to be attended to before the store opens for the day.
23. Are your windows set to sell? Window displays need to be refreshed as necessary and set to a new theme on a monthly basis.
24. Each morning create a Store Opening Checklist that outlines tasks that must be completed by the day crew.
25. Each afternoon create out a Store Closing Checklist. These are the things the closing team must accomplish before they leave for the night.
26. Set a daily sales quota for each person working that day. If it’s not written down, it’s not a goal. Your people will perform better if they know what’s expected of them.
27. Make time each day to quietly observe your customers. This daily exercise will help you come up with new ways to amp up the customer experience.
28. Host one MAJOR in-store event and two – three MINOR in-store events each month. Major events fill the store with shoppers; minor events limit the amount of participants. Think demos and classes.
Your Team
29. Hold a New Hire Orientation for each new associate. Let them know what’s expected and give them an assignment they can easily accomplish on the first day – this will boost their on the job self-esteem.
30. Implement our “7-Tile Rule™": Each time and associate comes within seven floor tiles – that’s seven feet – of a customer they must acknowledge that customer.
31. Don’t react to customer questions. Respond. When you react you tend to give a short, unfocused answer. But when you respond to a customer, you look them in the eye and really engage them in conversation.
32. Associates must also do a daily 360 Degree Pass-By. They need to know the products they sell, and where they are located in the store. Associates must also memorize the prices and locations of key items.
33. Unless the customer looks like they need help ASAP, never ask, “May I help you?” Talk about the customer’s kids, the weather, or local news – the best opening lines have nothing to do with the store. Schmooze a little before you talk about product.
34. Have associates carry product you don’t what customers to miss (or that you just can’t seem to move). After a little schmoose time, the associate can talk with the customer about the item.
35. Encourage every associate to practice add-on selling – the goal is to sell the primary item, plus additional merchandise. Ethically adding on to the sale actually strengthens customer relationships because it saves them time and money. If they forget a key item, and have to come back, they aren’t going to be very happy about it.
36. Do a monthly add-on selling exercise. Hold up an item and ask associates to shout out complementary they could add on to the original item. If they can’t come up with a complementary add-on they can always suggest a sale or value-priced item.
37. Each month ask associates to write three things they could do to exceed customer expectations. Implement their suggestions.
38. Reward associates when they do a good job. Programs like “Associate of the Month” and “Super Star of the Week” are great motivators IF they are well run. Have associates nominate one another and vote for the winner.
39. Be flexible with scheduling. According to a recent survey, 61% of working women would leave their current jobs if they were offered more flexible hours elsewhere.
40. Offer on-going education. Hold monthly in-store training classes, keep a library of books and DVDS, and ask vendors what they have available to help train your team.
41. Two words: Dress code. Every associate should be properly dressed to meet your customers. Even when you provide garments you still must be very specific about what is acceptable to wear to work and what is not.
Build a buzz about town
42. Pick an e-mail marketing company and send out monthly e-mail blasts. Send your blasts on the same day each month and customers will look forward to receiving them. We use EmailContact.com because it offers lots of templates and it’s easy to use.
43. Add a “Forward to Your Friend” link to every promotional and marketing e-mail message you send to customers.
44. Create a weekly Bag Stuffer and hand one to every single shopper. DO NOT pre-stuff them in your bags – they never get read if you do that! Some weeks use your Bag Stuffers to advertise specific product or events, other times create a monthly calendar that’s loaded with in-store goings-on.
45. Make a list of all the services and conveniences you provide and build a “Brag Sheet”. Print it on the back of your weekly Bag Stuffer, add it to your website and e-mail blasts. You can also turn it into a big sign to hang near the checkout counter. Soon you’ll begin to hear, “I didn’t know you did that!”
46. Watch QVC and HSN and the infomercials on television. Each time they feature a product that you sell, hang "Same As Seen on TV!" signs over that product in your store.
47. Make your own “radio” advertising campaign. Play it over the intercom system and it use it as your telephone on-hold message.
48. Contact local medias and pitch stories about your store, product lines, services, in-store events and promotions, charity events, your people, trips to trade shows, and more. 80 percent of the stories in local medias come from a press release, so send one for each legitimately newsworthy thing you do in your store.
49. Contact your trade associations and ask to put on their Reporter Referral List. Who knows? You just might end up on national TV!
50. Collect customer testimonials and add them to your e-mail blasts, newsletters, website, and other marketing materials. Customer quotes are also great additions to your in-store signing program. A customer testimonial is 10 – 20 times more powerful than what you have to say about yourself!
Send an e-mail to info@kizerandbender.com and put “Wow” in the subject line, and we’ll send you the forms mentioned in this article, plus additional customizable templates and employee motivational tools to help you stimulate store sales!
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