What's At Risk?

We all know what we are up against - it's no secret. Everyday we turn on the TV or read the paper or it's the lead story on MSN.com or whatever news website we visit when we turn on our computer.
"The economy is the worst it's been in years."

"Gas prices are up."

"Home heating oil is at an all-time high."

What's worse, everyone else - including our customers - are hearing it, too. They see it when they walk into our malls and it's like a ghost town whether it's 11:00 on a Tuesday morning or 6:00 on a Friday night. They sense our trepidation and desperation. It's palpable. We're so desperate we or our associates are falling all over ourselves to maximize every option despite what our customers may be telling us. In many cases we're hearing, but we're not listening. We're trying to capture as many dollars as we can on one sale by loading every option into one or two pair of glasses. In the retail industry this is reffered to as trying to "increase the basket" (we refer to it as Average Sale or Average Dollar Customer). The danger in that type of behavior is that sometimes we sacrifice much more and put ourselves more at risk in many of those situations. How? I'm glad you asked!


One thing we risk is time - our most valuable asset. Instead of us listening to what our customers are telling us, we are assuming that we know what's best for them. And most times that is true. But we spend so much time - in many cases sitting at our work stations and being unavailable to other potential sales - explaining options and things that they don't need or want, that the person who is waiting is growing impatient, antsy and wondering if it's worth waiting. They may think to go run some other errands in the mall and return when an associate is freed up. That person is now gone - and probably won't be back. If we had been engaging our current customer during the frame selection part of our sale, our time at the computer would have been shorter, allowing us to free ourselves up to get to that waiting customer.


The other thing we risk is "overselling". As I mentioned, customers can feel desperation and sometimes in our rush to "increase the basket" we begin to tell them about features and benefits that have nothing to do with what they told us. We feel we are building value, when in reality, we may be sending a message to that customer that they may be paying for a feature that they don't need, thus actually decreasing value. Building value is just that - building. It's not something you just pile on top at the end - it's something that you help someone see throughout the process. Explaining value as it relates to the needs also helps customers to "visualize" themselves wearing a specific lens. This is why it is critical not only to hear, but to listen.


As we begin to look at specific behaviors with the Mind Blowing Experience, you will notice that one of the expectations is that our associates discuss and determine lens choice while standing. This means that by the time we sit down, the sale is esentially complete. This behavior is ultra-critical to the success of MBE and to the success of our associates to improve not only the customer experience, buit will increase our customer conversion at the same time.

So as we move forward, watch for these behaviors. See what type of impact your associates are having by sitting down and selling. See what type of customer experience they are creating not only for the customer in front of them, but also for the one thinking about running down to Old Navy while they wait.