Learn from the Best: Thoughts from Famous Retailers

During busy weeks, it’s helpful to take a few minutes to stop, think, and improve. There’s always something to learn, from improving customer service to building a stronger company culture. Here’s some inspiration from some of the top leaders in retail to start your week off well:

“In the end, the customer doesn’t know, or care, if you are small or large as an organization…she or he only focuses on the garment hanging on the rail in the store.” –Giorgio Armani, Founder of Giorgio Armani 

“Our mission statement about treating people with respect and dignity is not just words but a creed we live by every day. You can’t expect your employees to exceed the expectations of your customers if you don’t exceed the employees’ expectations of management.”–Howard Schultz. CEO of Starbucks

“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” –Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon

“If you’re a big-picture guy, you’re not in the picture. Retail is detail.”  –James Sinegal, CEO of Costco

“The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want. And really, if you think about it from the point of view of the customer, you want everything: a wide assortment of good quality merchandise; the lowest possible prices; guaranteed satisfaction with what you buy; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; free parking; a pleasant shopping experience.” –Sam Walton, Founder of Walmart

“We believe that customer service shouldn’t be just a department; it should be the entire company.” –Tony Hsieh, CRO of Zappos.com

“Your vision is very important. You should know whom you’re selling to, what your marketing and advertising says about you, and whom it’s speaking to. Me personally, I don’t try to please everyone. I understand who I am selling to and I work towards that vision all the time.” –Ralph Lauren, Founder of Ralph Lauren

 

“The friendly smile, the word of greeting, are certainly something fleeting and seemingly insubstantial. You can’t take them with you. But they work for good beyond your power to measure their influence. It is the service we are not obliged to give that people value most.” –James Cash Penney, Founder of JCPenney

“What is good for our customers is also, in the long run, good for us. “ –Ingovar Kamprad, CEO of IKEA

“Those department stores that have survived the decades did so by keeping pace with customer needs and preferences.” –Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy’s

Visit our website today or call us at 1-800-999-0771 to find out how Specialty Store Services can help with your store fixture and display needs. Maybe in a couple of year we will be quoting you too. 

Getting Ready for the Retail Holiday Season

It’s never too early to start planning your holiday season strategies. No, I’m not saying to decorate your store with snowmen and twinkle lights right this minute since it’s not even Halloween yet, for Pete’s sake (yes, I’m talking to you, the one who decorated for the winter holidays in August). But you might want to freshen up your store and fine tune your operations to get ready for the shoppers who will be looking for your great deals and services. Check out these previous blogs to help you get a jump start on the busiest shopping season of the year.

Hiring Temporary Employees. If you need help for the holiday season then you’ll want to make sure you hire the right people for your particular business. And why not bring them in a week or two early to help you get ready for the season? Read on….

Retail Store Presentation: What is Your Store Saying and Spruce Up Your Retail Store. Helpful hints to get your store in tip-top shape. Make sure your retail store is looking spiffy and sparkling clean because people want shop in a pleasant environment where they feel comfortable.

Retail Training Classes. So you’ve got your new employees and the store is looking good. Why not give your staff more tools to help them make the upcoming season a huge success?

Pump up the Volume of Impulse Purchases. Offer your customers a variety of little items that they can’t resist to help increase your bottom line.

Budget Conscious Shoplifting Prevention. You don’t have to spend a fortune to protect your investment.

Counterfeit Detectors. A counterfeit detector can protect you against hundreds, if not thousands of dollars lost due to counterfeit bills.

Effective Retail Lighting. You’ve got your products set up and the store looks good. Now make sure that your displays are shown to full advantage with the appropriate lighting.

Retail In-Store Event Ideas. They will come for the event and stay for your terrific customer service and great merchandise.

Improve your Retail Sales, Promotions and In-store Events. When the sales are over and the dust settles go ahead and take a deep breath. Then get your staff together to review the season and promotions, and to discuss what worked and what could be improved. You will be able to use these findings to help you throughout the year.

Good luck and have fun!

Holding In-Store Events to Drive Traffic to Your Store

I was talking to a customer, she owns a woman’s clothing store, the other day and I was asking her how she was holding up during the last half of this year, especially with all the bad news about retail stores and the decline in sales. She said she is actually having a great year. I asked her why? I figure that she must be massivly discounting prices on her merchandise. “No”, she said, “What I have been doing is holding events, such as fashion shows or wine tasting nights in my store to get people in the door.”

I have been thinking about the in-store special event and what a great idea it is. I even mention this customer’s success with my business partner and he said that he goes to special wine tastings a his local wine shop and almost always buys what he had tasted during that event. I think there are two things going on here: people like a free event, people are looking for something to do that does not require any extra money and people like to feel special and unique, they want to be “invited” to a special, exclusive event.

Try it, hold a special event at your store. Invite a local celebrity and see happens. Team up with a local liquor store and host a wine a cheese night and display your new merchandise. Who knows who will show up?

Visit http://www.specialtystoreservices.com/ and see how we can help you promote your special event. If you have an event we would love to hear how it went. Send pictures if you have them.