Don’t be like these retailers
I watched a program last night on TV about the state of the retail business in the UK.
It focused on the town of Tweksbury and how it appears to be on the verge of collapse as far as shopping goes, although not quite a ghost town yet!
Mary Portas presented the program called ‘Save our shops’ and although I feel it was heavily biased towards negative reporting it did highlight some very salient points.
During the program the Tweksbury shop owners held meetings to see what they could do to revive the town. Now, don’t get me wrong this is great and shows initiative towards securing their futures BUT what was telling was when they interviewed a number of the shop owners.
Several people explained that on some days they could open and not see a customer all day!
In fact one shop owner blamed everybody but himself for the lack of customers through the door.
During the program not one person talked about any direct marketing to their past customers, no one talked about direct response advertising to bring people to the shop or a website and no talked about getting on the phone to past customers during these quiet days!
Just to show that I am not cold hearted my best wishes do go out to businesses who are having a hard time during this new economy…BUT… there is one question you can ask any business owner who is complaining about lack of business that will stop 99% of them in their tracks; the question is…
“What 5 things have you done this week/month to bring people into your business over and above what you normally do” (because ‘normal’ isn’t working).
Most people will look at you blankly.
Especially for small retailers, what worked in the past isn’t always working now…passing trade can’t be relied upon, adverts in local papers and flyers handed out aren’t producing the desired results.
And discounting just adds you to the desperate ‘me to’ business who are clamouring for survival.
In these new emerging economic times it is the business who keeps in touch with their customers on a regular basis, who gives them a reason to come in and provides an experience that will win.
As information marketers we are free from the chains of a retail outlet however the same applies to us…..
Relationships and experiences are the key to making customers think of you and ONLY you when they want to make a purchase (on products that you sell).
A great segment of the show was when they interviewed the founder of Oasis (a clothes shop).
When everyone else was discounting Oasis stood firm and didn’t reduce their prices…instead they concentrated on creating a positive shopping experience providing what the customer wanted and gave the customers reasons to buy from them.
In many cases, people do have the money to spend…they just need to be given permission to spend!
Given Permission?
They need permission because due to all the doom and gloom reporting in many cases they are feeling guilty about spending money…all they need is a reason and permission.
The Bentley Example
Bentley have encaptulated this permission to spend brilliantly. Combined with the recession talk is the reporting of going green and how big engine cars are bad for the environment.
So, Bentley have introduced their “Greenest Bentley yet”.
In effect giving their customers permission to spend their money safe in the knowledge that they are buying green.
Forget the fact that it costs over £100k and pumps out more CO2 than most cars BUT it’s ok because it’s the greenest car they’ve got. (permission given to spend!)
Coming back to small businesses and the program last night, one thing is very clear.
Small to medium size businesses NEED to be using direct marketing methods both on and offline.
And the person who can provide that to them will certainly be viewed as the authority in many eyes and no doubt as a ‘saviour’ to a few.
If you been in ‘our’ type of business for more than 6 months you certainly know FAR more about direct marketing (especially online)than the average small business owner.
And it’s here that an opportunity presents itself to provide those services to business for a fee.
It’s up to you to go out and make it happen.
One of the Gold Monthly CDs that members get each month covered the exact steps you need to take to set yourself as Local Business Consultant and become a local business hero.
If you’re not yet a member and you decide to take up the trial membership today I will include that same CD in your member welcome pack.
You can try us out for two months for free and receive all of the usual bonuses here:
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Let me leave you with one final quote from the program last night and it was from one lady business owner who GETS IT…she said
“You reap what you sow, no one else is going to do it for you; and you can blame everyone you like BUT it’s down to me and no one else to make my business a success”
Now that’s a lady after my own heart and I applaud her for it. My guess is that she’ll still be around for years to come.
In Life…Aim High, Inspire and Smile
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