Archive for September, 2010
Have you ever walked into a store and had to look for a sales person who could wait on you? What kind of mood were you in when you finally found someone who could help you? This has happened to me on numerous occasions and all I want to do is finish my transaction and get out of that store as quickly as possible!
During these times when customers are even more discerning about where they shop and what they buy, many business owners and managers recognize that good customer service can really make a difference and that good service begins the moment a customer walks in the store or as soon as a phone call is answered. As we move into the busy holiday selling season, it’s a good time to take another look at the service you provide and make sure that all employees are doing their best to satisfy customers.
Read the article “Are you Being Served?” in the August, 2010 issue of the The Gourmet Retailer. Author James Mellgren discusses the importance of first impressions and reviews techniques that your employees can use to deal with customer complaints. He also recommends a book called “Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service”. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for ways to education your staff in the fine art of customer service!
September 28th, 2010
In the September issue of Target Marketing, I learned a lot of new marketing techniques in an article titled “Positive Anticipation”. Author Pat Friesen shares 13 tips on how to include the emotion of anticipation in your marketing messages. Why is it important to build anticipation into your marketing messages: “Anticipation leads to customer engagement and engagement leads to responses…clicks, calls and visits.”
Whether you communicate by email or snail mail, Friesen’s suggestions are easily applied. For example, her first tip, “create that special feeling” explains how words can make a difference. Words like ‘exclusive’ or ‘by invitation only’ can make your customers feel special…and that can lead to loyalty. Keep a thesaurus handy to come up with creative words to describe your products and services. In another tip, the author explains that pre-announcements, such as a Save the Date card, can increase customer responses by 30% – 40%. This leaves your customers watching and waiting for notice of your promotions.
Read the full article to learn more effective marketing tips for both your email and US mail promotions.
September 19th, 2010
Many gift basket businesses hire additional workers for the November-December holiday season. Well, now is the time to hire…and train those employees. Read Maggie Bayless’ series on staff training in Gourmet Retailer Magazine. The first installment appears in the August issue.
Bayless suggests that this the time to put together a training plan for seasonal employees. To begin, you can answer these questions:
“What is expected of the trainees…and by when?”
“How will that information be made available?”
“How will we know the expectations are met/not met?”
“What are the rewards/consequences?
Read the full article to get the answer to the first question. Start thinking about what skills/tasks the employees will be required to complete. As you make that list, consider what type of skills are represented on your list: for example customer service skills or operational skills. How much product knowledge is needed? It’s probably true that designers need different information than delivery people, but both types of employees might need the same general information about your business.
You can prepare your seasonal employees to be efficient and effective. Start thinking about that now. Watch for future posts describing the full series of Maggie Bayless’ articles.
September 10th, 2010
There’s a new industry trade magazine that includes monthly calendars that list a multitude of ideas for your gift basket business. Each issue of Gift, Gourmet & Decor Plus magazine has an “Idea Calendar” with suggestions about seasonal promotions as well as notes about national and legal holidays. In the August issue, flip to page 6 in the online magazine and you’ll see ideas for promotional activities that you might try in September and October.
For example, September 8th is International Literary Day. How about a gift basket design that includes a best selling novel. You might even work with a local book store in your neighborhood for this promotion.
The calendar also notes two Jewish holidays in September: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and National Grandparents Day is celebrated on September 12th. Bosses Day and Sweetest Day will both be observed on October 16th. With this calendar, you can plan ahead and create new baskets designs for some unique holiday promotions.
Get your complimentary subscription of Gift, Gourmet & Decor Plus and stay ahead one step ahead of your competitors.
September 6th, 2010
There’s a new trade industry magazine for gift basket business buyers who want to expand their product line. Gift, Gourmet, & Decor Plus is for the buyer who wants to stay ahead in the competitive marketplace. Presented by Giftware News, a long time resource for gift basket businesses, Gift, Gourmet, & Decor Plus will allow buyers to view products in a variety of market segments, identify trends, find out about industry trade shows, and discover new opportunities for cross merchandising.
Check out the August issue of this new online magazine and find the perfect products for your gourmet and gift sales. Go to the Gift, Gourmet & Decor Plus website, and sign up for your complimentary, online subscription.
September 1st, 2010
