Mark Price

BrainTrust Query: The Customer is Wired...Are You?

February 24, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
There's an impending "parting of the seas" taking place with respect to the nature of in-store experiences as we move into the future...an ever widening gap between "fully automated" experiences on one side and "fully animated" experiences on the other. What minimum level of technology do small and medium sized retailers need to present an "animated" experience?      [more...]

Doug:

Excellent advice for a small business. I think that your recommendations can be enhanced by first developing a strategy for building customer relationships. The "what" needs to come before the "how." After you build a plan for how you will engage your customers, particularly your best customers, then you can permit those customers to select their preferred channel of communication.

For a small to medium business, the relationship building strategy is simple in concept, a bit more challenging in execution:
* Build an authentic relationship (using the voice of a real person), and provide customers with information that reflects their needs. For example, in women's apparel, you can provide advice on design and fashion, including information on product you might not carry, such as watches, eyeglasses and shoes.
* Bring the customer "into the family" by introducing staff members and sharing information about the store, new arrivals, etc.
* Provide a forum for customers to share ideas, such as Facebook
* After you have earned the right to converse with your customers, then you can provide offers. Those offers should always reflect some knowledge of the customer and their purchases, supporting the positioning of "they know me."

After ALL THIS planning, then you can begin to provide content and offers through customer preferred channels. You are right though, that not everyone is on social media--you need to ask which channels customers wish, and then provide your communications flow through them.

The plan is where you make or break it. A better plan through fewer channels always wins out.