How do I make people feel welcome?

[backhoeboogie]

P.S. Give away lot's of baseball caps, pens,calendars, etc. Customers love them free things. :lol:

Where's my free hat, you tightwad?

Tell you what how's this sound.

Free Hat
19.95 Shipping/Handling :lol:

Sounds like those ebay bargains I have been seeing. :lol:

 

[backhoeboogie]

Gate Opener, If you appreciate those customers, they'll know it. Maw and Paw businesses are great. Best of luck.

 

[CKC1586]

In a clothing store my pet peeve is dirty fitting rooms and no one around to let you into one to try on potential purchases.
Best wishes on your new business!

 

[rkm]

If you have employees make sure they really want to be there. I hate going to a store and clerk is a bad mood. Makes me feel like they are doing me a favor by waiting on me. I don't do much shopping, but I just went Christmas shopping with my wife and it was a good thing she knew what she was looking for. It was good that I had a little Christmas spirit because some of those punk clerks sure wasn't spreading any. :( Good luck.

 

[Gate Opener]

Thanks to you all for the great suggestions!

Walt, your kids look great in their new duds! Funny you talked about kids clothes as this is a childrens consignment store, I should have added that.

When I hand someone their purchase I thought that I might say I appreciate your business, come back and see us. I don't know that people even hear it when someone says thank you, have a nice day.

 

[Gate Opener]

Make a big deal out of remembering EVERYONE of your customer's names. Always greet them like they are your BEST customer, even if you know the whole time they may only spend a buck or two-it all adds up. Follow through on promises, and arrivals of special ordered things.Finally and most important but far from the last, let EVERYONE know how much their business is appreciated by them not spending their hard earned cash at a chain store or competitor's.

P.S. Give away lot's of baseball caps, pens,calendars, etc. Customers love them free things. :lol:

Any tips on remembering names? Do you give the freebies at Christmas time only? How do you decide how much to spend on freebies?

I know my husband and dad get a kick out of getting a new cap from a store. They really appreciate it.

It is mostly moms shopping so I will have to come up with something for them or maybe something for the kids or both. ??? The lady who has the store now gives out the little calenders that have a magnet on them with the store name. Does anyone like getting those?

 

[Crowderfarms]

Make a big deal out of remembering EVERYONE of your customer's names. Always greet them like they are your BEST customer, even if you know the whole time they may only spend a buck or two-it all adds up. Follow through on promises, and arrivals of special ordered things.Finally and most important but far from the last, let EVERYONE know how much their business is appreciated by them not spending their hard earned cash at a chain store or competitor's.

P.S. Give away lot's of baseball caps, pens,calendars, etc. Customers love them free things. :lol:

Any tips on remembering names? Do you give the freebies at Christmas time only? How do you decide how much to spend on freebies?

I know my husband and dad get a kick out of getting a new cap from a store. They really appreciate it.

It is mostly moms shopping so I will have to come up with something for them or maybe something for the kids or both. ??? The lady who has the store now gives out the little calenders that have a magnet on them with the store name. Does anyone like getting those?

We try and have Pens,to give away everyday. Caps in the Summer and Winter caps. those little magnets would no doubt do the trick for a clothing store.This year at Chistmas we gave away a couple hundred pounds of sausage that we put up. That was a real hit.Remembering names takes downright practice. I still call most folks Mr. or Mrs. but I've found over the years they like to be called by their first names, too.

 

[rockridgecattle]

I like the magnet calendar. When starting out if you want the freebies, calendar, pens, etc. if you have the $. A polite thank you and a smile go along ways. It's tough to make the buck. You have to fight the box stores and other competion. What sets you apart is what will make you a success.
The smile
The one on one
The friendly service
the clean change rooms and bathrooms

all this will set you apart from the walmarts of your corner of the world.

 

[larryshoat]

Make a big deal out of remembering EVERYONE of your customer's names. Always greet them like they are your BEST customer, even if you know the whole time they may only spend a buck or two-it all adds up. Follow through on promises, and arrivals of special ordered things.Finally and most important but far from the last, let EVERYONE know how much their business is appreciated by them not spending their hard earned cash at a chain store or competitor's.

P.S. Give away lot's of baseball caps, pens,calendars, etc. Customers love them free things. :lol:

Any tips on remembering names? Do you give the freebies at Christmas time only? How do you decide how much to spend on freebies?

I know my husband and dad get a kick out of getting a new cap from a store. They really appreciate it.

It is mostly moms shopping so I will have to come up with something for them or maybe something for the kids or both. ??? The lady who has the store now gives out the little calenders that have a magnet on them with the store name. Does anyone like getting those?

I find that if I immediately repeat a persons name I won't forget it.. There is a convenience store in town that supports alot of stuff for the kids at school. Makes a difference which store I pull into.

Larry

 

[Jogeephus]

I like the magnet calendar. When starting out if you want the freebies, calendar, pens, etc. if you have the $. A polite thank you and a smile go along ways. It's tough to make the buck. You have to fight the box stores and other competion. What sets you apart is what will make you a success.
The smile
The one on one
The friendly service
the clean change rooms and bathrooms

all this will set you apart from the walmarts of your corner of the world.

What could also set you apart is the smell of the store. They say smell has a big effect on memory. Instead of having the smell of starch or whatever it is they put on clothing you could use air wicks or something to create your own unique pleasing smell in the store. This could change with the seasons.

The color of the paint and flooring on the inside makes a big difference too. There is a lot of research done on this. You want a color which will make people linger and feel at home.

 

[Falcon254]

Women around here like the calenders about as big as a checkbook that they can carry in their purse. Men like the calenders that are a small book that has a week on each two pages. that way it fits in your pocket and you can tear the top right corner off at the end of each week so it is easy to open to the present week. A hat works too. A comfortable pen that writes good works too. Everywhere you go use your own pen and leave it. Give some to convenience stores, they can't keep pens. Leave one in the plastic thing at the bank drive through, they never have one. I don't shop the big stores for any kind of clothes. I shop smaller stores for the service and convenience. I don't mind paying a couple of bucks more for the convenience and service. I drive 60 miles one way to Sheppler's a couple of times a year because of the selection and service. They know their business and what looks good on you. They also clean and block my hat free while I shop. Use web and email. I do alot of business that way. I went in a men's store to buy a suit and the dressing rooms were open accept for cafe doors. I didn't like the idea of everybody seeing me standing there in my drawers. Ok so I am modest in my old age. I didn't by a suit there either. My missus didn't understand the problem. I told her to go try on the suit. Nuff said. Good luck.

 

[Gate Opener]

So many great ideas, thanks guys.

I think I will put in one of those timed misters and use the baby powder scent.

I don't blame you Falcon, I wouldn't want to change with just cafe doors either.

I am so impressed when someone remembers my name. I was in Kohl's and went to one of my favorite sales people to check out. He rang up the purchases and was very friendly. He took my credit card swiped it gave it back to me and we talked about having dogs and such and when I got ready to leave he said have a good day and said my name. I thought wow, there was a long time in between the time he saw my name and the time that I left and he still remembered. I am really going to work on learning names as I see how important it is.

 

[larryshoat]

So many great ideas, thanks guys.

I think I will put in one of those timed misters and use the baby powder scent.

I don't blame you Falcon, I wouldn't want to change with just cafe doors either.

I am so impressed when someone remembers my name. I was in Kohl's and went to one of my favorite sales people to check out. He rang up the purchases and was very friendly. He took my credit card swiped it gave it back to me and we talked about having dogs and such and when I got ready to leave he said have a good day and said my name. I thought wow, there was a long time in between the time he saw my name and the time that I left and he still remembered. I am really going to work on learning names as I see how important it is.

I never forget the name of an attractive woman. Just a thought.


Larry

 

[Avalon]

Stanley Marcus of Neiman Marcus wrote a book sometime back It dealt with outstanding customer service. It's a good read. With my business, we bend over backwards to let the customers know that they are appreciated. Sometimes we eat crow and product in order to satisfy customers. We always deliver more than what we promised. If we miss a deadline we ship free. At times with a big customer, I have even given them product when it was'nt on time. Bottom line is follow the golden rule and add a smile to it. Most of my customers know that if they really needed me to, I'd come down here at night to take care of an order.

 

[Horticattleman]

When we were in the retail nursery and gift shop business (aaahhhhh, but thats another case of beer...) my wife would get customers to sign a guest log for coupons, win gifts, etc. and then she would send them a thank you card and a $5 off coupon or something like that. She set up a database and we'd send out monthly specials and coupons and stuff, and I gotta tell you I was skeptical at first but then I realized that we had alot of repeat business and loyal customers. That is what you want more than anything. You wanna clothe their kids from day one into adulthood, if you know what I mean. Anyway sooooo many people would comment on how impressed they were with the thank you cards and mailings and I was amazed at the rersponse. I guess I was skeptical at first because it cost money but it paid back 10 fold, easy. Get a cheap software program from Office Depot for like $10 and its a snap to send them out.

I also think if you are buying an established one, find out from the customers what the previous owners were doing right and wrong. Just ask em. I see some entrepenuers buy an established business and change everything and it falls apart. Some change nothing and it falls apart, you gotta find out what is the happy medium. Also it is soooo important to know who your customers are. Our plants were more exp. than Wal Mart down the street, but someone who buys a half dead plant at wally world for cheaper is NOT my customer. Find your cutomer. The previous owner may not even know who that is either!!!

Scent thing is important too. Creating an atmosphere was always nice. We had to because one of the stores would get water in it and it smelled the funk, but it was nice to have a certain aroma to make you feel comfortable.


p.s. Good luck to you.

 

[Aero]

first what kind of business?

If it's grocery,...Cahiers smile, ask if they found everything,

this bothers me more than anything in those stores. 8 people in the line behind me and the cashier asks me if i found everything. sometimes my answer is No. of course i dont say that because it's either going to be awkward when the cashier doesnt really want to go find the it OR the people behind me will all get screwed over. If I am in the line, I am ready to leave and i dont expect someone to help me shop while i am checking out.

the real fix is have something in place that let's someone intend to help you find it without holding up the line.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

As a customer I personally do not want to smell strong artificial scents - good ventilation (read: fresh air, not perfumes) would appeal to me WAY more than baby powder or whatever - if you can't do anything about the ventilation try some green plants - even use a service that will care for tham and rotate if you don't have good growing conditions.

Being real and as someone said above promise less and deliver more - on special orders charge a tad more and then give a refund - it will do wonders over having to add on to something later.

finally while it is great you are asking "us" and focusing on good customer service - try asking your actual customers. A customer comment card or just personal conversation - "what can I do to keep you as a customer?" would impress me.

Little freebies are great, but be careful of falling into scams that just cost you money.

 

[Howdyjabo]

I don't agree on the scents- be careful
There are more and more people like me that are sensitive to scents.
I walk in some doors take a wiff and leave and never come back.

Stick to fresh scents that are hard to pick out and identify.
Baby powder is a killer for me --the only worse one is new car scent.

Biggy is large clean dressing rooms - don't hover but be available if I need you.
A nice mirror
And plenty of room to set down, hang and rehang clothes

If its a childs clothing store- have a pen with toys so I can ignore the kids and shop. I'll buy more if I can shop better and the kids aren't distracting me- and I leave stores when the kids start driving me nuts.

Make a fuss over the kids-- I ALWAYS feel good when someone makes my kid feel special.

If you have something thats not selling make a big fuss over giving it to a kid-- because they are so special or its just perfect for them :)

As far as names-- make it a "custom" that all new customers get their picture taken in their new outfit and it gets posted on the cork board(with their name on the back :) )

I also like the idea of flyers sent to customers- it really does work to keep a store in the front of my mind. and I am a sucker for a coupon.

Have a kid fashion show at the local PTA meeting- Where the models parents can buy the outfit for 10% off. And hand out 10% rebate coupons to all the parents watching- which will go to the PTA fund.
Not my idea-- I got taken by that scam at our PTA meeting
My kid just LOVED her outfit. Must be working good for the store they do it every year.

 

[Horticattleman]

By scents I didn't mean filling it with smoke or doe pee, but a fresh clean smell. Something light so as not to offend "those sensitive people." Better than funky moldy smells.