Part I illustrated what happens to your business's bottom line when you are forced to continuously lower prices to gain market share! As promised here are the developmental strategic changes that need to be implemented that will give you a competitive advantage and assure your business of staying power!
Create a niche within your business!
- Offer something none of your competitors offer!
- If you sell footwear, offer custom orthotics or free wear check-ups via reminders mailed every 90 days!
- If you sell fashion merchandise, employ experts in those areas to offer advice on fashion and coordinating accessories, product care etc.
Emphasize value, not price!
- Offer satisfaction guaranteed on all products. Sell quality and longevity of wear or use, not price.
- Educated sales associates can add value to the product by the knowledge they impart and the quality of service they offer!
- Feature brands that stand for quality and add to your competitive advantage.
- Strive to be the first to deliver new product, and become known to carry the latest and greatest in your market!
Know your customers and pursue them with vigor! Remember you can't be everything to everybody!
- If 25% of the market is captured by a low price, low service competitor, let them have it!
- If your target is the serious athlete, target your marketing and your product selection to that segment of the market.
- Even if it (serious athlete) represents only 40% of the market and your capture and build loyalty of 80% of that market, you will beat your competition and be in business for the long run!
Vendor “partnerships.”
- Build relationships with vendors working towards future guarantees, shared markdowns, damaged allowances, co operative advertising and product introductions etc!
- Aggressive vendors will partner with a good retailer on everything from product knowledge to point of display materials and too many other mutually beneficial programs to mention!
Build “loyalists” to your business!Customer Satisfaction!
- Customer satisfaction must be the mantra of all personnel!
- Customer satisfaction on each and every purchase to each and every customer is the first and necessary step to building customer loyalty.
- If you haven't “measured” customer loyalty lately, you may consider doing it by conducting a customer poll of your operation(s).
- Remember customer perception is all that matters and you can't measure it from an office!
Good luck on building a strategic plan that will create a difference that matters and is memorable to your customers in 2010 and the future! The future is bright and will be prosperous for the retailers that have the foresight and resources to believe and take action!
By Randy Snyder
Randy is a weekly contributor to Salesheads! He has 35 years experience in specialty retail including three national chains and 10 years of international consulting experience including he development of three franchises. He can be reached at rsnyder921@aol.com or (p) 239 481 0844.
Randy is a weekly contributor to Salesheads! He has 35 years experience in specialty retail including three national chains and 10 years of international consulting experience including he development of three franchises. He can be reached at rsnyder921@aol.com or (p) 239 481 0844.
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