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Children May be the Key Consumer Influencers To Business Success

Win over children and you can win over the biggest influencers of all time (anyone who has kids, knows exactly what I mean).

Roy Prevost, in his book entitled Turbocharge Your Retail Business, tells about a story of a small business retailer who has things figured out.

It has to do with a pharmacist who runs his own store. He has a fool proof way of gaining influence into many of his customer’s households, he gains the influence of the children. He has become somewhat of a legend in his hometown. He goes onto explain that he has a simple strategy that any retailer can do.

A pharmacist explains:

“Whenever a parent and a young (five years or younger) child enters the store, I approach them, and with the parent’s approval, I crouch down beside the child and ask in a very gentle way: ‘Hi, My name is Bill… what’s your name?”

“The child, shy or not, will say his or her name. (for the purpose of this story, let’s say it’s ‘Stephanie’)

“I then say, ‘Stephanie, do you know what day it is today?”

“Stephanie will then usually shyly say, ‘I don’t know!”

“Then I will say, ‘This is your special day! Come with me…”

“Then I take the child by the hand and walk them over to a candy display that I specifically put together for that purpose, and hand the child a mini pack of Smarties. Then I say, “This is for you because it’s your Special Day. And remember, my name is Mister Smartie!”

Does this strategy work? You bet!

Will that child ask his or her mother to go back and visit Mister Smartie? I guarantee it!

The strategy is so simple, it make you wonder why more retailers don’t do the same thing, or something similar.

Children are one of the biggest influencers in any household. Why not get them on your side?

A Smart Business Builds Loyal Customer Relationships With Loving Customer Service

A great friend of mine, Jim Gilbert, owner of Jim Gilbert’s Wheels and Deals, is known all throughout Atlantic Canada as “Canada’s Huggable Car Dealer”. Jim and his staff really do have a love affair with their customers. Stop by his outlet anytime and it’s not uncommon at all to see hugs being given out.

Over the years, Jim has created a brand as being Canada’s Huggable Car Dealer. It’s what he and his company are known for. They not only talk about it in their print, radio and television advertising, they actually live it each and every day. (more…)

How Loyalty Programs Reward Your Customers and Your Successful Business

On a recent visit to Toronto, I stopped by The Scooter Girl, an independent toy retailer in downtown Toronto to pick up a gift for my daughter. I inquired about their loyalty program which they advertised prominently, and its effectiveness on customers. I spoke to the store manager and she was excited by the popularity of the program. She informed me that most of their customers were on the program and were actively collecting points.

Their loyalty program was relatively standard, but effective. For the Scooter Girl, once you are in their system, for every dollar you spend, you collect a point. Once you collect 250 points, you can redeem the points for 20 Scooter Girl Dollars. This was of course advertised using a clever round shaped chalk board type of sign behind their checkouts. Very personable. (more…)

Thanks + Explanation + Apology + Next Steps = Customer Thank You Formula

A complaint is a gift – follow these steps to address customer complaints and retain customer loyalty by following these steps.

In their book, A Complaint Is a Gift: Recovering Customer Loyalty When Things Go Wrong, authors Janelle Barlow and Claus Moller spell out a Thank You Formula to follow when you do receive a complaint. I think this is brilliant and will diffuse any possible negative situation and turn it into a positive experience. (more…)