Podcamp is an unconference because the participants call the shots. Attendance is free and any attendee can decide to be a featured speaker. I will be speaking there and hope to see you. You can share your innovative ideas providing value to the audience and visibility to you. Or you can simply attend to listen and learn about podcasting. Be there.
Thursday
What's an Unconference?
A quick word to let you know about Podcamp NYC 2.0, the second annual unconference all about podcasting, taking place in Brooklyn on Friday, April 25th and April 26th. I will be speaking – so stay tuned for more details. But – what exactly is an unconference?
Podcamp is an unconference because the participants call the shots. Attendance is free and any attendee can decide to be a featured speaker. I will be speaking there and hope to see you. You can share your innovative ideas providing value to the audience and visibility to you. Or you can simply attend to listen and learn about podcasting. Be there.
Podcamp is an unconference because the participants call the shots. Attendance is free and any attendee can decide to be a featured speaker. I will be speaking there and hope to see you. You can share your innovative ideas providing value to the audience and visibility to you. Or you can simply attend to listen and learn about podcasting. Be there.
Friday
Success Factors for a Retail Launch
When consulting with an entrepreneur opening a retail shop, I began outlining critical success factors. Many of the strategies here also translate when operating non-retail companies too.
Store Design
• First impressions are extremely important. Is the look and feel upscale or down-home, modern or rustic? Is it inviting, neat and clean. This is especially critical when handling food. Is your shop clutter free, allowing easy passage through the aisles?
• Outdoor signage must be visible from a distance. Does in-store signage direct customers so they can easily find their way around? Are prices clearly visible? You don’t want sales staff constantly interrupted when they are problem solving for customers.
• Make sure the point-of-purchase displays help sell your products tastefully? Do they support the store environment or add to the clutter?
• Create a guest book or a box with preprinted cards so visitors can sign up to be notified of special promotions or events.
Management
• Synergy among partners is essential. It's important that partners divide the work where each takes on an independent role according to their expertise. An example of divisions might be product/vendor dealer, finance/business development director, retail floor/staff manager.
• Align work practices, retail processes, and inventory control through proven systems and software.
• Train your team so everyone is doing things the same way. A staff going in different directions is disruptive to your business and your customers.
• Private label and own-brand merchandise are becoming a greater part of market share. Look for new product opportunities.
Brand Experience
• Create a positive brand experience every time your customer walks in the door.
• Invent a memorable name and an eye-catching brand personality.
• Develop a consistent brand look so all materials (signage, stationery, business card, and promotion) tie together via color, logo, images, typography and style.
Buzz
• Opening party: Wait until all kinks are ironed out and you have proper lead-time to promote the event. Invite influentials, business leaders, media, friends and family. It’s not just who shows up that is important – but how they spread positive word of mouth to the community.
• Take pictures and videotape testimonials to show later in a store video loop.
• Hold periodic store events. Sponsor charity events. Post them on a news box on your home page.
• Get to know the local media. Send them new products and stories.
Marketing & Promotion
• Sourcing and pricing products are most critical. Monitor customer feedback; your customers will tell you what they want.
Collaborate with suppliers. Correct course as you go.
• Marketing is an ongoing process. Outreach never stops. It’s essential to success in the marketplace.
• Know your ideal client and your target markets. Focus on catering products and services to them.
• Research your competition so you can distinguish yourself. Developing a sustainable competitive advantage is the single most important marketing consideration.
• Get clear about your key messages. What are the most important things you want everyone to know about you?
• Leverage referral sources and influentials: cultivate people with authority and expertise in your industry and community, who can direct others to you.
• Use a mix of marketing media campaigns to reach your customers and develop visibility: flyers, direct mail postcards, catalogs, and special promotions to name a few.
• Create an interactive web site to encourage community. An online presence is most effective in tandem with a store (bricks and clicks).
• Become active in forums, blogs, write articles and white papers, and create a newsletter to encourage viral marketing.
• Create your own blog and sell sponsored links to vendors to cover costs of marketing expenses.
• Get close to your customers. Create a reminders program where customers inform you of important birthdays and anniversaries. Send them a postcard in advance so it’s easy for them to remember to buy from you.
Customer Service
• Sales staff are your brand ambassadors. Are they friendly and helpful or snooty and intimidating? Do they know how to cross sell and up sell gracefully, without pressure.
• Repeat business is your lifeline. It’s eight times more costly to get a new customer than to retain a current one. How are you encouraging customer retention?
Being strategic can make the difference between radical success and supreme failure. Opening and operating a retail store is not just a venture, it’s an adventure. Make it a fruitful one. Here’s to your success.
Store Design
• First impressions are extremely important. Is the look and feel upscale or down-home, modern or rustic? Is it inviting, neat and clean. This is especially critical when handling food. Is your shop clutter free, allowing easy passage through the aisles?
• Outdoor signage must be visible from a distance. Does in-store signage direct customers so they can easily find their way around? Are prices clearly visible? You don’t want sales staff constantly interrupted when they are problem solving for customers.
• Make sure the point-of-purchase displays help sell your products tastefully? Do they support the store environment or add to the clutter?
• Create a guest book or a box with preprinted cards so visitors can sign up to be notified of special promotions or events.
Management
• Synergy among partners is essential. It's important that partners divide the work where each takes on an independent role according to their expertise. An example of divisions might be product/vendor dealer, finance/business development director, retail floor/staff manager.
• Align work practices, retail processes, and inventory control through proven systems and software.
• Train your team so everyone is doing things the same way. A staff going in different directions is disruptive to your business and your customers.
• Private label and own-brand merchandise are becoming a greater part of market share. Look for new product opportunities.
Brand Experience
• Create a positive brand experience every time your customer walks in the door.
• Invent a memorable name and an eye-catching brand personality.
• Develop a consistent brand look so all materials (signage, stationery, business card, and promotion) tie together via color, logo, images, typography and style.
Buzz
• Opening party: Wait until all kinks are ironed out and you have proper lead-time to promote the event. Invite influentials, business leaders, media, friends and family. It’s not just who shows up that is important – but how they spread positive word of mouth to the community.
• Take pictures and videotape testimonials to show later in a store video loop.
• Hold periodic store events. Sponsor charity events. Post them on a news box on your home page.
• Get to know the local media. Send them new products and stories.
Marketing & Promotion
• Sourcing and pricing products are most critical. Monitor customer feedback; your customers will tell you what they want.
Collaborate with suppliers. Correct course as you go.
• Marketing is an ongoing process. Outreach never stops. It’s essential to success in the marketplace.
• Know your ideal client and your target markets. Focus on catering products and services to them.
• Research your competition so you can distinguish yourself. Developing a sustainable competitive advantage is the single most important marketing consideration.
• Get clear about your key messages. What are the most important things you want everyone to know about you?
• Leverage referral sources and influentials: cultivate people with authority and expertise in your industry and community, who can direct others to you.
• Use a mix of marketing media campaigns to reach your customers and develop visibility: flyers, direct mail postcards, catalogs, and special promotions to name a few.
• Create an interactive web site to encourage community. An online presence is most effective in tandem with a store (bricks and clicks).
• Become active in forums, blogs, write articles and white papers, and create a newsletter to encourage viral marketing.
• Create your own blog and sell sponsored links to vendors to cover costs of marketing expenses.
• Get close to your customers. Create a reminders program where customers inform you of important birthdays and anniversaries. Send them a postcard in advance so it’s easy for them to remember to buy from you.
Customer Service
• Sales staff are your brand ambassadors. Are they friendly and helpful or snooty and intimidating? Do they know how to cross sell and up sell gracefully, without pressure.
• Repeat business is your lifeline. It’s eight times more costly to get a new customer than to retain a current one. How are you encouraging customer retention?
Being strategic can make the difference between radical success and supreme failure. Opening and operating a retail store is not just a venture, it’s an adventure. Make it a fruitful one. Here’s to your success.
Thursday
Buzzword Dissected: CRM
You've heard the words: customer relationship management (CRM), mass customization, data mining, and more. I don't know about you but I don't want to manage my clients, and I know I never will. Relationships, yes. Conversation, yes. Engagement, yes. I can manage my database but not my customers. What I can do – is give them what they want.
We're all customers. We know what we want:
• Authenticity
• Respect
• Value
• Excellence
• Things that work
• Things that help
We want what we want – when we want it. And we are intelligent enough to choose.
We also know what we don't want:
• Voice mail Hell (or web site Hell for that matter)
• Products that don't work
• Services that don't deliver
• Things that hurt us
• Spam
• A vacuum when we need answers
Simple. Give me something that improves my life, my work, my world. Eliminate everything else. That's my customer relationship wish list. What's yours?
We're all customers. We know what we want:
• Authenticity
• Respect
• Value
• Excellence
• Things that work
• Things that help
We want what we want – when we want it. And we are intelligent enough to choose.
We also know what we don't want:
• Voice mail Hell (or web site Hell for that matter)
• Products that don't work
• Services that don't deliver
• Things that hurt us
• Spam
• A vacuum when we need answers
Simple. Give me something that improves my life, my work, my world. Eliminate everything else. That's my customer relationship wish list. What's yours?
Welcome to Anna Lieber's Blog
I'm opening this spot as a forum for discussion for our clients and community, and all marketers who want updates on marketing and branding.
1) classic marketing issues
2) emerging technologies
3) marketing and branding trends
For more information on how we work with our clients visit www.lieberbrewster.com
Stay tuned!
1) classic marketing issues
2) emerging technologies
3) marketing and branding trends
For more information on how we work with our clients visit www.lieberbrewster.com
Stay tuned!
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