Do you have a plan B for beyond the boost?
Floating along week to week or month to month without clear, well-articulated, understood, and consistently executed systems and processes, for the front end and back end of your business, were a recipe for chronically poor results in “normal” times.
In the age of Covid-19, that may ultimately be a recipe for failure and even closure of your business operation. The adage “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” certainly applies today.
Over the course of the next several weeks, the PCG team wants to help you brainstorm some improvement plans to help your business weather the storm. The first step to improve your business plans is to take a closer look at how your store in handling safety protocols during the pandemic. Do customers feel safe shopping in your store?
Safety protocols are important but not hard in general to manage.
Most stores have managed to get appropriate signage in place, floor markings, and directives to promote usage of masks and social distancing.
Stores have also set up sanitizing stations and more frequent cleaning of high maintenance areas. Temperature checks have also become the norm for employees.
Fortunately, there has also been a reasonably high compliance rate for customers wearing masks. Most businesses seem to have taken the approach to strongly encourage mask wearing but not mandate it for customers unless directed by state protocols.
Two other protocols which have been well received in our marketplaces are times set aside for high risk individuals and senior citizens as well as private appointment shopping outside of regular business hours.
Promoting appointment shopping is key! This is a great way to transition any virtually driven prospect. It’s amazing that such a simple concept, taken for granted certainly in the medical field, has been a key factor in dramatically increasing closing rate and average sale metrics.
One of our clients used an appointment-only invitations approach in May and achieved a 90% plus close rate and enjoyed 66% higher sales compared to the same month last year.
One of the upsides we observe is that with the challenge of masks salespeople are forced to focus, listen better, and really tune into our customer’s needs. There’s less of them looking over the shoulder for a “better up”.
Less distraction means more one-on-one relationship building with more customers. Hopefully, you are promoting that this behavior continue in the so called “new normal”.
For those consumers who are more risk averse about even appointment shopping, many salespeople have also innovatively used FaceTime, Zoom or other videotelephony tools to conduct virtual tours.
There are many good HFA webinars that suggest approaches, policies, and procedures to keep your customers and employees safe while shopping and working together.
Here are a few links with helpful information.
The Game Has Changed for In-Store Sales
Learning on the fly: Lessons learned from reopening after COVID-19
Five ways to thrive in this pandemic
We’ll be sharing more suggestions on ways to navigate your business through the pandemic in the coming weeks. In the meantime, reach out to us if you need immediate help for your business. We help retailers make dramatic improvements in profitability, cash flow, sales growth, and quality of life!
Call us at (404) 432-2137
