Every year is challenging but this year was without question one of the most difficult years ever for many reasons. We saw the official end to the recession, which should have meant that things would be good or at least better. WRONG!
Many of you have fared very well during these tough times because of the lessons we learned over the course of the year. So here is my year in review. It is based on the following information.
Social Networking has come of age and retailers have done exceptionally well with facebook. I was blown away with the results some stores are getting with their facebook initiatives. Many businesses are putting more effort into facebook than the traditional websites -- and getting results that justify the change.
Although Twitter is all the rage, I am not seeing the results that Facebook brings. However, hot on the horizon is the concept of multiple Landing Pages. A landing page is what the name implies-- a place where people first land when they are searching for what you sell. There are so many different ways or terms that customers can use to find us online that we need to create these separate pages that will them bring them to what they are looking for. The problem is they just don't come in the front door anymore -- or to the main page of our website.
I discovered a company that specializes in In-Bound Marketing called Hubspot. They have some incredible tools that made my business life so much better. Some of those tools that I introduced to my readers and subscribers were: http://www.websitegrader.com/ , http://www.facebookgrader.com/, and http://www.pressreleasegrader.com/. These are all free tools that are just terrific.
Speaking about Websites, I learned that having as many vendor names on as many pages as possible helps the ranking of your website. There has been one other major change when it comes to websites, and that is the growth and mainstreaming of the video testimonial. That's when we have one of our customers say nice things about us, we capture it, then download it to a website.
The use of video has become so easy and now is being used in applications other than just testimonials. It can be used for the owner to welcome customers to the site, to educate our customers with short 3 to 5 minute videos, and to give tours of a store so that customers know exactly what to expect when they come in.
We can't talk about video without mentioning YouTube.com. All of these videos reporting about websites should also be appearing on YouTube.com. Actually YouTube makes it so easy to download the video that it's almost effortless. Just shoot a video, download it to YouTube, and then create a link to your website. Now customers have more opportunities -- and reasons!-- to visit your website.
There is another phenomenon that is becoming as critical a component to retail as education that I will be exploring in depth in 2010. The concept is called store touring. This is having a third party organize and sponsor a tour for retailers to a major metropolitan area with retailers and tour the leading businesses in the area. The businesses are selected in advance and they show how they do business and what makes them different and interesting. The question you probably have is why would a business allow other retailers to come in to see what they are doing? The reason why is every store on the tour must fill out a detailed evaluation form with ideas for the store's improvement. It's a real win-win proposition.
This year we also learned about the growing movement of staying local and buying local. We saw the rise in popularity of the 350 Project and I applaud all of their efforts. I wrote a piece this year about how impressed I was with the merchants and their sense of community spirit when I worked in downtown Detroit. I didn't expect to find this spirit and was blown away by it. I look forward to returning to Detroit to continue my work and be awed by the merchants there.
There is an additional twist to the buying local initiative and that is buying from local vendors and highlighting or spotlighting them within the store. I learned the way to do it from a store that won the RAMAE Award Rookie of the Year, Madison and Mason, located in Middleton, Massachusetts. Every display in this store that was from a local vendor or artisan had a sign with a brief story about the artisan.
The perfect segue from buying local to supporting our fellow local merchants and neighbors is to add one page to your website that talks about businesses that are in your area with links to their sites. The merchants will love you and your customers will respect you. This is an easy thing to do and the benefits far outweigh the effort. This is a must do idea for 2010.
The one thing I learned about or finally realized was the true impact of The Apple Experience. Go into any major mall, just about anywhere in the world, and look at the store that has the most traffic. It's the Apple store. I've talked before about the Genius Bar and how education and retailing go hand-in-hand, but I never fully understood the impact of having a place where customers come back to again and again can have. It's unbelievable how many additional sales can be made because you're bringing the customer back. The most basic benefit of them all is that the additional traffic count creates the buying frenzy.
Another concept that was an inspiration came from the financial TV host, Jim Cramer, the idea of What is your Special Sauce? The special sauce came from a line in a 1974 McDonald's commercial that got America humming and trying to remember the exact words (which were "two all beef patties, special sauce, cheese, onions, pickles on a sesame seed bun.") Jim Cramer believes that it was the management of the business that is its special sauce. I agree with him, in part. However, he didn't get the whole picture. There are many things that can be a business' special sauce. It can be the way they display the merchandise, the training their employees receive, their level of customer service, or the uniqueness of the merchandise. For some reason, just using the term special sauce motivated retailers to look for their special sauce.
There were two other RAMEA Award winners this year that taught me valuable lessons and unique ways of doing business. The first business that won the award for visual merchandising is a gallery in Northampton, Massachusetts named Don Mueller's Gallery. I have visited, evaluated, judged, and consulted the with thousands of retailers and from a visual perspective, no one comes close to the work that Don Mueller has done. He has a very different and unique approach to visual merchandising. I will refer to this as his display concept. Most retailers change or remodel their display concept every 4 to 7 years. At Don Mueller's, he builds a display piece that is not only permanent but blends in perfectly to what already exists. The displays are not only breathtaking and sell merchandise, but you never know which display or showcase is two months old or 32 years old. I believe this is a must see store that every retailer should shop. They sell works of art in many different forms, from paintings to sculpture to glass art to jewelry, and nothing that anyone needs but everyone wants. This is truly a remarkable store in the true innovator in retailing.
The other RAMEA winner for creative concepts is a clothing boutique by the name of IZZY'S located in Andover, Massachusetts. This store sells new and vintage boutique apparel but does it in a way that is so special and won them the award. What they did was create a unique Branding Initiative for their vintage clothing. They call it "Reborn". Every piece of vintage merchandise has a label that is made out of fabric that is approximately 3 inches wide by5 inches long that tells the story about the merchandise and how it should be worn. It actually gives the date of birth or rebirth. It is a brilliant concept and executed perfectly.
There was one revolutionary concept that finally got a name. The concept that's been around forever but formalized by a book by Chris Anderson, named "FREE". One of the main reasons for the book is because of the business model that has been created by Google. 85% of everything that Google produces is free to the public and yet they have become not only the fastest growing but one of the largest corporations in America today. When I wrote an article named, FREE is GOOD. No! FREE is EXCELLENT! I never expected the amount of people that responded to my request for ways to utilized FREE. It's here to stay and something we all need to adopt in some way. Obviously it's something that I've done for years with this column but also with many of my efforts with The Retailer's Advantage.
Another article that I wrote that became a breakthrough concept was called, Who CARES How Long You've Been in Business? What Can You Do for ME? When I was working in Minneapolis this past summer for a wonderful group of menswear retailers, I realized that each one of these businesses was quick to share with the world how long they'd been in business. The sad truth is only the retailer cares about that; a customer could care less. The inspiration for the idea and article was that there was a company at the tradeshow selling gift cards. They had only been in business a few years but they were wildly successful because in their marketing pieces they gave exact facts, figures, and case studies about how well their programs worked. They did not focus on how long they'd been in business. Yet all these businesses that were focused on longevity were lining up to do business with them. Think about it-- it's what a business can do for us!
Another concept that was born in 2009 is the concept of Maximizing the Customer. What it means is getting the most out of every customer who walks through our front door. That's more than selling them as much as we possibly can! We have to look for ways to get them to return to the store, to be able to utilize that person's business experiences, shopping experiences, and knowledge in a way to improve our business. This includes asking customer's opinions, surveys, asking customers to serve on boards of advisors or directors, or just taking the time to ask them where they shopped and what kind of stores they like. And of course, we can optimize that customer further by asking for testimonials!
The last new idea that was definitely born from the economic conditions of 2008 and 2009 is the concept of my new book called, "Proactive Retailing...Bringing Your Business to the Next Level". We can no longer just sit and wait for customers to come into the store. We must all become destination businesses and proactive on all of our marketing and advertising efforts. We can't blame the shopping center for the lack of traffic; we must look in the mirror for answers. Maybe that's the best way to end this piece, reflecting on one of the true greats in the entertainment world who passed on this year, Michael Jackson. He recorded the song that said, "If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change, just look at the man in the mirror." These words definitely apply to every one of us in a business.
It's been one heck of a year and I never realized how much I learned that I didn't know 365 days ago. I ended last year with a quote from Tracy Mullins, the president of the National Retail Federation who said, "It's time for us to understand and accept the new normal." Many of us have done just that -- but get ready, because the new normal for 2010 is going to be much better than it was in 2009.
Have a sensational holiday season and look for new ideas, concepts, initiatives, and new ways of doing business that we didn't know about in 2009. It's an honor to write these newsletters and I appreciate every single one of you who reads my work and takes action to bring your business to the next level.
