What Are Your 22 Differentiators? written by Rick Segel

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Last week, I worked at Serta’s international headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. I met a wonderful, hard working man and from what I was told, a very successful retailer from Victor, Iowa. The name of his store is Victor Appliances. He bought the business five years ago without any retail experience and without a lot of capital.

That in itself would be a recipe for disaster, but not for Eric Zehr. He knew and accepted that there were a lot of things he needed to know. He became a sponge for knowledge and a discoverer of new and better ways to run his business.

Being a seeker of knowledge is a great thing. However, from my years of experience, and perhaps my jaded opinion of people who share their knowledge, I get skeptical. I also fear that younger or newer retailers might go in a direction that might not be right for them or adopt a strategy that is not proven. Getting advice is great, but getting it from the wrong people can be disastrous.

Eric was fortunate enough to get in contact with a buying group called Mega Group, out of Tennessee, that focuses on the success and well being of their members. Although their main focus is buying merchandise for their members at the best possible prices and terms, they believe that education and making their stores as successful as possible is just as important.

When speaking to Eric, I asked him, “What was the most important part of your success?” He did not hesitate in his response and listed 22 reasons someone should do business with him. This is really a combination of things that make him different and drives sales, plus words to live by that define who he is and what his business represents.

I am not going to share Eric’s exact list but I am going to let his list be the inspiration for you to write down 22 points that make you different and drive sales to your store.

1. Credit Cards – This might seem like a no-brainer, but I am still amazed at how many stores don’t accept American Express. Yes, I know the percentage is higher, but the American Express cardholder spends more. That has been proven year after year, report after report. Plus, the cards have no spending limit, which means fewer declines. Along with American Express, how many stores have explored the possibilities of maintaining your own store charge that is administered by a third party vendor? If you are real small this won’t work, but stores with their own credit card do substantially more business with cardholders than they would if they were not a cardholder.

2. Maintaining a promotional calendar that includes your advertising as well.

3. Are you pushing your vendors for the best prices and promotional items to share with your customers? The most important thing you can do is simply ask.

4. Does your store interior appearance look inviting and clean?

5. Do you have interior signage? Does your interior signage cover more than just price offerings? Do you have informative, educational and entertaining signs as well?

6. Do you have regular meetings with your employees to let them know what is happening?

7. Do you train your employees, on a regular basis, on both product knowledge and sales skills?

8. What does customer service mean to you and your employees?

9. Do you have private sale events just for your customers?

10. How are you involved in your community?

11. Do you have sales goals?

12. Do your employees have name tags?

13. How regularly are you posting on Facebook and Twitter?

14. Do you offer classes?

15. Do you spotlight a customer on your website, in your store, or on a newsletter?

16. Do you encourage your employees to offer ideas and then implement them?

17. Do you survey your customers to find out the best ways to reach them?

18. Are you collecting cell phone numbers for customers that want to be involved in a texting service?

19. Do you have a simple brochure (a one-page tri-fold) that says who you are and what you do that you can give to your customers? These can be very inexpensive and very effective.

20. Do you have contests?

21. How often do you send out press releases?

22. How often are you looking for better ideas to add to this list?

23. I know I said I was making a list of 22, but what is the unexpected extra that you are giving your customers?

Thank you, Eric, for your inspiration and here's to your much continued success. Thanks for inspiring me to share your story and some of your ideas with other retailers, who are constantly looking for new ideas to make their businesses better, as well, every week.