Making Your Company Indispensable To Your Buyer

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Making Your Company Indispensible To Your Buyer
Rick Houcek

How to Create a Customer-Focused Environment in Your Business.

Saw a great story on Good Morning America last week that's instructive for all leaders. They were profiling the success of The Container Store and interviewed CEO Kip Tindell. Four of TCS's standard practices jumped out at me as useful to every business, not just retail.

Strategy 1: Truly & Uniquely Engage Our Customer.

Breaking retail tradition, TCS discourages the standard "May I help you?" greeting that often draws a dismissive "Just browsing" response. They train employees to open with more specific communication about products and special store events, which prompts a two-way dialogue.

And since the catalog is the key driver of store traffic, every current campaign is highlighted with a display at the front of the store, so shoppers connect catalog-to-store upon entry. They instantly see what they came for.

Strategy 2: Connect With Our Best Customers.

Since 85% of TCS customers are busy, active women of all ages--college students, young mothers and retirees--they give their stores a feminine appeal. Wide aisles for carts and kids. Carpeting for warmth. The most popular items at eye level for the average woman's height. Product placement that allows quick in, easy find, quick out. Stores designed to help shoppers save time.

They maximize the "touch factor." Research shows that touching products increases sales, so every section has displays with product out of the packaging.

Price tags are considered their "silent salesperson" and every tag carries information and uses for the product, not just price.

Strategy 3: Create a "Yummy" Corporate Culture.

Yummy is Tindell's word--it's an "air of employee excitement" he wants customers to "kind of sense three steps in the door," as he says. Invigorated employees create happy customers. Employees receive 240 hours of training, most focused on product familiarity, compared to less than 12 hours at typical retailers.

"We put the employee before the customer," Tindell says. "And if you take care of your employee better than anybody else, they'll take care of the customer better than anybody else." Is it paying off? Check this out: the store has been ranked in Fortune's "Best Companies to Work For" list for 11 straight years. (Pretty convincing proof.)

Strategy 4: Seek Out Feedback and Act on the Information.

"I don't need to hear how great we are again. I want to know what we're doing a thoroughly lousy job of," Tindell says.

Acting on feedback from both customers and employees, they streamline their service and product selection with 1,500 new products each year.

Okay, now let's turn away from The Container Store and laser focus on YOU. What does all this mean to you? How can you apply it for your business?

Here are seven ideas to get you into high gear on all this:

Get over the "I'm not in retail, so this won't work for me" excuse. "Best Practices" ideas often come from outside your category. Figure out a way to make them work for you, regardless of your industry.
Get to really know--and cater to--your best, most ideal and profitable customer. Identify target market(s), vertical industry(ies), category specifics, key decision makers, buyer's age, title, education, income, location, purchasing habits, product benefits required, desired features, key motivators, biggest frustrations, anger points. Go deep. Then vigorously install programs, products, services and behaviors to capture that ideal customer's attention, desire, and purchase loyalty.
Create a breakthrough greeting. However customers in your industry are typically first addressed, do it differently. Stand apart from the crowd. Differentiation is critical to getting noticed, remembered.
Magnify and energize all customer "touch points." Identify who touches the customer, how often, in what situations, and with what impact. Use "role play" to act out actual encounters, conversations, problems, solutions. Many businesses ignore this and pay a dear price with lost customers.
Over-train employees constantly, every day. Accept that school is never out; training never complete. Don't hire employees who resist. Remember: TCS trains 240 hours per employee vs. the industry norm of 12! That's a huge commitment to employee education, and ultimately, to customer delight.
Adopt the mantra: Employees First, Then Customers. It's true...engaged, stimulated, energized employees WILL create delighted customers. Are you doing all you can to foster this?
Seek feedback continually. From all angles--employees, customers, vendors, media, even employees' families. Then use what you find and thank those who provided it. As W. Edwards Deming said, improve the process constantly and forever. Ongoing 360� feedback and swift action will get this done. And don't always be looking for pats on the back. Seek out the dirt, then fix.

In summary: Be an astute leader--identify your success points, institutionalize them, install them, require them, and monitor compliance relentlessly.

About the Author:

Rick Houcek facilitates off-site strategic planning retreats, helping CEOs and Leadership Teams create high-impact plans that overcome the crippling effects of lousy execution (the single biggest cause of plan failure)--and get successfully implemented! His dynamic Power Planning^TM strategic process drives action through his Escape-Proof Accountability^TM system. It's ideal for small and mid-size businesses. To bring this potent weapon to your team, contact Rick by phone, email or fax. Visit his website at www.SoarWithEagles.com. And ask about his 100% No-Risk Guarantee.