October 2020
Volume #21 Issue #11

Good! Your business is taking the necessary safety precautions. Many have forgotten what comes next!

We have closely observed how businesses have been adapting and conducting business since early March of this year. As we are seeing many missed opportunities, the October Small Business Conversations will focus on sharing these observations. It is a part of our effort to help your business benefit from the experiences of others.

In the spring of this year, it was very understandable when a business apologized to a customer and stated the business was adapting to the changes caused by the pandemic. Today, a statement similar to, "we are adjusting to changes because of the virus", are being believed as much as when you call a company and the recorded voice says, "we are experiencing exceptionally high call volume".

Customers expect a business has had seven months to make changes and adapt to provide good service.

We have visited businesses that are free standing; in strip centers; and in malls. Here are but a few observations and what we can learn from them.

Perhaps there is something about doing business with a local business in any location that gives a level of comfort when you visit. On the other end, the chain stores, while being cautious, give a feeling of apprehension when you approach them.

Perhaps it is the businesses that post the signs stating a limit to the number of customers allowed at any time. We laughed at the small business with a number of 54 as there were not 54 customers in the mall.

What aggravated us was the treatment customers received from these businesses. We saw a display of a fall oriented candle topper and plate (know which store we are talking about?) As we walked in to look at the display, we were approached by a salesperson who immediately went into a speech about what they do when a customer touches a product and how they want you to walk through the store.

In spite of multiple attempts to say we only wanted to see this particular candle topper and plate, the salesperson continued their commentary which had as much passion as the air safety speech given by flight attendants.

This is not a salesperson but instead is more of a "candle store safety speech giver".

Another stop was an eyeglass shop. The entrance was blocked by a rolling cart that contained a clipboard with pages, hand wipes and a couple of bottles of what had to be hand sanitizer.

The first words you hear when you approach the entrance is, "Do you have an appointment?" We felt this was a bit strange as even the medical offices will greet you with a, "hello".

Here is what happened in our trip. As you enter, this employee begins to explain that you should go to either the right side or left side of the store but not both. We had just passed a similar sized business that had a sign indicating a capacity of 10. In this eyeglass shop there were five employees; three standing together (no social distancing) at the back of the shop having a personal conversation. And as the person who let us in the store was now standing over us, the fifth employee was now the door "guard". By the time we were finishing our visit, another person was at the front asking to come in. Seems like there were a few too many employees and definitely too few employees interested in selling.

There were no words of salesmanship by the person waiting on us. Apparently their only job was to watch what we touched and make sure we put it in the right box when we were through trying it on.

We understand the need for safety and agree with taking precautions. However, as with the eyeglass place (they are the company with the commercials about trying on glasses with your phone), we find it odd to see employees standing together yet taking all the other precautions.

When a business makes the decision to open their doors to customers, there are several things we have to remember. This goes for both the chain stores we described and locally owned stores.

The first is the business is there to sell merchandise. The employees are there to be salespeople. With the two examples previously given, it would be far easier to shop online. And with online shopping, a customer might go to your website or they may search for the product online to see who offers the product; you might win and you might lose.

The second is that during the pandemic people are being forced to use the Internet for more and more. They are finding out how easy it can be to shop online. When things do return to normal, are they going to return to the business with the safety speech givers? Or will they shop online?

The last example is that of a local bookstore. Just as the pandemic began, we visited and asked for help in locating our book of choice. As the store did not have the book, they offered to order the book and asked for prepayment. We were told when the book should arrive; told we would receive a call upon arrival; and were pleased with the initial transaction.

From there the experience went downhill. The call never came. With each new promised delivery date, we were again promised a call. With one of our calls to the bookstore, we heard a unique "covid explanation"; They said, "When we were closed, UPS came with a delivery of multiple boxes and we were not hear to receive them. UPS then returned the boxes of books to the distributor. Now we are trying to contact the distributor to get them shipped to us again".

Finally we gave up and ordered the book online. I don't think everyone has the passion or makes the effort we do to shop local. All three of these scenarios will cause the customer to look elsewhere.

In conclusion we remember an experience with a customer visiting our business one morning. We did not have what the customer wanted. However, our response was, "how soon do you need it?". As the customer needed it that night we said we would have it for them after 6pm.

With their stating that would work for them, we sent an employee to a chain store competitor to buy what the customer wanted. Our employee returned with the item in a bag that had the competitor's name on it along with the receipt stapled at the top.

When the customer arrived, it was a fun and funny situation. The customer noticed where the item came from and we agreed with their observation. They asked why we went to the competitor and our response was, "because you wanted the item".

The customer came back with, "I could have gone there", and we said, "No you can't".

"Why not?", they said.

"Because you are our customer and we don't want you to be tempted to look around their store".

We all had a good laugh. We had a good customer forever. It is never too hard to outsmart the competition even if their name is Amazon.

Who is visiting Small Business Converations this month? Beth Montpas

When we get to the October Small Business Conversation there will be 70 days of selling before Christmas. As we stated in last month's Small Business News, this selling season is going to be very different and provide an opportunity for you to try as many new ideas as you want.

The announcement of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade being prerecorded and played at 9am in each time zone says all the rules are off.

This is surely going to be very challenging to each of you. And when it comes to personal challenges, the person we want to call is Beth Montpas. As we have spoken with Beth and read her material we find her to be a tremendous resource in making sure we are able to focus on what needs our attention - both business and family.

Let us suggest for the program that you find a comfortable chair to relax in with perhaps a cup of hot chocolate (definitely no high caffeine or other stimulant). Spending an hour with Beth will be calming yet stimulating; relaxing but inspiring. Yes, Beth has that special kind of talent.

Thursday, October 15 at 8pm Eastern.