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All independent retailers have customers who visit their stores to familiarize themselves with the products only to go online to buy them. However, potential internet customers give you an opportunity to make a sale, advises Christine Knott, MD of retail training and field marketing company, Beyond The Box.
Following the publication of my article ‘Persistence Pays’ in the August 2010 issue of IER I received a disappointed call from Paul Cunningham from A1 Appliances in Dursley, Gloucestershire.
The article made reference to the owner of a company I had found after googling on the internet for a local retailer. The report focused on the retailer’s persistence with which he won my custom. Whilst referencing the company I referred to it as the internet company rather than the company that I had found via the internet; a simple error but a major outcome in terms of how it was read by Paul, and possibly many other IER readers. I became aware of the misunderstanding it caused when Paul called the office at Beyond The Box to express his dissatisfaction that I was not supporting an independent retailer, choosing instead to buy from the internet. The call led to an educational day for me spent with Paul in his store in Dursley and his loyal and hardworking team.
Visiting Paul and his company made me realise that the internet continues to be perceived as a significant threat and challenge for independent retailers.
During the visit I saw Paul’s passion for his business and he spoke openly about the increasing number of customers visiting his shop to see a ‘real’ version of an appliance they planned to buy from an internet site.
Without doubt the internet has changed the world, sometimes for better, sometimes not. Whatever our thoughts, one thing is certain – it isn’t going away, so the brick & mortar retailers have to find ways of embracing it. I spoke at length with Paul and his team about turning a ‘potential internet customers’ into ‘your customer’ and we concluded that after all, visits of these customers present the retailer with a number of sales opportunities:
• When a ‘potential internet customer’ walks into your store it’s a positive thing. They are in your shop and you are in a position to speak to them face to face – something the internet can’t do.
• Talking to them face to face gives you an opportunity to fully identify their current and future needs, and to offer an alternative and more appropriate solution – something the internet can’t do.
• A customer in your shop is an opportunity to build rapport and create a relationship, and people do buy from people they like. You are in a position to influence their decision to buy from you today and in the future – something the internet can’t do.
• Ask them what price they can purchase online for, and what the price includes. Once you are aware of the information you are perfectly placed to put a counter offer ‘on the table’, explaining all the added value you give in your sale price – something the internet can’t do.
Therefore remember: potential internet customers present you with an opportunity to make a sale. Some of them will still go home and ‘log on’ to buy online, but there will be occasions when your personality and sales technique will win them over and they will choose to buy from you instead. Perhaps not only on this occasion.
For more information on Beyond The Box and its range of services, visit www.beyondthebox.co.uk or call 0845 270 6520.
