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Advice for retailers during tough times: stay positive

Written by: Ross Fattori

Article Overview: How negative opinions from retail employees can lead to a drop in sales

Advice for retailers during tough times: stay positive

I was at a major book store the other day, eyeing a book I wanted to buy. The book was discounted to $6. That’s not a lot of money, but with a slowing economy, discretionary purchases are becoming less frequent, and consumers are scrutinizing every purchase they make.

As I flipped through the pages, I overhead a conservation between a store employee and a customer. The customer was discussing the high jobless statistics in Canada that had been announced earlier that day. He was pretty pessimistic, predicting that the economy would tank in the months ahead.

The store employee was in complete lockstep with the customer about the deteriorating state of Canada’s economy. He even added his own negative thoughts to the conversation. In my opinion, this was a big mistake.

The employee could have handled the conversation differently. He could have agreed with the customer in principle, but politely steered the conversation away from the economy, by mentioning the great deals the store was offering on selected titles. He could have recommended a new author or asked the customer what kinds of books he liked to read.

The result: I didn’t buy the book. The negative tone of the conversation convinced me to be more prudent with my money and to forgo the purchase.

When people visit retail stores, there is a reasonable expectation that they will make a purchase. It’s never a slam dunk, but if the stars are aligned properly, if the right merchandise is displayed correctly and priced well, then customers are more predisposed to buy.

Customers don’t visit your store to hear bad news. They come to your store hoping to find something they want and to have a positive buying experience. If they want bad news, they’ll pick up a newspaper or turn on the radio.

The book store employee missed a great opportunity to influence a sale to the customer he was speaking with. He also missed an opportunity to influence my purchasing decision, and whoever else happened to be eavesdropping.

Retail employees should be coached in how to talk to customers. Part of their job is to sell and to influence buying decisions. It’s not to gripe about their lives or the rotten state of the economy with customers.

Retailers take heed: There’s enough bad news in the air, without adding fuel to the fire. When customers come into your store, they want to feel good. They want to feel good about buying.

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Article Tags: bad news, big mistake, book store, canada, consumers, economy, empl, expectation, great deals, lockstep, money, negative thoughts, negative tone, principle, retail stores, slam dunk, statistics, store employee, turn on the radio



Related Forum Posts
Re: What can You Learn from a Jobless and Homeless Woman? - [quote="mbrand2222":3fggv9uf]Alan, I definitely agree that a person needs all of those things. I think for me, it was the positive attitude that was the most important. If I woke up with a "defeated" attitude, I knew I had to do something to snap me out of it quickly. Either read a few chapters from a Zig Ziglar book or the Bible. I'm sure everyone has their own little routine.[/quote:3fggv9uf] Hi Mary, That's a great routine. I think for me, I know what I want so much so that I'm not going to let anyone get me down. I try to stay positive in every situation, business related or not. It helps with life in general. Nothing good can ever come from being negative all the time. I've seen what it can do, and it's ugly. Also, I think a positive outlook provides opportunities that otherwise would go unnoticed if a person is negative about a situation. You'd be surprised how more open-minded one can be and be provided with "light bulb" ideas in the worst of times. I've been there.
Re: Kevin. What happened to all others moderators? - Thanks Kevin for your reply, I will be fulfilling my obligation of a moderator from now on. I was going through some rough times in the past months, that was why I was not consistent. Thank God the rough times is gone and i am back. Tough times never last but tough people last.
Re: What Businesses to Bail Out? - Shri, I agree. Just within my own little circle of family and friends there have been at least 4 people who have filed for bankruptsy. Who do they think gets stuck paying off their debts? Do they think they just go up in smoke never to be heard about again? I know times are tough, but people don't want and /or aren't willing to change their lifestyles to reflect the tough times. And I'm not just pointing fingers at others......I can't get my own husband to understand the depth of the problems our economy has only begun to feel. When you see ONE bank being rescued by the feds for a cool 85 billion dollars, you better believe there's a problem. We, as a nation, are not being responsible and I think our founders would flip in their graves if they knew the mess we were in.
Re: Cyber Monday - I'm just reading this through the archives, and I've got to say I've never heard of or been aware of a "Cyber Monday". That is a fantastic idea, and I hope some retailers appreciate and honor something like this every year! I'll definitely do a lot of international shopping at those times.
Re: How to Shelf Product with New Packaging/Branding - As one option you are considering is to remove the old stock from the shelves... why not ask the retailers to shift it in a 2-for-1 deal and offer the replacement stock at an appropriate discount so the retailers don't lose money? Maybe that way, the old stock will disappear more quickly, but you won't lose 100%.


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