Would you rebel or submit if you were required to adopt the same practices of other retailers? If every retailer had the same practices & inventory, many stores would close because consumers would choose the most convenient locations.
Small stores have failed by copying successful big retailers & big retailers fail when competitors offer better value. Instead of just promoting product features &/or benefits, offer the value of helping customers produce & maintain results.
As retailers test offers & consumers’ lives change, offering superior value is a challenge.
Example: As conditions change, products & methods can lose effectiveness or cause damage. Help consumers adjust what they do, so they can adopt new necessities.
Relevant Retailing
Since consumers have a variety of choices, test a variety of services instead of competing only based on products & prices. Your services should integrate your store into local consumers’ lives. What I write about Customer Intimacy is how to integrate your store into consumers’ lives.
When people want low priority results, discount stores' commodities are OK. Small stores should offer what people need for high priority results.
Big retailers try to be more relevant to wider segments by experimenting with customer services, product types & quality levels.
When big retailers focus on big segments, they miss some individual desires & needs. Fill those gaps by aligning your practices with local & personal conditions, so you can integrate with consumers because you understand them better than competitors.
You can help people produce better results when you ask what people want & need from certain results.
Example: Medical problems can restrict people’s movements & force people to change their homes. Some businesses push new cabinets. Organizers & different shelves would help people store & retrieve things & the installation would be less disruptive.
People Want More With Less Risk
Some retailers have easy product return policies, but people still have unsolved problems if they return products. Integration involves helping people find what they want & avoid what they don’t want.
People are more concerned about losing what they have than about progress. It’s common for retailers to offer products without promising specific benefits. Some encourage progress but ignore consumers’ other concerns.
Customer intimate retailers ask about concerns & help people build loss resistant foundations.
This foundations concept means people can retain benefits if problems happen.
Help people understand: 1) what causes their current conditions; 2) positive potential of making changes; 3) negative potential of not making changes; 4) what could go wrong with some products; 5) how to avoid mistakes.
Step-by-step instructions for specific conditions can limit risks. When steps are completed, other tasks won’t disrupt what’s secure because of your advice about avoiding problems & mistakes. Based on expected results of each step, people can recognize potential problems & learn to preserve progress & prevent losses.
As people consider other projects, you can help them check compatibility & be sure new projects don’t interfere with past projects. Example: If people have gardens, planting trees can cause too much shade or even chemically kill other plants.
Offer advice based on total goals & conditions since soil conditions & placement also affect plant health.
Urge customers to consider short- & long-term issues. Examples below are analogous for other projects.
Before planting trees, people should consider how long they’ll live in their houses, future tree size, growth speed & raking leaves year after year. People add rooms to their houses under growing tree branches & wind knocks branches down.
Since people have deductibles, insurance doesn’t always fully cover damage from accidents or severe weather. Insurance doesn’t restore satisfaction when people lose results of their work. Your customer service can include products & information for protecting completed projects & works in progress.
If insurance only covers completed projects, help people reduce vulnerability by determining when to start & how to speed up results.
People might hesitate if they can’t get full insurance coverage for expensive projects. You can show you care by advising people to be sure they’ll have insurance coverage before starting projects.
Project results should be worth more than the insured value of the materials. Do you have examples of insured value of projects to show to insurance adjusters?
You’ll show you care when you help people anticipate opportunities & problems.
What Reassures Customers?
Promote your ability to coordinate products & project tasks because confused people might hesitate to buy.
Shopping for the right product is frustrating without knowing if features solve specific problems. Help people plan projects by matching product benefits with customers' needs.
Stress from problems is compounded when people struggle to learn all they need for projects.
To reduce people's frustration, offer details they need for the best solutions.
Example: ‘You noticed (symptoms) & need quick solutions. After you evaluate your conditions, you need a plan & to learn about tools, materials & compatibility issues. It’s hard to control problems while learning every important detail, finding the best products & planning your project. All you need is at (business) because we recommend what works after comparing problems with product instructions & specifications.’
Ask what frustrates people, so you can help them avoid wasting time & energy.
Example: ‘You need persistence to maintain __ with cheap, discount store products. At (business), we specialize in helping you use high quality products for consistent long-term results. We’ll help you eliminate frustration, so you’ll be satisfied with projects. You can finalize projects & move on, when you’re sure about quality.’
Pride Is A High Priority Result.
Struggling to create & maintain high priority results is especially frustrating when personal pride is involved.
Example: People, who make lawn care a high priority, might link their reputations to their homes. If they personally tend their lawns, they want to understand lawn products because their job-to-be-done includes a high standard of lawn excellence.
If neighbors prioritize uniformity, their job-to-be-done is matching a standard, so they want to know just enough to buy the right products.
To serve them all, express dedication to their causes.
Example: ‘Your neighbors don’t keep many lawn care secrets because they want beautiful neighborhoods. We have products & information you need for high standard lawns. Home owners are often frustrated because they have different lawn conditions. We’ll help you understand how to adjust for different conditions.’
People, who feel personally linked to results, invest dedicated efforts & expect high returns on their investments. Promote your ability to contribute high quality value that matches consumers’ standards.
Ask about consumers’ standards & if you can exceed their expectations, explain how that quality is realistically achieved.
After people have been frustrated, satisfaction promises can seem too good to be true. Does satisfaction mean pride, relief from stress or other benefits? When you know what satisfies people, explain how products fulfill satisfaction with specific benefits.
Integrate your store into people’s efforts by learning about their successes & frustrations. How do problems affect customers? Why are certain results important? What leads to customers’ successes & frustrations? How can you influence those causes & effects?
After you ask about customers’ goals, you can explain how to use your product kits to increase successes & reduce frustrations. People’s success & frustration are affected by their comfort with products, results & risks. With questions & suggestions, you can help people determine how comfortable they are with product performance & risks.
Make offers based on benefits & how comfortable people are with products. Examples:
This general offer doesn’t specify why the product is safer or any specific benefits: ‘(Chemical) reduces effects of mold & is safer than __.’
This offer is more specific about safety & benefits: ‘Formula ABC kills without poisons by blocking mold's ability to absorb water. ABC also safely reduces odors & stains in X days.’
Some advertisers promise to exceed customers’ expectations, but some things should be considered. Should you promise to exceed expectations before you hear them? How much extra does that quality cost? Why is that extra quality worthwhile? Why is ‘good enough’ not enough? If people can only afford ‘good enough’ quality now, can they upgrade later?
Explain why & how exceeding expectations can match people’s priorities.
Example: People might want a home improvement to last until they move out in 5 years. Your improvement kit might increase their comfort, pride & home resale value enough to offset the price. If people use lower quality options, their homes might be less attractive, so they might have to wait longer for a sale.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2020 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
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