The Five Don't Do's for Retail Marketers

Last week we look at things you should do as a retail marketer. So this week let's look at the opposite side and focused on the 5 things you should never do.

1. Assume you know what the customer’s needs are.
Perhaps the fast way to ensure any retailer fails is to assume you know what the customer wants.
Leading Australian market researcher, Frank Domantay (Managing Director of Decision Insights) says: “Successful businesses routinely do customer research that allows them to understand what they are doing well and what they are not doing so well.”
This research can be in the form of a survey, one on one interview or focus group. With the results directly feeding in to strategic planning for the retailer and
often being the first indication for the need to change some aspect of the business or it's product offerings.
For example a recent survey done by a local Melbourne based, medical clinic found great dissatisfaction by patients in the approach by the front office staff.
As a result, the staff was retrained on both customer relations and social style training.

2. Try to market yourself exactly like your competitors do.
To fully understand how important this point is, you need to understand that the customers need is really made up of 2 things. Firstly:
The met portion of the need which are the elements that customers are already satisfied with and secondly, the even more important unmet need, which is where the real
opportunity lies to standout from the crowd. Now if you for example, your business follows your competitors blindly and mimics everything they do, you will basically be meeting the same met portion of the need and leaving the same unmet portion of the need.
An example of a retailer that did not follow its larger rival's example, was Dial a Dino's Pizza. They were the first to include free home delivery and as a result differentiated themselves in a
way that not only made them successful, but ultimately compelled the market leading Pizza Hut to buy them out or risk losing market share.

3. Take your customers for granted.
The ongoing support of key customers must also be acknowledged with incentive schemes designed to reward and maintain customer loyalty, as well as drive demand for future purchases.
These schemes do not need to be complex. Trendy cafe Buddha’s Belly offers a simple scheme on their business card, where they offer a free coffee after 5 purchases. Simple but effective.
Larger organisations like Subway have a similar card that offers a free drink after 8 purchases of their subway sandwich. These are simple ideas that work.
It's important to remember that for a lot of businesses the 80 / 20 rule applies. That is that 20% of your customers generate 80% of your business.
The bottom line is, know who the 20% are and reward them for their support.

4. Fail to strengthen areas you have identified in your business as weak.
There is no doubt that a business is only as strong as its weakest link.
You may have a great product but if it is incorrectly priced, poorly promoted or not consistently available in the store due to unreliable suppliers, it will fail. These or any other ongoing weaknesses must be promptly addressed to ensure the businesses ongoing success.
For example, critically acclaimed 12 part miniseries Camelot, after its first 2 issues, suffered from an irregular printing schedule due to unreliable product suppliers which caused the
series to fail. Today's consumers are more aware and less tolerant than they have ever been and any ongoing weakness your business has that it does not seek to overcome, will translate into lost customer loyalty and sales.

5. Lose your overall perspective and work / life balance.
As important as it is to perform well and run a profitable business, retailers must always be wary that the business has the potential to take over your life and leave you with an imbalance between your work and the rest of your life. This is a complex issue but there are some key strategies that can help.
1. Schedule time outs and honour them.
2. Take a time management course that will teach you to be more efficient with your time.
3. Learn the power of delegation, once you have established that an individual is capable of doing that task or role.


Summary:
It is well recognised that many retail businesses fail in their first 5 years of operation.
Many of those who have failed, failed to respect the 5 must do's and the 5 must not do's of small business.
By following these rules laid out in this and the previous post, you will maximise your chances of not joining their ranks.

Please let us know if you feel that there is another key don’t do you’d like added to this list.

And until next time, good marketing and good luck.


Daniele.