Page 52 - Lighting Magazine November 2018

ALA Conference Report
50 enLIGHTenment Magazine | noveMber 2018
www.enlightenmentmag.com
“People are reluctant to tell you that they don’t understand something.”
customers, ‘Here are the things we can do to help you.’ If you can address their fears and concerns up front, you become the safer choice for them. If you and your competitors are all competing at the same price, [if I were the customer], I’d choose the one least likely to screw up.”
Avrin reminded the audience, “People make decisions emotionally – ‘That’s what I want!’ – but they justify them intellectually. Compliment your competitors by listing ve things they do well that you know from your research the customer doesn’t need, and add, ‘but here’s what we do...’” An exam- ple would be, “Home center B has similar recessed lights you can buy o the shelf at 10 p.m. from your home, but here we go to the job site/look over your blueprints, and double-check with the manufac- turer on...”
Challenge your sales team by performing role- play exercises. “Have a speci c way to address each particular concern,” Avrin added. “While we never trash competitors, we can always indict an industry. For example, you can say, ‘Much of the way it’s been done for years is XYZ, but here, we...’ If the industry has been doing something for a long time, but you do it di erently — tell them.”
SpeAk The lAnguAge
Avrin urged retailers to review the words and sales scripts used in the showroom. “Sometimes people just want a conversation that doesn’t sound scripted,” he said. “It’s not about dumbing down the terminology, but making yourself clear and making the customer feel they had good communication
with you. People are reluctant to tell you that they don’t understand something.”
In today’s share culture, people will spread the news of how they were treated by a retailer. “They feel almost obligated to share,” Avrin stated. “When you do something great for someone that they re- ally appreciate, encourage them to share it. In the old days, this meant writing a testimonial; now it’s a video clip. How many of you have the courage to grab your phone and ask the customer, ‘Would you mind saying that again?’ and record it.”
A personal endorsement has more impact than a retailer’s mo o of good service. “You can say that your store is great, but if you can show happy cus- tomers declaring that you’re rock stars, that’s even be er,” Avrin noted. “Trust me, your prospects are checking you out on social media.”
He pointed to the relatively new phenomenon of restaurants providing sel e sticks on each table so diners can share their great time with others. “When we were growing up, there were Polaroid photos of customers tacked up on the bulletin boards of restaurants and stores. Now it’s done through social media,” Avrin said.
“Sure, there are going to be unhappy custom- ers,” he admi ed. “Control what you can and be intentional in what you do. The message used to be about ‘excellence’ — but now that’s expected,” Avrin commented. “This is a di erent time – and a scary time – in retail,” he remarked. “Pretend to be your own customer and view your business that way. Empower your employees to say ‘Yes’ more o en to customers’ requests without having to get a man- ager’s approval.”
The biggest obstacle in any company’s success is to follow the “This is how we’ve always done it” approach, Avrin warned. “We never want to be a best-kept secret. There is no designated ‘market- ing department’ of your company; every part of your business should have a marketing component. Those who say, ‘Our reputation speaks for itself’ are wrong; you need to speak for yourself.”
Avrin’s new book Why Customers Leave (and How to Win Them Back) is available on Amazon. 
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Know your audience and deliver strategic, consistent, and interesting con- tent. Have something to say and say it to them – just them – consistently. If you are sporadic in your sharing or change up the subject or the audi- ence, your tribe won’t know what to do with you — so they will do nothing.