daffodil2_MF_Djb78

It’s OK Not to Know the Answers

Mar 28, 2014 14 Comments

Ah spring; the daffodils, the greening lawns, the plum blossom. And of course there is also the Bobcat that now won’t start, new truck drivers who don’t know your “before 10am” policy, the phones that didn’t re-charge overnight and the customers: oh yes, “them”!

Every year (like an ice-storm in Atlanta), spring seems to arrive as if it was a surprise to many. Garden retailers take in more on the first busy Friday than in the previous 4 weeks. By 11am on Saturday, you have already beaten the sales for the entire month of January. Yet employees are unprepared for the stress, hired and thrown in the deep-end (or allowed to continue set-up “task” jobs even as the parking lot is bulging).  The next ten weeks should pay a year’s bills; this is intense stuff and not for the fainthearted! Nor for the shy or the task-obsessed; the next few weeks are about people, specifically, customers.

After many years of walking retail garden businesses I am still amazed how easy it is to be ignored by the people on payroll that day. I don’t mean to suggest these people are lazy or disinterested; they are often busy, even overwhelmed, with a task list from their leaders, but somewhere in the training, orientation and mentoring, a crucial behavior becomes lost.

Mantra

So even with all the caveats about hiring earlier, selecting for character and training for knowledge and so on, here’s the Baldwin spring mantra for the next few weeks:

                It’s OK not to know

but it’s not OK to avoid customers because you may not know…

So, look up, catch eye contact, smile, welcome your wages coming your way. Engage with a non-invasive “Good morning! Sunshine (or warmth/cloud/rain) at last(!)”, and then pause to ‘read’ the customer’s  response. That’s all it takes, literally!

Been there, done that

I have been there. At 18 I remember lifting, carrying and digging my way through spring, keeping my head down and my eyes on the job, praying that customers would not approach me and ask me a question I was sure I would not be able to answer. “The boss knows everything, ask him,” I thought. “This is my first spring, how would I know when to plant sweet peas? I am just filling the tables with them; please, oh please don’t walk over here…”

Obviously, the more product knowledge and experience they have, the more confident the retail employee will be and the greater chance the customer has of being engaged by a smiling face, instead of looking at busy people with their heads-down. But retail is theater and is all about self-confidence. If you don’t like that moment on “thin ice,” don’t volunteer to go on-stage.

Fair Game

No one knows everything and never will. This industry and its products are evolving so quickly even the veterans have a hard time keeping up to date with PK (Product Knowledge). But employees in garden retail cannot let their own lack of knowledge govern their behavior towards paying customers, who don’t know or care if the employee has been there two days or twenty years. Anyone in uniform is fair game.

If this frightens you, retailing may not be a good fit for you.  If it encourages you, congratulations and welcome to a great industry! The day will be much more fun and the customers much happier if you look “open for business.” Spending your time avoiding customers’ eyes can add up to a long long day!

So for now, I wish you a “heads up and happy spring!”

Stay tuned here at Ian’s Bits & Bobs for the next installment: Anticipating the Customer’s Questions.

  1. Bob Sickles
    Mar 28, 2014 at 6:35 pm

    Just finishing up our Girls Night Out. we had a lot of happy customers. It is a non selling event, but great for PR and exposure. (Is tha tworth anything these days???) Anyway wise words Ian. It is all about the customer.

  2. John Crook
    Mar 29, 2014 at 10:34 am

    Great article, Ian. We will post this and get a copy in everyone’s hands. Fits in well with the TLC Training we just completed. We start another round of TLC training for the rest of the staff next week. I don’t know if it’s the training, our new “Pllus 1” program to reward people for getting one more item in each cart, or what, but so far we are easily beating our goal of increasing the average sale by $3.00. Now if we can just get the customer count up.

  3. John Crook
    Mar 29, 2014 at 10:34 am

    Great article, Ian. We will post this and get a copy in everyone’s hands. Fits in well with the TLC Training we just completed. We start another round of TLC training for the rest of the staff next week. I don’t know if it’s the training, our new “Plus 1” program to reward people for getting one more item in each cart, or what, but so far we are easily beating our goal of increasing the average sale by $3.00. Now if we can just get the customer count up.

    1. Ian Baldwin
      Mar 29, 2014 at 11:47 am

      Thanks John, Thanks John!

      Glad to hear the TLC is working for you, keep the faith with the customer count, when word gets around about your great service…

  4. Ron Vanderhoff
    Mar 29, 2014 at 2:16 pm

    All of our staff are getting a copy of this. Perfect timing for this message.

    Ron
    Roger’s Gardens

  5. frank f
    Mar 29, 2014 at 2:26 pm

    Great post Ian! We are having a “All Hands” Spring kickoff meeting next Sunday and this topic is going to be discussed. With emphasis on your mantra. Even on those rainy spring days we need to keep heads up.

  6. david brill
    Mar 29, 2014 at 2:32 pm

    Ian,

    I am printing a copy of this to all of our employees!

    Mind the gap.

    David

  7. Tina Bemis
    Mar 29, 2014 at 8:01 pm

    I just gave the training to the new high school kid. He went right up to the next customer, and she came in and gushed about how helpful he was. He got praise, an instant cash bonus ($5) and incentive to keep doing it.

    1. Ian Baldwin
      Apr 2, 2014 at 1:06 pm

      Nice one Tina, glad it helped – Go GCU Class of 2008!!

  8. Jeff
    Mar 30, 2014 at 9:36 am

    “The more you engage with customers the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing”… From keynote @ Clinic to many years ago to remember

  9. Jim Sullivan
    Mar 30, 2014 at 2:17 pm

    Great article Ian. This is a confusing category and we all need to work together to make it easy for our current and more importantly…our future customers. Anyone can go to scotts.com to download apps, get expert advice, read blogs and more.Or click on the “help center” to chat with a live expert. You can also call 888-270-3714 to talk to a live expert. Hopefully we can get spring going real soon !
    Jim Sullivan
    Independent Sales Team
    The Scotts Company

    1. Ian Baldwin
      Apr 2, 2014 at 1:15 pm

      Jim and Jeff, thanks for taking the time to get involved. It is exciting to see that suppliers like Scotts and Nexus see their role as an essential part of the consumer-success chain, rather than just part of the supply chain. The product Knowledge from suppliers like you is where so much of this success can begin. Just a few pertinent facts can do wonders for the self confidence of retail employees resulting in a successful, happy (and loyal) consumer. None of us (including me) get paid until someone sells something! Thanks again, best wishes for spring to you both!

  10. Jere Stauffer
    Apr 1, 2014 at 4:51 am

    Well said Ian. We just completed a round of ‘Spring Kickoff’ meetings with our store personnel at each location. Emphasis on Delighting Shoppers and good teamwork, Laid out the Strategic Plans for Growth, Laid out the Marketing plans for the spring season, RE-Emphasized the importance of customer service … again. We will get this article into the hands of our sales associates as a great reminder.
    Jere

  11. Ian Baldwin
    Apr 2, 2014 at 1:04 pm

    All,

    WOW, thanks for all your excellent input, I am very happy to be able to help the spring training challenge – lot’s more ideas where that came from.

    Let’s keep this thread going: To all those who circulated my blog among their troops, what happened? Immediate engagement, attempts to use, yawns, riots…?? Who has a story from this initiative please? Give us an example of how an employee took this little piece of info and changed their behavior to customers?

    Does the mantra have a place now in your spring service culture? Let’s hear it….

    Thanks again. Sharing is caring!!

    Ian
    Next blog: anticipating the questions you will be asked by customers – sounds interesting – I would like to read that myself

Comments are now closed for this article.

Copyright © 2016 Ian Baldwin. All Rights Reserved.