Through the Eyes of a Stranger
- By keeping employees satisfied, restaurants can ensure happy
customers.
What
do consumers think of your retail store, your employees and their
sales effort? HPA Canada set about to find out.
Robert Burns had it right. Our perception of ourselves, or our
business, or the company that employs us, differs from that of others
a bit further removed. And their perception is oftentimes more accurate,
because it is less biased.
Recently, a select group of hearth retailers in Canada received
that "gift" of despassionate appraisal, courtesy of Tex
McLeod and the Hearth Products Association of Canada/A.P.C. McLeod
is executive director of the association, and a person seldom bereft
of ideas.
It was his concept to commision Sensors Quality Management, a firm
specializing in appraisals of retail stores, to conduct what was
termed the "Mystery Shopping Program." The goal of the
program was to obtain independent, unbiased appraisals of selected
hearth retail stores, and to present those findings to the store's
owners - in short, to allow hearth store owners to "see"
themselves as consumers see them.
In August and September of 1998, McLeod and various members of
HPAC worked with SQM to develop a suitable evaluation form. A total
of 31 areas of evaluation were identified, six of which would be
measured on a sliding scale (1-20 and 1-25), and 25 with simple
"yes" or "no" answer.
At that point, SQM's field representatives (Mystery Shoppers, if
you will) set about to evaluate 21 hearth shops, in the provinces
of Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.
Beginning with a phone call to the store to determine promptness,
courtesy and ability to provide clear directions, these representatives
then proceeded to the store to assess the physical plant - both
outside and in - and the sales experience itself.
The Results
So how did these 21 stores fare in this retail evaluation? As a
group, they averaged 78 percent out of a possible 100 percent. There
were three areas in which all retail shops received a perfect score:
questions 3, 4, 5, 6a, 6b, 6d, 7 and 13b (see chart). The three
ares in which this group posted the lowest scores were as follows:
Question 17b: Were woodburning fireplaces/stoves operating?
Question 22: Did the sales staff ask you for feedback on the products?
Question 27: Did the sales staff obtain follow-up information (name,
address, phone number) for an appointment? Surprisingly, only six
of the stores in the study had wood stoves burning, despite the
incredible devastation wrecked by last winter's ice storm throughout
the province of Quebec. Large areas of Canada were without power
for weeks as power and transmission lines toppled like so many dominos,
and families were forced into shelters for survival. If ever there
were an opportunity to sell wood stoves in Canada, 1998 was it.
How then is this seemingly masochistic business decision not to
burn wood stoves in hearth stores to be explained?
"I didn't expect our shoppers to find wood stoves burning
unless it was seasonably appropriate," says McLeod. "Our
guys are of the opinion that, if it's not cold outside, they don't
have to run a stove. But the stores do have an obligation to run
the stoves, and to devise a system to dump the excess, if necessary.
If stoves aren't being burned in September and October, then sales
are being lost." For a salesperson to ask a consumer for feedback
on products afer having explained their pros and cons is just plain
good business. It is vital to elicit as much nformation from a customer
as possible, both to pinpoint their needs and their possible objections.
Only seven stores were found to employ this very basic sales technique.
There's a message here for our hearth retailers. We think the sale
is technically based, and we might give technically correct information,
but that's not selling. What we're talking about here should be
part of very sales effort. If you're not asking for feedback, then
you're not listening very well." Unfortunately, it is not surprising
that the vast majority of these stores failed to collect name, address
or phone numbers of consumers who entered their shop. Other surveys
of hearth dealers yet, the resulting list throughout the years have
shown this to be the case.
When a consumer enters a store, any store, he/she has displayed
an interest; they have raised their hand and yelled, "I am
interested in the products you have for
sale!" To let that person simply saunter out the door, perhaps
never to be seen again, is just not smart business.
Computerized lists of those customers who have bought, and those
who have not, may be the most valuable documents available to any
retail business person. The uses of such lists are many an varied,
and they are all lucrative.
Consider the costs - in your store, your signage, your inventory,
your lighting, your heat, your salespeople, your advertising - just
to get a customer to open your front door and walk in. Failure to
capture information that enables you to contact that person again
is a capital error.
Typical Problem Areas
Remember that the average score for all 21 stores was 78 percent,
which is really not bad. In fact, one store scored a perfect 100.
But we all learn more from properly directed criticism than from
praise. Here then are some of the problem areas as reported by Mystery
Shoppers.
"The person answering the phone was a little curt."
"Two wood fireplaces were dirty and not working."
"Three of he displays were missing, and one had parts all
over the floor."
"The gas fireplaces were not functioning."
"The woodburning stoves/fireplaces were not functioning."
"The accessories were put out in a somewhat haphazard way.
Some were still half wrapped in plastic."
"The shopper had to go searching for a salesperson to serve
him. It took five minutes."
"There was no mention of wood. The shopper finally had to
ask."
"The salesperson did not make eye contact very often, and
he was not very informative."
"Doors had fingerprints; tiles were stained; ceilings were
smudgy."
"Didn't see any 'add-on' items, only fireplaces, no accessories."
"Service was rushed, shopper wasn't acknowledged for four
minutes."
"The shopper was told to call their service technician (for
more information). He would explain the shopper's options."
"The salesperson said, 'The wood stove will make a mess on
the floor."
My presence was acknowledged only after four minutes, while three
salespeople were talking at the back of the store."
"The doors on the fireplace were not clean, and not working
properly. The fireplace was a little damaged."
"The gas fireplaces were not operational."
According to McLeod, this has been the first phase of the project.
"The next phase is to go back to our members, in another two
or three months, and ask who would like to be involved in the next
round," says McLeod. "Stores that have been shopped already
really should be involved again, to see if they have improved."
"This program gives a relatively objective view of how people
are perceiving your store," says Warren Middleton, chairman
of the HPAC's Retail Caucus. "It provides an impetus to fix
things up."
McLeod would like to see the Mystery Shopping Program become an
ongoing affair, with stores being shopped three or four times a
year. The initial cost will be about $75 per store but, as more
stores are added, the price will go down.
"This is a lot of information for the price," he says.
"And manufacturers could use the same system to determine how
retailers are representing and selling their products."
Copyright © HEARTH & HOME, 1999
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