The secret to increasing sales may be right under your nose. The best way to entice new guests and keep them coming back is to manage the guest experience through highly personalized guest service.
In this week’s post, Jeffery Smith, with Peterbrooke Chocolatier, guides us on an exploration of each of the five senses and how to use them to ensure every facet of your location makes a quality statement.
It's time to take off your day-to-day blinders and put on your guests' eyes—have an open mind and experience your retail store as one of your guests, not as the owner/operator of your business. You can do so by focusing on your individual senses and asking yourself the following questions.
Sight
As you approach your location is the front of the store clean and attractive? Is the outside paint fresh and clean? Are the awnings clean? Is the sign in good repair and does the timer operate properly with dusk? Is the glass clean on all exterior windows, and all signage in your windows professional in appearance? As you enter the location is the packaging crisp? Are the shelves well organized, uncluttered and the product clearly labeled? Can the guest easily identify the price of each item on the shelf without having to turn it over to look for the price? Are all surfaces clean in publicly visible and nonpublic spaces? Are all of your chocolate items in temper with the shining chocolate appearance?
Hearing
The sound of your location should be complimentary to what you are trying to achieve and should never be louder than a comfortable conversation level. In addition to the volume, music is just as important for setting the tone in a retail environment. If you are striving for a fun and lively atmosphere, seek upbeat tunes. Likewise, classical or jazzy sounds can create the feel of a sophisticated, high-end environment. Next, stand in the center of your location, close your eyes and listen to the sounds around you. Listen for sounds you may have become accustomed to and would normally tune out. Do you hear compressors cutting on and off? Do you hear the employees talking about last night’s date? Does the air conditioning/heating unit squeak while operating? Is the music too loud to hear anything else? You may have gotten used to these sounds, but for a new customer they could be distracting.
Smell
Does your location smell like a chocolate/candy store? Are you employing the use of a scent machine to aerate the allure of chocolate into the street as a way of enticing guests to come into your location and purchase product? Does your location smell clean and fresh in all areas, not just the retail area?
Taste
How long has it been since you sat down and tasted your chocolate/candies during operating hours? Does all of the product you sell meet your quality standards for taste? Are you sampling the freshest, highest-quality product or items that are out of date and/or old inventory? Are the creamy items creamy, the cold items cold and crisp items crisp?
Touch
Are all surfaces both inside and outside of your location clean to the touch. There is nothing worse than dirty door handles with grime under the handle. Are soft surfaces soft? Does all packaging that is touched by your guest say quality? Hopefully by looking at your location through your guests’ eyes you can make it better than it already is.
As you begin to focus more on appealing to the senses, you may be able to improve customer experiences that may have been overlooked and poorly affecting sales without your knowledge. Change your focus and see how it affects your sales.
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