Sell the Experience
By The Mann Group
Product is not the most important thing you offer to your customers.
Hey retailers, take a look around—what do you see? If you’re at work, the answer is simple: product. Thousands and thousands of things: hundreds of socks, dozens of canoes, innumerable stickers, and buttons, and carabiners. It’s product that brings people in and product they leave with—but product isn’t the most important thing you offer.
Most retailers prioritize product, and we understand why; after all, retail is in fact defined as “the sale of goods to the public.” And when you look around at all that stuff, you probably see money. Product is a huge monetary investment, and it’s the building block of your business. You also see profits, and without selling that stuff you’re doomed to failure.
But still, product isn’t what makes your business successful, especially not in a sea of competitors, and definitely not in an era of escalating digital retail. If product were the priority of customers, they could easily order the thing online and have it shipped to their doorstep, or probably pick it up on their weekly Target run. They could go to a big box outdoor retailer and get the same product with a bigger selection and maybe even a discount. Unless you’re selling something completely unique to your store, chances are, they can find the same product elsewhere, and maybe even more conveniently.
Even if you offer the broadest selection of the best gear, it doesn’t guarantee your success. So what does? An amazing customer experience.
Retailers have to adjust their mindset around product, because you’re not just selling things, you’re selling an experience. Without that experience, what differentiates your store from competitors? Without that experience, what justifies the customer’s trip to your store and away from their computers? Without that experience, what do you offer that’s at all unique?
When a customer decides to visit your store, it’s almost certainly with the intention of buying a product, but it’s also with the expectation of receiving knowledgeable, gregarious service. If they don’t receive the experience they expect, they won’t buy the product, and they certainly won’t return. The product may be the motivator, but it’s the experience that facilitates the transaction.
It’s the experience that inspires customers to spend, and it’s also the experience that inspires them to return. Customers who have a great retail experience become regulars (have you ever become a frequent customer at a restaurant with bad service? Didn’t think so). Regulars aren’t just the backbone of your business because they spend more money (which they do—returning customers spend an average 67 percent more than new customers), but also because they offer free word-of-mouth marketing; they tell their friends and fellow sportsmen not about the great product you offer, but about the great experience they had in your store.
Word-of-mouth marketing is undoubtedly the most successful form of marketing, generating twice as many sales as paid ads. When you offer an excellent customer experience, you’re not just guaranteeing a sale today, you’re creating a customer for life, and marketing to new customers, too. Would those folks become regulars with subpar product? Maybe not, but they definitely wouldn’t become regulars with subpar service.
So does product matter? Absolutely. Is it going to make or break your store? Probably not. And is it the most important aspect of your shop? Nope.
Instead, prioritize customer experience. Don’t just offer product training for your employees, provide them with soft skills training so they can interact and engage with customers. Don’t just hire based on technical knowledge, hire folks who are in-touch with the emotional aspects of the customer experience. And don’t just order good product and put it on your shelves; sell it with passion, engagement, and excitement.
About The Mann Group: We are The Mann Group, a charmingly incongruous and blatantly genuine group of big thinkers and list makers. Get us together, and our ideas bloom into vibrant, sky-high projects; take us apart, and we work methodically and assiduously to accomplish the goals we created together. We create and implement practical courses and curriculum to help businesses and individuals grow.