10 Ways Retail is Changing - Part 2

10 Ways Retail is Changing
Part Two in a Three-Part Series
by Roy H. Williams
https://wizardacademy.org

1. Hidden Profit Centers are the new Markup
Low-cost providers such as Sam’s Club and Best Buy are selling “in-store exchange” policies at the cash register to supplement the manufacturer’s warranties they don’t honor. In other words, you can’t take a faulty purchase back to the retailer if there’s a problem – you have to contact the manufacturer directly – unless you bought their "in-store exchange” policy.

2. “Hard-to-find” items are no longer hard to find.
Just Google it.

3. A huge in-store selection can be counterproductive.
When buying locally, a shopper confronted with too many choices can go into analysis paralysis. Successful stores stock only those items that represent the best value for the money. And they make sure never to run out of those items. The best stores stock only what’s hot. They may offer just one vacuum cleaner, but it’s the one that everyone is buying.

4. Traffic is in decline
because comparison-shopping is in decline. A customer who used to go to 3 or 4 stores to gather information is now going to just 1 or 2. When a customer goes to just one store, second place is the first loser. Don’t be number two on their list.

5. Intrusive visibility is more important than ever.
Intrusively-visible locations are destined to become even more important as media fragmentation continues. But don’t confuse visibility with mere traffic count. Seeing you is altogether different than driving past you.

6. Hype doesn’t sell anymore.
The effectiveness of artificial urgency is in sharp decline. People are no longer naive. Companies that were built on high-impact ads are finding their dwindling, traditional customer base won’t respond to anything but high-impact offers and new customers won’t take them seriously. These stores are closing their doors and no one is noticing.

7. Attention spans are shrinking.
Too much to do, too little time.

8. Clarity is more important that creativity.
Web surfing has taught us to quickly appraise whether information is relevant to us. The most effective ads are short and clear.

9. Details matter.
Quirky and cute ads were effective in the 90’s because they made corporate America warm and approachable. People still like these ads and may even compliment you on them, but they’re no longer driving traffic. Buying decisions are increasingly based on logic. Give customers a no-loopholes warranty and a story that rings true and they’ll respond.

10. Speed is essential.
Customers don’t complain when you waste their time. They just don’t come back.

Yo. Wake up. It’s a brand new day.

How Retail is Changing - Part 1

How Retail is Changing
Part One in a Three-Part Series
by Roy H. Williams
https://wizardacademy.org

The old assumption in advertising was that the customer didn't know, and
wouldn't know unless you told them.

This is no longer a valid assumption. Today's customer enjoys access to
information far beyond what any of us saw coming.

You're aware of how quickly and easily you gather information online each
day, but has it occurred to you that your customers expect information about
you and your products to be found just as quickly and easily?

What do your customers find when they enter your category and town into a
search engine? Do they find the answers to their questions?

What do they assume when you provide minimal information and someone else
provides much more?

Better Question: What do you assume when minimal information is provided by
a company you're researching online?

What about those times when you're researching a purchase and the seller
chooses not to put prices online? How does that make you feel? What do you
assume about the seller?

Are you likely to:

1. call them,
2. email them, or just
3. search for that product from a different provider?

The first time we designed a promotional plan for a website was in June,
2000. I'll never forget it. We put together a great product, a catchy name
and a media plan we knew would drive traffic to the site. That was where it
all fell apart.

The client decided it would be best to "capture all the contact information"
before revealing the price of the item. In essence, a customer had to commit
to purchase the item before the price was revealed. That website had
hundreds of thousands of visitors but made very few sales. The company is
now defunct, even though their product was excellent and their prices were
great.

The best websites answer all your questions.

Does your website answer all your customer's questions, or is your plan to
"make them" contact you so you can "get more detailed information" about
their budget, their preferences and their requirements?

The customer is far more likely to contact you after they've found the
answers to all the questions you didn't have to have their personal details
to provide.

The hardest part about crafting a website is anticipating the unspoken
questions of your customers.

The most successful of the Wizard Academy websites is FreeWeddingChapel.org.
Miraculously, it took us only about 6 months to bring that website to its
current level of seamlessness. Our advantage was a daily telephone-parade of
anxious brides calling with nervous questions. Few decisions are accompanied
by the degree of anxiety as the decisions that accompany a wedding. These
daily questions allowed us to quickly refine our info-stream. Any time we
answered a new question by telephone, we'd instantly add the answer to the
ones we provided online.

That website now
functions like a well-oiled machine. Brides comment the website "felt like
it was reading my mind."

This is what happens when you diligently:
1. harvest the questions of your customers, and then
2. insert all the answers into your web copy.

Now get to work on that website.

My Upcoming Schedule

I just wanted to let my customers and friends know about my upcoming schedule.

My office will be closed June 4 - June 8th for the birth of my baby. I can not guarantee I will be available to check my email or take phone messages during this time.

June 8 - July 23 - My office will be open on an intermittent only basis. However I can be reached by phone or email!

I want to thank all of you for your interest, concern, understanding & patients. I have the best customers in the world and am grateful for you all!!

Thanks again,
Terri Miller

Gas Prices & Those "We'll Show Them Emails" Analyzed

I have been receiving a batch of the "Let's show those gas company" emails again lately, undoubtedly because of the high prices at the pump. I have been getting them off and on for over three years now. I looked into the various tactics they propose and found most of them won't help. Let's look at a few of the most popular:

Don't buy gas on a certain day.

The emails always have different dates, so getting the millions of internet users on the same page is already a problem. Plus is won't work. So you don't buy gas that day, you will still need it eventually so you will buy it a day before or after, so what! The gas companies laugh! The only way this could have any impact is if everyone also decided not to DRIVE ANYWHERE that day and NOT TO MAKE UP the miles the missed at any time. So that millions of gallons of gas would be saved and therefore delay our need to fill up again and reduce the demand and increase the supply. Remember this, the point will come up again and again.

The other is don't buy gas from a certain company or two.

Usually the biggest two companies. This won't work either, since most oil supplies are so interrelated in this country. Look into it and you will be amazed at how all these gas stations are owned or buy gas from the big distributors. So it is a bit like a monopoly or so I have been told. I am no expert, but this would mean that in most cases they will get their cut no matter which gas station you fill up at. Once again, WHERE YOU BUY isn't as important as NOT BUYING. And you can only stop buying if you STOP USING! Supply and demand. The only way to get the prices down is to increase their supply by lowering the demand. This means drive less, or buy more efficient cars. Sorry folks, no easy out here!

I heard on the radio yesterday that many European countries forced car manufactures to produce cars with 45 miles to the gallon fuel efficiency. I also heard a figure yesterday, that if we forced car manufactures to increase fuel efficiency of all new cars by just 1 MILE PER GALLON that in a few years we could completely eliminate our need for Middles East Oil! Once again I was in the car driving and I have not check these facts for accuracy, but it sounds good.

They have us over an OIL BARREL and our only real choice is to not buy it or buy less of it. Many say the world is at peak oil production, it will never be able to produce as much as it does now, which means soon the supply will begin to decline FOREVER and the demand has never been higher. Look at China and the developing world who are hungry for our cars and lifestyle. A HUGE war is coming if we don't figure this out soon, God help us all if it comes to that! In the mean time all we can do is conserve. Hey not only will it save you money, it might just save the planet!

Thanks for listening to my ramblings!
Terri Miller

Tweaking: The Hidden Marketing Secret

Wonder why some people get better marketing results than others? It's because they tweak.

One rarely discussed marketing secret (except amongst rabid direct marketers or online marketers), is the arcane art of tweaking. Tweaking your marketing is literally the key to getting more response to any marketing activity you attempt.

Tweak means to adjust or fine-tune.

And this is exactly what people fail to do when it comes to their marketing. In fact, most do the opposite: They develop a web site and never change a pixel for years; they settle on a marketing message and never try anything new; or they give a speaking engagement and don't try various "pitches" to get cards from participants.

The Science of Tweaking

Tweaking is what scientists do. They test something using an experiment. They get a certain result. Then they change a measurable variable and see what new result they get. They keep at this until they get the desired result (or not).

Good marketers are like scientists, but they have more fun.

Instead of experimenting on rats, they experiment on prospects. They try one marketing tactic at a time and measure the result. Then they change a measurable variable and see if the prospect responds differently.

Good scientists, if they are persistent, get grants to keep experimenting. Good marketers, if they are persistent, attract more clients and often get rich.

Let's look at a few marketing experiments you can tweak.

1. Ezine signups from a web site.

Growing a big eZine list is a great way to grow your business. Let's look at the two main variables: a) home page of web site and b) eZine sign-up page of web site.

To conduct this experiment you must know:
a) how many people land on your home page in any given period
b) how many people click onto the sign-up page
c) how many people actually sign up

Using a simple web tracker that counts visitors and subscribers, you can get these statistics very easily.

So let's say in a week, 100 people go to your home page. Of those, 40% click onto your sign-up page. And then 25% of those actually sign up for the eZine. That makes a sign-up rate of 10%.

Now you start tweaking.

You work at making changes to your home page so that more visitors click through to the sign-up page. You might improve the design, the graphics, the headline, the offer for the report you get with the eZine, etc.

Several tweaks might increase the number of people who click on the sign-up page to 50%. Now your total sign-up rate is 12.5%

Next you tweak away on the sign-up page. Perhaps you change the name of the report (more results-oriented), and you change the sign-up form (by making it simpler) and the placement of this form (you put it higher on the page).

Several tweaks of this kind may increase the number of actual sign-ups to 40%. Your total sign-up rate is now 20%. You've doubled your sign-up rate. And that's how tweaking pays off!

2. Getting cards after a speaking event

What I used to say was, "I have a report that covers most of the material I discussed today. If you'd like a copy, just leave me your card and I'll send it to you by email".

That pitch got me 30-40% of cards. So I tweaked my pitch.

I now say: "Here is a report that covers most of the material I discussed today. Who would like a copy? (and I get a show of hands) Great, please give me your card with a current email address and I'll send it to you by email."

That pitch gets about 80% of people in the room giving me cards. The tweak is that I got people to raise their hands saying they wanted the report. It more than doubled the results.

3. Your Audio Logo

When I use a problem-oriented Audio Logo: "I help Independent Professionals who are struggling to attract clients," I get about five times the response than a solution-oriented Audio Logo: "I help Independent Professionals attract more clients."

Go figure.

You don't have to know all the reasons your tweaking changed the results, you just have to keep tweaking until the results improve.

What are you currently doing in your marketing that isn't working as well as it could? Time to start tweaking!

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About the Author: Robert Middleton, the owner of Action Plan Marketing, has beeh helping Independent Professionals be better marketers since 1984. On his web site ActionPlan.com find valuable resources, products and programs for attracting more clients.