I went to a womens networking group last week. They had a guest speaker from Alter Ego who gave a presentation on colour and style.

Sounds like an art class but in this instance colour and style referred to the colours and style of the clothes we should wear that enhance our skin tones and body shape.

Alter Ego explained that we have one of two skin tones, warm or cool. Your skin tone determines which shade of colour enhances your appearance. Wearing the correct shade can enhance someones appearance by making their skin glow and their eyes sparkle. I swear it takes shadows away from certain areas of the face which in turn reduces the appearance of wrinkles too! Can’t be a bad thing!

It was interesting to note that when a survey of the room was taken the majority had an extensive range of black outfits in their wardrobe. Black is a safe colour for most people - it certainly was for me until I had my colours done and I could clearly see that it made me look drawn and dull!

The style section focussed on fabrics and outfits that can give the illusion of height increase or weight loss! Now that I like! I had a colour and style consultation completed by Alter Ego about 2 years ago. Since that time shopping for clothes has been more enjoyable because I know what suits me best - I’ve saved money too and actually wear all the clothes I buy. I can’t begin to tell you how many items I have bought over the years and never worn!

It was a real turning point for me because in addition to enjoying my clothes more, it has raised my confidence. My work means I frequently stand in front of groups to deliver presentations or seminars, wearing colours and outfits that make me look my best has made me feel better about myself allowing me to concentrate on the job in hand.

You may have heard the phrase - ‘You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression’. If you make presentations or meet people you need to influence as part of your work, you might want to consider having a colour and style consultation to help you make that first impression be a lasting one.

Find out more about Alter Ego http://www.myalterego.co.uk/

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I read an excellent example of how good customer service training can change the outcome of a bad customer experience. The example was written on the Marketing Beyond Blog, under ‘retail training’.

He describes situation 1 where the customer service assistant goes through the motions of returning a phone and cancelling his contract with limited conversation; and situation 2 where the assistant delves deeper, to understand the reasons behind the return and suggest possible solutions.

The good service described is hypothetical, but if you were faced with the second situation, I’m sure you would agree that he’s right in saying you would give the network another try.

It is becoming more common, particularly in telecoms to be transferred to the ‘retention department’ when you call to cancel a service. It demonstrates how important it is to train staff well, and ensure they are aware of service improvements, and product benefits.

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Here Christine explains what is involved in Field Marketing and Merchandising:

As ever, here are the notes to go with this video in case you are unable to watch the video:

What Does Field Marketing And Merchandising Entail?

It’s all about increasing sales. A field training and merchandising team will do that by encouraging the store to increase the number of units sold, or raising the average selling price.

To do this effectively, you have to make sure that the stock is

• out on display
• positioned in an eyecatching location
• merchandised correctly with point of sale materials

This is so the customer can see any offers, see the price correctly, and gain information about the product.

If the product needs some involvement from a sales person - i.e. it’s not as simple as the customer selecting an item off the shelf - you would ensure that the sales person is up-to-speed on the product. Meaning they understand the product and have confidence to sell it.

To build this confidence, we would train the staff, show them how to use the product and introduce some key selling skills.

This leads to more sales for the retailer and in turn the manufacturer… so overall everybody wins!

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• Make sure you approach every customer
• Build rapport – be open and friendly, ask questions like - ‘how are you feeling today’ or ‘what is the weather like outside’.
• Ask open questions (these are, who, what, why, where, when and how - these types of questions give you more information than a yes or no answer) to identify the customer’s needs.
• Once you identified the customer’s needs, match them to the product using both a feature and a benefit, e.g. – ‘keeping the children’s uniforms clean must be a problem for you, with this model, it as a daily wash cycle, you can put the children’s uniform in when they get home from school and they will be washed within a half hour, this will save you both time and money’
•  Know what your available stock is – use lost leaders (these are products that are low priced and well advertised products that bring the customer through the door) as a sell up tool, this gives the customer a superior product and it means more money in the till for your store.
• Ask for the sale – don’t be afraid to close the sale, ask the customer ‘when would you like this delivered’ (this option also gives you an add on sale too) – if they come up with an objection, e.g. ‘I want to take it with me’ – you say ‘great, no problem, we have one in stock, you can take it away today’.
• Customers may say ‘I want to have a look around’ – you  can reply with, ‘To save you the time having to look around, we check our prices every week to make sure we are competitive and if you do happen to see it cheaper elsewhere, we will beat the price’ If the customer still chooses to ‘look round’ you may still get the sale, the customer will more than likely come back to you to buy the product, if you have built a good rapport with them.

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We’ve put together a video running through some tips on how to differentiate your brand in retail stores. Here’s Christine with her top tips:

To ensure this is accessible to all, we’ve also written up the show notes below.

If I had to sum it up in 5 tips, the important things to make sure your brand can be differentiated are as follows:

• Make sure your product is on the shop floor. You can’t sell an empty space. Ensure you have plenty of stock in the warehouse to put on the shelves when they’re empty.

• Make sure your product is positioned well. It’s possible to purchase good store space in a retail outlet, so have a word with the buyers to find out where the best spots are.

• Make sure the product is well merchandised when it’s in position. There’s nothing worse than a scruffy dirty point of sale (POS). So make sure the point of sale is clean, relevant, eye catching and up-to-date.

• Once your product is on display, make sure staff know about it. It’s not always the case that staff are trained on all products. It’s important that staff can speak to customers about your product with confidence - that will differentiate your product from a different brand.

• What a lot of companies will do to achieve this is employ a trainer merchandising team where people will go in to a store representing that brand making sure all the above are followed through.

We would love your feedback, any positive or negative comments, or anything you would like to add.

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• It is imperative you try to record the details of anyone visiting your stand

• Worst case scenario, have something for them to take away that will retain their interest with an invitation to call you.

• Put the photographs of the people manning the stand on the literature you are handing out so they have something to jog their memory when they get back to their office.  Remember they will be taking several pieces of literature home, help them to remember you.

• Record details of everyone visiting with their area of interest and contact details and their preference to when they receive a call from you

• Follow up the calls within a few days of the exhibition finishing.

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• Open questions i.e. start with Where, What, How, When, Why Who. Open ended questions require information in the answers and they will help you engage in conversation

• Start with friendly easy questions ‘Hi how are you enjoying the day?’, ‘Where have you traveled from today’?

• Lead into questions about them. ‘What line of business are you in’? ‘What do you do there’?

• Gradually lead into the product group/service you are representing. ‘How many times a year does your company get involved with ………………..’?, ‘When did your company last…………………..’?

• Get them drawn into your stand as you speak to them. Use your body language to do that or show them something on display – brochure, samples etc. The more people you have on your stand the more you will attract because your stand appears to be busy.

• If you are to busy to talk to someone who has walked onto your stand, Make eye contact smile and explain you twill be with them. Try to get to them ASAP if only to secure their details. E.g. ‘Hi, I won’t be a minute can I ask you to fill in the …….(competition, enquiry form, whatever you have produced to record their details), or ask them for a business card

• Create interaction where possible with samples and catalogues

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Exhibiting at a show can be great for generating new business, but it’s a large investment in time and money, so you’ve got to make the most of it!

This is the first in a 3 part quick tip series which will help you prepare and manage an exhibition stand. This first post will give you some ideas about how to get people over to your stand.

• Hold prize draws - this can generate interest and allows you to collect contact details of people interested in your field.

• Free ‘stuff’ - your visitors can take home something with your brand and contact details that they will keep longer than a business card.

• Enticing stand display - make your purpose clear, and portray a professional image.

• Open friendly staff - make sure you staff your stand with people who are approachable and happy to help.

• Someone in the hall encouraging them to visit - don’t restrict yourself to your allocated corner.

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When we recently exhibited at the Business North West exhibition we had the good fortune to meet Val Holmes from Oldham College Business Centre. Val is the Commercial Business Manager and approached Beyond The Box to work with the Centre as a training supplier.

Last week we completed our first project with them - a bespoke training package for a dental surgery that has recently undergone a major transformation as they changed from an NHS to a private practice.

The surgery in question already displays some excellent customer service skills but felt they would benefit from gaining an understanding of how to manage the process of changing from a service environment to a sales and service environment.

The course was delivered over two days. Day one covered team building and change management, providing a clear insight into how people react to change. This was focussed on how individuals may handle the change of becoming a fee paying customer from an NHS patient. Day two covered communication skills.

The feedback from the course was fantastic with several comments relating to the intial fear some of the delegates had about attending a training programme years after their latest ‘learning experience’, which for many was school days. They were all unanimous in their conclusion that their fears were unfounded, they thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed environment and learning activities.

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Back in early 2005, Hoover approached specialist training company, Beyond The Box, to provide a field training team that would help them to increase market share and promote the Hoover brand in key retail outlets throughout the UK.

The solution suggested by Beyond The Box was to set up national training team under the guidance of a national training manager. This team of 10 regional trainer merchandisers would cover the whole of the UK and have responsibility for several key elements in the retail/purchasing environment.

“The brief from Hoover was to train retail staff on Hoover products to ensure that they had a positive response to the Hoover brand and that they demonstrated confidence and knowledge to offer Hoover products to customers,” comments Christine Knott, Managing Director of Beyond The Box. “Our trainers visit the stores on average once a month which helps the team to develop key relationships with stores staff. The training is provided either one to one or in group sessions.”

But the regional trainers don’t just offer training for the retail staff, they also act as ambassadors for the Hoover brand. Whilst in store they check that the product is displayed correctly on the shop floor, place point of sale material, ensure that all Hoover products are clean and undamaged and then action any specific area that requires attention.

“We wanted the team to provide Hoover with feedback not only on the training that the retail staff were receiving but also to provide a monthly snapshot of the stores they were visiting. This includes commercial information about competitors, price changes and product placement as well as feedback on the condition of the goods in store,” said Christine.

Feedback from Hoover has been very positive. The training support programme has been running for over two years and has been very effective. The team has received positive feedback from retail outlets around the country. At Currys in Watford training on washing machines was provided. Two weeks later the trainer returned to the store to be told that the member of staff she had trained had been selling Hoover washing machines due to the training he had received, where he’d never sold them before.

At Comet in Pontefract a member of staff now only sells Hoover products because she feels confident with them since she received the training. At Comet in Chester, the training manager helped store sales manager Tom, increase his sales for MDA by 80% that day.

Mark Barratt, Marketing Director for the Hoover Candy Group comments, “Having a field training team provides us with more direct access to the consumer at the decision making point. The team provides us with feedback from the sales staff as to how the consumers feel about our products. Another benefit of using a face to face team is that they are able to improve product knowledge in a way that written information simply cannot. The team also help to develop effective POS and merchandising with the sales staff to ensure they are comfortable with our product range. All of this means that the sales staff, after training, are able to sell our products with confidence.”

Pat Smith, recently retired Sales Director for Hoover Floorcare, comments, “Hoover sales have increased year on year as a direct result of the Beyond The Box training team being in-store.”

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