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Guarantee and Well-Being

by DW Green — June 13, 2017

Enhance the well-being of a customer.

I’m an ardent proponent of product and service guarantees. A guarantee is a promise or assurance that a company will stand behind the quality of products it sells or services it performs. Guarantees build trust and loyalty with consumers. In a sense, a guarantee is a company’s commitment to the well-being of its customers. Wow, what an intriguing approach to serving the customer. Imagine a conscious intention by company leaders to enhance the well-being* of a customer. Is that possible?5 Reasons Why A Guarantee WorksFirst, it pushes the entire company to focus on customers’ definition of good products/service, not an executive’s assumption. Second, it sets clear performance standards, which boost employees’ performance and morale. Third, it generates reliable data (through payouts) when performance is poor. Fourth, it forces an organization to examine its entire service-delivery system for possible failure points. Last, it builds customer loyalty, sales and market share.What is a good guarantee? It is (1) unconditional, (2) easy to understand and communicate, (3) meaningful, (4) easy and painless to invoke, and (5) easy and quick to collect on.Cheating. Fear of custome...
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Attracting New Shoppers

by DW Green — June 8, 2017

Change is a good thing

Often times when sales and customer counts are flat or declining, a bold, new visual look and go-to-market strategy can shake up a market. Unveiling a new advertising look can create excitement with customers and employees alike. Plus change is normally a good thing. Non- shoppers are the biggest source for new primary customers and new revenue.Advertising and marketing that is developed in the context of themes and storytelling is the best way to attract the attention of non-shoppers. And the presentation of those themes and story’s must be applied differently to each marketing platform. For example, the print ad that is posted on the website must minimally become an interactive tool to add sale items to a shopping list. A searchable item list is better. A pdf of an ad on a mobile device is not effective at all. It’s very important that advertising and promotions are well integrated into all marketing platforms, including in-store signage. This message and activity integration builds momentum, resulting in more sales and more customers. What makes this all work so well is the planning. The sales benefit alone from just sharing a great plan with employees is amazing. No question that the retail shopping e...
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Learning Situations

by DW Green — May 31, 2017

Opportunity to learn and grow

It’s easy to react quickly to something someone says or does that’s annoying or out of line, over the top or under the bottom. And normally an instant reaction doesn’t improve the situation—often making it worse. I’ve learned to try to be still, relax, take some deep breaths, and regain my composure. I’ve learned that when coming from a place of stillness and silence, we are wiser, less reactive, less conditioned, more creative and more intuitive, so we are more likely to respond to life rather than have a knee-jerk reaction to it.Often these challenging moments require a difficult conversation with someone to resolve the issue. It helps me to remember that every difficult conversation I have includes someone who is teaching me something about myself. Every trying situation contains an opportunity for deeper self-reflection and learning. Every irritant, heartbreak, frustration, disappointment, fearful moment and sadness is a teacher. If I look at the conversation as an opportunity for me to learn and grow then maybe the other person will learn and grow too.

Read More – Cheap-O

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Customer Relationships

by DW Green — May 24, 2017

Relationship is acknowledgement.

Service is selling. Relationship is acknowledgement. Who does not feel special when someone in a store or restaurant welcomes you by your name! Service involves a basic level of efficiency in a commercial exchange. It is what allows or prevents a sale from taking place. But relationship means that management and staff really seek to understand and appreciate who their customers are. It’s about being completely attentive and present in interactions with your customers. Truly listen to what they say. Acknowledge them for the person they are and express gratitude for their business.Kroger provides good service. Dorothy Lane Market excels at relationships.

Read More – Appreciation

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What Do Your Ads Reveal?

by DW Green — May 17, 2017

 

An ad is an invitation to shop your store.

The overall look and feel of an ad reveals much more about a retailer than the specific items and prices that are on sale. Does the store look like a friendly, fun place to shop? Does it look professional? Does it look like it offers quality products? Does it look trustworthy? Does it look welcoming? Authentic? Healthy? Or does it look busy, cluttered, and boring?Take an open-minded look at your advertising. Is your ad the best reflection of your store{s)? Is the ad providing benefits and reasons to believe in your store?In essence the ad is an invitation to shop your store. Does your advertising consistently attract new customers?  For example, here are three recipe email blast approaches. ...
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Where Should Your Logo Be Placed On Your Print Ad?

by DW Green — May 10, 2017

The key to a great ad is a great headline.

We often have conversations with clients regarding the placement of their logo on print ads. Seems the supermarket industry favors placing the company logo on the top of the ad. We would disagree.The hierarchy of an effective ad from an advertising/design perspective:
  1. Headline (consumer benefit)
  2. Picture
  3. Offer
  4. Company Logo
Where should your logo or brand identity be placed so that consumers actually see it? Based on eye-tracking research, the best place is the lower middle part of the page or layout. At that point, the viewer will have engaged emotionally with the leading part of the ad, and will then have the opportunity to associate the brand with solving a problem or satisfying consumers’ wants.The key to a great ad is a great headline. Headlines achieve three important things:
  1. They filter out non-customers (if the headline doesn’t appeal to
   them, they move on. Fine, let them go!)
  1. They tell potential customers what’s in it for them (that’s what
   consumers most care about).
  1. They hint at what action the customer can take
Strong headlines attract rea...
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Complacency

by DW Green — May 3, 2017

Markets are fluid

Complacency, noun:a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.In business, complacency is never a good place to be. Whether you’re first in the market or last, no one is exempt from complacency. Be humble and grateful for your successes yet remain focused and vigilant on improving yourself and your operation. Always ask, how can we improve our offerings…our product assortment, our merchandising skills, our customer service, our customer experience? How can we improve our relationships with ourselves, with our staff, with our vendors, with our customers, with our neighborhood and with our community?Remember, markets are fluid. Customers are choosing where they shop everyday. Nothing is certain or guaranteed. Today’s customer maybe tomorrow’s defection.How can we be better today?

Read More – What’s For Dinner

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Design

by DW Green — April 26, 2017

Without whitespace, designs become crowded and chaotic.

Advertising design is very subjective. An ad that looks good or bad to me often provokes the opposite reaction to someone else. To each his own, but keep in mind that design is a skill, it’s a discipline, an art. Much as a musician seeks to understand pitch and rhythm, melody and tempo, a designer seeks a greater understanding and control over:UnityGestaltSpaceDominanceHierarchyBalanceColor Part 1: TheoryColor Part 2: How to Use ColorFor example, whitespace or negative space is the space between design elements. It’s just as, if not more, important than the space you fill and is one of the most neglected components of visual design.Day only exists in comparison to night and in much the same way your positive space (where design elements are located) only exist in comparison to the empty space around them. Without whitespace, designs become crowded and chaotic. There’s no flow of movement from one element to the next.Space is the context in which your message is perceived. Without ample space communication is difficult. Imagine a piece of music where every note in the piece was played by every instrument at the same time. The...
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Reasons to Believe

by DW Green — April 19, 2017

Attract new shoppers to your store

Why should I shop in you store? What are the reasons to believe in your store brand? If you don’t tell me, I will never know. Duh. It’s the retailer’s responsibility to provide compelling reasons for consumers (prospects) to choose their store.Some retailers do an excellent job telling their story. Providing reasons and benefits for consumers to choose their store. Pretty simple. But unfortunately, many retailers do not. The purpose of every ad, every email blast and every website is to attract new shoppers to your store. Look at the messaging in your advertising. Are you providing consumers with compelling reasons to shop your store?We’d love to assist you with your messaging!   

Read More – The Price of Trying

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Peace

by DW Green — April 12, 2017

Make the choice for peace

Your higher self is always nudging you toward a resolution of the conflicts that you experience in your life so that you will have room for serenity and harmony. If you are living with inner turmoil, continually quarreling with yourself and feeling anxious and fearful, then you are allowing ego to dominate your life.In every moment, you have the option to choose peace for yourself. Your false self thrives on inner anxiety because that is what it thinks it needs to stay alive. The ego wants you in a constant state of turmoil. It convinces you that if you are not always on edge, you can’t grow. Keep in mind, though, that experiencing this inner turmoil is a choice you’ve made to allow your false self to dominate your life.When you make the choice for peace, you are literally allowing the Divine into your life. And rather than vegetate, you will discover that you can be busy, purposeful, blissful and still have peace. Just knowing that peace is always an alternative is a significant awakening. By replacing the turmoil, what you then feel is a simple matter of allowing your higher self to take over in any situation where you are about to allow turmoil to enter. Your ego will push you in the direction of the fight...
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