Q&A
ME: Now you guys are on the schedule at KnowledgeFest, and I see that you personally are conducting several educa- tional tracks with retailers. Will your subject matter expound on this point?
Newell: Yes, I’m teaming with Jody Culberson of Absolute
Training to host four workshops at KnowledgeFest. Three sessions focus on essential business skills and one deals with sales. We are definitely going to cover ways to maximize margins and business, but rather than lecturing workshop par- ticipants, we are going to roll up our sleeves with retailers and work with them on everything from defining their business cul- ture to planning a budget.
ME: So it’s going to be more interactive then? Culberson: Absolutely. Our goal at the end of these four sem-
inars is to work with each retailer on four different aspects of their business. We want to use real-life examples. For example, in our budgeting workshop, we’re looking at real budgets from real stores. We’re also asking our participants to bring in their
Newell: The Retail Environment workshop will look at the customer experience from both sides, analyzing photos of ac- tual stores and looking at ways you can transform a space to increase traffic, keep customers’ attention for longer, attract a wider clientele and move more product. All of the big box retailers out there pay a lot of money to un-
derstand why customers buy or don’t buy their products. Retail psychology is a real thing, it works, and you can put it to work for you.
Culberson: The bottom line is that retailers need to take a step back and take a critical look at their space. You need to connect with people, because the connection to the product is everything in today’s retail world. Again, you need to look at Apple’s example — you walk in and you can connect to ev-
It’s not enough to have the lowest prices or the latest products, you have to give the customer a reason to buy from you. Yes, the economy is not the best and comparison shopping is an issue for retailers, but many businesses are doing great now.”
— Marcel Newell, Avidworx
budgets so we can go through the process with them, their numbers will stay with each of the members as they apply their numbers into their own spreadsheet. They won’t be walking away with a fake budget for a fake store. It will be an actual budget from their own store that they can use. In all of our sem- inars, we’re talking about real solutions to real-life challenges.
ME: What are the other three aspects? Newell: Another is about building the proper business cul-
ture. Culture is where success starts. Most stores start out with a basic business plan and that’s about it. If you don’t map your route to success, you’ll never get there. It sounds cliché, but you really do need to sit down and figure out what your vi- sion is for your store and how you want to be viewed by your customers and in your market. You need a mission statement you can stand by, and that defines your expectations for yourself and your staff. Maybe your mission is to provide the best service in your market, or to stay ahead of the technology curve — or to keep the work environment fun. It’s a measure of success that’s not always about the numbers.
erything. You get to see, hear and touch the technology, and see what it can do for you. Retailers need to start taking the approach that less is more, and we’re going to give them free tools to create that kind of experience in their own stores.
ME: Okay, so the fourth aspect is sales. How are you ap- proaching this, and what will be the benefit for salespeople?
Newell: We are dividing sales workshop into three elements,
The first element is about qualifying customers, and asking the right questions the first time increase your odds of making the sale. The second element looks at how you sell customers on your business and make yourself stand out from the competi- tion. The third element is the art of the demo — how to create an interactive experience that is effective at making sales. It’s a modern look at sales and how to create connections with customers in today’s retail environment. That’s what it’s really all about, making that connection. It’s not enough to have the lowest prices or the latest products, you have to give the cus- tomer a reason to buy from you. Yes, the economy is not the best and comparison shopping is an issue for retailers, but many businesses are doing great right now. They’re growing in a time when that’s not supposed to be possible. ■
48 Mobile Electronics August 2012
ME: A lot of retailers discount this aspect of their business, choosing instead to work on the numbers and other tangible parts that directly create revenue. But the most important com- ponent of revenue is the customer. How will you approach this subject in your workshops?
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