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Your high street needs you!

Posted on March 28, 2012 by laura

It isn’t getting any easier on the high street. This week GAME called in the administrators, the budget last week didn’t offer much support for retailers and a survey last week showed that the number of empty shops in our town centres has reached its highest figure

Through our Retail Clinics and acclaimed seminar on Retail theatre, Insight with Passion has shown we firmly believe we should work together to save the high street. Retailers have to take action now, or they might find it is too late.

The Retail Clinics began with a pilot in Huddersfield last year. This spring and summer they are being rolled out to 9 towns and cities in Yorkshire. They are free, all you need to do as a retailer or someone invested in your local town centre is sign up. Yorkshire is one of the areas worst hit by empty shops and closures which blight our town centres, making them look unloved and uncared for.

Already we have held two events in Bradford and Hull. Businesses, retailers, local residents and local organisations have come together to talk about the challenges they are facing and to discuss solutions.

At IWP we are “can-do” so we are more likely to start presenting solutions and ideas. Retail Theatre is just that and it is a concept you can hear more about at each Retail Clinic.

Retail Theatre’ is an essential tool that has been used by forward thinking retailers to great success – but is still not widely leveraged by the high street. Retail Theatre techniques have been used successfully by Nike, Disney, Harvey Nicholls and more. As far back as 2001, John Lewis gave its Oxford Street store a multimillion pound retail theatre makeover which transformed the sales floor and put it streets ahead of the likes of its rivals, Selfridges.

So what exactly is Retail Theatre? It’s about using a whole range of tools and techniques to stimulate the senses. It’s about tapping into the physical, intellectual and emotional needs of customers to “capture them” to shop longer and to spend more. The concept is nothing new – it dates back hundreds of years to when trades people went from town to town selling their produce in bustling markets – it’s only the tools that have changed with the times.

Right now every retailer wants to be different, to stand out from their competitors. Retail theatre can help give you that edge. It sets your store apart from everyone else by helping you to look different and serve your customers in a different way. It helps you to become a destination to drive footfall; by holding desirable events and working with partners to attract new customers. Plus, Retail Theatre helps you to tell your brand story by making your unique brand come to life. It helps you to identify what makes your brand unique and ensures that it’s delivered at every customer touch point.

Here are our 5 top tips to get you started:

1 – COMMUNICATE! Take time and invest money into creating inspiring in-store communications – and make sure you communicate the benefits of your products and tell your customers what you offer

2 – STAND OUT! Make your store look different: Attract attention and engage with your customers through visuals – an eye-catching window display or signage will draw people in

3 – INTERACT! Make the store interactive: Give your customers a reason to stay longer by letting them play, interact with and become more informed about your products – if they can touch and feel the items then they are more likely to buy

4 – JOIN TOGETHER! Bring the store to life through events: Host an event in partnership with other local companies who can provide food, drink and entertainment to give your customers another reason to visit you, allowing you to build and strengthen relationships and encourage repeat purchases. It doesn’t need to be costly and it’s a great way of adding information or value to your customers through activities such as demonstrations, etc

5 – SET THE TONE! Make sure your service is delivered by brand ambassadors: Your employees are at the forefront of your business and represent you and your store, so ensure they understand and convey the right messages to your customers.

Sign up for a Retail Clinic near to you. There’s no catch, no price, you won’t be asked any difficult questions to fill in any difficult forms. This programme is part of Insight with Passion’s Access for All which sees us give 20% of our time and resources for community projects. The high street needs help, and we have the skills that might benefit, why wouldn’t we extend a helping hand?

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Turn the beat around

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Kate

Each year, Insight with Passion choose a central initiative that forms the base of many of our Seminar and Motivational work, and the platform for much of the Access for All scheme that sees us dedicate 20% of time back into the community.

This year, after listening and understanding many of the challenges out there for consumers, retailers and suppliers alike – we are championing great customer service – with our initiatives Customer At The Heart (CATH).

Though it is only March, I have already been amazed at the passionate debate this instills in the wide variety of audiences we have presented to – from students to struggling town centre landlords, thriving brand owners to CFOs.

There is an overriding theme generally, though there are examples greatness – most audience members (who are all active consumers themselves) have experienced poor – to shocking customer service in the last 6 months.

In a quick seat poll each time, there are more in the audience that have walked away from an issue – than have progressed it through feedback and got a resolve (maybe because its suggested to be damaging for our health? http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201201/does-complaining-damage-our-mental-health) – but there is a significant and growing number of people that are saying – ‘enough is enough’ – and raising their issue. Mobile phone companies, energy providers, apparel retailers and airlines seem to be high on the list of repeat offenders.

For the past 15 years – I have had to travel extensively for work – and so top of my list of challenges with Customer Service sits with the hotel industry.

I am so tired of reading the negative onslaught of press about what everyone is getting wrong all of the time – I wanted to focus on a story about getting it right. And why the market value of that for me was around £7/$10 and getting it wrong £1.40/$2.

Recently, I was a guest at a premium boutique hotel. It was, in theory, meant to be a slick operator with a strong brand identity and a wide range of services to aid the busy traveler – be it for business or leisure. After hours of travel – I arrived at the property and wanted the very basics – refreshment/shower and somewhere to rest. The lethargy in handling my check in and the overwhelming tone of ‘couldn’t be bothered’ was exacerbated when I thought I would just head to the restaurant, get some breakfast and hope that tomorrow was a better day. Ordering from the menu – I chose “2 eggs – as you like them”. I chose hard boiled. It was an incorrect choice.

Somehow, in the definition of ‘as you like them’ this hotel had created a parallel universe in which egg boiling was certainly not an option. In fact, the very notion caused such offence, that I seemed to have upset the kitchen team it and the manager told me in no uncertain terms that there would be no ongoing egg boiling on their site.

Service went from bad to worse as over the course of the stay waiting time increased, orders went wrong and the team displayed a dismal approach to customer care. Though I raised it and fedback to a variety of mangers and team members, the issues experienced were never rectified – and even when, as a last attempt I wrote to the CEO – I never heard back.

I just vowed not to come back. Sadly, my travel concierge had other ideas. I had to engage with a sister property to the brand yesterday – for a short stay. I was apprehensive and having already experienced some challenges in my accommodation this visit*, I hoped for a bed and running water and was ready to close my eyes to the rest.

I could not have been met with a more refreshing situation. My check in process was personal, friendly and upbeat. No enquiry was too much of a challenge – and the experience and maturity of the team showed they were thinking ahead.

When I checked into my room, I was delighted to receive a really personalised card (handwritten and not the usual ‘welcome’ note) and my choice of breakfast drink in the fridge. I hadn’t given the hotel any information as to my requests prior to my stay – so this ‘consumer insight’ has obviously been passed on within the group.

It’s a shame that it wasn’t all handled brilliantly to start with on the first trip (they could have had a customer for life) – other than capacity issues in town, there was little chance I would have given the brand a second visit. Though I don’t mention brands I’ve had challenges with in the blogs – I know a colleague of mine is so thoroughly impressed with my experience – she is considering staying at the 2nd property – so the word of mouth has already worked.

SO that’s the story of how one boutique hotel chain turned 2 sour eggs into one happy fruit juice.

You cant leave customer service to chance. Its a tough economic climate out there – and many businesses have stiff competition for every £/$/€. We gravitate to ease of service, and I know, like me, the dream for many customers, is for things to be simplistic and right first time. The step to ‘plus one’ a customer on a journey is never far away - yet so many businesses fail to take it. I don’t believe enough businesses even know what the step looks like – or never truly take the time to find out.*

Everyday, Insight with Passion work with a range of businesses who need help in improving or being the best they can be at customer service. If you feel you need to give more focus to this area – contact us.

*Interestingly, a much larger International chain with a brand value of ‘home from home’ gave such a challenging experience, en route this week, I had to speak with the team about the issues I had experienced.

Some of the problems were resolved, but the ease, friendliness and personalisation was never put into the stay – and it seemed there was a limit as to how much care and attention the team would ever put into turning it around.
I agreed after discussing the challenges with the management of the hotel, I would just leave it – as I have work to do and there is only so much time you can invest into leading a horse to water.

Two interesting things to note was the sheer disappointment on the doorman’s face when he asked about my stay on departure – you could see he felt personally concerned that a guest was leaving with such a bad impression. The other was that part of my reason for staying at the hotel, was for a conference, and I spent much time discussing the hotel with other guests who had also experienced challenges. Of the group, I was the only one that had raised my challenges – and its unlikely I shall ever go back.

Think how many others felt the same but the brand will never know or get the chance to remedy it. I think its one of the saddest things to see is a customer walking away from a business who they will never get back – but they never had the chance to remedy it.

Sharing knowledge and celebrating International Women’s Day

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Paul

It’s the end of a great week here at IWP HQ and the team are feeling particularly inspired. We celebrated International Women’s Day in style by hosting our very own Women’s Leadership Breakfast at the beautiful Malmaison Hotel in Leeds. Despite travel delays on the motorway, the event was attended by a room full of professional business women keen to network, share experiences and be inspired by our wonderful speakers. Our very own Kate Hardcastle hosted the morning with Apprentice finalist, motivational speaker and social enterprise champion Claire Young, and YTV’s Heather Clarke also giving inspiring speeches.

The breakfast was to celebrate women in business but also to officially launch our Customer at the Heart awards. With a retail sector that is feeling the effect of the recession more than most, we wanted to do something positive. Customer at the Heart rewards businesses who not only meet customer expectations but exceed them by delivering excellent customer service – as nominated for by the public. We were thrilled that many of our award winners came along – The Flower Shop, Heart Gallery, artist Heather Wilson and The Old Treehouse. Yorkshire Soap were there in spirit having generously donated the gorgeous table favours as well at The Potting Shed spa who donated a raffle prize.

Prior to this event, Kate had also been invited to speak at her local college in Calderdale. It was fantastic to see the event over-subscribed with students, staff and local businesses all in attendance.

The team understand how essential these type of events are to businesses and the community. They provide the perfect platform to do what we do best – share knowledge to help businesses succeed and indeed thrive. There is also the added bonus of networking and sharing experiences with other like-minded individuals.

Please do keep visiting our website for further details and updates about our forthcoming events. To nominate a business to receive a Customer at the Heart award email nominate@insightwithpassion.co.uk – or why not put us to the test and book a complimentary one hour business review or mystery shop – email jenny@insightwithpassion.co.uk!

Customer at the Heart in Hebden Bridge

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Kate

Well thanks so much for the CATH nominations – its always a pleasure to hear just how many of you are passionate about great service in retail, beauty, food, hotels and more.

We are now starting to work through your nominations for a mystery shoppers to complete their visits – and this weekend – we headed to the village that has the most nominations and a thriving high street – Hebden Bridge.

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Our tester and group were thrilled at the positive and engaging attitude from this quaint village on the Yorkshire/Lancashire border – and couldn’t believe the full car (paid for) car parks and overspill facilities being used. Undeterred and with list of nominations in hand – our tester team went to check out if the service, product range, knowledge, interior and exterior appearance, staff, service, personability and ‘magic touch’ were in order.

From the list of businesses suggested, we are delighted that the following have been awarded at Customer at the Heart award – and we recommend a visit tout suite!

Winners

The gorgeous HEART is an art gallery with a difference, artist in residence (see next note), Sunday soul music, amazing products and in-depth product knowledge sees this store as a CATH winner. heartgallery.co.uk

Heather Wilson, was the hugely passionate artist in residence at Heart. With a thriving business, time for everyone and an enchanting love for her art – it was another CATH winner for this amazing talent. http://heartgalleryblog.wordpress.com/tag/heather-wilson/

Words will fail you when you look at the sheer excellence of retail that is the Yorkshire Soap Company. It would actually be a plot spoiler if we explained just why this business is as good as it is – but its amazing retail theatre, clear offer and passion for a job done well – we have to insist you rush there straight away and stock up on gifts and treats. http://theyorkshiresoapcompany.co.uk/en/content/7-locations

The toyshop of your child hood dreams – The Old Treehouse, is just around the corner in Hebden Bridge with child friendly retail displays that allow children to play and experiment. At child’s height and with child friendly music in the background, the toys are open and ready for play. A lovely collection of unusual and non plastic treats and clothing (and a BABY CHANGING FACILITY) this retailer puts many high street stores to shame! http://www.theoldtreehouse.co.uk/

A florist with beautiful theatre, patience and starter handheld posies that can make someone days for £5 (astonishing these days) The Willow Garden is celebrating 20 years in business – and our team could see why. http://www.thewillowgarden.com/

Spirals Fair-trade Retail shop was a fantastic testament to the vision of Fair-trade and contains a wealth of products that are gorgeous for you and your home, and ethically sourced. The staff here literally beamed all the way through the mystery shop visit. These smiles could be a saving grace for many a failing retail high street and the passion and knowledge is refreshing. http://www.spiralsfairtrade.co.uk/

So a big well done to all the winners. If you know Hebden Bridge and your retail or service business isn’t listed here – it could be that they weren’t nominated. So don’t delay – change that today.

If you want your business or a business you admire to be put to the test – then please nominate them for a CATH today – wherever they are in the UK – our team can put them to the consumer test.

If you need a boost to your business - the Insight with Passion team can get you heading for the stars – give us a call for a free consultation today.

It’s not personal, it’s business

Posted on February 23, 2012 by laura

I am listening to David Cameron talking about corporate responsibility.

Business, he says should do more, should help plug the gaps and have a sense of social, as well as fiscal responsibility.

He’s talking because there is an unease whenever business or the corporate sector becomes involved anywhere that is felt they shouldn’t be dipping their toes.

Why is that? Is it because when we hear the word “corporate” we think of certain behaviour, emotions and reactions?

There is a scene in one of the best RomComs ever, You’ve Got Mail. Yes, OK, taking business inspiration from a Meg Ryan film might seem strange but bear with me.

At one point, Tom Hank’s character says to Meg’s, “it’s not personal it’s business, repeat that whenever you feel you are losing your nerve. It’s not personal, it’s business.” “The first thing business should be”, she says, “is personal”.

Business it at the very heart of all of our lives. It is the thing that takes us away from our families and homes for over eight hours a day, it is what we often use to define ourselves and help us to live the lives we want. Whether we are fulfilled by it or not business is, to all of us, personal. It is enormously inspiring and motivating for many of us, but that, as I see it, only makes it more personal.

So how come, I ask again, do we not see it that way?

Many businesses and firms should be applauded when it comes to donating their time, energy and effort to the local community. But for others it can seem like it’s an add-on. Corporate responsibility, all too often, is something that is done either to reduce business rates, improve public image or tick a box in a KPI.

Giving 10% of your time and resources with what seems like your hand tied behind your back isn’t going to make a huge difference. Yes it might get you a few nice press cuttings, give you a cheesy pic for your newsletter and make a few board members pat themselves on their backs but, really, what kind of impact are you having?

Over the past five months or so I have been talking to the media about Insight with Passion’s Retail Clinics. The idea of Access for All, of an organisation giving 20% of its time, resources and energy towards community projects has been a tricky one to communicate. Not because the idea isn’t clear but because they simply don’t believe me. I had an email exchange with one editor for the best part of two hours as he tried to clarify what it meant. He simply couldn’t grasp that any company would give that size a proportion of its time on a project that wouldn’t make them any cash.

Isn’t that the saddest thing you ever heard?

Listen up, “business”, this is me with my PR hat on. When you get upset about what people are saying about you either it’s because they don’t like you or because you’re not getting your message out their effectively enough. If they don’t like you, well you can make them but it takes time. If you aren’t getting your message out effectively then that’s something you can change easily.

Business should be personal because it has an increasing part to play in our day to day lives. Everything shouldn’t just be about profit. Business is often promoted in a way that is all about selfish money-making and self-advancement. The consumer should just put up and shut up.

There has to be another way, and there is.

Sharing your skills and expertise with those who can’t afford to pay for it or don’t know they’re looking for it through campaigns or projects is a great way of getting business to be a little more involved.

Being a little less “me, me, me” and a little more “we, we, we” means business can be more personal and be seen that way.

For firms that are already doing it, they should be shouting from the rooftops. And we should be jumping all over ourselves to get involved.