I opened the door to face Matt, a young guy in his early twenties who was visiting houses in my street to announce that he had just taken over the delivery of milk and bread to my area – he promised on time delivery of fresh milk and bread every day and a couple of movie passes and a t-shirt if I signed up today.
Besides that he had taken the time to visit and ask for an order- I can’t ever remember a newsagent doing this anywhere I have lived, Matt was bright and cheery, he believed in his offer and he was dressed in a uniform appropriate to his generation and product which gave me the feeling that he could deliver on his promises.
Now, Matt could have been a paid recruiter who has nothing to do with the day to day business. Who cares? The key is that the shopfront presented well and this made the business offer more appealing. Building confidence is crucial in that first contact. This is why I bang on here about newsagents needing to look at their businesses from the outside in – from in the mall, across the road and even miles away in houses where advertising literature is received. What do our customers see? Are they as store blind to us as we are ourselves? Too many newsagents are living in the dark ages, running set-and-forget retail businesses where nothing changes
The company behind Matt had made sure that the detail was right – that he knew his products, looked good, have a special offer and and was well trained in making the pitch. It is this attention to detail which we newsagents often fail to address. In store, uniforms are often not enforced, name badges missing and the sales pitch across the counter confused. Outside our stores we often cover our windows, clutter our messages and allow suppliers to control how our businesses look.
Being visited by a milkman asking if I wanted milk home delivered was a surprise. The professionalism of the offer was even more of a surprise.
With more national retailers competing with our newsagencies than ever, we need to be energetic, focused and current in our approach to our customers – in-store and outside our bus8inesses. We need to be like Matt and make people take notice and realise that we do have a current an relevant offer. Otherwise, standing still will cause our relevance to fade.
Footnote: I didn’t order milk or bread as it does not fit my schedule.