Playback - Winter 2008 - (Page 16) RETAIL 5 Ways to Stand Out from Your Competition BY johN STIERNBERG Q: A: WhAT Do CAR DEAlERS, TRAVEl AGENTS AND CoMPUTER SToRES All hAVE IN CoMMoN? ThEY’RE GoING AFTER YoUR CUSToMERS. In our industry we often limit our thinking of “the competition” to other music retailers. What about all those other opportunities to spend time and money that confront your customers every day? The choices for consumers—from students to senior citizens—are overwhelming. Indirect competitors often present more of a challenge than direct competitors like other music products retailers. The former have big promotional budgets, compelling brand messages, and often appeal to whole families (vs. the individual music customer). Many music retailers simply ignore indirect competition, focusing only on winning the sale vs. “the other music store.” Try this little exercise. Pick three successful retailers in your community—all from outside the music products industry, plus one online retailer. Visit the stores to figure out what they’re doing right and why customers would go back. You’re likely to find they consistently offer five common-sense basics: 1. 2. It’s easy to find the store and park for free—good location. The store has a product assortment that fits the target customer base and changes as customer needs and tastes change. The retailer provides a pleasant in-store environment, including a) clean, b) well-lit, c) attractive displays, and d) restrooms your mother would be comfortable using. The store’s well-trained and helpful staff makes buying painless and fast. The store offers incentives to return, as well as ways for you to tell your friends (like newsletters, invitations to special events and step-up product information). Indirect competitors often present more of a challenge than direct competitors like other music products retailers. The former have big promotional budgets, compelling brand messages, and often appeal to whole families (vs. the individual music customer). 3. 4. 5. Have I described your store? If yes, congratulations! If no, you’ve got some catch-up work to do in order to be able to promote positive differentiation. You can’t effectively promote the benefits of music making or the cool factor of your latest recording software if your store environment is a turnoff. In order to be better than your competition (direct or indirect), you need to first be as good, relatively speaking. At that point, the positive differences are fairly simple to identify. Your store’s history, expert staff, key product lines, special events and focus all combine to create the cachet associated with your brand. Promote the difference! John Stiernberg is founder and principal consultant with Stiernberg Consulting, a Los Angeles-based business development firm. 16 PLAYback
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