September/October 2022 - 18

FARM MARKET & AGRITOURISM
Fine-tuning your market performance
BRIAN MOYER
Penn State Extension
bfm3@psu.edu
Remember, shoppers attract
customers. You know that when
The hardest thing for me to do when
I was a store manager was to try to look
at the store with " fresh eyes " - trying to
see the store as a customer sees it for the
first time. It's difficult because we see it
every day.
The business of retail is different these
days of post-pandemic shopping. The
customer's journey to purchase takes many
different routes.
Bob Phibbs, " the retail doctor, " has an
article on his website, retaildoc.com, " 9
Ways to Attract Customers to Your Store. "
I'll paraphrase some of them here because
I think his suggestions can be useful in our
farm markets.
1. Evaluate your store operations.
" Ask yourself what we are doing
right and what might be going
wrong. Evaluate your processes,
allocation of labor, training, and
marketing. List five things that are
working and five things that aren't. "
2. Prioritize and change those things
that aren't working first. " Taking
action with the purpose of making
your business better makes you feel
better. " Consider a clearance sale of
dated merchandise or moving the
your store is full, it gets fuller, and
when it is dead, it is deader. Same
with your parking lot. Here's how
to solve it. If you've always told
employees to park in the back, have
them park near your storefront to
look busy, then have them move
them when you are packed. "
8. Stop talking to failing businesses.
" If you hang out with five successful
entire store around to improve the
visual merchandising.
3. Focus on your associates. " If you
make your employees feel good, "
they will transfer that feeling
to your customers and happy
customers buy more. Find a way
to make your employees' day first,
then your customers' day, and they
will make your day.
4. Market to people who already
know you. Do you have an
email list? I hope so. " Use it in a
personal way to invite customers
into your market with something
specific they might enjoy.
Thanking your best customers
for their business in a personal
way brings them back in. " Use the
subject line for a call to action.
What do you want them to do?
5. Use retail sales training. A
common issue I hear is the
employees don't understand our
products. One solution is to assign
a department to an employee. It's
difficult for an employee who may
not be involved with the farming
operation to understand all the
products that are offered at the
market. If they are in charge of a
particular department, they take
" ownership " of that department
and become the " go to " person
for questions on products from
that department.
6. Become a student of Facebook.
" Cultivate an online presence and
learn as much as you can about
attracting fans via social media,
engaging them with live videos,
and keeping them buying from
you with live streaming. A
well-structured marketing strategy
must include all of those and
be open to newer platforms like
IGTV and even Tik Tok. "
7. Fill your parking lot with cars.
" With more people working from
Kraft
Grocery
Bag
Imprint Available
home, it is likely fewer are driving
to your store. But If your parking
lot is empty, it may look like you are
closed or worse - out-of-business.
businesses, you'll be number six. If
you hang out with five failing ones,
you'll be number six as well. Stop
asking other shop owners how their
business is. If it's great and yours
isn't, you'll feel worse. If another
business is worse, you still won't feel
better. Instead, ask them one good
thing they did yesterday. "
9. Fill up your Google My Business
page. " Most consumers start their
purchase journey online so don't
forget potential online customers!
Use video, updated business hours
during Covid-19, and add a virtual
store tour. Go even further, create
posts on that page that announce
your social distanced events, new
products, or promotions. And
while it should go without saying,
focus on getting more positive
Google reviews as they are crucial
to winning the top of local search.
In fact, 72% of consumers that did
a local search visited a store within
five miles. "
I'll add one last thought, consider the
customer's journey. How do they find
you? Why did they come to the market?
Understanding the journey gives a way
to connect with your customer and keep
them coming back. VGN
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September/October 2022

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