The Weekly - May 12, 2020 - 14

Resources and Education

Are there other steps businesses should be taking to
reopen beyond cleanliness?
You have to look at your social
marketing and realize that it's
a we issue, not a me issue. What
customers want to hear is that you
are looking forward to welcoming them. Tell a story about a
customer who ordered something
online (or over the phone if you're
locked into curbside delivery). It's
all about telling customer stories.
The more people can hear that
you got this person in the store
or you are doing this delivery
for somebody, the more it allows
them to feel normal. Don't just
keep putting up pictures of products on social media and trying
to sell. This is about serving first.
You'll sell tomorrow. In the next
few weeks, you could talk about
doing a camp out in your living
room. Post things that entertain
people or educate them. It doesn't
have to just be sell, sell, sell. Right
now, people are so focused on
reopening, but reopening is the
least of your problems. You just
unlock the door. The hardest thing is how do you bring
enthusiasm back?
Some stores are saying, if

you don't buy gift cards, we're
not going to be around. That's
like saying, don't shop with me.
People who shop are hopeful. If
you have to keep dragging them
back, you're not going to make it.
And if you don't get that, I think
you're going to really struggle
with price and promotion. The
reason people aren't buying has
nothing to do with price right
now. Go back to March 12. The
stock market's crashing; oil is
down. Everyone's got it. Tom
Hanks has it. We're locking the
state. It was like 9/11. Well, we're
two months after that, and I
think we are starting to realize
this is a temporary setback. We're
going to get through it. Make sure
you remember your goal is to give
hope in your marketing, in your
newsletter, and particularly in
your store. Anything that takes
away from that is going to be
deadly to your recovery.
What worries you the most
right now?
The next months are going to continue to be a deluge of bad media:
There's a second wave that's going
to kill us. Ninety percent of the
world has it. Retailers now have
no stock because most of it comes
from China. Black Friday is going
to be postponed. Retailers are going out left and right. This is going
to be the worst holiday ever. It's
going to be really hard for retailers
to endure that.
A lot of new customers are
discovering the outdoors
right now, especially outdoors close to home. What
can retailers do to speak
to them?
Make helpful social media videos.
The guy who's never camped be-

14 THE WEEKLY / OUTDOOR RETAILER SUMMER 2020

LAND THAT JOB
A new podcast brings hope to those seeking new work.
Longtime outdoor journalist and editor Ali Carr and Gearmunk
digital strategy whiz Jenna Celmer have turned the Basecamp
Outdoor Jobs & More Facebook group into a powerful networking tool and community crowdsourcing space with over 13,000
members. Last week, the pair launched the group's first email
newsletter (sign up here). Carr and Celmer's new Outdoor Dream
Jobs podcast takes all those efforts a step further, providing an
easy way for busy people to discover new career opportunities.
"We are a source of tactical job-search information through
soliciting insider info from companies and experts-which will
ultimately help our listeners stand out in a saturated market-
[and] we are also a source of hope," says Celmer. "It's amazing
how quickly your mood and outlook can shift after hearing
about five great companies growing their teams. It's a real
contrast to a lot of the news we're exposed to right now. Even
if you're not currently searching for a new opportunity, hearing the outdoor industry is still very much alive and hiring is
refreshing and uplifting."
Tune in and find out more at outdoordreamjobs.com and follow along on Instagram @outdoordreamjobs.

fore wants to look like a hero. You
don't want your most analytical
employee up there saying, before
you go camping, you'll need to get
that tarp and tent and a whole
laundry list of stuff. These customers don't want that; they want to
see that it's easy to go camping.
You could encourage them to just
take sleeping bags and camp out
in the backyard as a primer and
then give them five tips on how to
do it.
Remember, your goal is selling
the magic of the outdoors. Your

goal isn't trying to make people
feel like it's work. Your goal is
to get them into wonder. People
forget-that's what we do when
we sell things. We get people out
of their comfort zone, get them to
buy into wonder-whether it's on
social media or in your store. Your
goal is not to go through and flog
them with price and features. Your
goal is to make it easy.
To register for The Weekly Chat
with Bob Phibbs, The Retail
Doctor, CLICK HERE .

CO U R T E SY O U T D O O R D R E A M J O B S

The important thing is, people
are walking in the door, and they
are going to want to buy. They're
not lookers. Lookers were online
the last several months. They're
going to want to buy, and they're
going to want to get outdoors. So
make sure you have meetings with
your crew and build up hope. You
can't have people who are afraid of
coming back or don't really want
to talk to people on your sales
floor. You need people who are
not intimidated. We don't want
anxious people in your store.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/outdoorindustryjobs/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/outdoorindustryjobs/ http://bit.ly/BasecampSubscribe http://www.outdoordreamjobs.com https://instashowe.com/profiles/outdoordreamjobs https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1313408&tp_key=e4de0deee8

The Weekly - May 12, 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Weekly - May 12, 2020