Exclusive Range for Retail

One of our most loyal clients contacted us before Christmas to meet and discuss an idea for an exclusive new range of photography products....

Retail is an area we'd dipped into with the DVD postcard series, but not one we'd fully explored in the past, so of course we were interested.

What actually coincided with the meeting was a chapter in 'Pushing the Envelope all the Way to the Top' by Harvey Mackay that got us thinking. Always a matter of synchronicity!

Harvey writes in his book, that 'retail is detail.' And that some of the biggest breakthroughs in modern selling have been pioneered by huge national retail chains. Also that retail has enormous lessons to teach, and indeed it does. We've listed some of our top lessons below.

1. Loyalty deserves to be treated like royalty.

Rule: Pay special attention to your best customers - never take them for granted. Know their names.

2. Never say no for the other person.

Rule: Don't talk yourself out of a deal by assuming the other person won't be interested. You want exclusive, we'll give you exclusive! Postcards, magnets, shrink-wrapped mounted photos....

3. Admit your mistakes.

Rule: Retailing is an art, not a science. Listen to your customers. Survey them. Listen to your cash register. Listen to your employees. Listen to your instincts. Cut your losses (immediately). Personnel. Products. Prices. Location. Marketing.

p.s. Have fun!