HOW TO BUILD TRUST WITH YOUR IDEAL CONSUMER PART 2

Ladies, we are back for round 2 of How To Build Trust with Your Ideal Consumer! Quick recap of last week’s newsletter for anyone who forgot our first three points. The first point we discussed was Who is your ideal client? This lesson was dedicated to finding out who is your target? Who are you catering to? It basically came down to creating a customer profile and shopping with this profile in mind.

 Lesson #2 was all about Presentation. The goal is to improve your presentation and build a story around your brand. Creating a world that makes the customer want to shop. Lesson #3 was all about YOU! Who are they shopping from? What do they know about you? Are you trust worthy. It went through ideas on how to tell the customer enough about you so they can start building that trust.

(If for some reason you missed Part 1, click here so you can catch up, it’s important, girl).

KNOW YOUR PRODUCT

Moving on right into Lesson #4 which is KNOW YOUR PRODUCT. It is safe to assume that this is my favorite lesson, duh. Ladies, your store is your castle. That makes you the Queen. Not Queen consort, which is basically an elevated trophy wife, no, you are THE Queen, Queen Elizabeth I of England. The most powerful monarch in England, the ruler that brought about The Golden Age (yes, I am a total history nerd).

As the Queen of your castle, you are responsible for keeping it afloat. You need to know everything about your store including, and most importantly, your product. The customers come to you as the expert of your kingdom. You must have as much information about your products as possible. This is ESPECIALLY important when you are moving into higher price points.

How trustworthy would I sound if you came into my store looking to buy your first designer bag, asked me what year the Louis Vuitton Batignolles is and I was like “you know, I have no idea. There are some funny little numbers on the side here if you want to take a guess”. You would click out of my store so fast your keyboard might burn up!

Now, how impressed would you be if I responded “Hi there! Thank you for asking about this beautiful piece. This is a 2005, week 9 model made in the USA. The Batignolles is a very popular style. It was discontinued in 2012 so it is rare to find one in such great condition. It is very similar in sizing to the Neverfull MM so it is a great everyday tote for a great price. Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to answer them”.

Do I sound like a person that you would trust? Do I sound like someone that knows their product? THIS is what customers have to think when they interact with you. They need to leave thinking “wow, she knows her stuff”.

If you need help getting to know your product, you can always reach out to me. I know $30 might sound steep for some of you upfront, but you have to realize that knowing your product and becoming an expert on it, will get you a higher return. If you know your product, you sound trustworthy, you become the expert and the customer will trust you to take the leap. Would you pay $30 to get an extra $100-200? For more information about my GCC Authentication Consultation Service, click here.

BE HONEST

This may sound silly, but it has to be said. If you want to build long lasting relationships with customers that turn into clients, and clients that turn into family, you MUST BE HONEST. If your item has a defect, always include a closeup picture of it. Always reveal the damages in an accurate way. I would rather lose a sale by being honest, than entrap someone into a bad product, which guarantees they will never buy from me again.

I have had people come back and buy from me after I talk them out of a product. There was this one instance where a woman wanted to buy a pair of Chanel flats. She was asking me about sizing and the second she told me her size I knew they would not work. Especially because they were pointed flats and I know you need a full size up. She was so appreciative about my honesty and thanked me for the guidance. She came back weeks later and bought a purse. She also told me to tag her if I ever get any similar shoes in her size.

Building relationships takes time. We should all know that by now. Client relationships are no different. We need to put in the time, do the work, guide them through our castle, educate them on our product so the feel comfortable. You need to become your own in-house expert. And that doesn’t just relate to really high-end stuff? If you sell a lot of Tory Burch, you should know the style names, sizing and fit.

BONUS MATERIAL

I did say I would throw in a bonus mini lesson. I have talked about this before on a past blog (for a refresher of The Top 5 Lessons Learned in the Fashion Industry, click here). PACKAGING IS IMPORTANT. Just because people are buying preowned doesn’t mean they don’t want to be surprised.

Have you ever bought anything at a high-end department store? They will wrap your item in tissue paper, put a nice branded sticker on it, put it in a nice, crisp branded paper bag, walk around the counter and hand you your bag (at least that is what we had to do at Nordstrom back in the day). We wouldn’t just hand them the bag over the counter! Nonsense! We would walk around the counter and hand them their purchase. For big clients with a lot of bags, we would help them carry their bags out the door and into the car.

I know a lot of people think packaging is extra, but I happen to think it can take your relationship to the next level with a client. We always make sure our items are fully protected, wrapped in pretty black tissue paper, and we include our pretty, branded, handwritten Thank you note. Every pair of shoes above a certain price point gets a dust bag.

I do this for me. I go above and beyond because I want to give my customers the treatment I would expect. These are tough economic times ladies. If someone is spending a certain amount of money at your store, I think they deserve special treatment. Believe it or not, it goes a long way with the overall experience (especially for those of you looking to build a brand).

IN CONCLUSION

 Thank you for being here ladies! I hope you found some useful information in this two-part series. I assure you that putting these steps into practice will help you level up your business. It is not always about money, ladies. Nice packaging might set you back in the beginning, but it is the experience you are offering that will make people come back.

Stay tuned for next week’s newsletter…. The 5 Karen Traits Essential for Business (there is absolutely a curveball here. Come back next week to find out…)

Have you missed anything? For those of you who joined later, here are some important articles you have missed…

The $15,000 mistake : Learn about some very expensive mistakes I made before I started The Global Collective and the valuable lessons learned that helped me get here.

One more thing...

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU YOU COULD MAKE DOUBLE THE MONEY WITH THE SAME AMOUNT OF WORK? Want to learn my "Make more work less" business strategy? Need help creating/streamlining processes and optimizing your time and money? This isn't some magic skill, it's math. I will literally teach you how to work less and make more.