Footwear Insight

s &OOTWEAR )NSIGHT ^ 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER FOOTWEARINSIGHTCOM Foot Savvy, Greenwood Village Comments from Thomas and Laurie Peterson Store Culture Our goal with every client is to first understand what their needs are. Usually they cannot elucidate those goals. It is our job to understand what they are. It might be as simple as finding a good walking shoe for a trip to Europe on cobblestones streets but is also applicable for some light hiking. Knowing as much as we can about the client (gait, foot anatomy, pathology, lifestyle, etc.) we can select the appropriate footwear, arch support, etc. It is a solution approach, not a product approach. The products are only the tools to get to the solution. This is our paradigm and it works very effectively for us. The clients are not used to it, especially the younger clients. They are taken aback that we even measure their feet let alone the rest of the approach we take. Of course, the internet cannot do any of this. Training In order to serve our clients, our employees must have empathy. We can teach employees knowledge of foot conditions and health condi- tions but they must inherently care about the well-being of our cli- ents. We have an informal training program for our employees but it is very thorough and continuing. We cover a number of areas such as: Foot Anatomy (our associates know and understand all the bones of the foot, the major muscles, ligaments, etc.); Foot Pathologies (bunions, hammer toes, morton's neuroma, metatarsalgia, arthritis, knee pain, back pain, etc. We de- scribe what causes these conditions and how to ameliorate them with shoes, orthotics, and small appliances such as toe spacers, etc.); Foot Exam (almost every client has a thorough foot exam and gait analysis.); Other Conditions (associates are trained in how the client is impacted by such conditions as arthritis, Parkinson's, dementia, multiple sclerosis, and neuropathy and how to improve stability and comfort with proper footwear); Footwear and arch support and Cus- tom Orthotic training (associates are trained in the shoes and arch supports we carry and which clients they are appropriate for). The Bottom Line When the associate is thoroughly trained they are able to be a "detec- tive" and work with the client to determine what the best solutions are. An example of our approach can be illustrated with clients who suffer from plantar fasciitis. Our staff conducts a thorough analysis and we walk the client through all the steps they must take to not only relieve the pain of plantar fasciitis but prevent its recurrence. Most of our clients say that they learned more from us than from their doctor. We supplement but do not replace or interfere with the patient doctor relationship. Solution We are a relationship oriented business not a transactional based one. If we were strictly transactional then we are just focused on sell- ing products instead of solutions. That becomes just a commodity and the focus will be on selling XYZ brand whether it is appropri- ate or not. Our focus is on the client and understanding what the client really needs to solve a problem. O HONOREES How We Do It The two stores that nailed the Mystery Shopping test with perfect scores share their customer service secrets. Dear Sharon, Thank you so very, very much for helping me with my purchase RIWKH&DQҕHOG6KRH 7KDQNVIRUDOORIWKHDGYLFHVHUYLFHDQGKHOSZLWKWKHVL]LQJ SDGVDQGWRQJXHSDGV,WKDVPDGHLWVR,DPQRWVZLPPLQJ DURXQGLQP\RWKHUVKRHV

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