Footwear Insight

the "Sit and Fit" amounted to a Sales Associate sitting on his shoe bench, three feet away from me, watching me put the shoes that he'd brought out for me, on my own feet. No Brannock device, no questions prior, no shoehorn, no add-ons. Bummer. Not only, "no effect" but "negative effect." Defeats the entire purpose. What does the quality of your own "Sit and Fit" look like? Ideally, once I've gotten the answers to the Discovery Questions I've asked, I am very well-equipped to offer suggestions, utilize my Product Knowledge to deliver to my customers' "value points" (Feature- Benefit statements) in the Demonstration, and to bring out (four-on-the-floor!) additional offerings that are more likely to be "homeruns" rather than "strikeouts." A Word on Orthotics I have in the past, or currently own at least nine of the following diagnoses aer a lifetime of playing hard: Early-stage Charcot foot, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, peripheral neuropathy, torn ligaments, tendonitis (Achilles and plantar fasciitis) hammer toes, bunions, corns, ingrown toenails, over-pronation, over- supination… I'm not asking you and your staff to behave like podiatrists, but there's information out there, and there are things they need to understand and not be afraid to talk about with a large segment of your customer base, i.e. Baby Boomers. I sure wish I'd started to investigate earlier than I did, beginning in 2012 when I started putting ice bags on my feet aer running. Our feet are the foundational core of everything else we do in an upright position. At the opposite end (Gen Z's, Alphas and Betas, soon!) the time to take very good care of our feet is early, the sooner, the better. e 20-somethings at my foot and ankle care provider are wearing carbon fiber inserts now, to minimize cartilage wear, decades before they'll feel the effects of cartilage loss in toe, mid-foot and ankle plates. You get to decide to what extent you offer orthotic solutions, but please educate your staff, ask your customer the related questions, and suggest responsibly. Even landing short of full-blown Orthotics, there are features like oversized toe beds, Vibram soles, glove leather lining, and Add-ons like carbon fiber insole inserts, that make a world of difference to feet that are compromised through years of hard use. Getting old is no joke. We Need Our Feet! Giving Your Customer a Reason to Buy - Demonstration It's obvious at this point that if Engagement and Discovery are lacking the result is a Demonstration that fails to create Value and Desire, the two overt goals of the Demonstration step. At this point in the interaction, the biggest misstep (pun intended) is that a salesperson shows footwear that isn't a match at all, because they never learned the Value Points that were important to the customer. Another tendency is to offer up the general, memorized features of a shoe, whether they are appropriate or not, rather than giving the specific ones that create value for ME. Yes… customizing your Demonstration for each customer by delivering the Features, Advantages and Benefits, with a Grabber question (FABGs!) that are important to ME that you learned back in Discovery. "Give your product a reason for being, and you give your customer a reason to buy."- Dr. William Rossi. Please, give me those reasons, yes? Give Me More - Adding on I'm sitting here pondering the effect of bringing out "four on the floor," when a salesperson has "done the work," versus how it feels to the customer when a salesperson brings out four additional pair that are nowhere near what I want, need, or desire. e advantages and liabilities of conducting great Discovery certainly play out here, don't they? "Four on the floor" with poor Discovery makes you look greedy and uncaring, and with great Discovery, you can change my feet's life! I have hundreds of dollars in my pocket just waiting for the opportunity to be thrilled with a new product that I love, one that you introduced me to. I'll see you out there in my travels in your city. I love nothing more than a salesperson who is curious, shows an interest, asks me questions, listens to the answers, knows their product, makes the "match," builds value, and then shows me additional product that will enhance my feet, my health, my fashion, and my life. Please reach out to me to learn more about how we can help in all of the areas I've written about this Fall. It's what we've been doing since 1980, and all of you in this industry have very much been a part of that. n anks for the great work you all do out there. I'll see you next time! —Tom footwearinsight.com November/December 2024 ~ Footwear Insight • 25 omas Post has devoted over 30 years to helping retailers realize higher sales and profits through sales and management excellence from his client's upper organizational charts to front-facing behaviors, including support roles, operations, employee development, communications best practices, and management. He has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with NSRA and e Friedman Group since 1994. Tom makes his home in Boulder, CO. You can reach him by email at tpost@thefriedmangroup.com, and by text or phone at (720) 641-7713. There is a natural flow that one can create by Engaging well, then transitioning to Discovery by very simply asking, "What brings you in today?"

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