When a customer first walks into your business, what inspires them?
What senses are you trying to awaken in your customers to keep them engaged?
As leaders in the music business, these are questions we must ask ourselves repeatedly, because, as we all know, the retail landscape is ever-changing, so, to keep a customer’s loyalty in today’s market we must connect to their emotions, as well as offer product choices and competitive pricing.
Some music stores are able to incorporate a “wow factor,” by displaying massive amounts of gear, but not all music businesses have the financial resources or the retail space to be able to do that. So, If you’re not knee-deep in financial resources how then do you create your business’s “wow factor”? The answer is: one customer at a time!
A small box retailer can generate “wow moments” for their customers, but it takes a slightly different approach than you might think. The small box trick is customer engagement! If you can keep customers engaged with you, you will win their trust and that’s the biggest wow factor there is.
Besides having your gear displays looking as mighty as you can, a great way to win consistent customer engagement that’s not expensive is called: “Imagination”! When you prioritize imagination, your business stays fresh. Creatives understand this maxim intuitively; they intentionally fan the flames of imagination, fully embracing it and understanding that it is a gift and the secret code that opens the doors to unique expression.
Big shops don’t always incorporate a depth of imagination, mostly because they function from a pre-planned efficiency model – both out of necessity, and as their priority. Please understand that I truly respect the massive gear “wow factor” in any music store. In fact, I may be a tad jealous; but generally speaking, smaller shops have been established on the spirited idea of providing unique services, based mostly on the creative skills of the founders. So, we don’t want to abandon that quality.
Imagination in your displays, and your overall store design, is the gateway to the most important moment: how you interact with your customers and families that support your business.
Within every small business, there was an original “niche” on which the business was founded. And in the beginning there was a creative vision, incorporating lots of imagination. But as time passes, businesses grow stale, imagination wanes, and sometimes the luster dulls. Now the fire needs stoking, so we must find ways to rekindle our original passion. We must maintain a fresh, intriguing business model that repeatedly invites customer loyalty.
The hardest part is finding ways of accomplishing this agenda that are affordable. The good news is, out of imagination springs the one tool smaller retailers keep close at hand: Originality! But doubt is never too far behind. Usually, the discussion on originality centers around one question: How do I let go of fear, and embrace my highest level of originality? Many would tell you that you either are an original, or you’re not. But I don’t think it’s quite that black and white. I think you need to simply let originality out of its box.
Merely pursuing the idea of being an original retailer takes time to mature. When investigating the idea, you will notice that the greatest success stories have all gone through a continual maturation process. The superstars in our business continually evolved along their journeys. But there is a stage of development where they learned to trust and just let go and got out of their own way, and their originality simply flowed. This takes belief in your vision, it takes lots of imagination, along with the courage to try things that may seem foreign or bold to you at first.
One door allowing us access to the house of originality is striving to be as good at your craft as possible. It is a natural cadence for craft to precede originality, so the trick becomes developing your craft to your highest level first, then allowing originality to develop as the natural aftermath of that process. I am using the word “craft” to be all encompassing. For example: your store’s design and presentation, sales, repairs, education, relationships, rentals, and so on.
A great tool that may keep you motivated is taking a page right out of the musician’s handbook. Think about it, when we all first attempted to learn a musical instrument, or first attempted to sing, we were inspired by someone else doing it. We weren’t great at it, but we wanted to be, so we mimicked those who inspired us, as we imagined our own creative personalities. So let that understanding make its way into the look and style of your business. Re-awaken though imagination.
