The Personality of Your Business: It’s Always About Your People

In today’s world, potential customers search and scrutinize even before they choose to enter your doors. But once in your building, the “in-person” experience begins, and this is where our specialized knowledge, our personal style, and our philosophy make such a big difference.

When a customer enters your doors, the “10-second rule” goes into effect. That is the amount of time before a customer begins forming his opinion on how he feels about the experience he is having in your business. In truth it’s more like six seconds, but who’s counting?

In that 10-second window, you determine your success or failure by such things as how you answer the phone or greet a customer, or the way your store presents itself. One way to win a customer quickly is to develop a trusting and comfortable relationship.

My manager, Clayton Embrey, understands this well; he knows that when he is working with families, it helps to learn about their musical experiences and then he finds relatable common ground. For example, Clayton comes from a musical family and when he engages with customers, given the chance, he shares the benefits he reaped from his family’s musical history. He understands where there is commonality with the customers, and that provides trust with the chance to root.

Everyone has a unique style, and that is something I believe you should encourage. You want your sales staff to exude confidence; they must find their personal empowerment and settle into their own sales approach. Every single day, Clayton brings 100 percent to his work. His duties as a manager are, no doubt, similar to the duties of most managers, but the passion with which he executes his duties is unique.

A good example of the extent to which Clayton goes to be adaptable is evident in his presentations of instruments. He is a left-handed guitar player, but he must demonstrate right-handed guitars all the time. To accomplish this task and to find comfort when demonstrating the instruments and, more importantly, to demonstrate with proficiency, Clayton relentlessly began practicing the art of playing guitar “upside down.” In a very short time, he has gotten to the point where a customer would think he had been playing right-handed his whole life.

Another effective practice: Clayton thinks like the customers. He has the wherewithal to think like a dad, a kid, or a mom, and he shows empathy for all the different personalities involved in a sale. That approach takes a great deal of savvy and compassion because a young musician wants to know what’s exciting about the new instrument, and the dad wants to know all about its features, as well as comparative value with other choices. Mom wants to know the cross-over categories – i.e. lessons, and the workable lesson times available, and how our policies work, et cetera.

Clayton takes the customers through the entire experience, demystifying it, and he does this with a relaxed manner that puts everybody at ease. He can discuss any musical style in depth, and he’s as knowledgeable a music historian as anyone I’ve known. Truly, if you want to separate your business from the pack, an in-depth knowledge of music history can be your most important tool. Clayton’s passion is rare and a quality I truly appreciate.

Recently I had the chance to enjoy a virtual tour of Five Star Guitars. This store is no secret to the music industry. Five Star Guitars won NAMM’s Dealer of the Year award in 2020. During the virtual tour, I was enthralled by the pristine detail of Five Star Guitars, so I reached out to Jeremie Murfin and asked him to reflect on a few beliefs that make their business distinctive.

I have great respect for Jeremie and his partners Geoff Metts and Jeep Simonet. Below are a few thoughts Jeremie shared about their business and the philosophy that propels their success:

In every decision we make, we try to communicate a consistent presentation to the customer. Whether that’s the measured distance between guitar hooks, or our choice of lighting color. That and a thousand other seemingly small, insignificant things add up to silently communicating to the customer that you care about what you do, and that you care about them.

That is probably the driving force behind everything that I do, and it starts with the staff. Employees aren’t going to take pride in my work – they’re going to take pride in their own. So, give them opportunities to make thoughtful, meaningful decisions and then give them room to make mistakes. I also believe, if you make a mistake, own it, and model how to learn from it. Encourage your staff to share ideas and then take the time to actually listen. Show them that you value them more as people than you value their productivity, but let them see that their contributions make a difference.

As you can see by Jeremie’s words, it’s always about the people, and the personality of the business. While it’s true we have a very small window of time to make a good first impression, when you are authentic in your beliefs, you only need 10 seconds.