Retailer to Retailer: Conserving sane in an insane market

Cheryl Kees Clendenon, proprietor of In Element Interiors

By Cheryl Kees Clendenon

The top of the world shouldn’t be coming. I stated it. I imply it. Can all of us simply cease for a second in our hectic day and acknowledge this reality?

Whether or not you run a design agency, a big retail retailer or a small dwelling accents boutique, we’re all conscious of the challenges going through our busy business. It’s talked about advert nauseam in Fb teams, on frantic texts amongst enterprise proprietor buddies, within the halls of bigger corporations and within the avalanche of emails from distributors that start with, “On this unprecedented 12 months…”.

Provide and demand is hitting us onerous. Distributors and reps are juggling the identical points however we’re their shoppers and clients. Blaming them and subjecting customer support individuals to a scene from Psycho is a little bit of irony once we are fuming about our personal shoppers and clients not “understanding” the scenario.

Now, the right way to proceed with out dropping our thoughts, our sanity or our lunch the following time “the” letter arrives or a consumer tosses a tantrum worthy of an Oscar? (For those who had been me you would possibly purchase just a few of those statuettes and provides them out with a bottle of wine — however that’s my humorousness.)

Put together your staff for what lies forward. I worry it’ll worsen earlier than it will get higher. They can assist you put together your shoppers and clients. Arrange coaching to deal with the present lead occasions and the stress of a consumer or buyer being upset. Communication is vital. Nobody needs to be misled.

Cease apologizing to your clients or shoppers. They get one apology and that’s sufficient. As an alternative, supply a concise clarification as to what the availability chain catastrophe seems like and the information you might be on their staff and are doing all of your absolute best to attenuate the inconvenience.

Distract shoppers and clients with one other focus. We now have opened up a Candle Studio and have plans to have occasions revolving round this in a small occasion area on our property. It’s an important event-based revenue heart with low entry prices, and it will possibly expose individuals to your store or studio.

There’s no time like the current to hone in on robust relationships with clients and distributors alike. Stable relationships require wonderful communication, which might easy wrinkles. Speak to your reps. Have them are available in for lunch-and-learns. Understand they and customer support are in the identical boat all of us are.

Plan for ground stock buying like by no means earlier than. This forces even the smaller boutiques to be ahead enthusiastic about budgets and gross sales figures and projections into fourth quarter and Q1 of 2022. Make your lists for market in June and discover a small warehouse you possibly can hire if you happen to do not need one.

In case you are a small retailer or designer, it’s extremely possible a few of your accounts could possibly be in jeopardy. When provide is low and demand excessive, the low hanging fruit might be minimize first as a result of it’s a vendor’s market. If it catches you unaware, the fallout might be enormous.

Deal with the way you ship your consumer expertise. We begin the connection off with a win once we ship a small reward card to Starbucks or a desert store with a hand-written word in our branded word playing cards to all new consultations. We at the moment are attempting native tie-ins in order that we will cross-promote.

If none of that works, and you continue to get in any other case rational people driving you batty, then maybe take a web page out of my very southern granny’s e-book: make your response to the umpteenth inquiry, “Effectively bless your coronary heart.” Grasp saying this with equal elements compassion and rebuke and you’ve got the quintessential response.

You want all your wits about you heading into the remainder of 2021 and Mrs. Cranky Pants or Mr. Stress Bucket shouldn’t be allowed to steal your mojo. They are going to make it by means of this. So will you.

Cheryl Kees Clendenon owns In Element Interiors, a retail store and full-service design agency in Pensacola, Fla., and runs a Fb group for designers and retailers referred to as Small Enterprise Assume Huge. You may e-mail her with feedback or questions at [email protected].