Branded by Confusion

Nightmares in Retail

This is a straight-shooting report which presents businessmen with an opportunity to grow beyond limitation, discard what is not working and become organized using intelligent points of references. It’s an opportunity which allows us all to streamline our thinking process and recalibrate the mind. It’s time for us all to step into the future and embrace what’s new in business, how sales are made and how aggressive the upcoming brands are becoming in fashion merchandizing.

 

But let me tell you a story first.

The Driver:

Ali Asghar is a taxi driver who works in Rawalpindi. He enjoys making friends and business contacts. He keeps his Suzuki Mehran sparkling clean; always dusting the outside, rubbing the interior windows and polishing the tires. He makes an extra effort to take the luggage from the hands of his passengers and opens the door for them. He does that without fail. Most of his business comes from his PERSONAL BRANDING; the image which he has built inside the minds of his customers and passengers. People ask for his phone number and his cell continuously rings with businessmen and other corporate travelers requesting his service.

While I was in Rawalpindi, I hired Ali Asghar to take us to Islamabad and then towards Daman-e-Koh for a visit. It was a cloudy day and the weather looked promising. As our Mehran (an 800 CC car) with a total of 4 people inside started the uphill climb to Daman-e-Koh, I saw a strange sight. I saw a Suzuki Cultus parked alongside the road, halfway towards the hilly station, with a billowing smoke coming out of the hood. We continued with our journey, made a few more turns and then my jaw really dropped when I saw a Honda City also parked alongside. There was no smoke but the hood was open and a man was leaning to see what is going on inside the engine. It was also an odd spot to park a car. Ali Asghar chuckled meaningfully but didn’t say anything.

We reached the point to start our excursion. As we were getting out, Ali Asghar nudged me and pointed towards the temperature gauge of his car and smiled. I understood what he was saying without saying it. Then he touched the hood of his car and said; “the engine is cool … no need to open the hood”.

After lunch we started our downhill journey back to Islamabad. Ali Asghar leapt forward and opened the door for all passengers. As we were going downhill, I noticed that he didn’t put his car in neutral to save petrol. He keeps switching gears, especially during tight turns and used the brakes as little as possible. He took us Rawalpindi to our hotel safe and sound. As I was getting off to pay the fare, I asked him why he didn’t put the car in neutral. He said, because if you rely on brakes alone during downhill drive, there comes a point when the brakes get overheated and refuse to work, hence the collision. And the reason why those cars were parked alongside the road going uphill, because they revved the engine too much and didn’t use the clutch properly. That flooded the injectors with too much raw fuel.

As he was getting ready to leave he smiled and said…

"Everything depends on the driver. A car is just a machine, but unless you know how to handle it, it can either work for you or against you."

Ali Asghar on the Right. An man who understands Personal Branding exceptionally well.

There is a reason why I told this story.  To illustrate, I am going to break it down what I am about to say in sections to properly deliver my point.

a)     Sales Staff: The Brand Drivers

I cannot stress enough to make people realize the importance of a robust First Point of Contact in Retail. Retailers must focus on creating dynamic and exuberant First Impressions in Branded Sales. Retail is an exact science and investments in staff cannot be justified on a blind luck. Positive attitude and enthusiasm are infectious. If your FPOC is beaming with energy, with a vision to excel, believes in the superiority of the brand, stands motivated and gets excited to see a potential customer, your sales will soar. Why? Because the inner-driver is in sync with the representing message. Customers will feel the soul of that brand which the fashion consultant is trying to deliver - in speech, in tone, body language and in mannerisms. They also notice the customer-centric attitude and realize that the consultant is actually working in his favor through suggestions as to what will work and what won’t in a genuine way.

The customer then buys joyfully, with the sale happening as a side-effect. Everyone loves to buy – but nobody wants to be sold!

As humans we think in images - about situations, people, places and products. Plainly, sales do not have a life of their own. Bad first impressions and untrained FPOCs will bring your brand down because their inner-driver is out of sync. In retail; lack of product knowledge, confusion, agitation, fear, minimal eye contact, not listening, being unable to speak with authority, being unable to transfer the brand image into the mind of consumer, being unable to use the right combination of words, low degrees of self-esteem and hesitation get picked by customers very easily. And the “image” which gets created inside customer’s head about the brand is one of “weakness” and “unreliability”.

The inner-driver drives the thought process and the resulting actions. Those actions then produce the consequences backed by beliefs which may either be bitter or may very well be sweeter than honey. It’s how big or narrow we actually envision the playing field. The potential client walks away because what one heard from the FPOC does not settle with him well. He is, therefore, motivated to see other choices available right next door.

I have witnessed dynamic excellence, but also goof-ups which should not even be happening on the sales floor. I noticed arguments and staff members throwing insults at each other, especially when customers were inside the store browsing (what a deadly combination). The teamwork fairy had coughed and committed suicide. And not having any teamwork or unity among sales consultants, regrettably, is a just a reflection of what is happening in higher ranking employees.

b)    Small Towns & Big Brands

It came as a big surprise to me that even small towns are becoming brand savvy. Our journey started on GT Road after leaving Rawalpindi. Along the winding stretches of that road came many towns like Mandra, Jehlem and Kharian, with Chakwal and Mirpur right next door. My acclimation came about the existing shift in people’s taste when I noticed all kinds of clothing brands along that road; not to mention Subway, Pizza Hut and a huge KFC franchise over the river Jehlem. I mean why folks from Mandi Bahauddin (another small town next door to Kharian) would purchase branded apparel? Simply because people’s expectations in the marketplace have changed and their desires evolved.

It’s like the father who went to work overseas returns home only to find his small children had grown taller and more mature. The people’s taste has not only been improved but it actually seeks a better material, a better design and even a superior service, which the brand promises and delivers. I personally found many business opportunities and virgin territories. A bit of creativity can steal the show on GT Road alone for visionaries.

c)     The Brand Founders

I have worked with enough brands, domestically and internationally, to say what I need to say here. The opposite of Professionalism is Saithism. Saithism is not an individual but a “concept” which shares one common ground with professionalism: Both worked very hard in initial stages of brand development. But as they grow, professionalism gets organized, while Saithism remains shackled in a rigid paradigm.

Brands are actually in the business of generating Value; and die because they forget how to dream