Making your customers smarter will help them and your store. Educated customers are more likely to make a purchase in your pet store. Yes, a few customers may pick your brains and then make purchases with the competition. However, in the long-term you will pick up many more new customers leading to a more profitable pet store. Educated customers are more likely to buy extra accessories for their favorite pet.
By talking to your customers, using tip sheets and informational demonstrations will increased the knowledge of your customers. This knowledge will help the customer make better purchases for their pet leading to a higher satisfaction for your pet store.
Having a lack of knowledge can hurt sales. For example, I was shopping a store and visited the pet section. I was laughing hard after looking at a sign on a lizard cage. At first glance, it appeared to call it a “Dork Lizard”. After further review, it was called a “Dark Lizard”. Actually, it was a “Fence Swift”, but there was no one around for me to let them know. I would not ask advice of anything in this pet section since I saw the lack of information with the lizard. Their credibility is gone and would be hard to ever regain. Information they give might kill your new pet.
Educating customers makes you an authority and is a soft sell. Many people don’t want a hard sell and will avoid those places of business. Giving valuable information builds a relationship and trust in a non threatening way.
Hopefully, you can see the value of educating customers and how it will affect your business long-term. It is a way to make your pet store stand out from your competition. Educated customers will likely buy more because they want the best for their pet. With a hard sell, they may think you just are trying to sell them products not really needed.
About the Author:
Jerry Robertson is a Retail Consultant and author of “Shocking Truth to Pet Store Success”. You can get a free copy and subscribe to his free monthly newsletter at: Pet Store Owner Tips & Resources
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