HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-04-27, Page 11We leave the adult at home
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"The trouble is most of us have a
child and a parent inside of us all
the time: but we leave the adult at
home," he said.
When a customer says, an item is
cheaper elsewhere, ,"the parent
wants to jump out ' and say 'then
go'," Mouser said.
He said the correct response is:
"We buy value. We don't buy
price: We shop price, but we rarely
buy at the lowest price.
Think of it as trying to get a date,
he said.
"If I used that technique -to try
and get a; date, I'd say, 'I'm good
and I'm cheap."'
He told merchants there are two
signs posted behind cash registers
in stores all across Canada that
have to come down.
"The first says 'No cash refunds.'
Would you have gotten married if
the rules were posted, first? At least
in marriage you had hope." It costs
$120 to pull a new customer in the
store, said Mouser, compared to
only $20 to keep an existing cus-
tomer.
"The only way to get through life
is to negotiate, and both sideshave
to win."
The other sign warns patrons that
there will be a $20 charge for NSF
(not sufficient funds) cheques.
"My cheque represents local
money," said Mouser. "My Chargex
is for out-of-town spending. So
what you've done is posted a sign
that says 'We don't trust the
locals." If the law requires you to
post such a warning, "post it on a
back wall," he said.
Store windows are a merchant's
biggest lure, but few merchants use
them properly, he said.
"Do you have your (business)
name in your window? How about
inside your store? How many cus-
tomers have to ask 'Who should I
make this cheque out to?'
"You've got your (business) name
above your awning, but who wants
to walk to the middle of the street
and get run .over"to see your name?
Post it inside the store, as many
times as you want."
And 'merchants should make
prices clearly visible on items in
their window, he said.
"Buyers can't make a decision
. without a price, and if they don't
see it, 82 per cent will estimate it
higher than it is," he said. "People
buy with their emotions, then justify
their purchase with logic all the
way home."
Area merchants have to sop
thinking their customers are still
'small-town folk' who will
automatically patronize local shops,
said Mouser.
"You don't live in rural Ontario
anymore. You live in a very close
world," he said, noting before a
person puts on a single stitch of
clothing in the morning, that person
already knows what's going on
around the world.
"You're playing hardball with the
world."
How to
•
survive
Wal-Mart
Dr. Ken Stone, Wal-Mart guru,
recently addressed a gathering in
Owen Sound regarding a pos-
sible Wal-Mart invasion. Stone,
an economics professor at Iowa
State University, has spent the
past 18. years working in com-
munity development, retail trade
and business management.
In 1988 he conducted a study
on the impact of a Wal-Mart
store when•it came into an Iowa
community.
Stone offered tips for busines-
ses to consider "if you're going
to complete in this . kind of
arena."
He told businesses to:
- try not to handle the same mer-
chandise. If you do overlap on
some products, be sure the price
, mark-up is limited to 10-15 per
cent. On less popular items, the
mark-up can be greater because
peoplg only remember the prices
of about 200 of the total 70,000
products; •
carry items that complement
Wal-Mart merchandise because
tire' company will • refer cus-
tomers;
- get rid of dead merchandise:
"That's just like money sitting
on the shelf," Stone said. -It also
depreciates with inflation and
detracts from the store's overall
appearance;
- look for voids in the mass mer-
chandisers' inventory. "How do
you find . these voids? - You
gotta go shop there, don't you,"
he said. "Look for the good and
the bad. You might want to
emulate some of those things;"
- consider upscale merchandise;
- buy well. He urged people to
buy wisely at ,trade shows and
take advantage of deals they
know they can sell.
Stone also stressed the impor-
tance of catering t0 customers,
providing extended hours,
trained staff, special order
abilities,improved return
policies and increased services. .
6ntlnel -
Birthday
Club
Vicky Murray
• April 2.7,'1987
7 Years Old
Kevin Farrish
April 27, 1990
4 Years Old
Derek Sanderson
April 28, 1989
5 Years Old
Justin Davidson
April 28, 1988
6 Years Old
Cal McDonagh
April 29, 1986
8 Years Old'
Cindy Willits
April S0, 1985
9 Years Old
Kelsey Smolenaars
May 1, 1991
3 Years Old
Brett Courtney
May 1, 1991
3 Years Old
Micheal Mali.
May 1, 1983
11 Years Old '
Julie Phillips
May 2. 1989
5 Years Old
Nicole Berry
May 2, 1993
1 Year Old
TE -EM FARM` PRESENTS ITS
li
Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, April 27, 1994 - Page 11
Cowan Printing & Advertising
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•
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