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Education

Three do’s that DO work. Education, Instore Promotion, Outside Promotion.

October 24, 1999 | By: deaneparkes

When looking to increase your business there are 3 key areas that   given proper attention will result in improved service and increased sales. I suggest you review each of these with your suppliers the next time you have an appointment to see how they can assist you, also, I urge you as owners and management to review them with your staff to get their input. This month is #1.

  1. EDUCATION – Our industry has built itself on knowledge and caring. The more exposure we receive the more we will be required to provide accurate and easily understood information. We must always have in place a consistent format to educate our staff and customers. Education can take on many forms but staff training, instore newsletters, books, magazines and product brochures are the norm.Are you taking education beyond the norm? Last CNHR I wrote about how your store commands a presence within an 8 KM radius. Are you known as “the” place to go for the most accurate, up to date information on Natural health products? Can you confidently trust that all of your staff can provide the level of service required to support the variety of consumers who come expecting you to answer their questions? No longer is a HFS just a pill and food store. We sell Aromatherapy, sports nutrition, anti-aging skincare, specialty herbal formulas, homeopathy, and more antioxidants than you can shake a free radical at. These products and product categories are becoming very specialized and while at times it may seem overwhelming it does offer an opportunity to excel and bring to your customers a level of service that goes way beyond any others in your community.Suggestions to improve education. I suggest you sit with your staff and brainstorm beyond these few ideas.
  2. Supplier training. The best resource to educate staff is usually the supplier of the product. I often would have the salesrep do a staff training when they come by. If you have a phone that has a speaker the company could do a staff training over the phone. This works well if the company has a key spokesperson who may not be available to come to your store but can educate over the phone.
  3. Consumer talks – Rent a hall, pick a topic, ask a supplier to co-sponsor, make a handout 2 weeks in advance, send a press release to your local paper and see what happens. If you are talking on arthritis invite the local arthritis society. When I had the store in a small community we would have close to 100 people turn out. If you can get a keynote speaker from a supplier so much the better.
  4. Community groups – Investigate all the local clubs and associations and see if they want someone to talk on a health topic. Those old Rotary guys would be pleased if someone could help improve their prostate problems.
  5. When I owned the store in Creston my partner Rhonda gave a talk to the Mormon Church. She was a little nervous about what to say but felt they should hear about Rescue remedy and how it could help balance emotions. After that Rescue remedy became a topic at most local social functions. We sold tons.
  6. Professionals instore – Have a ND , reflexologist , live blood cell , iridologist , herbalist or any other complimentary person set up in your store to give a specific form of education. We did this on our customer appreciation days and the response was great and the consumers learned more and realized our commitment to education. Some of these people sold a lot of products on that day and our staff became better informed on their specialty.
  7. Turn demos into consultations. Demos on foods are ok as taste is usually the main criteria however when it comes to most supplements and body care the consumer needs a little more confidence as to the merits of the products. We often would advertise if a salesrep was coming in who represented supplements as a company expert on whatever they were selling. If they do not feel they can live up to the headline then they will tell you. Put a picture with the promotion if possible. You will be surprised at the # of people who will come to “meet the expert”. For body care and sports nutrition these can prove invaluable.
  8. Advertorials – Go to your local newspaper and see if they are willing to run a Health column. If not , run a paid column that looks like editorial. Most of us may not be great writers or have no time to write a column so you could ask your supplier of choice to give you a write up on a specific topic and run that. Put your’s or your stores in house “experts” picture in the column. Remember 90% of the effectiveness of the column or for that matter any ad is the Headline. Similarly this works for radio.
  9. Charts – As handouts or at the point of purchase easy to follow charts can greatly impact sales. Vitamins, herbs,, homeopathy,, aromatherapy are a few potential chart categories. When I had vitamin stores we always gave every new customer an easy to follow Vitamin chart. It was well worth it as many people returned clutching their chart and ready to buy. Charts work better than brochures.
  10. Newsletters – Without a doubt this one vehicle to educate and inform your customers can increase your business by 20%. Again if you do not have the time find a local computer person to put it together [$80 – $100 /month] and get suppliers give articles and a few specials. Coop the cost.

I’ll stop with these few and end with a reminder that the greatest service, I feel, we provide are proven solutions so our customers can live healthier more productive lives.

Go out into your 8km radius and educate them on why they should shop in your store.

Deane Parkes

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