Stress the Impact of Spreading Impressions

Retail staff often fail to recognize that how each of them interacts with the shopper influences how the shopper interprets the interactions with other staff. Let’s say a sales clerk looks up at the approaching shopper and smiles gently. If that event had been preceded by a sincere greeting from the cashier as the shopper entered the store, the shopper is likely to consider the salesperson’s smile to be sincere and welcoming. This is less likely if the shopper had received no more than a cold stare from the cashier when entering the store.
     Regularly emphasize to yourself and your staff the four consumer psychology principles which apply to the spread of staff impressions. Each of you shares the responsibility for creating the sincere welcome:

• Primacy. First impressions set the scene, especially for customers unfamiliar with your store. These first impressions include the sights, sounds, and even smells. Interpersonal interactions with staff also are covered by the primacy principle. Be sure the shopper’s first impression is rosy all round. Unless your shoppers are allergic to roses.
• Recency. When customers are asked by their friends, family, or survey researchers to recall their experiences in your store, the memories most likely to bubble up to the top are about the interactions which occurred toward the last. This is why how you handle the cash/wrap process counts for so much.
• Similarity. Researchers at University of Miami and University of Southern California explored how consumers infer the quality of service expected in settings like hotels. What’s the effect of flawed service at the front desk on the guest’s expectations when they consider using the hotel’s tour arrangements? A major factor was managerial control. If the guest sees the same manager talking to the front desk and the concierge, the guest becomes more likely to conclude that what holds true for one holds true for the other. This is a sensible assumption, to be sure. The similarity principle also holds when it comes to employee dress. If your personnel dress in a distinctive store outfit, the impact of spreading impressions is greater.
• Contiguity. The Miami/USC researchers found that when the two staff members work physically close to each other, the consumer generalizes impressions from one to the other more strongly. This also applies to contiguity in time, when the interactions with one staff member come soon after prior interactions with the other staff member.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

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