Dial Into the Right Dialect

My thanks to DISH Network for the video lesson instructing me, when in Boston, how to translate, “I’ll put my kahkeez in my kahkeez.” My gratitude isn’t because I’ve been confusing my car keys with my khakis when visiting Beantown. I’m pretty good at understanding the difference between the two anywah I go.
     Instead, my appreciation for the “Kahkeez” video is because it reminds us of the impact of dialects in retailing. The way in which we pronounce words projects to the shopper an abundance of associations accumulated over a lifetime.
     The words themselves, not just the pronunciation, carry associations. What those of us in some parts of America call “soda,” consumers in other regions refer to as “pop.” The Northeasterner who might get disgusted when offered a snail along with the coffee in California would be more likely to buy when told that’s what we call a spiral-style cinnamon roll. If a salesperson describes the freezing rain outside as a “silver thaw,” the shopper might safely conclude this salesperson has connections to the northwestern U.S.
     In many Chinese dialects, the word for 4 is pronounced almost identically to the Chinese word for death. In what Western consumers might call superstition and certain Chinese, Korean, and Japanese consumers would call good judgment, saying the word for “4” in retail transactions requires special caution.
     But I’m told that residents of the Chiu Chow area of China consider that same word to be lucky.
     As long as we’re skilled and authentic, we can improve the probability of a sale by matching our dialect to what impresses the shopper positively. This has to do with more than geographical location. Researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University North Central, and University of Missouri-Kansas City recommend we stay aware of the three categories of language retailers can use with consumers, each category with its distinct rules of grammar:

• Ceremonial language. Culture dictates what we say to the consumer if we want to create store loyalty. With certain people, it might be “Hello, sir,” while others expect, “What’s up?” The “Have a nice day” will fit fine with some shoppers, but strike others as smarmy. 
• Conventional language. Making conversation about the latest TV episode or sports team’s performance develops rapport with the shopper. 
• Commercial language. We’d like our verbal transactions with shoppers to end in commercial transactions with customers. Ask for the sale.

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Link Smaller to Mutual Advantages

Cocktails, handbags, and golf games are all trimming down to meet consumer desires. A recent Time magazine article chronicled the last of these with statistics on the increasing popularity of nine-hole golf games. The driving force for the move from the eighteen-hole standard in place for 250 years: Fewer people are playing golf and fewer rounds are being played.
     The golfing industry’s research concludes the reason is the hours it takes to play eighteen. The U.S. Golf Association, PGA of America, and Golf Digest are promoting “Time for Nine.” The initiative also encourages players to speed up the traffic-jamming contemplation over each shot on the course.
     As to the cocktails, they’re being served in mini versions at many venues. And large handbags—15 to 18 inches tall or wide—which were highly popular a few years ago now account for only about 26% of dollar sales. Pulling ahead have been the midsize handbags—at least 12, but less than 15, inches tall or wide—which now account for 43% of dollar sales.
     Downsizing provides you opportunities for increased profitability. The fee for nine holes will be less than that for eighteen, but more than half as much. Your retail price for midsize handbags might actually be higher than that for large ones because of the greater popularity, even though smaller handbags consume less space on the shelf and could be less expensive to manufacture.
     To sell well, the downsized versions must also offer obvious advantages for the shopper. Bartenders selling the miniaturized cocktails are reminding customers how the later sips of a martini are too warm when it’s been served in a container resembling, in size and contour, a goldfish bowl.
     Resistance to change will be lower among newer players of the game. For one thing, they’re less accustomed to the old ways. For another, the appeal of multitasking, quick gratification, and miniaturization is negatively correlated with consumer age. The golf industry is aiming the “Time for Nine” to up-and-coming players.
     With the entrenched players of the game, wean them over. Bartenders have responded to customer complaints about smaller sizes using the ice cream shop malted milk method. Your malt comes in a glass alongside a bonus amount in the silver mixing tin. The bartenders serve half of an ordered cocktail in a small glass alongside the other half on ice in a small carafe. Later, omit the carafe.

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Stimulate Shopper Search

The consumer comes into your shop, announces precisely what he wants to purchase, and when you present it to the consumer, the consumer instantly turns into a customer and then immediately leaves your shop.
     A quick profit’s good. Still, there are situations in which you’d prefer to have consumers search around before completing their purchases. In searching, they’re more likely to buy ancillary items on that visit and they’re better able to appreciate all your store carries when considering future visits.

• Create the itch for a search. Researchers at Tulane University talk about “single-choice aversion.” The shopper describes to the retailer a problem in need of a solution. The retailer responds by suggesting one offering and then stops. Often, the shopper’s reaction to this is to ask about other options, opening up an orientation to search. The researchers found that this orientation generalized beyond the one choice. For the other items on the shopper’s list, there will be more searching before settling on a choice. You’ve created a searcher. 
• Remind the shopper of trial-and-error. In a continuing set of studies at MIT, shopper search has been stimulated by asking what the person has tried out in the past and then either accepted or rejected. Such questions are helpful for lots of reasons. You can use the answers to decide what to offer next. Anticipate what the customer will be searching for by considering what she’s selected, what she’s rejected, and why. But it turns out that another benefit of these kinds of questions is to move the shopper into search mode. 
• Progressively narrow down searches. Some customers resist opening up searches for fear they’ll be overwhelmed by the alternatives. This resistance is more likely when the customer has already struggled with a choice while shopping with you that day. To overcome this fear, from the start, guide shoppers toward filtering what’s available to them. 
• Encourage collaborative searches. Ecommerce experiences have created a mentality about shopping, a set of expectations that when met well by bricks-and-mortar stores gives those stores a retailer’s edge. One shopping function where this is true is the search for the right product. Item selection has become more of a social task in which we consider the experiences and opinions of others. When wanting to open up the focused shopper to other possibilities, you could ask what friends and family members would think of the choices. 

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

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Dog Decision Rigor During Dog Days

“Dog days,” the hottest time of the year wherever in the world, get their name from the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star, just before dawn during summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. As to how Sirius got the name “Dog Star,” that’s a whole different story, since most dogs I know are far from serious in disposition once they get to know you.
     With more scientific backing, “dog days” also refers to a time of sluggish activity and lazy thinking. A posting on The New Yorker blog references studies which show why shoppers during hot summer months prefer mental shortcuts to detailed analysis in making purchase decisions.

• When the weather is temperate, people would prefer to get their necessary shopping done with so they can move on to leisure activities. 
• Pleasant heat after a time of less pleasant cold raises people’s spirits, and happier people get more interested in shopping. 
• Prolonged high heat wearies shoppers’ muscles, thereby making them less alert and less resistant to spotting weak reasons for buying or not buying. 

     For the dog days in and around your store, be ready to present succinct arguments for buying, and have bullet-keen counterarguments to any flawed reasoning previously presented to your shoppers by other retailers.
     In some parts of the world summer days and at other times of the year up north, colder temperatures prevail. These also influence consumer decision making. In an article from a few years ago titled “Weather to Go to College,” business professor Uri Simonsohn of University of California-San Diego analyzed the enrollment decisions of 1,284 college prospects at a campus known for its academic strengths and recreational lacunae.
     It’s been known that people spend more time in serious pursuits during cloudy weather. Prof. Simonsohn’s study showed that the effects of this phenomenon can have broad consequences. If the day of the college prospect’s exploratory visit to the campus was especially cloudy, the odds that the prospect would choose to apply to that campus increased markedly. It seems that when the dog days are missing and perhaps missed, consumers are more interested in getting serious.
     Please notice that in these research studies, what makes the most difference is the change in the climate. Pleasant heat after a time of less pleasant cold raises our spirits. Degree of cloudiness higher than average affected college enrollment decisions.
     Dog how climate changes influence your shoppers’ decisions.

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Post Dramatic Tales for Post-Experience Goods

A Stanford Graduate School of Business newsletter posting presents tips from Professor Jennifer Aaker on how to tell a story which will sell. Here’s my adaptation and summary of her “Do this instead of that” advice:

• Organize your story so the events build on one another, rather than freezing yourself into always starting at the earliest point. 
• Use ample quotes and verbs in place of descriptions and adjectives. 
• Select simple words instead of an abundance of technical jargon, especially if your story will be translated into different languages. 
• Spend more time in your story on people than on objects. 
• Resist urges to stretch the truth to where you’re breaking out in lies. 
• To prolong interest, leave a few loose ends in your tale instead of tying it all neatly. 

     All these propel your story toward compelling drama. This is particularly helpful when you are selling what behavioral economists refer to as “post-experience goods.” Post-experience goods are different from search goods and experience goods.

• Search goods have features, the value of which can be relatively easily assessed before purchase. A refrigerator and a car are search goods. Conciseness and humor add power to stories about search goods more than to stories about experience goods, according to researchers at National Tsing Hua University, National Central University, and Wistron Corporation, all headquartered in Taiwan. 
• The values of experience goods are more difficult for the shopper to assess until they’ve been purchased and used. An insurance policy, gym membership, or unfamiliar food is an experience good. Authenticity and contrast are especially important in stories about experience goods. Money-back guarantees from a retailer increase purchase probability, according to studies at University of Texas-Austin, University of Muenster, and Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt. At the same, the research findings indicate it’s more important to set clear conditions for returns with experience than with search goods. 
• Vitamin pills and investment portfolios are examples of what are generally post-experience goods. These are items for which it is difficult to evaluate the advantages of having made the purchase even after the use. Consumers look to third-party information, such as government bodies and rating agencies. Another term behavioral economists use for post-experience goods is “credence goods.” And another place consumers attend to in making purchase decisions about these items are stories, the more dramatic the better, as long as authenticity is maintained. Personal testimonials along with the names do well. 

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

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Coordinate Client Care with Other Providers

Why would your customers, clients, or patients go to another provider when you’re available to serve them? Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and St. Louis Children’s Hospital diagnosed this issue as it applied to pediatric care. Why would parents who had an ongoing relationship with a pediatrician take their children to a medical clinic located in a retail store? The researchers surveyed about 1,500 parents who used one or more of nineteen pediatric practices. Of these, about one out of four had also used a retail clinic (RC).

• The most common reason given was the parent’s impression that the RC had more convenient hours. This was true in almost 40% of the cases. Notably, almost half the visits were during hours the regular pediatrician’s office was probably open. 
• For about 25%, the reason for using the RC was that no office appointment was available soon enough to satisfy the parent. 
• Other reasons for using the services of the RC included a hesitation to bother the regular pediatrician after hours because the problem wasn’t serious enough. 

     Are retail clinics attempting to handle medical problems which need specialist care? The evidence so far is that they are not. Research indicates that, as a rule, RCs honor their limitations, with pride in what they do well and with knowledge of how to refer clients for problems best resolved elsewhere.
     But do they follow through on the referrals and otherwise coordinate care with the patient’s other providers? In the St. Louis researcher’s questionnaire sample, only about one out of fourteen of the parents said they recalled the RC indicating the regular pediatrician would be informed of the RC visit. If the parents were recalling this correctly, the RCs were not serving the clientele well enough. Regardless of your retail endeavor, you’ve a responsibility to provide coordinated care.
     This is true for ethical—and perhaps legal—reasons. It’s also true for business reasons. From the perspective of the RCs, reminding the pediatric clinics of your existence could lead to additional referrals. The pediatricians might like to be able to take time off in the care of their ongoing patients. From the business perspective of the pediatricians, hearing from the RCs could generate ideas about how to be more convenient to the current patient load and thereby attract new patients.
     Parallel advantages hold for other types of retailers who discuss clients they share.

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