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“Be an educator,
not an order taker,” said Randy Lipson as he was
talking to his peers at SSIA’s 101st
Annual Convention in Kansas City. “Take the time
to look at the shoes, tell your customers what
is really wrong with them and what you can do
not only to repair the shoes, but to keep
certain problems from happening again.”
Lipson, who owns
Cobblestone Shoe Repair in St. Louis, spoke
about what shoe repair retailers can do to
improve profits at the counter. He identified
several keys to profitability.
Sell Shoe
Repair
“We all know that
it’s a lot easier and less expensive to retain
and upsell our existing customers than to get
new ones,” Lipson says. “So when you’re looking
to increase profits, start with the people who
are already in your store.”
Lipson suggests
that repairers start by telling their customers
what they need as opposed to letting customers
tell them. The customers may think they know,
but repairers are the experts.
“Don’t let them
tell you they want heels or soles and leave it
at that,” he says. “Examine the upper. Point out
dry leather, faded or missing color, worn heel
pads, heel liners, sock liners, curled tassels
or missing stitches. Excessive wear in the heel
or toe areas are great opportunities to sell
heel and toe plates. It’s also an opportunity to
tell customers to bring their shoes in when
they’re new for preventative maintenance.”
He also suggested
asking customers where they work and
recommending products suitable to that surface
or environment.
“Take a look at
your customers,” he says. “What is she wearing?
What kind of purse is she carrying. How do the
shoes on her feet look? If they are wearing
quality items, they have many more at home.”
“Is she short?
Then you know her purse straps are too long,” he
continues. “Does he want a hole punched in his
belt? Explain how much better the belt will look
when it’s professionally shortened.”
Here’s how Lipson
sizes up his customers
Ladies:
Look at toe tips. Do they need protective soles?
Sock liners? Heel shields? Shine? Refinish?
Dyeing? Check out her purse as well.
Men: Look
for excessive wear on toes, heels, heel pads and
sock liners. Look for perspiration marks. Check
the condition of the leather. If shines don’t
last long enough, the leather is dry.
Finally, Lipson
emphasized the importance of his point of sales
software in tracking customer needs. He enters
notes into his computer each time something
happens with a customer he wants to remember.
Then, next time they come in, he knows what
they’ve purchased before and is reminded of any
tidbit of information that might help him
increase his sale this time around.
Educate Your
Customers
Lipson stressed
the importance of educating customers about the
value of shoe repair, saying his chief
competition is not other shoe repair shops, but
shoe manufacturers.
“Our customers
have three options. They can buy new shoes. Send
their shoes back to the manufacturer for
recrafting or bring them to us. We want them to
choose option three,” he says. “So it’s up to us
to point out the differences between us and the
manufacturers – how we add value to the shoes
they purchased.”
“Talk about the
quality of our materials and explain in detail
what you’re going to do,” he continues. “We’ll
bring it back to its original appearance, but
we’ll use better quality materials.”
Lipson does not
recommend a price list as he believes customers
stop listening as soon as they hear prices.
Instead, he prefers to tell them what they’re
getting before they hear the price.
“Offer them
options – levels of quality material. Start at
the top and work your way down,” he says. “For
finishing, start with reconditioning and
waterproofing. The next level is a shine. The
next level is do-it-yourself and you can talk
about your retail products.”
He recommends
having samples of your finished work available
so customers can see what they’re getting.
Delivering the work when promised is important.
And never, never use the “f” word – free.
“We have costs and
our time is valuable,” he says. “Make sure to
charge what you’re worth.”
Diversify
It has become
increasingly difficult to survive solely on shoe
repair. You need additional revenue from other
sources. Consider ways that you can profit while
offering your customers the convenience of
shopping at your store rather than finding
someone else. Some suggestions include:
-
Dyeable shoe
sales and custom shoe dyeing
-
Quality
orthotics and insoles
-
Have a large
selection of shoe care items
-
Have plenty of
laces
-
Cut keys
-
Sharpen knives
and scissors
-
Repair luggage
-
Clean leather
garments
If you can’t do
some of these things yourself, outsource them.
The key is getting your customer to buy from
you.
Make sure your
customers know about these services. Use signage
in your store, bag stuffers, your web site and
advertising to drive home the message. |
