Kildare businesses told importance of connecting with customer

CONNECTING with the customer on a human basis is the key to doing better business, Kilcullen businesspeople have been told. 

This is one of the things that has "shifted the balance of power" between large corporate businesses and the smaller retailer, according to business strategist Miriam Simon, who conducted a workshop hosted by the Kilcullen Business Group in association with the County Kildare Enterprise, Tourism and Economic Development Team.

The event, Peak Effective Trading Strategy for Quarter 4, was held in Fallons, with participants representing the local restaurant, bar and coffee shop sector as well as retail florists, beauty and optician services, off-licence, bathrooms and hardware, butchers, bakery and bookselling. "Business done in the last three months of the year can represent 60 per cent of your profit for the year if you are in retail or hospitality," said Miriam. "It's the time to pull 'trading levers', the things that will ignite a customer, getting them to want to buy."

The growth of the Black Friday selling season, followed on by Christmas, are occasions where local traders can help to boost sales for each other through cooperation and networking, and members of the Kilcullen Business Group are now putting together initiatives for both those events this year following the workshop. One of the ideas being considered is that the 'bricks and mortar' shops provide space to showcase products from local home-based businesses.

An important part of the programme will be 'good messaging, good marketing, and psychology', basics which apply to all enterprises according to Ms Simon. 

"There's an assumption that retail is standing behind the counter and selling somebody a pair of shoes, but all business is retail. Even myself, whether I'm being paid to speak, to consult for SMEs, or to be a Jiminy Cricket for bigger companies to go in and help them at strategy, I'm a retailer because I'm selling something."

The workshop participants heard that two major global trends, sustainability and digitalisation, are impacting every business. 

"You need to lean into both of these. The general trend is that people are not buying stuff just for the sake of it any more — they are buying things that will be of actual value to them." 

While this comes in part because customers are more informed, Ms Simon suggests that they are also 'fatigued' in what has been a consumer society for a very long time.

"As consumers we're much more sophisticated. We know when we're being sold something, and it's important that we're talked to as human beings by humans who are open and transparent, not by faceless corporates. The more you can connect on a human basis with the customer, the better you're going to do."

She adds that the place of the physical shop in an online buying era continues to be relevant. 

"Shops are going to become even more important because the fact of the matter is you can't smell or taste or touch or physically try something online. And whilst online is trying to become softer, it's still a transactional experience, while the human face in the store is important." 

In the online world, the trend is also shifting from beautifully shot images of products to more realistic presentation, Ms Simon says. 

"Customers want to see people, they want to see faces, and they want to see them warts and all."

The ability for a small business to extend their reach beyond their immediate community has been facilitated by state supports during Covid and following years. 

"We were very clever as a country during the pandemic and we have adapted well. But from that we have to remember that we are all running two businesses now, at the 'shop counter' and beyond it. 

"So, for example, you have a hair and beauty business and you're working a 60-hour week at that, and then you're going home and you're packing stuff until midnight for your online sales. You haven't anticipated that your online is a completely other business. You have to learn to do less, and do it properly."

You also have to stay ahead of your game, not just go with what seems to be working well right now. 

"Quite often we start out in business and we are giving the customer what they want. Then, slowly over the years, we start to model the business around what suits us, and then we start selling only what we have. We need to always remember that if we get ahead of what the customer is looking for, we're going to win."