Shownotes
Motivational Quote
Business Inspiration
Identifying the love of retail life [5:08] The opening of Adrian’s Boutique [5:59]Business Building Insights
Advice when opening a brick and mortar shop [7:01] Store setup [9:22] Move It Monday – Displays and more [11:59] Most valuable retail asset [14:14] Current advertising plan [14:40] Promo Idea #1 [18:03] Promo Idea #2 [18:46] In Store video creates sales [23:15]The Remarkable Retailer
Industry specific Mastermind described in detail [27:22] Remarkable Retailer [33:20]Success Trait
Vicki is a life-long learner and loves to talk with people. As she says, getting in her 20,000 words a day!Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Flipagram -Create, share and discover fun photo-video stories set to music you love! Wunderlist -The easiest way to get stuff done. Whether you’re planning a holiday, sharing a shopping list with a partner or managing multiple work projects, Wunderlist is here to help you tick off all your personal and professional to-dos.Valuable Book
Contact Links
Adrians Boutique Website Remarkable Retailer Website B2B Video Training for Entrepreneurs Facebook Twitter Email – vicki@remarkableretailer.com Phone – 620-543-6488If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcripts
Gift biz unwrapped episode 48.
Speaker:This is the single best thing I have done in the
Speaker:last eight or 10 years.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to give to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:and now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
Speaker:and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Monheit.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:I'm Sue and welcome to the gift of biz unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:Whether you own a brick and mortar store sell online or
Speaker:are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insights to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today our guest is Vicki Meyer.
Speaker:Adrian McGee is the owner of Adrian's boutique,
Speaker:a retail store in Bueller,
Speaker:Kansas that has been in business for,
Speaker:are you ready?
Speaker:You guys,
Speaker:33 years,
Speaker:that is a huge accomplishment.
Speaker:Their current product mix is 50% fashion twenty-five percent gift and
Speaker:25% kitchen and gourmet products.
Speaker:But Vicki will tell you that they are really in the
Speaker:people business.
Speaker:Their number one priority is to earn customers' business through exceptional
Speaker:customer service,
Speaker:a well-chosen product and a team that is committed to excellence.
Speaker:Additionally, Vicki is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs reach their next
Speaker:level in creating a successful business,
Speaker:using relationship marketing,
Speaker:email marketing,
Speaker:and social media marketing.
Speaker:This is all bundled under a business called remarkable retailer,
Speaker:which focuses on B2B relationships through a podcast,
Speaker:weekly Periscopes and individual coaching.
Speaker:Wow, Vicky,
Speaker:welcome to the show.
Speaker:Thank you so much,
Speaker:Sue. I am a huge fan of yours and we're so
Speaker:glad to find you now a couple of months ago,
Speaker:actually, because I just didn't find very many people in the
Speaker:gift industry using Periscope.
Speaker:And that's how I originally found you.
Speaker:And then I became a podcast listener.
Speaker:I believe I've listened to almost every single one.
Speaker:And so I've been so impressed with you and I just
Speaker:feel like we have a lot in common actually.
Speaker:Well, Thank you.
Speaker:First of all,
Speaker:for those wonderful comments and you're right.
Speaker:I think we do have a lot in common and we
Speaker:certainly share the same space in terms of our customers and
Speaker:those that we're working with.
Speaker:Absolutely. So I'm just going to dive right in.
Speaker:Cause we have just so,
Speaker:so much to talk about as our listeners know the way
Speaker:I like to start each conversation is aligning it around the
Speaker:life of a motivational candle.
Speaker:So the light shines on you,
Speaker:Vicky, while you open up and talk to us and share
Speaker:with us all of your experience and expertise,
Speaker:are you ready to light it up?
Speaker:Absolutely. I was born ready.
Speaker:You were born ready,
Speaker:right? Let's talk about your motivational candle.
Speaker:If you were to pick one and just create your very
Speaker:own, what color would It be and what quote would be
Speaker:on that camera?
Speaker:Well, you know,
Speaker:I don't have to go very far from my office here
Speaker:to find a candle because I have a gift store.
Speaker:And so the color of my inspirational candle would,
Speaker:there would be no question.
Speaker:It would be in the coastal or beach tones of Aqua
Speaker:blue because like the ocean being in business can be calming
Speaker:or refreshing.
Speaker:And at times it can be very challenging and invigorating.
Speaker:And so that would be the color of my inspirational candle.
Speaker:Probably be fragranced with the ocean theme too.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:So, and then as for a quote,
Speaker:I have a quote that I absolutely love and it is
Speaker:called luck is when preparation meets opportunity,
Speaker:this quote is attributed to a Roman philosopher Seneca,
Speaker:and it reminds us that we make our own luck,
Speaker:that the difference between lucky and unlucky people is all in
Speaker:our perspective.
Speaker:And so I feel like you just have to prepare to
Speaker:be lucky.
Speaker:And that's what I try to spend my business week doing.
Speaker:I prepared to be lucky week by week in our local
Speaker:business. I love that because a lot of people will see
Speaker:someone who's successful and say,
Speaker:Oh, well,
Speaker:they just were lucky luck just happened to fall upon them,
Speaker:but we have to put ourselves in Luxe path to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you can't sit behind a door and say,
Speaker:okay, look,
Speaker:come to me.
Speaker:You have to be out there.
Speaker:So you're crossing that path when the opportunities come about.
Speaker:Absolutely. I totally agree.
Speaker:Okay. So in our pre-conversation Vicki,
Speaker:we talked about how we're going to handle this and there
Speaker:is a lot to what you were doing.
Speaker:So I thought what we'd first do is talk about Adrian's
Speaker:boutique and the evolution of that business.
Speaker:And then later I want to jump over to the remarkable
Speaker:retailer. So we're kind of going to cut it into two
Speaker:places so we can get all of your information available for
Speaker:our listeners.
Speaker:Okay. So let's start back in the whole world of retail.
Speaker:And I know your story begins before Adrian's boutique.
Speaker:So I'm going to let you take it away in terms
Speaker:of how you got into and were exposed to the whole
Speaker:business environment.
Speaker:Well, I would say like so many of your listeners that
Speaker:I'm an accidental entrepreneur.
Speaker:I never set out to run a business in a very
Speaker:small town.
Speaker:And to do that for over 33 years,
Speaker:this would never have worked.
Speaker:Had we done our research and written the business plan ever.
Speaker:I started out way back in the early eighties when the
Speaker:country blue and peach,
Speaker:it was the little wooden country duck era.
Speaker:If you remember that my mother-in-law had a small card and
Speaker:antique shop where I was able to sell my creations.
Speaker:And at that time I was cross-stitching and I was doing
Speaker:tole painting and making t-shirt,
Speaker:embellish t-shirts and all of that kind of thing.
Speaker:I loved helping her and being in the store.
Speaker:And after just a couple of months,
Speaker:I made my first trip to market and I started bringing
Speaker:in products to supplement what could make and just to make
Speaker:a long story short.
Speaker:My husband and I purchased a building across the street from
Speaker:our original location in about 1985.
Speaker:We completely gutted it.
Speaker:And I mean down to only the brick on the front
Speaker:and the sides of the building and we added onto it.
Speaker:So now we are a half a block deep.
Speaker:We wondered how we would ever fill this store.
Speaker:And if you see pictures of our store on our Facebook
Speaker:page, you'll notice that we were able to do that.
Speaker:And we started filling it with beautiful products that people liked
Speaker:all along that way,
Speaker:we were creating relationships with our customers and building a client
Speaker:base, just one by one by one.
Speaker:So the rest is history.
Speaker:We're an overnight success,
Speaker:only 33 years in the making.
Speaker:So If you had any advice for somebody now,
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:So it's been a long,
Speaker:long time since you started this store and clearly there's evolution
Speaker:of the business.
Speaker:Like you're saying,
Speaker:but if anyone's listening now,
Speaker:who's looking at starting in a retail space.
Speaker:Are there any words of wisdom that you would give them?
Speaker:Absolutely. I would say from the moment your front door opens,
Speaker:and in fact,
Speaker:before your front door opens,
Speaker:you need to be building a client base.
Speaker:And with today's social media,
Speaker:six months before you open four months before you open,
Speaker:you should have a Facebook page out there that you are
Speaker:teasing your customers with your future customers with.
Speaker:I will tell you that back in the day,
Speaker:we started collecting names and addresses on a legal pad,
Speaker:typing it in on our trusty Selectric,
Speaker:IBM Selectric,
Speaker:typewriter, and printing off labels.
Speaker:And we started mailing our clients.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Cards, postcards,
Speaker:invitations to events from the very,
Speaker:very beginning.
Speaker:And so today's entrepreneur has so many more tools available to
Speaker:them than we did in the beginning.
Speaker:And I think it's a great time if you're willing to
Speaker:do the work a great time to start a business.
Speaker:That's a great idea because you could also,
Speaker:especially with social media right now,
Speaker:have them participate in the startup of the business.
Speaker:Even if you're building out the store,
Speaker:like let's say you have your space and you've still got
Speaker:to get product.
Speaker:Maybe you have to remodel the whole inside.
Speaker:You could do behind the scene photos of how the store
Speaker:is coming together and be sending that off to people who
Speaker:have opted into the list.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:should we paint this cabinet white or cream or black or,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:whatever, and have them really become part of the shop before
Speaker:it even opens?
Speaker:Absolutely. We actually worked with a couple of retailers are for
Speaker:future retailers from Colorado that drove out here to observe our
Speaker:store and how it ran for a day.
Speaker:And we sent them back with some really good ideas of
Speaker:things they could implement immediately.
Speaker:Like the day that their store opened,
Speaker:they already had a client base to help support Really valuable
Speaker:information. Because when you start up a new business,
Speaker:particularly retail,
Speaker:because you have that extra cost of the rent,
Speaker:you need to be making money right away.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it just eases the path as you continue on adding more
Speaker:inventory and getting the name out.
Speaker:So getting that jumpstart I could see could be so valuable.
Speaker:That's great information,
Speaker:Becky. Thank you.
Speaker:Is there anything else you would talk about in terms of
Speaker:new startup,
Speaker:maybe something that you've learned in terms of setup inside the
Speaker:store or processes,
Speaker:anything else along those lines?
Speaker:Well, I would say that as you're setting up your store,
Speaker:one of the mistakes we made in the very beginning was
Speaker:we put our cash wrap on the wrong side of the
Speaker:store. And when you walk into stores,
Speaker:you are going to notice as you walk in the front
Speaker:door, your cash wrap should be probably on the left,
Speaker:unless your building is just an,
Speaker:a unique shape.
Speaker:Sometimes it's in the center.
Speaker:One thing that we really did wrong at the beginning is
Speaker:we tried to put our cash wrap on the right people,
Speaker:walk in the door,
Speaker:they moved to the right.
Speaker:So if that's where your checkout area is,
Speaker:they're not shopping there.
Speaker:And it kind of stops them from shopping.
Speaker:And someone gave us a great piece of advice.
Speaker:They walked in another store and they walked into our store
Speaker:and said,
Speaker:get that cash wrap moved.
Speaker:We did that.
Speaker:And it's been on the left side ever since.
Speaker:And it definitely works that way.
Speaker:It's on the left side and in the front still.
Speaker:Yes. Yeah.
Speaker:I've heard even when you go to conferences,
Speaker:natural human flow,
Speaker:when you walk into the door is to proceed to the
Speaker:right. So that just falls in line with exactly what you're
Speaker:saying. Yes.
Speaker:And of course,
Speaker:this is not true for every single business out there,
Speaker:but it is true for a lot of businesses.
Speaker:And as you go looking around and shopping and retail stores,
Speaker:you're going to find people that are doing it really well.
Speaker:Definitely follow this rule.
Speaker:So gift biz listeners,
Speaker:if you are starting and you have a physical presence,
Speaker:either have someone walk the shop kind of like how Vicki
Speaker:talked about someone came in and mentioned it from their perspective,
Speaker:but walk the shop even as a customer would do so
Speaker:you can experience in the mindset of your customer.
Speaker:Is it comfortable?
Speaker:Is there good visibility of your different products is the way
Speaker:you place your product within the shop confusing?
Speaker:Or is it broken out into different categories?
Speaker:So people who are coming in for something specific know exactly
Speaker:where to go,
Speaker:all those types of things in terms of a customer experience
Speaker:in a shop,
Speaker:we'll bring people back.
Speaker:If people walk in and it's confusing to them,
Speaker:or it's hard to understand,
Speaker:they can't find the product or they don't know where to
Speaker:check out.
Speaker:That could be a reason why people don't come back.
Speaker:So you want to look at that beforehand,
Speaker:and obviously you can always adjust on the fly.
Speaker:So something definitely to consider.
Speaker:Yes, you definitely can.
Speaker:And we change our setup all the time.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we're always moving things around and giving things a fresh look,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:Because you want people to come in and possibly see something
Speaker:that might've been on the floor the last time they were
Speaker:there, they just didn't see it.
Speaker:Cause they didn't walk into that section or they weren't in
Speaker:need of it.
Speaker:Whatever. Absolutely.
Speaker:How often do you Change up the floor?
Speaker:It's really in constant flux.
Speaker:So w just seasonally,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:but just throughout the year,
Speaker:we're changing displays all the time.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it's something,
Speaker:we have a girl that really specializes in doing our displays
Speaker:and decorating and she works three days a week.
Speaker:So every week she is here doing something fresh,
Speaker:some of our friends up in Michigan have a great plan
Speaker:that we've used called move it Monday.
Speaker:And on Mondays,
Speaker:every mannequin in their store gets changed with a new outfit.
Speaker:New jewelry rest of the store also gets changed.
Speaker:And so it's a way to just freshen things up,
Speaker:wake things up and redo things after the weekend.
Speaker:But I love that he called it move at Mondays because
Speaker:it's easy to remember and we think,
Speaker:Oh, it's Monday it's movement Monday.
Speaker:We need to do,
Speaker:we need to do some things.
Speaker:And traffic is normally lighter on Mondays anyway.
Speaker:Exactly. And the weekends were crazy.
Speaker:So just like you said,
Speaker:clean it all up.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:After the rush and hopefully a good sales weekend,
Speaker:That's what we love.
Speaker:Absolutely. All right.
Speaker:So let's talk a little bit about something that maybe didn't
Speaker:go as well for you.
Speaker:It's so easy when you're a successful business owner,
Speaker:just to talk about all those great things that have happened,
Speaker:all the successes,
Speaker:but we learn best when there's something that was challenging.
Speaker:It didn't work well.
Speaker:So if you could tell us a story about something like
Speaker:that, and then what you were able to do to overcome
Speaker:the situation.
Speaker:One of our biggest challenges has always been a geographical when
Speaker:I actually grew up in Los Angeles,
Speaker:which has quite a bit of population in case you hadn't
Speaker:noticed. And I married a young man and moved to Kansas.
Speaker:And the population of our entire County is only 64,000
Speaker:people. Our closest big city is Wichita,
Speaker:which is about 50 miles away.
Speaker:So we have to be just laser focused on our marketing
Speaker:to get people in.
Speaker:So they plan an afternoon,
Speaker:they get in their car and they have to drive here.
Speaker:So our challenge is just ongoing.
Speaker:Our number one goal here is to create long-term relationships with
Speaker:our clients.
Speaker:For us,
Speaker:it's a non-negotiable standard for our staff members to ask every
Speaker:single client for their contact information,
Speaker:including their name,
Speaker:their physical address,
Speaker:their email address,
Speaker:and all of that,
Speaker:which we keep updated in our client base.
Speaker:I feel like my most valuable asset in my store is
Speaker:not the building and not the product.
Speaker:It is our client list.
Speaker:So we simply cannot have a long-term relationship with our clients
Speaker:unless we're staying in touch with them.
Speaker:So if you compare that to dating you couldn't date someone
Speaker:more than one time without getting their phone number.
Speaker:And so the same holds true for small businesses.
Speaker:What most businesses would spend in higher dollar rent,
Speaker:we pay an advertising.
Speaker:So we use traditional forms of media,
Speaker:such as television.
Speaker:We do a seven minute radio show.
Speaker:Every week we do newspaper ads.
Speaker:We do several catalogs every year we do postcards.
Speaker:And of course we have all sorts of digital media marketing
Speaker:as well.
Speaker:And so what we believe in is just that consistency of
Speaker:weekly emails,
Speaker:multiple daily Facebook posts.
Speaker:And we also use things like Instagram and Pinterest.
Speaker:What portion of your overall sales are call-in or online sales
Speaker:versus walk-in?
Speaker:Most of our sales are walk in,
Speaker:although we are working on building a more interactive internet site,
Speaker:so people can shop online.
Speaker:We have a small presence online,
Speaker:but that is a place that we are working on to
Speaker:build our business.
Speaker:But right now it is still walk in.
Speaker:It's just that they have to make a plan.
Speaker:They have to drive here and plan to come to the
Speaker:store. They don't just drive by right out on a highway
Speaker:or anything.
Speaker:So You're more remote.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you're definitely a destination location.
Speaker:So you're using the social media just to keep yourself top
Speaker:of mind,
Speaker:to show people what new products you're getting in,
Speaker:or to remind them of the reason they need to come
Speaker:and shop.
Speaker:And it sounds like just by the way,
Speaker:you're describing the area,
Speaker:people are used to getting in the car and driving quite
Speaker:a few miles to get different places.
Speaker:Yes, they definitely are.
Speaker:That's just part of living in rural America.
Speaker:Right. But it is a challenge.
Speaker:I would say that is our biggest challenge on a daily,
Speaker:weekly basis.
Speaker:It is getting people to make that choice to come here.
Speaker:I can tell you that online purchasing is huge in the
Speaker:rural areas because you might have to drive 30 miles to
Speaker:go get something.
Speaker:And so it's much easier for them to just do it
Speaker:online. Right?
Speaker:And so what we have to offer is a wonderful shopping
Speaker:experience. It has to be over the top,
Speaker:every single visit,
Speaker:every time that door opens To make it worth their while
Speaker:to come in.
Speaker:Yes. And it sounds like that online you've already identified as
Speaker:an area of opportunity for you guys.
Speaker:What type of promotion or what type of events are you
Speaker:finding? Bring in the most people?
Speaker:Well, we do a lot of promotions.
Speaker:We do a lot of in store events and we do
Speaker:a lot of big events outside the walls of our store.
Speaker:I feel like we are in the entertainment business as retailers,
Speaker:and whether you're a salon owner or a banker or an
Speaker:insurance agent,
Speaker:you are in the entertainment business banks around here,
Speaker:take groups of people on bus tours.
Speaker:Insurance agents take people to ballgames.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we are in the entertainment business.
Speaker:So we hold spring,
Speaker:fall holiday,
Speaker:open houses.
Speaker:We hosted Tahitian beach party.
Speaker:Every June,
Speaker:we have trunk shows,
Speaker:fashion shows,
Speaker:brunches lunches,
Speaker:dinners. We host groups in our store,
Speaker:such as PEO groups,
Speaker:sorority groups,
Speaker:Bible groups,
Speaker:family reunion groups.
Speaker:And we make an effort to serve very good food and
Speaker:drinks. We try to capture their email address and tell them
Speaker:we will email out all the recipes for everything was served.
Speaker:And that just gives us one more chance to give value
Speaker:to our customers that are coming in as specific promotion that
Speaker:we've done.
Speaker:That's a lot of your retailers could do is we have
Speaker:found a very reasonably priced collapsible market basket or a tote.
Speaker:And we sell them at a very low cost,
Speaker:like five 99 or six 99.
Speaker:And then let people fill them up and have 20% off
Speaker:whatever they can fit in their basket.
Speaker:And we consider this as a win-win promotion.
Speaker:We hand the baskets to the people as they walk in
Speaker:the door and we try a little card on the side,
Speaker:telling them what the promotion is,
Speaker:and they can use that basket to shop.
Speaker:And then at the end,
Speaker:they can either choose to buy it and get 20% off
Speaker:or they can choose to not buy it and not get
Speaker:the discount,
Speaker:but they still had fun shopping with it.
Speaker:Another promotion that we've done is similar in that we've had
Speaker:a custom bag printed that we call our tote bag Tuesday
Speaker:bag. And this idea came from our friend,
Speaker:Carol Caplinger up in Overland park,
Speaker:Kansas. And she's done this successfully.
Speaker:I think this is either her eighth or ninth year.
Speaker:It's a cute bag.
Speaker:And we reprinted every year.
Speaker:So it's always fresh and new.
Speaker:There's a cart,
Speaker:a bottom in it that says you get $5 off a
Speaker:purchase of 35,
Speaker:$10 off of a purchase of 60 or $20 off a
Speaker:purchase of a hundred dollars or more.
Speaker:And this Tuesdays are generally a slower day in our store.
Speaker:And this brings ladies in.
Speaker:Plus these bags are very cute.
Speaker:So when you see them at the grocery store,
Speaker:you just see them out and about in the community.
Speaker:Customers can earn a tote with a purchase of $50.
Speaker:And the other way we use that is we let them
Speaker:use these totes every time we have a fifth Saturday in
Speaker:a month.
Speaker:So those that can't necessarily come on Tuesdays,
Speaker:get a chance to come in and get that discount every
Speaker:time there's a fifth Saturday,
Speaker:which is usually about four times a year.
Speaker:So that's been a great promotion for us that I think
Speaker:some of your listeners can easily implement Both very creative too.
Speaker:I have to jump in and tell you a funny story.
Speaker:Back in my consulting days,
Speaker:I was working with a business that was more of a
Speaker:home improvement company,
Speaker:and they did something a little bit similar in terms of
Speaker:what you do with the tote,
Speaker:but they were using a Brown bag.
Speaker:And anything that you could put in the Brown bag when
Speaker:you got to the register was X percent off.
Speaker:Let's call it 20.
Speaker:Okay. There was a customer who came into this store and
Speaker:if they were bigger items,
Speaker:they had paper tags with the price on the shelf next
Speaker:to it.
Speaker:This one guy put in one of the pieces of paper
Speaker:for a whole garage door and came up to the checkout
Speaker:and expected to be able to get 20% off the garage
Speaker:door, including installation.
Speaker:So doesn't that one either.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:That was a little bit challenging for them to work through
Speaker:it. But it's funny story.
Speaker:So yeah,
Speaker:you just never know what comes up,
Speaker:but thank you for sharing.
Speaker:I really liked those promotions because they're very creative.
Speaker:The other thing,
Speaker:gift biz listeners,
Speaker:did you hear Vicky mentioning when she had an event and
Speaker:then she gets an email and she sends out the recipes
Speaker:that they had prepared for the event.
Speaker:That's a great way,
Speaker:cause it's connected to the event,
Speaker:but who doesn't want new recipes?
Speaker:Right? So not only are they collecting the emails because people
Speaker:are catching on that.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we want emails because we want to be able to communicate
Speaker:with you back and forth.
Speaker:And people are getting so many emails,
Speaker:but providing something that's really valuable,
Speaker:such as those recipes is a great way for people to
Speaker:feel really good about sharing their email with you.
Speaker:I love that you brought that up Well.
Speaker:And so I know you,
Speaker:that part of your focus is to work with bakers and
Speaker:gift businesses.
Speaker:And one thing that I just feel is so,
Speaker:so important to is to be a receiver of those recipes
Speaker:as well.
Speaker:And we constantly ask our customers to share a favorite family
Speaker:recipe. And a couple of years ago,
Speaker:we even printed a 500 page cookbook.
Speaker:And we have a library of about 700 recipes online that
Speaker:we can always link to.
Speaker:But we're constantly looking for new ones from our customers so
Speaker:that we can highlight their name in our emails each week.
Speaker:So it's not just recipes from mixes that we're selling.
Speaker:We try to get away from just promoting what we're selling
Speaker:and we try to promote our customers.
Speaker:One of the ladies in our community for instance,
Speaker:has won so many blue ribbons at the Kansas state fair.
Speaker:You could not even count them.
Speaker:She could probably wallpaper a room in her home with them.
Speaker:We have put out several of her blue ribbon,
Speaker:winning pie recipes on our emails.
Speaker:And so we're always trying to provide value for our customers
Speaker:for opening our emails.
Speaker:And you're also building a real community,
Speaker:connecting your customers with each other.
Speaker:So you're starting to build this community that was created under
Speaker:the umbrella of Adrian's boutique.
Speaker:And so we've been doing that since the beginning.
Speaker:We find that relationship marketing is the only way that we're
Speaker:able to stay in business is building these long-term non salesy
Speaker:type of relationships with our customers.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:another thing that we do that may be some of your
Speaker:listeners don't do,
Speaker:and is one of the best things that we do is
Speaker:we play videos throughout our store to sell products.
Speaker:And I will tell you that for 2015,
Speaker:seven out of 10 of our best selling SK use were
Speaker:supported with a video playing all day,
Speaker:every day in our store.
Speaker:And there is a reason that bass pro has a video
Speaker:on the end of almost every aisle,
Speaker:selling fishing lures.
Speaker:Many of our vendors,
Speaker:and many of your vendors will have a video or we'll
Speaker:even make Lin for you to promote their products.
Speaker:So think of how many times you've been at market walking
Speaker:down an aisle and you'll be stopped by a video playing
Speaker:in a booth.
Speaker:Those videos are usually available to retailers as well.
Speaker:If you just ask for it.
Speaker:And then something else we do is we link those videos
Speaker:to our Facebook page on a very regular basis.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:customers love to be entertained while they're in your store.
Speaker:And the video definitely does that.
Speaker:Just to give you a little bit more,
Speaker:I love math and I've done some math on this.
Speaker:Even figuring the cost of a TV,
Speaker:it costs you about 22 cents an hour to have a
Speaker:full-time sales person on your TV,
Speaker:selling a product all day,
Speaker:every day,
Speaker:that's including the cost of the TV.
Speaker:So I would say if you're listening and you're a vendor
Speaker:or Europe product developer,
Speaker:make those videos available and make it easy for retailers to
Speaker:get those from you cash.
Speaker:That is more than just one other tip.
Speaker:Those are fabulous tips.
Speaker:I really liked them.
Speaker:And they're all in store specific,
Speaker:which is spectacular.
Speaker:And the thing about the videos too,
Speaker:is how many people are really doing that.
Speaker:So if you're a smaller shop,
Speaker:there may be another shop right in your community,
Speaker:that's doing the same thing,
Speaker:but they don't have video you.
Speaker:And then by you bringing that in,
Speaker:you're changing up the whole customer experience from someone when they're
Speaker:coming in your shop.
Speaker:Absolutely. And I'll just give you a specific example for this.
Speaker:So we have a company called Goldcrest distributing and they're from
Speaker:Mexico, Missouri.
Speaker:And I happened to be wandering the garden floor at the
Speaker:Atlanta market.
Speaker:And they were playing a funny video of a squirrel,
Speaker:bungee jumping squirrel feeder.
Speaker:I bought it.
Speaker:I bought maybe 18 or so of these little bungee jumping
Speaker:squirrel feeders.
Speaker:Now, granted you read what our story is.
Speaker:We're fashion.
Speaker:We're very Chicky.
Speaker:We're not a garden center,
Speaker:but I will tell you that they have made it very
Speaker:easy for us to sell over 2000 of these bungee jumping
Speaker:squirrel feeders in our ladies boutique,
Speaker:that is $29,000,
Speaker:more than $29,000
Speaker:at this point for a product that doesn't fit our store's
Speaker:demographic. It doesn't fit our mix,
Speaker:but yet this video plays all day,
Speaker:every day,
Speaker:it's all the way in the back of our store.
Speaker:And so that's just one example of using a DVD to
Speaker:sell product that maybe is a little out there on the
Speaker:edge for you,
Speaker:but it's certainly been profitable for us for now a couple
Speaker:of years.
Speaker:I've got to find out about that.
Speaker:That sounds very curious.
Speaker:I'm not going to take the time now,
Speaker:but I'm really interested in what that's all about.
Speaker:So we'll let everybody kind of figure that out on their
Speaker:own. But I think the other thing from your story is
Speaker:because you know,
Speaker:your, your customers so well that even though that product is
Speaker:of the range of what you normally carry,
Speaker:it is something that you already knew your customer would be
Speaker:interested in.
Speaker:Well, it entertained me at market and I thought,
Speaker:what the heck,
Speaker:I'm going to give that a try.
Speaker:And it just continues to sell and they have been great.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:they always make sure that I have an extra DVD just
Speaker:in case something goes wrong with the fine.
Speaker:They don't want it not playing even one day in our
Speaker:store. Very interesting.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So I'm going to jump back a little bit,
Speaker:because about two or three minutes ago,
Speaker:we were talking about relationship marketing and how important that is,
Speaker:and that is really the basis behind remarkable retailer.
Speaker:So I think this could be a good place Vicki for
Speaker:you to bring that up and talk a little bit about
Speaker:what that is all about.
Speaker:Sure. I love to talk about that.
Speaker:I'm going to kind of start it off by talking about
Speaker:a mastermind group,
Speaker:which I think is kind of for both the retailer and
Speaker:what I'm doing is the remarkable retailer website.
Speaker:I believe in mastermind groups.
Speaker:And I know you had asked me the question,
Speaker:what are some of the most important things that we've done
Speaker:to be successful and to stay successful?
Speaker:And so this is my number one suggestion,
Speaker:and that is to form a mastermind group.
Speaker:And I will tell you,
Speaker:I would have been out of business years ago,
Speaker:if it would not have been that I became a part
Speaker:of several larger buying groups.
Speaker:Some have hundreds of owners in them.
Speaker:Then I helped form a smaller group of about 40 stores
Speaker:in it.
Speaker:Then we niched it down to a mastermind group of about
Speaker:17 people,
Speaker:which represent 14 stores.
Speaker:I am in constant contact with and share product ideas.
Speaker:We work through business challenges together.
Speaker:We meet in person at markets and several times throughout the
Speaker:year with these people in today's economy with the market that
Speaker:is just changing so fast,
Speaker:you need more eyeballs out there looking for products,
Speaker:recommending products,
Speaker:sharing, marketing ideas.
Speaker:There's just no need to be a lone ranger in business
Speaker:anymore. Our buying groups are amazing and we get exceptional value
Speaker:from these groups.
Speaker:But our mastermind group is where the gold is.
Speaker:I formally started this group about four years ago.
Speaker:Although several of us in the group had already been working
Speaker:together on a little more informal basis.
Speaker:So each member of the group has been handpicked because of
Speaker:their different knowledge skills,
Speaker:and just all the differences that they have.
Speaker:We feel like it's the differences in us that make our
Speaker:groups so powerful.
Speaker:The age range of the store owners in our group range
Speaker:from 27 to 65 with every decade represented in between.
Speaker:And this alone helps keeps us on our toes because you
Speaker:know, 20 and 30 year olds think completely different than those
Speaker:of us who are more seasoned in retail.
Speaker:So some are single stores,
Speaker:some have locations,
Speaker:some were chosen because they're extremely knowledgeable about finance or they're
Speaker:extremely knowledgeable about marketing or they're great at displays.
Speaker:Some are really involved in their communities and have brought great
Speaker:ideas to the group about being involved in the community.
Speaker:We've got one that does a super job with HR.
Speaker:And so this in itself has been fabulous.
Speaker:We have a private face group that is for owners only,
Speaker:and it is filled with lively conversation on a daily basis.
Speaker:We insist on participation from every single member.
Speaker:And of course there's a financial and a time investment that's
Speaker:required every year.
Speaker:We hold a two day in-person summit each year where each
Speaker:person is expected to do a well-researched presentation on a specific
Speaker:topic. And we have a different theme each year.
Speaker:So some subjects that we've tackled have been finance heritage and
Speaker:passing down a family business,
Speaker:preparing for emergencies,
Speaker:using social media,
Speaker:such as Instagram and Pinterest strategies and systems that you can
Speaker:put in place pricing for profit.
Speaker:That was an excellent one that we had last year,
Speaker:the disc profile and hiring the right team and a great
Speaker:one too,
Speaker:was design and layout for catalogs and print media.
Speaker:So how to lay out your newspaper ads,
Speaker:how to lay out a brochure,
Speaker:how to lay out a catalog.
Speaker:So there's just been all kinds of wealth of knowledge that
Speaker:has come out of this group.
Speaker:And you attested.
Speaker:This is the single biggest thing that you've done for your
Speaker:business, just to stay in business and to grow.
Speaker:This is the single best thing I have done in the
Speaker:last eight or 10 years is to reach out and become
Speaker:part of these communities of retailers because let's face it,
Speaker:your family,
Speaker:unless they're involved in the business,
Speaker:they're not speaking your language,
Speaker:your friends that you go out to dinner with,
Speaker:don't want to hear how many boot socks you sold.
Speaker:They're not interested in that.
Speaker:And so it's so refreshing to have a group of people
Speaker:that are right on your same page and that are also
Speaker:pushing you to grow,
Speaker:to get to the next level in business and just the
Speaker:professionalism that's provided in these groups.
Speaker:Absolutely. And you guys,
Speaker:when you're listening,
Speaker:this does not mean that you,
Speaker:if you're not already part of a group that you can't
Speaker:create one yourself,
Speaker:you can go right in your own community and it doesn't
Speaker:have to be how Vicky's is.
Speaker:It sounds like Vicky's,
Speaker:they're all retailers,
Speaker:they're all in the same area in terms of business,
Speaker:in the same industry,
Speaker:but you can go right in your own community.
Speaker:If there are people that you admire that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:have knowledge that you don't have,
Speaker:you can form your own groups,
Speaker:even as small as four to six people.
Speaker:The idea is that everyone brings in a different skill set.
Speaker:So everyone gets value because everyone gets strengthened by the knowledge
Speaker:that each other has.
Speaker:And my only advice would be to really select your people
Speaker:very carefully.
Speaker:You get to a point Where you really trust people,
Speaker:you share numbers,
Speaker:you share challenges,
Speaker:all different types of things,
Speaker:but these types of masterminds are invaluable.
Speaker:And you can set one up for yourself to date.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:You can do this today.
Speaker:You can start with two or three people.
Speaker:One reason ours works so well is we're retailers from all
Speaker:over the country.
Speaker:None of us are competing.
Speaker:Like you said,
Speaker:we share our numbers.
Speaker:We share everything in this group.
Speaker:And it is so important that you hand choose those people.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:we want to have a long-term relationship with these people as
Speaker:well. Interestingly enough,
Speaker:I have my mastermind group meeting tonight.
Speaker:Awesome. All right.
Speaker:So let's go through now and let's talk remarkable retailer.
Speaker:Okay. Well,
Speaker:for many years I've worked with retailers from around the country,
Speaker:just helping them grow and expand their business.
Speaker:Like we've talked about relationship marketing and just to help them
Speaker:work through other challenges that they face as business owners.
Speaker:And so about two years ago,
Speaker:I decided to get out of my comfort zone and put
Speaker:a name to the B2B side of me that just kept
Speaker:growing by itself.
Speaker:I called it remarkable retailers because we're all on that quest
Speaker:for remarkable.
Speaker:We want to stand out from the crowd.
Speaker:We want to be remarkable.
Speaker:And I wanted people that were on that journey that had
Speaker:that end goal insight to come along on the journey with
Speaker:me, people have said that I'm naturally gifted in becoming a
Speaker:connector of people.
Speaker:And I think that's true.
Speaker:I think I've been doing this since junior high.
Speaker:So I love to introduce business owners to other people that
Speaker:I think will be mutually beneficial.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:this has been a way to form groups of like-minded entrepreneurs
Speaker:that are willing to give and take ideas from each other.
Speaker:And it is so awesome.
Speaker:I just love it.
Speaker:So I got an opportunity from TJ Reed,
Speaker:who is the owner of the fashion advantage specialty retailer magazine.
Speaker:She asked me to start writing articles on small business in
Speaker:her magazine about a little over a year ago.
Speaker:Last summer,
Speaker:she was struggling with some health issues.
Speaker:She called and asked me to prepare and give an hour
Speaker:long workshop at her live event at the wind show,
Speaker:which is a fashion market out in Las Vegas.
Speaker:So that was the first time that I actually got up
Speaker:and did a live presentation for a group of people that
Speaker:I did not know.
Speaker:Now, of course,
Speaker:I've been doing this with our mastermind group for a couple
Speaker:of years before that,
Speaker:but these were people I really did not know.
Speaker:And it was a great way to connect with some other
Speaker:retailers and I just loved it.
Speaker:So I came away from that.
Speaker:I had started the remarkable retailer podcast.
Speaker:I love the speaking part,
Speaker:but, but the technical part doesn't come as easy for me
Speaker:as Sue and I have discussed earlier,
Speaker:she's a rock star techie,
Speaker:but I am a wannabe rockstar techie With experience.
Speaker:You just learn it.
Speaker:But you know,
Speaker:a very natural fit came when Periscope arrived on the scene
Speaker:and I started Periscoping last August and I am on,
Speaker:I think I've done my hundred and 30th episode.
Speaker:And so I feel like a teacher I teach on Periscope
Speaker:live every morning,
Speaker:about eight,
Speaker:15 central time.
Speaker:And the topics just generally go to whatever I am needing
Speaker:to learn myself.
Speaker:So I'm always preaching to myself.
Speaker:So you can always tell what challenges I'm going through at
Speaker:that time.
Speaker:What was your topic this morning?
Speaker:My topic this morning was email marketing because it's so important.
Speaker:And I hear so many excuses as to why retailers are
Speaker:not getting that email out the door.
Speaker:It's so important.
Speaker:There is no better use of your time than getting people
Speaker:in the front door of your store.
Speaker:What's the handle for your Periscope?
Speaker:It's remarkable retailer.
Speaker:So we've just got this little audience of listeners and they're
Speaker:from all kinds of businesses.
Speaker:So they're not all retailers,
Speaker:but we've got salon owners and some restaurants we've been have
Speaker:a bug exterminator guy that keeps joining us.
Speaker:And he's awesome.
Speaker:So back to the beginning,
Speaker:we said,
Speaker:we're in the people business,
Speaker:no matter what you're selling,
Speaker:you're in the people business.
Speaker:It's been interesting.
Speaker:It's been good.
Speaker:And it's been challenging me if you don't do an episode
Speaker:every day,
Speaker:they, you fall off the face of the earth.
Speaker:And so it's been very good for me to be disciplined
Speaker:and be preparing for my Periscopes every single day.
Speaker:It's been a good challenge and I have absolutely loved it.
Speaker:Wonderful. All right.
Speaker:Give biz listeners all of you,
Speaker:if you are in the retail business or you think that
Speaker:there's other information as Vicki has been sharing throughout this whole
Speaker:interview, that you want to hear more of eight,
Speaker:15 central time Periscope at remarkable retailer,
Speaker:be there.
Speaker:We're going to move on now into our reflection section.
Speaker:This is a look at you and what's helped you with
Speaker:your success along the way.
Speaker:So what natural trait do you have Vicky that you think
Speaker:has helped you to be successful this whole time?
Speaker:I would say it's because my parents taught me to be
Speaker:a lifelong learner.
Speaker:I try to invest time into learning something new every single
Speaker:day. The other thing is,
Speaker:I'm a talker,
Speaker:as you can tell,
Speaker:and I'm naturally able to strike up a conversation with just
Speaker:about anyone on the planet.
Speaker:And one of my sisters says it best.
Speaker:She says,
Speaker:Mickey can blah,
Speaker:blah, blah,
Speaker:with any women.
Speaker:So important for comradery,
Speaker:specially in a retail shop,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:making people feel welcome and comfortable,
Speaker:and that they're special and valued for being in your home.
Speaker:It's like welcoming someone into your home.
Speaker:It is.
Speaker:And I love to find out where people are from.
Speaker:They do what things they like to do,
Speaker:where they've traveled,
Speaker:you name it.
Speaker:I can find all of that.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:And what tool do you use regularly to keep productive or
Speaker:to create some type of balance in your life?
Speaker:Well, so I love tech and I'm a total Apple girl
Speaker:and I love my MacBook pro.
Speaker:I love my iPad,
Speaker:my iPhone,
Speaker:and some of my best productivity apps are Evernote,
Speaker:Dropbox, Wunderlist.
Speaker:I love audible,
Speaker:which I know you promote.
Speaker:And I am such a huge fan of audible and my
Speaker:Google calendar and my task list that I use on Google.
Speaker:But my friend,
Speaker:Connie from Texas just introduced me to an app that I
Speaker:think a lot of your listeners will love.
Speaker:It's called Flipagram.
Speaker:And it isn't super easy way to make slideshows with music
Speaker:from your phone.
Speaker:We've done store tours with this little app and it has
Speaker:been awesome.
Speaker:So I think that's something and it's flipped up gram.
Speaker:Wonderful. We'll have to check that out for sure.
Speaker:And what book have you read lately that you think our
Speaker:listeners would find value in?
Speaker:I love the E-Myth by Michael Gerber,
Speaker:which I've read twice.
Speaker:I've listened to it on audible several times,
Speaker:and I feel like it is a must read for every
Speaker:entrepreneur. And then I love the customer rules by Lee Cockerel
Speaker:and all of his other books as well.
Speaker:He's the former EVP of Walt Disney world.
Speaker:And he's fabulous.
Speaker:And as you had referenced a little bit earlier,
Speaker:Vicky, as you're listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books with ease,
Speaker:just like the E-Myth and customer rules.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
Speaker:get an audio book for free.
Speaker:All you have to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:Okay, done.
Speaker:We are moving into my favorite part of the interview.
Speaker:You haven't provided enough value already.
Speaker:Vicky. We're going to go and see what you are hoping
Speaker:for for the future.
Speaker:This is our dare to dream question.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:This is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable Heights
Speaker:that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift from all of us and open it
Speaker:in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:Well, this is such a great question,
Speaker:and I love to hear what everyone says.
Speaker:My box.
Speaker:This beautiful box would contain the keys to a small home
Speaker:in the country because I don't want it to take care
Speaker:of a big home,
Speaker:but it would have a large guest house where I could
Speaker:host gatherings of small business owners from around the country.
Speaker:And what we would do there is to have great speakers,
Speaker:offer workshops,
Speaker:and have a place to get away from the craziness of
Speaker:running a business for a few days.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:I also have a recording studio with super high speed internet
Speaker:as, as country girls out here,
Speaker:struggle with reliable internet.
Speaker:So I could podcast and Periscope with inspiration and encouragement to
Speaker:other business owners from around the country.
Speaker:So that would be my wish and my dream.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:And let me guess,
Speaker:there's going to be someone managing all the tech for you
Speaker:there too.
Speaker:I love this and one.
Speaker:And once you do have that country home,
Speaker:I want to be invited.
Speaker:Absolutely. It could be a guest speaker,
Speaker:so that would,
Speaker:Let's start winding down.
Speaker:Now, how can our listeners get in touch with you if
Speaker:they want to learn more?
Speaker:Number one about Adrian's boutique,
Speaker:but also if they want to become involved with remarkable retailer?
Speaker:Well, of course they can find me through email Vicki at
Speaker:Adrian's boutique.com.
Speaker:They can go on our Facebook page.
Speaker:We all run under the same thing.
Speaker:Our website is Adrian's boutique.com.
Speaker:Our Facebook is Adrian's boutique.
Speaker:And then over on the remarkable retailer side,
Speaker:it's just Vicki,
Speaker:V I C K i@remarkableretailer.com.
Speaker:They can find us on Periscope on Facebook,
Speaker:on Twitter anyway,
Speaker:and I'll even give you my phone number here.
Speaker:So it is (620) 543-6488.
Speaker:I'm always trying to get my 20,000
Speaker:words in every day and I love to talk shop.
Speaker:And so feel free to give me a call.
Speaker:If I'm not available,
Speaker:I will call you back just as soon as I possibly
Speaker:can. It sounds like there is no excuse.
Speaker:If someone wants to get in touch with you,
Speaker:they should be able to find you somewhere with all of
Speaker:that. I think they can,
Speaker:and they can see all of our previous episodes of our
Speaker:periscopes@vimeo.com slash Vicky,
Speaker:Adrian. So we've thrown a lot of links and phone numbers
Speaker:and social media site at all of you.
Speaker:But remember,
Speaker:you can just jump over to the show notes page and
Speaker:I'll have all of that detailed for you.
Speaker:So you'll be able to get in touch with Vicky if
Speaker:you'd like to in any manner that you wish.
Speaker:Okay, Vicky,
Speaker:we just have to talk about one more thing and I
Speaker:have intentionally had the podcast go live.
Speaker:Your specific podcasts,
Speaker:go live this week because I believe you have something to
Speaker:share with us.
Speaker:Well, we were just Adrian's boutique.
Speaker:Our retail store was just honored with our county's chamber of
Speaker:Commerce's Reno County,
Speaker:small business of the year award 2016.
Speaker:And it just makes me so incredibly proud of our team
Speaker:of ladies,
Speaker:who they just bring their best skills and talents to work
Speaker:with them every single day.
Speaker:And I'm honored to work with them and just all the
Speaker:people in our community that have supported us all of these
Speaker:years. So that was actually very exciting for us to win
Speaker:the small business of the year award.
Speaker:We had to keep it secret until after the 29th of
Speaker:February. That is so exciting.
Speaker:I bet you had a huge celebration and congratulations.
Speaker:I can say that on behalf of myself,
Speaker:as I'm sure all the listeners to wish you congratulations and
Speaker:much continued success,
Speaker:and you're going to broadcast that all over now.
Speaker:I bet as well.
Speaker:You should.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Thank you so much,
Speaker:Vicky. Oh my gosh.
Speaker:You have provided so much good information.
Speaker:We've talked a little longer than we normally do,
Speaker:so I hope that's all right for you with your schedule
Speaker:today, but I really,
Speaker:really appreciate your sharing all of these,
Speaker:not only your expertise,
Speaker:but some really great,
Speaker:great examples that everybody could take back tweak to make it
Speaker:work for them and use right away.
Speaker:And that is really,
Speaker:really so helpful and really what we're trying to accomplish with
Speaker:this podcast.
Speaker:So thank you so much.
Speaker:Absolutely. As we close off,
Speaker:I know that I am joined by all my guests,
Speaker:wishing that your candle always burns bright.
Speaker:Thank you so much.
Speaker:Learn how to work smarter while developing and growing your business.
Speaker:Download our guide called 25 free tools to enhance your business
Speaker:and life.
Speaker:It's our gift to you and available at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrap.com/tools. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for
Speaker:the next episode.
Speaker:Hi, all my gift biz peeps.
Speaker:I'm always looking for new guests for the show.
Speaker:So if you know,
Speaker:somebody who has had an interesting journey in terms of how
Speaker:they've identified the business they went into,
Speaker:or has been really,
Speaker:really successful with a business that's been established for a while,
Speaker:I would love to know about it,
Speaker:and guess what it might even be you the way to
Speaker:let me know is to jump over onto my Instagram account
Speaker:at gift biz gal,
Speaker:pick a picture that you like,
Speaker:and then comment on that photo with the handle of the
Speaker:person that you think I should consider.
Speaker:Again, go over to my Instagram account at gift biz gal
Speaker:comment on a picture with the information and we can all
Speaker:look forward to hearing about the exciting experiences,
Speaker:journeys, and expertise of our peers here on gift biz on
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