Show me the Socks!

SHOW ME THE SOCKS!
g.simonsen

Not long ago, I was on my way to the airport. I was dressed business casual, however I
was missing something…dress socks. The dress shoes I was wearing just didn’t seem to
feel right with bare feet.

So, I pulled into a store to pick up a pair…

As I walked into this large store that carries everything from music to food to plants to
hardware to clothes to socks, I entered the first department just inside the door. It was still
early, so staffing was light. I made my way up to the counter where an employee was
busy putting stock away. Quickly noticing me, he immediately stopped what he was
doing.

“Can I help you?” he said. “Where do y’all carry your dress socks?” I replied. “Yes,
those are displayed over in our clothes department” he answered. “Are you familiar with
our store?” he asked. “It’s been a while” I said. “Here, I’ll show you” he said as he
proceeded to walk me across the entire store ending directly in front of the dress socks.
“This is great. I’ll take it from here” I told him. “No problem. Have a great day” he said
as he made his way back across the store. “What service” I thought.

I never felt so excited to buy a pair of socks!

In one of my previous articles, “The Bowl” I made the following statement:

“Too often, we miss opportunities. We fall asleep, we go through the motions, and we get
comfortable.”

If our opportunity in Christian retail is to impact the heart of each customer, what effect
does it have if we do fall asleep?

Not long ago my family and I went on a short vacation to a small town. One day as we
were shopping, I noticed a bookstore. I walked into this store with the cracked sign out
front. In the store, it was just I, another lady, and her daughter. The store was silent with
one sales associate standing behind the counter in the back. As I walked down the center
aisle toward the counter, I greeted the employee as I came within 5 feet of the register.
Meanwhile, the mother and her daughter continued looking for a Bible, I am not sure
they were even noticed as they left shortly after.

However, one thing for sure is: I came and went, initiating communication twice, “Hi”
and “Bye.”

Now, I know sometimes we get busy… ringing phones, other customers, etc. But, in this
case, it was just me, a lady, her daughter, and of course the clerk behind the counter
observing us.

What would have happened if the “Sockman” worked at this store? Chances are 3 people would have gone from being foot traffic to an actual transaction. In its simplest form… this is called conversion rate.

Want to make your marketing dollars count? Increase your conversion rate.

Want to increase your sales? Increase your conversion rate.

Want customers coming back for more? Hire the Sockman.

Want to impact hearts? Show me the “socks!”

Please feel free to post your comments. I can be reached at: gunsim@msn.com