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How do your customers shop?

October 26, 2006

Here’s one thing I know for sure about your consumers. They are either men or women. (Or kids who will soon evolve into one or the other.) Especially in a retail setting, they behave like completely different animals.

Paco Underhill, founder of Envirosell, a market research company dedicated to examining consumer shopping behavior wrote a fascinating book, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping. In the book, Underhill explores the shopping beasts by gender.

Here are a few observations Underhill made about male shoppers:

~ Men equally rarely ask for the department they want in a store. They’d rather wander around lost and leave if they can’t find it.

~ If a man tries something on, he’ll buy it 65% of the time.

~ Only 25% of men will grocery shop with a list, as opposed to 70% of women.

If men shop this way – what clues does this give you for dealing with men in your environment?

How about the ladies, you ask? Well…

~ If a woman tries something on, she’ll buy it 25% of the time. (Remember, men were at 65%)

~ At the supermarket, over 90% of women brought a shopping list.

~ Women particularly hate being jostled from behind and may leave a store without buying if aisles are too narrow.

Wondering what others are saying about it? Secrets of the Male Shopper is a long but very interesting read about the state of the male shopper. Check it out. Smart thinking made even more notable because the author is an 18 year old student.

So, are your shopping habits typical of your gender? How can you use these insights as you think about your customers?

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How will you join in on Make a Difference Day?

October 17, 2006

Image via Wikipedia

USA Weekend magazine declared that October 28th is Make a Difference Day. Cool idea. Sure…every day should be (and can be) make a difference day, but there’s something powerful about the idea of an entire nation working together on that goal, all in one fell swoop.

So on a personal level, I challenge you. How are you going to make a difference on that day? But wait, I’m not done. On a business level — how could your team/organization make a difference? There’s great team building and a sense of greater good that comes from working together to help someone else.

At McLellan Marketing Group, we’ve adopted families during the holidays, bought items for a womens shelter, volunteered for a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish and many other community building activities.

I’m sure the recipients of our good works benefited from them, but really we were the ones who got the most out of it. We felt good, did good and had fun doing it. Best of all, our team was strengthened by the common experience.

How are you going to make a difference?

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Who is your posse?

October 5, 2006

Like many of you, I own my own business. I have employees, clients, vendors, peers. Love them all. But there are times when I still feel a bit like the lighthouse operator — out there all alone, trying to shine my light in the right places.

That’s why I have a posse. They keep my passion at full tilt, they keep me sane, they offer me comfort, support or a kick in the pants — depending on what I need. Each owns a marketing agency like I do…so they know the road I travel. Each is brilliant and each one has helped me build and grow my business.

Twice a year, we physically gather (the picture is us in Jackson Hole, WY a couple weeks ago) to spend two days sharing best practices, learning and laughing together. In between our gatherings, we connect through a list serv, the phone and shared projects. We’ve been together for 6+ years now. They’re not just my business advisors and sounding board — they’re my friends. They all own marketing agencies throughout the country. You’ll find them in San Diego (Market Design Group), San Francisco (Gumas Advertising), Denver (AOR), Philly (Altus and 2010 Design), New Hampshire (Bedford Granite) and Washington DC (Fixation). And of course, there’s us in Des Moines, IA. If you need an agency in one of these geographical areas, you will find none better.

But here’s my real point. I’ve got mine, do you?

Who do you surround yourself with? Who pushes you to be better? Who can you share everything (including financials) with and know you’re safe?

If you don’t have a posse, you need to find one. If you want to create one from scratch, I highly recommend the book Meet & Grow Rich by Joe Vitale and Bill Hibbler. It’s about creating what they call MasterMind groups. Posse…MasterMind. Potato…Potato. I don’t care what you call it. I just care that you think about getting one.

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