Structure, Systems, Scripts The Portland, Ore., branch of Statewide, a home improvement company based in Mukilteo, Wash., runs in-store marketing programs in 10 local Kmart stores. Portland marketing manager Denise Hinton says Statewide employs a full-time demonstrator in each store as well as part-timers on a fill-in basis. It’s important, she says, “to have people trained and waiting in the wings, so we don’t have a gap.”
Hinton’s two supervisors manage five stores each. They interview, hire, and train demonstrators, who walk Kmart aisles in Statewide polo shirts, seeking to interest customers in a sweepstakes the company offers. Statewide has a long history of in-store marketing, with well-documented systems.
New hires get sent home with the company’s script and instructions to memorize it. “Then we go into the actual procedures for you to work in the retail location,” Hinton says. “Our policies and the store’s policies.”
Statewide’s script, with three basic sections, also includes body language directions.
Recruits then undergo daylong classroom training — role-playing, product information, and how to fill out paperwork — followed by field training and time spent observing “star” demonstrators in action.
Managing demonstrators requires regular attention. Supervisors, Hinton says, never tell employees when they’re going to be in stores. They perform regular spot checks to ensure that demonstrators are in the store, behaving professionally and following scripts. Statewide also uses mystery shoppers, people hired by companies to act as customers and report on their experiences.
Friendly and helpful store managers are also critical to the success of an in-store marketing program. Hinton says Statewide supervisors meet with store managers, assistant managers, and store security personnel once a week. “They ask how things are going, if they feel the employee’s doing a good job, and if there are any issues.” Descriptions of any problems are faxed to Hinton and resolved quickly.
Demonstrators are expected to produce four leads an hour. They turn their leads in at Monday morning team meetings. A good lead, Hinton says, has a clearly written name, address, date, signature, and phone number with area code. “We teach them to look at the phone number and ask customers to say it back.”
Retailer Wants and Fears As much as contractors say retailers simply sit back and collect a check for doing almost nothing — a widely held view — the fact is that retailers, by opening up their stores to outside companies, run certain risks themselves. Topping their list of concerns is making sure that customers don’t feel pressured —both in the store by demonstrators and in the home by salespeople — and that the quality of work meets or exceeds expectations.
“The biggest fear is not so much the marketing in the [store], because we can monitor that,” says Marty Kovick, vice president and manager of specialty business for BJ’s, a wholesale club with 153 units, headquartered in Natick, Mass. “The fear is that in spite of our best direction, once they get in the home to make a presentation, one of their salespeople is going to get overly aggressive and try to close that night with a special offer.”
In its agreement with Craft-Bilt Manufacturing, the Souderton, Pa., company that makes and markets Betterliving sunrooms through a dealer network, BJ’s has specified that contractors offer a special price exclusive to its members. Customers, Kovick says, “love it, because they’re saving hundreds of dollars and they know it’s a result of being a BJ’s member.” In addition, Betterliving dealers that partner with BJ’s (there are currently 11) are required “to resolve any member issues,” Kovick says. “If they can’t,” he adds, “we will, at their expense.”
Ross Lederer, director of business development for Craft-Bilt, says that although a non-disclosure agreement prevents him from stating exactly how much Betterliving dealers pay BJ’s, the amount is considerably less than typical SFI commissions, which can range from 10% to 13% or more. “All we heard about, prior to doing business with BJ’s,” Lederer says, “was that stores wanted 10% to 15% and they wanted the dealer to do all the work.” Moreover, Craft-Bilt’s agreement with BJ’s extends for at least two years, guaranteeing sunroom companies their place in the store. BJ’s and Betterliving began the program with kiosks and, in some cases, built out sunroom displays. Now some dealers are planning to use demonstrators. “We’re toying with the idea of manning it at certain times of the year,” says Sven Johnson, marketing manager for Maine Window and Sunroom, which operates kiosks in three Maine BJ’s stores.
