I attended an elementary school band meeting this week. That's when all the kids in the school district and their parents interested in band show up for one big informational meeting. At the end of the meeting we were given the opportunity to meet the local music shop owner while he showed off the instruments and provided information.
Chaos ensued.
Two very stressed out gentlemen jogged from one end of a long table to other simultaneously telling children not to touch the instruments on display and tossing tri-fold information brochures into the hands of adults. They also simultaneously disappointed the kids and the parents. Here's why.
Most of the kids had an idea of what instrument they might like to play but had never seen the instrument up close or had never held it. They were excited. They were ready to pick out an instrument, try it on for size and then beg their parents to get it for them. Instead they were glowered at and told not to touch the shiny objects. If they wanted to touch they had to go down town to the store and try the instruments there. I saw a lot of disillusioned faces. I saw a missed opportunity to bring additional staff to the meeting with older instruments to show the kids how they were held, what they sounded like and let the kids hold them for a few moments.
The parents were given a tri-fold black and white sheet that outlined the dos and do nots of the store's rental policy. No pricing sheet was included to inform parents of the pricing differences between renting and buying. The kids only have about 10 instruments to choose from, so a price sheet would have been easy item to provide. There was no sign up sheet in case we wanted to be contacted about lessons, in-store promotions or just more information about their rental program. They weren't smiling and they were being rude to the kids. Parents don't appreciate you being rude to their kids. I saw some angry faces and a lot of missed opportunities.
If all the buying/renting information would have been presented by friendly staff willing to show kids their products and offering a special promotion, maybe a number of free lessons with purchase of an instrument, they would have made some sales right there. Instead angry parents and disappointed kids walked away. They walked away thinking, why would I pay higher prices at a local store with grumpy, unhelpful staff when I can buy or rent the same product online for less? Our local music store gave us zero reason to give them our business, no worse than that, they turned us off from doing business with them.
Taking a bit more time to develop detailed pricing sheets, paying a few more employees for an extra hour and wearing a smile instead of growling could have meant a profitable night for the store instead of a fistful of missed opportunities.
Anytime you are interacting with potential customers it's a sales opportunity, even if no money exchanges hands. Let those potential customers know you'd like to do business with them. Don't miss your opportunity to engage potential customers when they are ready to buy.
