Another way to look at is that you can be cheap, you can be fast or you can be quality.  You can even be two of these ideals, but you cannot be all three.  When you focus on two of these qualities it lays a strong foundation, but when you focus on one of these qualities you can drive your business to grow.  In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins talks about how the companies that are great, have a single focus and let that quality drive them to being the best in their industry.    When you try to be all of these things, you can only spin in place.

The question is… what do you want to be known for?   Who do you want to emulate?  Do you want to be known for having great products that you stand behind and can confidently recommend to your customers?  Do you want to be known for having the cheapest prices in town?  Do you want to be known for having the best customer service ever? 

Let’s look at each one of these ideals.

Price – So many small, independent businesses are worried about having “affordable” products for their customers.   They are afraid if the price is too high, their customers will go elsewhere.  If this is your focus and selling point then you are correct.  But here is your warning… There will always be someone a nickel cheaper.  They may not last long, but they will last long enough to steal customers, crumble your profit margin and potentially put you out of business.     Customers who shop price are the least loyal and will be the quickest to throw you under the bus.  

When you have to sell on price alone, you better fill your shelves deep with the cheap imports because you will need to sell more units to make that dollar amount goal.  

Value – Quality and excellence is the definition of value here.   It is something that your customer can place value on; they know when they come to your store they will find something unique, made with quality and something that they will treasure, if only for a moment.  Here is your warning on value…..  you will be focused on finding that unique item and will need to keep your stock rotating to keep up with the latest trend.   Customers who shop for value are more loyal than price shoppers and will create a habit of coming to your store first when they need something special.   

When you sell on value, your customer service has to be excellent too, or your products start to look a little pretentious.

Service – When you think service, think about that person who you will always go back to.  It may be your hair stylist, mechanic, waiter, doctor, massage therapist or even psychic.  You not only get the best service there and you have developed a relationship with service provider that borders on friendship.   This is a business that is driven by the service quality and it takes the most amount of work on your part.  You need to not only engage your customers but think about them when they are not there and find ways to entice them back.   Customers who shop for excellence in service are the MOST loyal customers, but beware, if you fail them it is a loooong fall to the bottom.

When you sell on the service model there are big shoes to fill and fill and refill.  

The way you choose your retailing super power; price, value or service, is based on the values you have within your company.   These values determine your vision, your mission and actually all of your business decisions going forward.  Defining your company’s core values is an exercise that you will carry with you for years.  I have found that I refer back to Coventry’s core values more often than I do out vision or mission statements.

Coventry’s core values are passion, excellence, tenacity, open and profit.  These core values came from a companywide exercise when we all talked about moments when we were proud to be a part of Coventry.   They help us make product decisions, rate employees, find new employees, and drive our marketing campaign.  For example, when we had to make decisions on what products we will continue to invest in for 2013 the values of profit and excellence came into play.  We quickly eliminated or raised prices on products that were not profitable.  We then looked at 2 product types that were showing signs of profit, but we were not excellent in making.  Through digging deeper we found that the resources that we used in these products could bring more profit in candle form, and we were not excellent at making them.  Then the decision was easier to discontinue making incense and re-work the bottled oils next year.   What we were agonizing over for 2 years was an easy one meeting decision once we defined them through our values.

With our core values we decided that we are best suited to drive our company forward on value that is supported with service.   This seemingly small adjustment changed our entire focus and that quickly turned into growth.

Jacki Smith

President & Business obsessed; Coventry Creations & Type 40 Sales