Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

What happens when you have to take a privilege away from your shoppers?

How can you turn what will be perceived as a negative, into a positive?

Here’s how one business did it wrong. In a New York Times Small Business article, some thoughts for consignment, resale, and thrift shopkeepers. This article, with its manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers, may seem unrelated to your shop, but let’s focus on one point raised in it:

We only gave them the negative without giving them the positive, so the perception was that we’re taking something away

How might this angle of approach relate to your “little shop”, and how can you ensure that taking away a benefit won’t have a negative impact on the loyalty of your shoppers? Here’s one simple example.

Changing your Frequent Buyer Card or loyalty program: Perhaps your Frequent Buyer Card has gotten so easy for shoppers to fill their cards big that it’s eating into your profits. You’d like to raise the qualifying purchase to a more realistic level, one that will motivate multiple purchases, which is the whole reason an FBC helps build gross sales. A solution? Make the current punches or points accumulated good for a specific length of time. See Too Good to be Threw’s Frequent Buyer Card Kit for why this works on several levels.

How to change your program from here on out? Create a positive: The holders of current cards, after a period of time when they can still fill their cards, can drop the unfilled cards by the shop and choose one of 3 charities to donate their accumulated punches/ points to. This would be a great promotion to have in December, the season of giving, and then you can start a new loyalty program on the first of January.

Then do that every year.

PS: What a great publicity event, too… your shop adding up all those punches to a stunning dollar figure, and working with those charities to fulfill their needs with goods from your shop!

Making a negative into a positive is even more important when it comes to shopkeepers’ self-talk. Read how and why to make yourself smile instead of frown.