It was a perfect Saturday afternoon, and I was sitting on my couch curled up with my husband and dogs, when I scrolled upon a re-posted video of a boutique going out of business. The lady online was showing the merchandise and talking about the sale, when she casually panned over a fuchsia fur coat that immediately motivated me to get off the couch and into my car. As I pulled into the parking lot of the building, I felt immediate regret because I’d driven past this place many times, brushing it off for an old office building. Nothing about it said high end boutique from the outside, and nothing made me want to stop there. How could this building be housing all that pretty attire that moved me to action?
I walked inside, and my soul began weeping over the fact this beautiful boutique was going to be closing. It had everything I wanted from a shopping experience. It was orderly, well merchandised, smelled of fir tree candles, and had a nicely curated collection of clothing. What it did not have was good curbside presence, signage, or any sort of social media following or desirable webpage. The store was packed with shoppers, and as I walked around the front of the store, the lady at the cash wrap asked me how I heard about them. I told her it was from my friend’s social media re-post. She smirked.
I wandered around the store, touching all the textiles and observing the merchandising trends, when I eventually found myself alone. Alone in my thoughts, and alone with the cash wrap lady. The shopper in me was devastated just to find this gem of a store, but the business owner in me had so many questions. What did that smirk mean? How did they get to the point of closing? It didn’t make sense to me. The location was great, the people in the area were exactly their type of consumer, and the selection of items was exciting. I started asking questions.
The lady at the cash wrap was the boutique owner. We quickly fell into business banter, and she mentioned how she saw more footsteps in the last 2 weeks of changing marketing companies than ever before, and briefly considered staying open. Ultimately, she could not. She went on to tell me the person hired to do her webpage and social media originally was a “friend” that not only failed her in the marketing department, but also stole a substantial amount of merchandise. This loss was two-fold, and, vast. Her smirk was a direct response to her seeing firsthand the power of social media. Everyone she asked was there because they saw the same Live. We talked for a long time, and a few things really stuck out to me that I felt were relevant to share with my fellow auto shop owners.
1. She hired a friend and then trusted that friend to do a good job, despite her friend not having a marketing background, or even a retail history. I know it may be easy to hire a friend, but I rarely support that decision. However, I certainly don’t support hiring them if they have zero skills for the position. This is an utter recipe for disaster every time.
2. She did not know the benchmarks for marketing. We talked for a long time about how business owners can’t possibly know everything, and how that can lead to blind trust. She trusted her friend to do the marketing, but never gave her an expectation or deadline. She didn’t even know herself what the expectations or deadlines should be. That led to the webpage never being finalized, and the social media never cultivated. By the time she looked up and realized nothing was being worked on, there was a serious lack of footsteps occurring and marketing money was flying out the door. This could easily happen to any of us as auto shop owners. Dare I say, most shop owners don’t have a marketing background, so the basic benchmarks for success may be unknown. This is a dangerous place to be as an owner. This leaves you vulnerable to financial loss and underperformance in the digital world. It is just one more thing to balance in business. Marketing is not going away. If anything, it will continue to grow.
3. Her curbside presence and signage were poorly done. The opportunity to speak to fellow drive-by traffic was squandered on antiquated signage and lackluster exterior appeal. As a business owner, this is something to pay attention to. Your exterior reflects the consumer you want on your interior.
4. She had no cameras, or inventory process, so theft was easy. Adding surveillance in your business is wise. Cameras alleviate a lot of nonsense, including theft.
5. I was there only because of a strong call to action and a live video of her beautiful shop. She made me want to be there. While I am aware no one loves to be in an auto shop, there are things you can do to make the public want to come to you instead of another shop. And showcasing it on social media is a good idea.
