Title: Full Impact of Crisis likely after CNY, say Retailers           

The retail sector is really hard-hit and 2009 is very uncertain. So....what do we do? Everyone says: CUT COSTS....CUT SPENDING. Agree to a certain extent. make sure that your cost cutting measures do not affect your customers. You would not want to lose the precious customers that you have worked so hard to find. You have invested too much on your current customers and your business branding to sacrifice them now. Cut costs in areas that will not affect your customers and the Customer Experience. Example: No more Business Class air-travel. No more expensive staff parties. Suspend renovation projects. Use Malaysian trainers who are more affordable and equally effective, if not better.

Oh.....one more area that you should not cut...no matter what. Staff Training. if you have to cut, make sure you maintain staff training on customer service and selling skills. These are the 2 most important staff competencies that will ensure that your company survives the economic crisis. Bothe these skills guarantee an EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE for every customer who walks into the shop and HAPPY customers buy from you. $$$$$$$

Title: Holiday Sales Tumble 2% - 4% in US

Look at the article - a lady hanging up SALES signboards offering BIG discounts. There are shops that are now offering upto 90%. But the sad thing......so is everybody. Back to the same question: Why should customers choose to buy from you and not the other store down the road???

You know what's the best kept secret of SERVICE LEADERS who are making tonnes of $$$$? The secret is:-

1)   they are not scared of bad times because they rely alot on regular customers and

2)   these loyal customers are their marketing ambassadors, and they don't charge a cent for their work. So they save on advertising and other marketing campaigns. Word-of-mouth marketing (WOM) is still the most powerful marketing tool. FREE OF CHARGE!

3)   they sell alot of their goods on REGULAR PRICE and thus enjoy good margins. Regular customers who are extremely satisfied shopping at their shops are NOT that particular about pricing. Therefore, they just don't need to have too many sales that will surely eat into their margins. Sure....they may just have a year-end BIG SALES during Christmas season to clear off old stocks for next years replenishment of fresh inventory. You see....one of the rule of Service Leaders, especially in the Retail Industry is to have ZERO INVENTORY carry over to next year.


SERVICE LEADERS always survive bad times, and even make $$$during bad times, because they have this special relationship bonding established with their customers during the good times. Unlike many businesses that abuse their customers during the good times and when when bad times come, those long-abused customers will have a score to settle, and it will be like hell unleashed.

Title: Starbucks to Focus on Advertising, Training During Slowdown

Kudos to Datuk Francis Lee. Most companies will cut down on their training budget during lean times but Starbucks stands out among the rest. No wonder they are so successful in Malaysia and globally. The key to business success always lies in the hands of the leadership. Someone did say this: "Everything rises and falls on leadership".

But why? It doesn't make sense. When times are bad, cash flow is affected and so we should cut costs to stay alive. Starbucks knows it better. Starbucks knows that their key assets are their associates (staff) and their customers. Cost cutting must be done but not at the expense of the customers. Not at the expense of the customer and  and the ultimate Customer Experience. Starbucks knows that when times are bad, when the the "pie" gets smaller, the ONLY way to survive is not to dig a bigger hole to bury oneself but to do everything they can to attract customers and then to servce them so well that they will CHOOSE to come back again and again. So, highly trained associates will ensure that customers are served well and walk away 200% satisfied. If you stinch on training (in fact I prefer the word education) now, then you are just committing suicide. Instead, see the opportunity in front of you. Everyone is cutting down training, their service will go from bad to worse but yours will outshine the rest. Customers who have experienced your service will never go elsewhere, because elsewhere stinks. SMART huh!. Come one all entreprenuers and business owners...be bold and courageous. Do the right thing. dare to be different for once and I always say this: "WHEN YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS, THEY WILL TAKE CARE OF YOUR BUSINESS"

 Title: It's Time To Make Our Malls More Pleasant

Wow. Almost 120 shopping malls in Klang Valley itself? Where are the customers coming from, especially when an economic crisis is looming? How can the shopping malls compete to survive? What will attract shoppers to choose to visit your shopping mall and not another? Even if you succeed to attract shoppers to your mall, the next question is "will they spend their money at your mall?" More sales events? More entertainment events to attract shoppers to come? Yes and No. Why? Because...every shopping mall is doing the same thing. My answer to every complex management and shop tenant is SERVICE, SERVICE, SERVICE. The Customer Experience must be the main focus to ensure that customers continue to choose to shop at your mall. I have just visited CineLeisure and I truly doubt that they are doing well, and neither are the tenants, except a handful. I walked into a few shops and then made a U-turn out without buying anything. Even if I had an intention to buy, I will choose not too. The retail staff were just not happy to see me, didn't show me that they are interested in my money and one shop attendant was just too busy on his laptop to bother about this customer.

The SOLUTION: Every Complex Management must begin to focus on Branding Through Customer Service. Invest in customer research. Conduct Mystery Shopping to gauge service levels and reveal the results to all tenant owners. Then benchmark with top shopping malls. Then train all tenants especially the owners and managers in customer service and selling skills, so that they can meet the service standards set by the Complex Management. Use the Mystery Shopping results and have a competition among tenants..

The GOOD NEWS: Shoppers will flock to your shopping mall and spend their money there, and they will also tell all their friends about their Customer Experience at ABC Complex.