Coming out smelling like roses – Successful selling to the reluctant in Los Angeles

 

[red rose*]

My bi-annual trip to Los Angeles to see my aging mother does also lead to marketing insights as I have written about before. This time, I discovered how a successful chain actually caters to a customer that does not even want to enter their shop and thus created loyalty. I will also add a few actual humorous street signs just in case the tone of the material is too heavy.

I begin with a confession: As long as I can remember,  I cannot stand entering the perfume area of department stores. The cacophony of odors create a mélange that is far heavier and more unpleasant than that of my garden compost pile, at least in my opinion. 

Therefore, it was with heavy heart and nose that I entered the world of scent to purchase a perfume for my beloved daughter. Ah, what parents are willing to do for their children! An employee at the first department store pointed toward a vague wall where someone told they were out of the product. The salesperson at the second department store also said the product was missing but had the “gentilesse” to tell me that I may find it at Sephora. As I approached the door of my last chance, the overly fragrant breeze emanating from the store was already starting to get me to regret my decision to try it out. Fortunately, two sales people standing strategically at the door immediately smiled at me and asked what I was looking for. After hearing the name of the perfume that I needed, one of them immediately proceeded to enter the store, without me, and returned saying that they also were out of the product. She then suggested that I could have it shipped for free and it would arrive within three days. Two minutes later, I had provided my delivery and payment information and was back into the fresh air of the mall (everything is relative). My trip was Sephora was successful in terms of both finding the product and not suffering unduly.

I would even say that I would return there to buy more perfume for my daughter because their service matched the requirements of this unwilling buyer.  First, they had enough trained staff to efficiently handle my transaction. The employees were familiar with both the store’s inventory and procedures. Third, they treated me with respect although I am far from representing their target audience. It went from “Ca pue! to “Ca peut” [“it stinks” to “it is possible”]. My experience reinforced my opinion that service, not price, is the dominant factor in customer impression. Sephora came out smelling like roses.

On a less serious note, I present two pictures from actual, long-standing signs on the street near my hotel. There are no marketing lessons in implied but still they are somehow worthy of note:

 

[street for axe-throwing store]

This is called having a narrow niche!

 

[hotel sign "color TV]

What is the last year you could even purchase black and white purchases?

 

Lastly, since it’s my blog and I can post any picture I want to, here is my 95-year-old mother in whose honor I travel to LA twice a year:

 

my mother

For those going on vacation this summer, enjoy.

 

*Picture captions help the blind fully access the Internet.

Picture credit: Rose