No doubt, the first reason is that the concept itself – the way it allows us as individuals to create and combine pieces of jewellery, and thereby expresses our own individuality, is appealing, unique and speaks to women of all ages. In fact, I don’t know any other brand that can appeal to four generations – Louis Vuitton and Apple possibly appeal to three but I am struggling to find many more.
Then we have the many husbands and fathers who have often told me that Pandora was created for men. “Pandora has taken the headache out of gift giving,” they say, which is supplemented by endless stories of dad and the kids walking into a store with a brochure and ticking off the charms they wish to buy. With Pandora, it was never a matter of whether he would buy, but how much he would buy!
The real reason we have had such success is the way the consumers and retailers have embraced the brand, though I will have to start with the consumers as they “got” the concept before most retailers did.
No matter where we went in the early days, the consumers loved it and started walking into stores asking to buy Pandora. Once retailers had 20 customers asking for it, they realised they needed to start stocking the brand immediately.
The difference from being good to great is the service given at point of sale, absolutely a key to success not just with Pandora, but with retail in general.
This is why I am asking, “What is the soul of your business? What is it that fosters a great customer experience and makes customers come back for more every time they are looking for a piece of jewellery or to buy a present for a loved one?”
It has been very interesting to see how different retailers in similar locations, sizes and demographics can have such different outcomes. It all comes down to how we conduct our business and how we deliver customer service.
We have been through the Global Financial Crisis and the last couple of years have seen retail become very challenging. We can all sit back and complain, focusing on all the things that make us unhappy – most often, the things we cannot even influence – or we can look at the world with an open mind and find the things that we can influence, and concentrate on making an impact in those areas.
Every retailer, regardless of what they are selling, can control one thing – the customer experience instore. When I look closely at the best performing stores we have been dealing with over the years, there is one profound difference to their success – how the owners and staff apply themselves to deliver exceptional customer service every time they have a customer in the store.
Sales are all about relationships, after all. If we are to look back at times in our lives where we have received an extraordinary customer service experience, it can remain something that we remember more than the actual product we bought.
Large companies – Pandora included – are developing comprehensive training programs focused on delivering a streamlined strong customer experience.
The danger with comprehensive training programs can be that you take the individual personalities out of the sale process. Training should be about knowing your product, empowering sales staff to be genuine, and delivering exceptional service.
A greatly-underestimated factor is dealing with complaints and after sales service – a happy customer might tell 10 friends about a great experience but an unhappy customer is more likely to tell 50 people and never come back to the store.
Which customer do you want to attract?
With the huge volume that Pandora has been selling, we have had our fair share of after-sales service issues – it is challenging to come up with a framework that empowers the retailers to give the best possible after-sales service. Eight years on, however, we are focusing on this very issue as we know that every happy customer will be a repeat customer.
In closing, I strongly recommend that every retailer take a long hard look at their operation.
Note what is working in the store now and what can be improved to help maximise business performance. Forget about the things you can’t influence and focus only on those things you can.
Make sure the soul of the store stands out, and that customers recognise this every time they visit.
Karin Adcock stepped down as president of Pandora Australia in July 2012.