A few months ago our regular contributor Peter Whitehead wrote about a national retailer who introduced a great idea to improve both security and sales, and he wondered which department, security or sales, thought of it.
The truth is that many security people are a little bit reserved about sales departments in general, and sales people in particular, but here is an example of how lateral thinking and broad views can help to protect from risks and dangers. An unusual danger existed for an event company which organised markets, shows, fairs and exhibitions. Strong marketing and promotions departments supported by a very strong sales team filled available plots before control was passed to the management team. The risk was that clients who failed to do well at these functions often complained publicly they had been over-sold, and the event promoter deceived them. Such accusations, splashed on the internet, could reach thousands of people in a short time, and cause massive brand damage. That is not directly a security issue, but since in these times security departments are out of fashion, the profit protection and legal departments can share such risks.
Who to blame
A percentage of stall holders at every event would be first-time clients, some having little or no sales or retail experience. Some people, excited by the adverts and believing that they would be over-run by a public begging to buy ‘anything’ could easily spend £2000 on a stall, with £400 for basic electrical services, with a long distance travel bill and lodgings for a couple of weeks. If you then combine the optimistic belief that, for instance, modern day minors will be available to buy children’s board games in the middle of term time, or adults will purchase balaclavas in August, you have a looming loss prevention nightmare. But the biggest problem is that some plot-holders will expect to sell their products without any effort or skill being required at all. You may have seen such stall holders, mid-show, slumped in chairs, reading newspapers and basically ‘switched off’. This condition causes sales to crash completely. And this would be the point where some event customers start to think of who to blame.
Damaged name
Murmurs about ‘they told us there would be coach loads of visitors’ could quickly develop into ‘thousands of promised customers’, which would soon lead to ‘over sold’ and then on to ‘misrepresentation’. This is not far away from ‘deception’; so for the event promoter one particular risk amongst many unique problems was that the company’s name was being severely damaged, and could be destroyed totally in litigation. The profit protection people tended to think in terms of stopping the problem by securing information and evidence about those who were libelling the company for court orders and law suits, but when the internet is buzzing with howling complaints the damage is already done. However, the sellers thought in a totally different way, and came up with the positive answer to the problem. The two groups then debated the suggested remedy, and their arguments showed how separated their mindsets were.
What salesmen say
Sellers: ‘Easy! We know stall holders who can sell garlic shredding bowls at archery exhibitions, knife sharpeners at art fairs or electric bicycles at farmers shows ….. the very best event sales people, and if we invite them to help us at a seminar on a convenient day before each show to introduce retail selling at shows, fairs and events then any stall holder can attend to benefit from the experience and thus be more successful.’
Idea
The profit protectors screamed negative abuse at every full stop and comma, but the sellers answered every single point, thus: We will charge each stall holder-delegate a reasonable fee for attending, and we will give each expert who gives a 30 minute presentation a discount on their own stall fee. We will make a profit from this day, but more importantly, our customers will be more successful at attracting and selling to the public. We can add this seminar to our media presentations as a yet another really useful support service. We know that the worst complainants are the sort of people who cannot be told anyhing and might not attend the seminar, but we can then defend ourselves on internet or in court by explaining that the service was provided especially for any stall holder to give insight into ‘attracting appropriate attention’, ‘asking questions’, ‘building interest’, ‘appropriate humour’ and ‘encouraging purchases’, regardless of the stall holder’s products. Not only do we provide every stall holder with an additional opportunity to be successful but we protect from those who do not listen and then try to defame or litigate against us.
Suggestion boxes
The profit protection people looked as if stuck in mud, and the sellers looked like survivors. And that is the point of all this …. sometimes security people can be over-sceptical, leading to a narrow viewpoint and no new ways forward. In the next few years commerce and industry is going to need to work very hard at seeking out successful new ideas to save money and secure profits, and the suggestions boxes which should already exist need to be scrutinised by all departments, not just the PP brigade. p
