It’s no longer LOCATION…. LOCATION…. LOCATION

For many years, the largest contributor to having successful top-line retail sales was having a great location. Your location needed to be at an intersection with high traffic counts, on the going home side of the street, be in a center with other businesses that attracted similar clients as your business, have high visible front and monument signage and did not take a parachute to get in and out of the parking lot.

And all of that is very important. But it is no longer the most important factor in driving retail sales. Location…. Location…. Location…. has been replaced with network… Network… Network…

In the Information Age, clients are making decisions very quickly based on their network. This can include reviews, star ratings, testimonials, referrals, talks over lunch, or the water cooler. Every single one of our clients and prospects has access to more information than ever held in the palm of their hand. They can find out the answer to any question they have within seconds.

This means that visibility (a convenient location) has now been replaced as the #1 factor in retail sales. The question now is… are you a part of your target clients’ network? And do you have the data points to compel them to buy, buy more often, and increase the monetary value of their transactions? And is your reputation for solving your clients’ problems held high in this network?

One of the best strategies to leverage this networking opportunity is to create a “Dream 20 Neighborhoods” and a “Dream 100 Clients.” I got this concept from Dana Derricks, who has written a couple of great books on the subject. 

Over the next couple of weeks, we will dive deep into each of these concepts, and you will love the intentional focus of defining your target market and how to get in front of them and the rest of their network.