Your customer is 90% pre-sold if they walk into your store.
Thus, the sale is yours to lose.
In this episode, return co-host Doug Stewart of Resident discusses how the typical customer has changed – from their shopping patterns, behaviors, and expectations – and how most customers walking into your store aren’t there to merely shop for a product, but to confirm a decision to make a purchase they researched and shopped for online.
Listen or watch Doug discusses how Resident views the Nectar customer and how they have learned to assess the sale in under 8 minutes. From changing how you communicate with the customer to identifying meaningful, quality touch points, it’s a tutorial in customer sales you can’t miss.
Want more from Doug? Check out his Mentorship as Marketing episode!
FULL TRANSCRIPTION
Mark Kinsley: How does resident actually drive foot traffic into retail stores? We have Doug Stewart back on the show today.
Doug Stewart, welcome back to the show. You are part of the fam. You are an author, a TEDx speaker, Dale Carnegie instructor. And you’re with this wide, wonderful company that’s making big waves, continuing to make big waves in the industry called Resident.
You got the Nectar brand, the Awar brand, the Dream CLA Cloud brand. Doug, thanks for being back on the show. If you haven’t heard the, uh, mentorship as marketing episode with Doug, go back and listen to it. Uh, but Doug, hey, thanks for being here again. Uh, we we’re gonna get to our trivia question, but for people who don’t know about you and know about what Resident does, especially in terms.
It, it’s marketing and, and some of that backstory, uh, dropping on us. Yeah.
Doug Stewart: So, so resident, uh, is a, is a, uh, is a digital brand in the, in the betting space. And, um, you know, we’re, we’re, we’re really proud to be a, a, a front runner, uh, not only for, for digital brands, but also for, for the industry, uh, in general.
And, you know, one of the things that really makes us special is our ability. Get close to and communicate clearly with, uh, with people who are actually in the market to buy a mattress and to be able to not only, um, communicate with them, but to, uh, but to communicate in a way that drives toward action and brings foot traffic into retail stores.
Mark Kinsley: Cool. We’re gonna dive into it. First, we’re gonna dive into what happens at the front of the fan marketing show with Adrian. Adrian, it’s trivia question time.
Adrienne Woods: Okay. So, do you guys want like presidential. Trivia Or do you just want like random trivia,
Mark Kinsley: presidential trivia? Oh
Adrienne Woods: gosh. Okay. Now I gotta change my, gotta change my question.
Okay. Where does the US vice president live?
Mark Kinsley: Oh, I know this one. I know this. So then why did you
Adrienne Woods: pick it? Is that, why is that why you picked it? Because you thought you would know the answer. Okay.
Mark Kinsley: I haven’t, I don’t. I don’t have anything in front of me. I just know the answer to this a hundred. So, you know what?
We’re not even gonna give any options. Let’s just do, fill in the blank at the end of the show, Doug and I each get to guess. No,
Adrienne Woods: you don’t get to guess. If you know the answer,
Doug Stewart: you allow the cohot I’ll. He doesn’t know the answer, actually. He doesn’t know it.
Adrienne Woods: You know, we recorded a podcast, um, and he knew the answer, like, I didn’t even get to give him options.
He was like, I already know what this is. And then he proceeded to give me the backstory on what it was. It was a slogan for a famous brand, and he’s like, oh, I already know who this is.
Mark Kinsley: I’m a very boring person. You
Adrienne Woods: just know a lot about random things, so, okay. Where does the US Vice President live? That’s our trivia question.
If you think you know the answer, text us at our podium number. Head over to fam.news. You can just hit the little, there’s a little text icon in the corner. You just hit it, submit your answer.
Mark Kinsley: It’s that easy. It’s that easy. I love it. And, okay, so Doug, I want to, I want to lead us off on this conversation because it’s very fascinating the way that resident has built its brand.
You’ve built your brand at retail on the wholesale side of the. very much in being able to drive foot traffic into a retail store. And then, you know, of course, in many cases that person converts. Whenever a resident customer, somebody that was driven into a retail store, walks into that retail store, what had they been exposed to and what is that interaction like with the Rs?
Doug Stewart: Yeah. Well, I, I think one of the, one of the first, first things that’s really Im important just from the very, from the very beginning is the, the way we think about communication, I, I would say is quite different than the way. Uh, some others in the industry may think about communication. So as an example, traditionally the way people think communication in terms of marketing is we say it, we say it, we say it, we say it, impression, impression, impression.
And over time the customer kind of gives up and goes into a store and is willing to look or try. Um, but then there’s so much reliant on, you know, the, the experience of, uh, of the, of the retailer. They go in the, the. The, uh, the rsa and then there’s all these different variables. So the, the difference between us is we don’t see communication that way.
So, so the best type of communication, really real communication is more like this. We talk to, we say something to the customer. And the customer receives it, but then the customer interprets it in the way we intended it to be interpreted. And that’s really just the quality of the communication that that does the work.
So, um, the, one of the, the, the big, um, advantages that we have is the quality and the, let’s, let’s say the, um, the, the. The, the marketing machine, uh, and the intelligence behind the, this, um, this thing that we’ve built, that we’re able to get in front of customers in a way that is, um, not, uh, obnoxious, uh, communicate with the, with those that are actually in the market.
That are looking for a mattress to understand, um, in what way are they looking, what are they looking for, and how can we best serve that? And then, and then to be able to identify, um, where is the closest retailer, um, which retailer will give the, the best experience, which is how we in many ways determine the, the retailers that we’re partnered with.
And then as they go through our dealer locator, when they walk into a. You know, our, our data says that they’re, they’re more than 90%, let’s say, pre-sold, which means they’re going in only to confirm their, their decision that they’ve already made. And so the cell cycle for a nectar or a Dream Cloud product is typically right around eight minutes.
So if they walk in and they say, Hey, do you have, let’s say the nectar, premier DOA says Yes, shows it to them within eight minutes, the customer has said yes and is, and is, and is ready to, uh, proceed with that particular, uh, purchase. Sometimes, you know, they, they want to perhaps try comfort levels, but in general we’ve become really, really sophisticated in being able to, um, predict at a high level, Which even, which bed will be right for that particular customer.
Um, and that’s really one of our primary, um, competitive advantages, not only as a partner to retailers, but but also as a, as a brand that, um, that gives customers this, uh, this experience that takes away so much of the. Of the, of the pain of looking and having to lay on 60 mattresses, we can give them a really clear view.
Um, and then give RSAs RSAs, you know, I, I can’t, you know, when I, when I was on the sales floor, there’s nothing better than, than a customer coming in. You know exactly what they want. Being able to, to, to make that, uh, to, to make that, uh, help them make that purchase, get back on the. On the up chart and then have created, and particularly cause of our, uh, our typical, uh, uh, demographic create a, a huge lifetime value for a customer.
You know, especially, especially with furniture stores where they may come back over and over, uh, over time. Wow.
Mark Kinsley: Eight minutes. That is so quick. And so take us into, I know this is a very sophisticated machine, uh, but what can you tell people? You know, it’s always fun to look. The machine or inside the machine and figure out what parts are pumping and what levers are moving, how the gears are not grinding.
Whenever you’re looking at these in-market shoppers that you end up, that resident ends up driving into quality retail stores, are they throwing off signals through Google search that say, Hey, I’m, I’m looking for mattresses. Are they throwing off signals on their phone with location services enabled where they’re going in and out of mattress stores?
Moving to new homes and they’ve given off data that says, Hey, we’re moving to a new house. What, what are some of those things that you’re able to corral and then connect to the retailer?
Doug Stewart: Yeah. So, so the answer to that question is, uh, is just a simple yes. You know, so, so one of the, one of the things that I, that I’ve really enjoyed learning and, and, and look like full disclosure, um, if, if I had to do the job of, of our marketing team, I would last about eight minutes, about as long as it takes for a customer to purchase a nectar mattress.
Right. Um, and so what I, what I, what I can tell you is, um, the, the level of, uh, sort of integration between different, uh, let’s say marketing disciplines, um, from, from what I’ve, from a, I’ve been able to, you know, be exposed to by being on the retail side and also, um, on the training side of the, of the, of the retail business.
Is, is is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. And, you know, I I, I’ve spent time, you know, on, uh, on the Dell Carnegie side of my life and leaving the industry and working with some of the largest companies, um, fortune 100 companies in the world. Um, and, and very rarely have I ever seen. Anyone that says, able to, um, as, as, as clearly and with such discipline, be able to have, um, meaningful quality touchpoints, uh, with customers.
And some of it is, is understanding, uh, customer behavior. Some of it is being able to accurately forecast trends. Um, some of it is to be able to see, uh, is to see different types, uh, different areas of the country and when people are most likely to. So as an example, if you’re, if you’re in the northeast and there’s a, there’s a big snow event, right?
People are less likely to buy a mattress or go to a retail store that day. So there may be, there may be attention allocated to a, to maybe a different part or a surrounding area. And then when the snow , when the, when the snow subsides, well then customers are now there. So then being able. To go back to people we’ve talked to and, and, and know that now there’s really an opportunity for them to, to make that purchasing decision or get to a retail store.
Um, and that’s just a really small example. Uh, but, but the, the, the group that we have that, that run, run our marketing from a strategy standpoint all the way down to the, to the marketers we have that are actually pulling the levers and pushing the buttons, um, is. Is laser focused and the alignment that, that they have with each other is, is, is, is remarkable.
And, and, and one of the primary reasons I’ll say this too, that, that I got, uh, that I was so excited when I came on board with, um, with, with resident and, and I have not had a moment where I haven’t been. I’ve been really impressed with, uh, with, uh, uh, discipline and intelligence, uh, of, of our, of our marketing, uh,
Mark Kinsley: strategy.
Wow. It’s, uh, it’s next level, you know, so for the longest time, uh, and by the way, we’re talking with Doug Stewart, with Resident. Doug is a member of the fam, longtime member of the fam, um, author of five and a Half Mentors Del Carnegie instructor. TEDx speaker and, and Doug, it’s, if you’re impressed with something, I’m impressed because I know that you tend to be, um, an early adopter.
You tend to be ahead of the trends. You tend to be looking into the future to see where things are going, and as I hear you talk through this model that resident has put together and deployed so effectively, it makes me think about the past because in the past, a lot of manufacturers. You know, put co-op programs together for retailers and in many cases, those retailers would take that co-op money and go on vacation.
Um, I’m, I’m joking, of course, but it wouldn’t be surgically spent in a way oftentimes that drove traffic into the store wasn’t effectively used. And I think residents kind of flipped the script in a way and said, Hey, give us your co-op money and we’re gonna drive traffic into your. And that’s what you’ve done.
And, and what are some examples from retailers that were kind of those early adopters for the resident model, and what was their experience and what were the results? Do you have any stories there? Yeah.
Doug Stewart: Yeah, so, so speaking of early adopters, I mean, I think we have, we have a lot of credit to give to some of the brands that paved the way.
You know, resident isn’t the first company that, um, that has driven foot traffic into stores. You know, you think even back in the, in the nineties, what, what Tempur-Pedic did to really completely change the industry, raise the A O S P, changed the way people thought about mattresses, thought changed the technology.
Of mattresses and, and even the, even the early digital brands, you know, so that, that, that came in a, brought a ton of awareness to, to now what we’re, what we’re, what we’re doing. And in my mind, we’ve, we’ve taken that, uh, let’s say that heritage, uh, and just, and simply continued it and. You know, the, the, the one thing that that I hear, um, that I hear us saying to, to our partners and our, you know, potential partners, uh, and something I say a lot as well is, is like, look, whether, whether you are, you know, our partner or, uh, spending, you know, matching dollars, um, we’re still spending the.
And so we’re, we’re, we are committed to driving foot traffic into doors. And so the amount of top line that we spend back into, um, back into marketing, uh, and with the efficiency that we can, uh, that we can do that. Is, um, is, is, I think, is, is I think something this new, um, to the industry and something that is, um, that’s, that you’re only able to do if you’re really freaking good at talking to, talking to customers that are on the fringe or on the verge of, of purchasing.
So some of our, some of our best partners, what, what we’re seeing is when they come alongside and they co-brand with us, um, and they, and they, they utilize. Uh, the, the ways that we’re already communicating. You know, like people say that print is dead and it’s just, it’s just not, you know, uh, only print is dead.
Only social media doesn’t work only, you know, uh, uh, you know, the, the things that are in the middle. Don’t work. And so knowing, knowing how we’re communicating and then coming alongside that and putting marketing dollars just adds additional fuel to the fire. But whether, whether there’s money spent or there’s, there’s not money spent, um, from a, from a co-op standpoint or a co-branded standpoint.
We’re still gonna do the work and we’re, we invite our partners to come alongside. And the ones that really get the most out of it are the ones that make the full complete commitment to say, Hey, look like we know that this thing works. How can we best allocate our, our funds to do, uh, to do the same thing?
And, and being able to have a, a marketing. That is, um, that are also highly effective in terms of strategy and communication that can help lead retailers. Cause you know, one of the things we see a lot is you have these, these large, uh, let’s say large brands that do it a particular way and, and not always able to communicate to let’s say local retail, regional retailer, even national retail.
Um, how is it best for them to spend. Spend their money. Um, and to and to and to and to co-brand, you know, because like, look, co co-op, co-op is great. But if it’s not actually driving foot traffic, then you might as well go on vacation. So you at least get something out of it. Uh, I was, I was taught, but my grandfather used to say, and this is, this is in the eighties and nineties, he would u he used to say, you waste 50% of the marketing dollars you spend.
And the problem is, is you never know which 50% it is. Mm-hmm. , you know, and, and that’s something that, that I believe that we’re changing. You know, marketing has always been something that’s really elusive to be able to. We’re, we’re able to measure it and we know when it works, when it doesn’t. Um, and to be able to focus on and track, uh, customer behavior and then share that market specific is, is really valuable for retailers to be able to make the most, you know, cause if a, a, a dollar is a dollar, um, and when you’re marketing, it’s even better if a dollar is $3.
Right? And so being able to continually ratchet up the value of every dollar spent is, is really. In my mind’s really the game.
Mark Kinsley: All right. Sorry, you got into some really rich material here. Uh, one of, one idea is around, um, is the, the brand, the retailer, or is the brand the product? And you know, there’s been a big push in the industry among retailers to say, we are the. We really don’t wanna put the brands forward, but we know behind the scenes that brands, uh, are valuable to people, it becomes a filtering effect and they understand, um, what the brand stands for and, and they can map that to some of their needs.
So I don’t think it’s a bifurcated either or conversation. Um, and like you said, when you come alongside and co-brand, I think that’s a really interesting concept to resurface and we’ll, we’ll dig into that later. The other thing you said that I think, um, you know, really stands out. Was this idea of print is not dead, social is not dead, it’s not one or the other.
I, I remember hearing from a guy that had dissected, uh, businesses that had went from seven to eight figures and a lot of businesses were stuck in this seven figure category. They couldn’t get to 10 million, and they looked at the ones that made it and the ones that didn’t, and the ones that made it. And he was just focused on their marketing efforts.
The ones that made. Um, did not put all their eggs in one basket because digital marketers, especially in this day and age, tend to look at a channel that’s working and pump more money into that channel and turn off the rest, and that the businesses that went to eight figures really created surround sound with social, digital print tv and they, they made sure they were everywhere all the time.
So, Helping retailers understand how to spend those dollars effectively, I think is gonna be a skillset and a knowledge base that’s gonna be in demand from now on. And I have no doubt that, Doug, you’re gonna be in demand from now on my friend . Wait a butter, Emma. Not that you weren’t already
Doug Stewart: before
Awesome. Last thing I’ll Well, thanks for being on this show. We, yeah. Hit. Your last thing, last thing I’ll say is, you know, your, your, the retailer’s brand. The retailer’s brand can be found at the intersection between who they are and the story they tell as a retailer and the partners that they have. And so is it one or the other?
It’s neither. It’s right somewhere in that intersection between the two. And so as a retailer, finding the brands and the partners that best. With the story you’re telling is the best way in my mind anyway, to communicate a clear, um, and, uh, a, a clear message to your, uh, to your potential customers and guests that, uh, that will be, um, uh, that, that will be understood and acted upon.
Think
Mark Kinsley: about this, if you’re the retailer and you want to be the brand and you’re gonna go out and tell consumers, we are the brand. The consumer is gonna say, great. I trust you to curate good products and bring them to me. Awesome. I’m gonna come to your store. Now that I’m in your store and I’m seeing this curated selection of products that you invested and bring into your store, I want to know about ’em.
So there has to be a value proposition. There has to be something meaningful to the consumer. And then on top of that, the consumer has to be able to pull up the phone, look at it online, and make sure that yes, what this retailer is. Is what I now believe and the brand is saying it as well. Um, great, great insights, Doug.
Man, you took us to school today.
Adrienne Woods: You know what else the consumers wanna know is where the US vice president lives. So I’m just gonna Okay. Ring it all back together. And Mark, why don’t you regale us with where the US vice President lives?
Mark Kinsley: No, no, no. Doug, Doug has to guess first we, we agreed to this. Doug is guessing first.
Doug Stewart: Okay. No, no, no, no, no, no. We didn’t agree to anything. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You said you too. So if you know, I’m not gonna give you, so there you go. Multiple choice .
Mark Kinsley: Okay, here we go. Now I don’t want to, I don’t wanna hear a dog pile if I say it slightly incorrectly. Okay. Okay. So where is it? The vice president lives at the Naval Observatory.
Adrienne Woods: He does, he lives on, or she lives on the grounds of the Naval Observatory. Well done. It’s not wrong. Unfortunately, he was right. It’s not right. So,
Doug Stewart: Nope. They live on the United States Naval Observatory. You have to have, this is, you gotta have to the US part. Sorry man.
Mark Kinsley: Swear I told you. No dog pile. And I would just, I mean, I think it’s natural that the.
President and the vice president of the United States of America aren’t gonna live on foreign soil. So it’s, it’s an obvious
Doug Stewart: thing. It’s fair. Look, man, by the way, of remote working, it’s, look, there’s remote workers everywhere. Vice president could be,
Mark Kinsley: you know, by the way, I was, I, I was gonna say the US Naval Observatory, and then I, I actually decided to pare it down because I’m like, well, obviously it’s us.
You guys, I’m telling you.
Adrienne Woods: Okay. If, if any of our audience members have an idea, a marketing idea, be sure to text us. Go to fam.news. There’s a little text box. You can text us directly if you wanna participate in their conversation about whether it should be the US or the United States, or just the Naval Observatory.
It’s, it’s totally fine, but we want you to subscribe and be sure that you never miss an idea that could make you.
Mark Kinsley: History
Adrienne Woods: buff. Oh nice. I like it. Join us each week. Traffic we bring you for traffic. Driver. We’re gonna bring you more. Fan marketing magic. Tune in next week. Bye guys.
