Do you follow Sonna Calandrino?  Her column titled "She says by Sonna..." at Floor Covering Weekly inevitably gets me thinking about consumers...

From "It's not business as usual" in the 4/21-28/08 issue comes wonderful advice around listening to your customers' demands and expectations.  Why bother?  Because it's not business as usual. 

Sonna urges us to learn everything there is to learn about our customers.  I refer to that as 'walking in her shoes'... as in Walk In Her Shoes.  And, then, spend time figuring out why customers don't shop with you.  Engage everyone around you, even your installers, to better understand your consumers.

Once customers are in your store, don't just automatically focus on opening price point items.  Instead, spend time understanding what your consumer is trying to create, what solution she is looking to build.  If you listen to her, you'll be better able to suggest items that help her with creating that solution.  But, make sure that everyone in your store can explain the value that one product represents over another.  And, demonstrate respect.  Lots of it.  For her, her information sources, and what she is trying to achieve.

Finally, consider sending out regular communications to your best customers about what you're doing that is relevant to their lives.

In"Adjusting to the new consumer reality" in the 6/16-30/08 issue, Sonna further urges us to pay attention to customers.  Why?  Because customers drive business!  So, how well do we understand her?

Understanding her, how she responds to our store experience, displays, and messages are all a part of listening.  Understanding her means learning which are the other businesses [not necessarily flooring related] that she admires, which causes she believes in, and how she searches for relevant information.  Then, once we have absorbed the information, the insights, the perspectives, then we can respond with better ways of organizing our products and price points, our procedures, recommendations, and overall experience instore and online.

"She says by Sonna" exudes passion.  Passion is what you need to adjust to the new consumer reality.  Do you have passion?