Surviving a decade in an trade as unpredictable as retail is not any small feat. However 4 many years? Now that’s one thing you don’t see daily. Actually, solely 35 % of retail companies break the 10-year barrier.
For 40 years, CBS Sports activities has been offering high quality sporting items to the Morganton, North Carolina neighborhood. The key to their outstanding longevity? Placing the client expertise above all the things else.
We chatted with Carson Searcy, co-owner of CBS Sports activities, to dive deeper into how they’ve managed to rise above altering financial winds and compete with big-box shops all by protecting it human.
Begin with respect and lead by instance
With the rise of AI and automation, the retail trade has witnessed a shift away from personalization in customer support. However retailers like CBS Sports activities nonetheless select individuals over processes. For Carson, that mindset begins on the management stage.
“When you deal with the client with respect, and even higher than you’d need to be handled, then all the things else will fall into place,” says Carson.
He emphasizes that customer support is greater than a gross sales tactic; it’s a every day observe. From the homeowners to the gross sales ground, everybody is predicted to go the additional mile, whether or not that’s spending time serving to a buyer discover the right match or just making them really feel welcome once they stroll by the doorways.
Nice service is your aggressive edge
Being a regionally owned sporting items retailer comes with its personal set of challenges, although, particularly when going head-to-head with mega-stores and ecommerce giants. However for Carson, their edge has at all times been clear.
“Having to compete with large field shops and on-line retailers is the most important problem as a sporting items out of doors retailer. However we outperform them with our customer support and by serving to prospects get the precise product they want.”
For CBS Sports activities, meaning prioritizing in-person interactions, deepening product information and making use of a no-pressure method. “We allow you to discover the correct match whether or not it’s the costliest or the least,” says Carson.
“We put customer support first and by doing that we preserve prospects coming again. It’s stored our enterprise thriving over the past 40 years.”
Practice for the long-haul
A giant a part of what units CBS Sports activities is their dedication to empowering their staff. A few times a 12 months, Carson hosts studying periods with representatives from suppliers, like Saucony Footwear, to coach employees on the intricacies of their merchandise and have the ability to supply buyers higher, extra personalised recommendation.
“Delivering nice customer support is crucial factor we train our new hires,” Carson says. “We train them to be sincere and to deal with everybody with respect.”
Leverage tech to prioritize individuals
Whereas courtesy and material experience won’t ever exit of favor, Carson has embraced digital instruments to assist CBS Sports activities focus extra time on their prospects and fewer time on handbook duties.
“One of many greatest ache factors up to now was the quantity of knowledge that we needed to manually enter,” says Carson. “With Lightspeed NuORDER, all of that data is mechanically uploaded into my level of sale. Earlier than, we might spend upwards of an hour importing the knowledge from an order. Now, it’s three clicks and minutes.”
The CBS Sports activities group additionally depends on Lightspeed’s built-in reporting capabilities to remain on high of developments. “The options we use essentially the most are every day experiences on what we’re promoting; are we promoting males’s trainers or ladies’s climbing boots,” Carson explains. “That provides us the chance to forecast for the long run.”
By streamlining back-office operations, CBS Sports activities has been capable of reinvest their time the place it counts most: on the ground with prospects. “Lightspeed has enabled the employees to spend much less time worrying about stock, and extra time serving to prospects discover the right merchandise.”
CBS Sports activities could have 4 many years below its belt, however Carson and his group are nonetheless centered on what’s subsequent. “Our greatest aim is rising and making a future to rejoice one other 40 years,” he says. “Lightspeed performs an enormous function on this by altering with the markets and creating new alternatives.”
Whether or not it’s increasing into new product classes or evolving with buyer wants, CBS Sports activities is proof that retailers can thrive in the event that they keep true to what issues most.
Curious to know extra? Chat with an knowledgeable to learn the way Lightspeed will help your sporting items enterprise develop.
