-By Dr. Kenneth C. Herbst and Harold Lloyd

When Harold and I last wrote to you in our column in May, we discussed the importance of focusing on your customer service perception all over the store -- and we do mean all over your store. We stressed the importance of the restroom's cleanliness in creating an attractive position for your store. We also revealed that it is a place for suggestive selling (and creative cross-merchandising!).

As Harold and I independently travel the country speaking at various industry conferences or with associations, we compile lists of items on which to focus in future columns here in The Gourmet Retailer. We hope our idea for this column brings you great results at the end of the month when you view your top line.

Now it's time to focus on creating a physical impression in your store's parking lot and front entrance. What you want to do is build a message that matches with the perception you are trying to create in the mind of your customers. We want you to think carefully about how to make a first and lasting impression on your valued customers.

Recently, I visited a small food retailer with stores on the East Coast, and I was very impressed with the way the store created a physical impression appealing to smell, sight and touch by having many of their fresh fruits out for people to see right in front of the store. It was as though the strawberries, blueberries and mangoes were saying, "Welcome to our home; if you like us, you'll like many of our fresh, sweet and juicy siblings inside the store."

This store tries hard to create an impression of freshness in part because the freshness perception (and reality) helps them sell to a more up-tier segment of food buyers willing to pay more for a higher-quality product. From the parking lot, you can see freshness -- literally. In the entrance, you can smell freshness. In the first three steps taken in the store, your senses of smell, sight, touch (and even taste) are completely stimulated. There is even fresh complimentary coffee with cream and skim milk in addition to sugar for you to sip while shopping. They create an experience for shoppers by hitting customers over the head (lightly and lovingly, of course) with freshness as they set foot in the store. When your effective position is freshness and quality, you want to deliver those promises early and often. They do it, and they benefit greatly from it as do their customers.

In the same way, but via different tactics, on a recent trip, I noted a store known as a low-price operator. Their track to winning share points was to make clear that their prices were very competitive relative to the local competition. This specific store did this very well -- again, in the three areas we listed above (the parking lot, the store's entrance and in the first three steps taken by the customer inside the store).

From the parking lot, I saw low-price signs on the store's windows and, bang, as I set foot in the store, it was evident that this place sold items they felt were good quality for less. More important than their prices being low was the first impression they created. Their signage and promotional efforts made it clear that they were cheaper relative to their competition, and the impression was not short-lived -- it seemed to be effective and long-lasting on their customers.

Despite their intentions not to judge items, products and places by their covers, consumers do so -- and often. So, we suggest you realize that this is how the consumer's psyche works and, based on this knowledge, create the impression you want clearly and on a grand scale. Make it impossible not to know right away the impression with which you want your customers (a) to come to your store and (b) to leave your store -- happily, of course, with expectations exceeded or, at minimum, met. The two stores to which we allude in this column do this well. The cover of their "book" is freshness, high quality and/or low price, but most importantly, the perception they want to create is clear from the store parking lot, the entrance, and in the customer's first three steps all the way until checkout. In other words, the perception created is in line with the reality of the in-store shopping experience -- from cover to cover.

Our shopper traffic research will unveil some quick and manageable tactics which could have a profound impact on your top line as well as customer satisfaction and loyalty. For more information on how we can conduct research for you or speak at an upcoming conference, please e-mail me at Kenny.Herbst@mba.wfu.edu. Alternatively, feel free to visit my Wake Forest University Web site at www.mba.wfu.edu/herbst. I can also be reached via phone at 336-758-4215.

Dr. Kenneth C. Herbst is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. He earned a Masters and Ph.D. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition, Dr. Herbst earned a B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Dr. Herbst has been interviewed about his food research and industry expertise by, among others, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Ottawa Citizen, the Montreal Gazette, the San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, and Woman's Day. In July 2007, he gave a keynote presentation on his in-store food shopper research at Shopper Insights in Action. He has also recently spoken at FMI and IDDBA. In April, he presented his top tactics for retailing and merchandising at the 2008 NARMS Spring Conference and Annual Meeting in Williamsburg, Va.

Harold Lloyd was the President and CEO of a 14-unit retail organization for 10 years. His practical, exciting ideas and dynamic presentation style have combined to earn him a highly regarded reputation reflected in his top ratings at numerous appearances at such prestigious events as the annual FMI and IDDBA conventions.

For almost two decades, Harold has worked very closely with small and large businesses to provide a "powerful push in the right direction!" His mission is to provide qualified, executive-level assistance to companies on a "temporary basis," eliminating the need to add permanent top management overhead. To further assist his clients, Harold authored the book It's About Time, focusing on time management.