123 Years Later
GUEST POST from Shep Hyken
In 1901, John Nordstrom and Carl Wallin opened the unique Wallin and Nordstrom shoe retailer. Twenty-two years later, a second Nordstrom shoe retailer opened. Right now, in keeping with Nordstrom Firm Details, there are 360 shops within the U.S., together with 93 Nordstrom shops, 258 Nordstrom Rack shops, two clearance shops, six Nordstrom native service hubs and on-line e-commerce web sites for Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack.
Up to now 123 years, a lot has occurred and plenty of retailers have come and gone. There have been inventory market crashes, wars, financial points, pandemics and extra. But Nordstrom has weathered these storms and has continued to personal a popularity for unimaginable customer support and comfort.
Robert Spector is an creator and Nordstrom professional, having written 5 books on Nordstrom, the latest titled, The Century-Outdated Startup: The Nordstrom Manner of Embracing Change, Challenges, and a Tradition of Buyer Service. I had the prospect to interview him in regards to the ebook and the way Nordstrom has remained a viable model for greater than a century.
Spector’s first reply was brief, and because the title of the ebook implies, the management has a startup mentality. Its management is fast to make selections and sustain with adjustments within the economic system and buyer expectations. Listed below are among the high takeaways from our interview:
- The Nordstrom Handbook: This can be a legendary story. Nordstrom has one rule: Use common sense. The corporate hires good folks, trusts their capability to handle buyer interactions and empowers them to make good customer-focused selections.
- Coaching: Coaching contains sharing examples of how different staff have solved issues and brought care of their clients. Legendary customer support tales (comparable to the story about an worker giving a refund for a used set of tires) showcase how Nordstrom treats its clients, which in flip conjures up and motivates staff. These tales emphasize how essential it’s to seek out methods to exceed clients’ expectations.
- Supporting Social Causes: Prospects favor manufacturers that assist the identical social causes they do. Extra than simply giving again to the group, Nordstrom additionally understands that embracing social accountability contains respecting various values and views and adapting to completely different cultures for each staff and clients.
- Expertise: You possibly can’t proceed to do enterprise such as you’ve all the time achieved. Nordstrom has proven that it could possibly adapt to the brand new methods of retail. Spector writes that Nordstrom has embraced know-how. Its philosophy is to attempt it. If it really works, nice. If not, transfer on. On the identical time, the corporate acknowledges that its popularity is tied to its legendary customer support. They’ve discovered methods to embrace e-commerce and adapt to the ever-changing wants of shoppers and the way they purchase. Spector says, “Balancing know-how with private connections and understanding the significance of human interactions is essential to making a differentiated and distinctive buyer expertise.”
- Embrace Transformation: Retail continues to evolve, and new iterations of Nordstrom show that the one fixed you possibly can rely on is change. But one factor that doesn’t change is Nordstrom’s theme of specializing in the shopper, whatever the adjustments it has made, which incorporates opening Nordstrom Rack, clearance shops and e-commerce.
The overarching theme to all of the concepts that Spector shares about Nordstrom is that, from the corporate’s very starting, they’ve acknowledged the facility of the connection they’ve with their clients. Delivering a stage of service that generally isn’t anticipated leads to a popularity that has saved them related for greater than a century. Spector sums this up by saying, “Finally, it’s about how selections positively influence the shopper, not simply the corporate.”
Picture Credit: Pexels
This text initially appeared on Forbes.com.
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