What is happening in an organization that cannot decide 'When you think of our store, you think of X'

What is happening in a store that cannot decide 'When you think of our store, you think of X'

Deciphering small business promotion in the AI era through observation techniques

I once asked a business owner this question.

'When a customer is asked by someone, "What kind of store is that?", what do you think they answer?'

The answer I got back was something like this.

'Well, we've been in the neighborhood for 40 years, we have produce, meat, and deli items, we do deliveries, we've recently started using social media, the manager is a local, and we have customers from all generations...'

The story didn't stop.

Of course, everything is true.
All of these are important features.
These are all things we want customers to know.

But there is a problem here.

It is that it is not an answer to the question, 'What kind of store is it?'

People hardly remember anything after listening to an explanation that lasts more than 20 seconds.

We have produce.
We have meat.
We have deli items.
We do deliveries.
We are community-based.
We are working hard on social media.
The staff is kind.

When listed like this, there is a lot of information.
However, it is difficult for a single image to remain in the customer's mind.

The problem is not how you speak.

The store itself has not yet been fully observed in 'a single word'.

Listing is not an answer

We have many products.
Our services are wide-ranging.
We have a long history.
The staff is good.
Our customer base is broad.
The location is not bad.

These are all facts about the store.
They are facts to be proud of.

However, a list of facts does not identify the store.

A list is an explanation of activities, saying 'our store does these things.'
On the other hand, words that remain in the customer's memory are images that say, 'our store is this kind of existence.'

These two things are different.

When customers introduce a shop to someone, they don't list every minor feature.

'That shop is a place that is X.'

They convey it in this one phrase.

Therefore, if the shop itself cannot perceive its own identity as a single image, customers cannot remember the shop as a single image either.

A shop that is not remembered is, for all intents and purposes, non-existent in the customer's life.

It is a harsh reality, but in the field of business, this is extremely significant.

The reason why 'When you think of our shop, think of X' doesn't come up

'If you had to describe our shop in one word, what would it be?'

There are not a few shops that cannot answer this question immediately.

And in such shops, there are usually multiple answers running in parallel within the organization.

The owner says 'quality.'
The manager says 'relationship with customers.'
The veteran staff says 'product knowledge.'
The young staff says 'shop atmosphere.'
The social media manager says 'approachability.'

None of them are wrong.

In fact, everyone is looking at the good points of the shop.
That is precisely why it is difficult.

The image of the shop that each person sees is genuine.
However, those images are not unified within the organization.

What is happening here is not a copywriting problem.
It is not a problem of sense for words either.
It is not a matter that can be solved if someone just writes a clever catchphrase.

The organization has not yet fully perceived itself as a single image.

This is the essence of the matter.

It is hardest to see the outline of your own shop

Observe the customers.
Observe the sales floor.
Observe the staff's movements.
Observe the competing shops.

These are still relatively easy observations.
Because the subject is outside of oneself.

If you look, you can see it to some extent.

However, the question of 'Who is my store?' is different.

You have to observe yourself.

This is where it gets difficult.

The more you stand in the store every day, the less you can distance yourself from it.
Precisely because you stock products, talk to customers, and look at the sales floor every day, you are too close to see the outline.

This is a phenomenon that is more likely to occur in stores that have been around for a long time.

If you ask a shopkeeper who has been in business for 40 years, 'What kind of store is yours?', a lot of memories will come out.
There are hardships.
There is emotional attachment.
There is a relationship with the community.
The faces of long-time customers also come to mind.

Therefore, it cannot be easily summarized in a single word.

That is not a bad thing.

Rather, it is proof of the accumulation of experience.
However, if that accumulation is not translated into a single phrase that is easy for customers to remember, the message will become blurred.

In the AI era, this problem has suddenly become more serious

Until a little while ago, even if 'What our store is known for' was vague, the store managed to get by.

This is because regular customers compensated for that ambiguity with their own experiences.

'That store, I've been going there for a long time, so I feel at ease.'
'It's fine because so-and-so is there.'
'If I go there, I'll find something.'
'We've been buying from there for a long time.'

This kind of supplementation through experience has functioned for a long time.

However, the situation has changed with the advent of the AI era, the SNS era, and the search era.

New customers first look at Google Maps.
They look at Instagram.
They read reviews.
They look at LINE messages.
In some cases, they also look at notes or websites.

What happens if the shopkeeper's words, the staff's words, SNS posts, POP displays, reviews, and Google Maps descriptions are all inconsistent?

New customers do not have the experience to fill in the gaps.

The ambiguity that regular customers understand is not clear to first-time visitors.
That is why the image does not come into focus.
If the image does not come into focus, it is less likely to be chosen.

In other words, the 'weakness in self-observation' that was previously hidden by relationships with regular customers is now surfacing at the entry point for new traffic in the AI era.

This is not a story about stores that do not put in the effort.
Rather, it happens more often in stores that have been in business for a long time.

There is much to be proud of.
There is much to say.
There is a history to convey.

That is why it cannot be narrowed down to one thing.

What changes when 'one phrase' is decided?

What changes when 'our store is known for XX' is decided?

It is not just about having a consistent catchphrase.

Staff customer service becomes consistent.
Instagram posts become consistent.
LINE messages become consistent.
In-store POP language becomes consistent.
Google Maps descriptions become consistent.
The store's philosophy written on note becomes consistent.

Even if the media is different, or the people are different, the image of the store in the customer's mind converges into one.

This is where the strength lies.

For example, suppose the core of the store is decided to be 'a store that makes choosing your daily meals a little easier'.

Then, on Instagram, you will start showing scenes of daily life.
On LINE, you will start delivering 'products that are easy to use for tonight's dinner'.
On POP, you will start providing decision-making criteria such as 'one more dish for dinner' or 'for tomorrow's lunch box'.
On Google Maps, you will start organizing photos and information that make first-time customers feel at ease.
On note, you will be able to write about why you are conveying the usage scenarios at the sales floor.

When the words are decided, the criteria for communication are decided.
When the criteria for communication are decided, the actions on the floor also become consistent.

In other words, 'our store is known for XX' is not just a decoration for sales promotion.

It is the axis of observation for the organization.

A question for self-observation

So, how should you create 'our store is known for XX'?

Even if you try to think of a catchphrase right away, it will not come easily.
What is needed first is self-observation.

The question is as follows.

What kind of store is ours?
What are customers actually coming here for?
If our store disappeared tomorrow, what would customers lose?
When do staff members feel the most sense of accomplishment?
What are the words customers say to us over and over again?
What makes us different from the same type of store in the next town over?
Where in our sales floor is the most 'us'?
Are we using the same language across SNS, LINE, POP displays, and customer service?

These questions are difficult to answer just by sitting at a desk.

You need to re-examine the shop floor.
You need to gather customer feedback.
You need to listen to what your staff has to say.
You need to observe the scenes that play out on the sales floor repeatedly.

After that, you condense it into a short phrase.

This task is more difficult than you might think.
It is even harder for veteran store owners.
The reason is that they are too close to it.

However, only stores that go through this process will be able to create strong messaging in the AI era.

What can be left to AI, and what cannot

AI can polish your writing.
It can also create images.
It can even generate Instagram posts, LINE messages, and POP display ideas.

This is truly convenient.

However, AI has not walked through your store.

Which products do customers get confused by?
In front of which shelf do they stop?
What words from which staff member put customers at ease?
What kind of lives do local customers lead?
Why has that store been in business for so long?

It does not know these things from the start.

Therefore, what is important in the AI era is not what you make the AI write, but what the store itself is observing first.

AI is good at giving shape to observed materials.
However, deciding what kind of store you are and what you value is a human job.

'When you think of our store, you think of X'

This phrase is not something you can create by dumping it all on AI.
It is a phrase that only emerges after the people inside the store re-observe their own accumulated experiences.

AI can spread that phrase.
But the people at the store are the ones who hold the core of that phrase.

In conclusion

In previous articles, I have written about observing customers, observing the sales floor, and organizing communication as a lead-in.

But there is one more level deeper, a subject that needs to be observed.

That is your own store.

Customers are watching.
They are watching the sales floor.
They are watching the staff's movements.
They are also watching the numbers.

So, when was the last time you observed your entire store as a single image?

The words you use on Instagram.
The words you use on LINE.
The words you use on in-store POP displays.
The photos you show on Google Maps.
The store's philosophy you write about on note.
The words your staff uses in customer service.

Do these all connect to the same image of the store?

If it looks like a different store on every medium, it is not a copywriting problem.
It is a sign that the organization's self-observation is not yet aligned.

Small and medium-sized store promotion in the AI era begins with aligning this.

And this is one of the last human tasks that AI cannot completely take over.

This is because the only ones who can truly observe an organization are the people within that organization who face customers every day.

The specific steps to achieve this are compiled in the currently available

'The Complete Guide to Sales Promotion for Small and Medium-Sized Stores in the AI Era'.

For those who want to try it out

[Limited Quantity] Providing the content of Chapter 0 of the Sales Promotion Guide Starter Kit via paid note

From the era of using AI to organize your messaging, to the era of using AI to connect your sales floor with your messaging.

The first step is not to make things look pretty, but to start by observing the front lines closely.

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