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Are Your Aisles Speaking To Your Customer?
By Linda Cahan
The atmospheric and sensory experience at your dealership is almost as important to customers as your inventory itself.
Out of curiosity, I typed my subject for this month’s column into ChatGPT. Within 1 minute, an entire column emerged and it was technically perfect. My heart plummeted, my ego shattered a little and I wondered why editors even hire writers at this point. As I read, I recognized ideas and sentences I’ve written over the years and realized that AI is spitting back what it gleaned from everyone who has ever written about RVs in books and magazines.
After a couple of days of debating my existence in the world of writing, I realized something profound: AI doesn’t experience anything. Zip. Nada. No emotions, no frustrations, no delights and no anger. I do — and often! When I walk into an RV dealership, I experience a vast amount of information as it floods my system. I immediately get a vibe about whether I want to shop the store or just walk out and go somewhere else.
A vibe sounds subjective, and much of it is, but a vibe is comprised of a lot of elements that aren’t just gut feelings. We aren’t consciously aware of everything that hits at once, but we simultaneously experience the light levels, the odors and the colors. While we are within seconds of figuring out where to walk in this new place, we are in limbo about whether this RV location will fulfill our needs.
This is a make-or-break moment for a lot of shoppers. If all the sensory elements are working in accord with one another and the aisle layouts and decorative elements make sense with the merchandise, a customer on a mission will look for their desired area to accomplish their task. Good signage and/or sight lines can make this easy. But if the customer is new to buying an RV (or other related merchandise), they may not know where to start other than wandering around the showroom and reading the signs.
People get jumpy when they are immediately hailed with a boisterous “hi, welcome in, let me know if you have any questions!” Sometimes a simple “hi” and a warm smile is all that is needed. Most people figure a salesperson is there to help them. That’s their purpose in the store.
The goal is not to script every word of the greeting; it’s to replace uncertainty with warm, natural and friendly communication. I went into a Pendleton store in Seattle years ago and the salesperson looked up from working on something and said “Hi, nice scarf.” I had planned to just look around, but I was seen and acknowledged. So instead, I looked a little longer and ended up buying a coat for $259. I would have felt like a dumb sucker if she then complimented the next person who walked in. But she didn’t, and her compliment felt genuine.
I walked into a RV store a few years ago, and there were two men at the main desk, both on their phones on what seemed to be business calls. Both were significantly younger than me, and neither looked up from their phones for even a second to acknowledge my existence. I stood there for 5 minutes in the hope of asking a question. I didn’t expect either of them to get off their calls, which seemed important, but I did expect someone to look up and smile, just so I’d know that I was noticed and should continue to wait.
They never looked up, and after they were both off their respective calls, they turned to each other to talk. While I was still standing there, 2 feet from their desks. It would be an understatement to say I felt really bad vibes. While all the visuals in the store were terrific, I felt like an unwanted intruder. Please instruct your employees to pleasantly acknowledge customers with a smile and body language that says, “I’ll be with you shortly.”
In all my columns over the years for RV PRO, I’ve gone into the basics of excellent presentation including good displays, attractive focal areas, clear signs, a comfortable place to sit, a pleasant scent, good lighting, fresh air (not stagnant) and an atmosphere that says, “Take your time. You belong here.”
Is the parts area easy to find? Do you have signage that has good contrast and is clearly visible from the front door? Is there a feeling of nature inside your showroom that gives the sense of what people are looking for while traveling? If not, add it! You can add wall murals that reflect nature and then put good fake trees in front of the mural that make the scene feel 3D.
I spoke with two internationally recognized experts in retail presentation about the indefinable vibe of a store. Each mentioned first how the RV store looks as well as what senses are engaged. Then, each veered into the “make or break” of a store experience.
Brian Dyches, CEO and founder of Ensemble, leads a global collective of over 250-architectural, engineering and interior professionals. His first thought was how “a complete design is the air that envelopes all of us. We see and experience everything all at once and the coordination of all the design elements need to work together to create an effective environment.”
His pet peeve is the ongoing “miss” in many RV stores — the lack of nature in the environment. Dyches said that if you don’t have a strong visual in the beginning of the customer “journey,” you’ve missed the opportunity to engage them. The sense of nature is a major part of the sensory journey. He compared the scent of pine trees to smelling a croissant — you forget how much butter is in it; you’re just reminded of the deliciousness of the experience. It goes to your cortex and stays in your memory of a deeply pleasant and taste-filled experience.
Scent deserves special attention because RV parts and accessories are in enclosed spaces. Fresh and neutral usually wins. Avoid strong air fresheners that can create suspicion about what they are covering up. A clean, natural-smelling environment says far more than a heavy fragrance ever will. There are all-natural pine scents that can replicate the real thing in a subtle way, not like the tree falling on your head.
Peter-Tolin Baker, co-owner of JP General shop in Portland, Oregon, and former global vice president of visual merchandising at Tiffany in New York City, summed it up perfectly. He talked about how the sound/music in the store has to match the customers’ preferences, not those of the sales associates; otherwise, it can be a “sound assault.” How the scents in the store must be fresh and appealing with no hint of mildew or too many chemical odors. And he reminds store owners and managers to make sure they walk into their stores through the front door, not the back. This way they can experience the customer journey and see what their customers are seeing from the front door to the back.
This is an excellent piece of advice as you stop seeing the store and showroom as your customers see it. You don’t smell what they smell because you’re used to it. It’s like going into a person’s home who has a male cat who has claimed his territory by spraying. The smell is awful, but that person may not notice it because they’re used to it.
Notice whether your entrance is inviting or chaotic. Are there messy areas, UPS parcels, old cardboard displays or merchandise on the floor rather than on a fixture? Is there a clear focal area that is interesting, fresh and, ideally, fun? Is there something that inspires people to look further?
Your customers will pick up on the small signals: clean displays, clear signs, a comfortable place to sit, a pleasant scent, good lighting and an atmosphere that says, “Take your time. You belong here.”
In the RV sales areas, give customers room to sit and talk. Create a comfortable seating area with chairs with arms so people of all abilities and ages can get up and down easily. Have a clean consultation table or an uncluttered desk. Neat and clean communicates respect. How you treat your surroundings reflects directly on the customer’s perception of how you will treat them in the future. Nobody wants to make a major purchase while balancing a brochure on their knee beside a printer, a pile of forms and an overflowing wastebasket.
“Vibe” may sound like a soft word for a business with hard numbers to hit, but it has real commercial consequences. People shopping for RVs are not simply buying a vehicle or a replacement hose. They are buying experiences: fun weekends, family traditions, road trips and independence with a better view. The environment around the sale should support that emotional purchase. Simply, they want to leave your dealership feeling good. That vibe lasts!
Linda Cahan is the president of Portland, Oregon-based Cahan & Co., a consulting firm that works with retailers of all sizes and categories to improve their bottom line through affordable and appropriate visual merchandising, store design and renovations. For more information, visit lindacahan.com.
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