Best Seller: Svetlana Zhukovskaya, Tramps Club

Svetlana Zhukovskaya, director of one of the men's footwear shops “Tramples Club”, believes that, unlike women, men are more careful in choosing shoes. And she doesn't understand why so little attention is paid to men's assortment in stores. Meanwhile, men are a very interesting and grateful customer. Svetlana told Shoes Report about her attitude and tactics of behavior with male buyers.

- How come you came to trade?

“I got to the Bosky Club as a sales assistant as a fourth year student. At first it was an attractive opportunity to earn. And thanks to the convenient schedule, I could do this without harming my studies. By the way, my education is technical. At that time, the Bosky Club chain of stores was only gaining momentum, was on its feet, but already then an excellent team had formed. This prompted me to stay in the profession and in the company after graduation. As a result, I soon grew up to become a store director and today it is my responsibility to supervise the work of all stores in the network, help in the selection and training of personnel, merchandising, track marriage, plus documentation, communication with suppliers, and work in the hall.

- How much time per day do you spend in the gym?

“About three hours.” The rest of the time is occupied with sales analysis, communication with buyers and the network logistics department, marketing. Therefore, being in the hall does not allow time longer. Although I believe that the director should spend as much time as possible in him, and not sit in his office, analyzing contracts. In each shift, we have 2-3 sales assistant. This is usually enough. Nevertheless, sometimes situations happen when they need help. For example, this is work with problematic customers who require the attention of a director without reacting to sellers. In addition, I can’t leave the hall, leaving my regular customers, who I have had while working as a seller. In our network, the presence of regular customers who basically want to work only with you is an indicator of the level of professionalism. Accordingly, the more such clients you have, the higher your professional level.

- But professionalism is also the result of numerous trainings. Does your company have trainings?

- This moment is called certification with us. It takes place twice a year. We with the network manager prepare questions and test sellers for knowledge of the assortment, sales area, and simulate “buyer-seller” situations.

- How do sellers of the "Tramp Club" study the assortment? What or who helps them with this?

- The fact is that our work is structured in such a way that it is simply impossible to not know the assortment. We ourselves accept the goods, check them for quality, pairing. And daily tying shoelaces on shoes, elementary rearrangement of models from shelf to shelf makes you remember every shoe in great detail. In addition, we initially try to hire experienced sellers who have already worked for some time in other stores and who do not need to explain the basics of sales techniques.

- What attracts you to the "Tramp Club" format?

- To many, starting from the name. It is bright and unusual. And, of course, by the fact that this is work only with men. I would not want to sell something to women, because by my example I know how difficult it is. In addition, I love Italian shoes, and the assortment of the "Tramp Club" consists almost entirely of it. And it’s just nice to talk to smart, educated and polite people who are our customers.

- So you think that a man is a less problematic buyer than a woman?

- Yes, in my opinion, working with men is easier. Among them, for example, there are many of those who simply show the model, they, without measuring, buy it. But there are, of course, others who come to the store with their family, choose a pair for a long time, try on for a long time. In any case, you already know your customer, so you can imagine what he might like from the presented assortment. Most likely, this is the specificity of male purchasing behavior. Men love constancy, so they prefer to communicate with the same seller. They like it when nobody presses him and have the opportunity to freely and calmly choose. The home atmosphere of our stores is also at the disposal. Some of the buyers schedule business meetings at our store.

- Which customer do you most enjoy working with?

- For me, the ideal buyer is a man who has achieved his current position in society with his labor. This is a special type of customer. He is calm, polite, respectful, without unnecessary aplomb. As a rule, he chooses a model on his own, but we get to work when he asks for help. But this is an independent buyer who knows what he wants. Often the opposite happens: either the person does not clearly understand what kind of shoes he needs, or, having in mind one thing, he explains the other. For example, when by classics he means casual. You must be able to find an approach to everyone. And to those who are ready to accept your help, and to those who look down on you.

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- How, by the way, do you act in the latter case?

- We have a separate seller who is well able to find an approach to a difficult buyer. Perhaps somewhere you have to keep silent, somewhere listen to a person, giving him the opportunity to talk. As a result, trust relationships are established and he makes his choice based on your advice.

- What knowledge did you lack at the beginning of work in the store?

- Lack of knowledge of sales techniques, schemes of work with the buyer. Then, already in the process, I realized how to establish contact with the buyer, what to say and under what situations. But it is necessary to talk with him in order to understand who he is and, starting from this, to realize what is best to offer him. Therefore, if he talks about cars, you should support this topic. The topic of the crisis has been relevant for the past six months. All talk is only about him. Clients worry, ask how we are doing, name their terms and methods of getting out of the situation. To keep up the conversation, we specially read the latest news on a daily basis, leaf through automobile and business magazines.

- How much time do men spend in the store?

- It all depends on the person. It can be from 15 minutes to 3 hours. Some measure shoes on one foot, others approach this more carefully. They take a suit with them, dress up here and look at it with different models of shoes. It often happens that the buyer cannot make a choice and expects the seller to help him in this. It is also necessary to pay attention to this and, if necessary, prompt them. As a result, the buyer returns to the store next time. And some people like the new shoes so much that they even change the style of clothes for it.

Before the crisis, we often bought pairs in 5-6 for one visit, men prefer to solve all their problems with shoes at one time. And once, one of our customers bought immediately 17 pairs. Men today are even more fashionable than women. They are well versed in trends, they know, for example, that dark gray, mouse and metallic are relevant today. This season, for example, dark blue moccasins have become our bestseller. Men understand that shoes can demonstrate their status. Meanwhile, the choice of men's shoes is not so wide. "Tramp Club" is the only chain of stores in Moscow where only men's shoes are presented. Our range is about 500 pairs. Basically, these are Italian shoes from strict classical to sports and half-sports.

- How do you deal with a bad mood before going to the gym?

- We try to leave all the bad at home. At the same time, we support each other, if something is wrong with someone, we try to amuse the person, because we work in the same connection. Bad mood is unacceptable. This is immediately reflected in the sales level. Customers also feel the atmosphere and prefer to leave if they don't like it. But if a friendly atmosphere is created, then the customers themselves begin to talk to us. Sometimes they just come in to drink coffee and tell something. It depends on our actions in such cases whether the client will come to us next time. Therefore, they are tied to a particular store. Moreover, all the stores in the chain are different in terms of consumer audience. So, in one, the buyer is mixed, in the other - pathetic, in the third - a modest office employee, and so on, depending on the location of the store.

- How do you see your future career?

- Of course, I want to grow. I think that in the future there will be another person for the director’s position, and I can move to the office. But to be honest, I will miss communication with clients. It's like a drug. It is difficult to refuse it, so I would have worked longer as I do today.

For your information:

The Tramp Club is the only Moscow chain of a premium segment of shoe stores for men. Today the network includes six stores located on the main highways of Moscow. The assortment is wide, of the order of 500 models for all occasions.

The classic fashion trend is represented by Aldo Brue, Mario Bruni, Valentino, Enrico Bruno, Sergio Rossi, Roberto Rossi. At the forefront are Pakerson, Baldinini, Dino Bigioni, Doucal's, Barracuda, Roberto Botticelli