The water has been up to my lips a few times, even over it a few times. I continued, because you don't say 'no' to a customer, do you? Until my heart got overloaded. I came to the conclusion that I no longer wanted that full agenda with all the associated stress. But how? The answer took a while to arrive until the moment…

“Dear Pieter van Vollenhoven, my wife bought your Yamaha grand piano but was very disappointed when she realized that the purchase turned out to be in her dream. Question: do you have a Yamaha grand piano and is it for sale?” 

“If you're really worthless at something, you lack the skills you need to know that you're absolutely worthless at it. People who have no idea what they are doing actually do not realize that they have no idea what they are doing.” (Quote from a speech by John Cleese)

'Seventy-two euros and eighty' echoes Hans from behind the counter. The words find their way through the stacks of cigar boxes to the farthest corner of his shop. There is the ATM and Ivar is sitting there, chatting with me, both in a soft leather armchair.

"Okay, okay, now I'm going for a walk with you" I say to Mies the dog. I close the laptop, put on my hiking boots and lock the door behind me. Suddenly my hands start to tingle and it feels strange on my chest. The cold sweat breaks out on me. Definitely ate something wrong, it will pass. I walk quietly.

Limit reached. "I'm stopping giving my 'Closer to your customer' seminars because I don't want to participate in the dichotomy in society due to the introduction of the corona pass. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated people are welcome at my place. It doesn't feel right to have to shut out or 'force' people to get tested or vaccinated. That doesn't fit my outlook on life.

When I look at the corona developments, I don't think it will be long before customers can only enter shops on presentation of a valid corona pass. Millions of unvaccinated people are left out, resulting in a sharp drop in the number of shop visits, with all the financial consequences that entails. Entrepreneurs, don't worry. With a little guts and creativity you will make more sales than ever before.

"Okay, okay, now I'm going for a walk with you" I say to Mies the dog. I close the laptop, put on my hiking boots and lock the door behind me. Suddenly my hands start to tingle and it feels strange on my chest. The cold sweat breaks out on me. Definitely ate something wrong, it will pass. I walk quietly.

Last fourteen days I was a guest on Curaçao, invited by Building Depot to give my seminar 'Serka di bo kliente', 'Closer to your customer'. A wonderful opportunity to visit the shops in Willemstad. I was impressed by the cordiality, but most sellers didn't get much further than 'bon dia, can I help you'. I lacked the spirit to get to know me as a customer and to make me happy with a purchase. Everyone wants to be seen and heard, worldwide. My mission was clear, my task specific. So I started working at Building Depot. 

It has been brooding for a while, but the egg has hatched. It was love at first sight. On Hymer eXsis SG, the motorhome, my savior. SG helps me escape from 2G, that 'virus' that spreads faster than the corona itself.

“What does it take for entrepreneurs to be successful in the rapidly changing world of customer contact, and how am I going to help them with that?” I asked myself those two questions last year after the majority of my training courses and seminars were moved in one fell swoop to 2021 due to the corona measures. Suddenly I had extra time. I decided to do what I advise entrepreneurs to do in times of crisis. ‘Stand still, think ahead, do what you are good at and do it differently!

As a 'King of the Road' I am proudly behind the wheel of my freshly bought empty camper, the Hymer eXsis. On the way to Obelink in Winterswijk, specialist in camping & outdoor, the largest offer in Europe, 72,500 square meters of camping pleasure. Enough stuff to fill the eXsis well, I'll send an hour for that.

There is much to be gained from the group of viewing customers. Despite the fact that they have indicated that they want to look around, a large part of them wants to be helped. Many sellers don't know enough about how to reach that group and how to make contact with it.

“Good morning, what can I do for you?” asks the saleswoman after Mies barely steps over the threshold of the pet store with four legs, with me following. "Good morning" I answer while Mies enthusiastically jumps on those wonderfully scented bones. “Do you have a small harness for this sweet girl?” I ask the saleswoman. "Yeah, they're hanging there on the right." 

You want a company where the bell rings every day as soon as your people have scored a new customer. That they see work not as work but as themselves. Where they can be who they are, feel at home, laugh with each other, create, develop personally, connect, coordinate, build bridges and achieve results.

I am sitting in the garden and in a flash I see something bump into the window of my study. It was this little messenger. He descended like a tipsy helicopter and fell in front of the sliding door. His breast rose and fell quickly, his beady eyes looked at me for a moment.

Our society is changing. People are becoming more and more aware, looking for the quality of life and are concerned with questions such as, “Who am I?” and “Why do I do the things I do?” The resulting values ​​such as happiness, health , trust and personal growth are at odds with the current economic values ​​of financial return, efficiency and effectiveness. They no longer cover what people want now. Retail is changing with it.

That annoying gut feeling when your company makes a change. Tension, uncertainty and the necessary group dynamics surrounding the change process. For many people reasons for not wanting or not daring to make the change.

It's almost midnight. I am shocked, suddenly I realize that I have not arranged a hotel. Where should I sleep now? I grab my mobile, my eye falls on Hotel Hogerhuys in Noordwijk aan Zee. Unfortunately, to be reached until 23:00. shit! I try anyway. I hear a voice, someone picks up.

Treat your employees the way you want them to treat customers! That gives a boost to the positivity in your company. Ask yourself every day: 'How many employees have I made happy today?' Don't you have any employees? Then think about every customer you help: 'how would I like to be helped?', and reward yourself with the thought 'I did that well.' 

I see my district manager storming into the store with a grumpy face, bullies past me without saying a word, flickers his attaché case on the counter and yells, "Who do you think you are! Such a young lad who is just starting out, just to hire 8 extra people just like that!' I hear disgust and see a grin, one of 'how are you going to get out of this friend.' He waits.

As a new football coach, I step into the locker room. The boys are slouching over the benches and looking at me expectantly. "Guys, this is your first game. I have an assignment: you go into the field as an animal. What kind of animal do you want to be?” 

'Would you like those delicious crunchy nuts with that delicious beer?' People chuckle, I open my eyes. 'We have more,' he tips enthusiastically. The purser beams and shines down the aisle. The plane shakes. “Oops, speed bumps,” he jokes cheerfully. The passengers enjoy themselves, he continues imperturbably. "Did you bring sunscreen?" he says with a laugh to an elderly lady as he playfully taps her on the shoulder. 

By increasing the pressure on results, a lot of profit is lost! A contrary effect. That's what my last LinkedIn post was about, maybe you've read it. Many entrepreneurs asked me the question 'but how to make more profit?' This blog is the answer to that question. 

It is getting busier with investors on the Retail highway. A displacement market where not the maximum speed limit determines the norms and values, but the free space, where only the strongest survive. It is the investors who are after results and therefore increase the pressure on the managements by setting increasingly higher requirements. Under-performing means dismissal. "For you ten others." There is one goal: more profit!

Are their stores and brands in the Netherlands that belong to the real top? I do not think so! For me, a store is a top store when customers are pampered in such a way that they get homesick for that store. For me, top brands are those that customers feel most strongly connected with, identify with, and adjust their lifestyle. 

Selling is like driving a car, an interplay between shifting gears, coupling, looking, directing, braking and accelerating, depending on the situation. You learn this interplay by practicing a lot, so that the meeting with your customer becomes an increasingly fitting and flowing whole without the feeling that you are selling.

You pull out all the stops to make customers happy, to inform and to convince. Yet you often hear them say 'I'll look further'. Recognizable? Find the benefit for your customer and the product will sell itself.

Millions of euros have been invested in shop fitting, marketing, collection, and yet they did not make it. How is that possible? Hudson's Bay has not invested enough in the golden key to success: people. Too few staff and too busy with peripheral matters instead of focusing on making customers happy. The classic mistake, what a shame!

Meet and see your customer by looking deeper. Connect and laugh with your heart, even when you have a nice meeting. Be curious about the other, without prejudice. That affects your customer, and that affects you. The law of reciprocity. You get back what you give, and a full cash drawer.  

Last week I visited car companies, looking for a new car. Before I had the courage to start my hunt, I orientated myself on the Internet. With a clear picture in mind, I shuddered as I visited several showrooms, afraid of aggressive salesmen who would jump right in the neck to push that 'fantastic car' down my throat as quickly as possible. 

The 'clean up' within retail has started. At the moment we are talking about a doubling of the number of bankruptcies compared to 2018. We still have more than 8 months to go, which is promising. Why retail chains fail? The answer is simple.

As a customer you put money and energy into shopping, you want something in return. Personal attention, because you don't get that on the Internet. We as customers want to be heard and seen instead of feeling rejected. Sellers want that too, just like us. You can read in the next paragraph how you manage to leave the store with a good feeling and a successful purchase.

One evening I enter the hardware store, looking for bulbs. It is quiet and soon I am standing in front of the lamp compartment. Sigh: empty shelves. This may not be the intention, perhaps an error in the ordering system? I approach a seller, greet him and ask if there is a reason for the empty shelves. The young man looks at me somewhat irritated and says: That's not my department, sir. 

Just at the right time, the cordial saleswoman treats me with a broad smile. Her happy blue eyes touch my soul, what a feast! "I'm looking for a combi microwave," I tell her. After a few short questions, she enthusiastically opens the lid of some models and starts talking.

Are you one of those retailers who complain about the success of online competitors? Be honest, you've just been sleeping! 

'That fat red one doesn't buy anything' or 'that sleazy tall one doesn't fit in with our clientele.' But we don't know prejudices. While entrepreneurs do their best to meet the needs of the market, a large group of customers shuffles dissatisfied between the meshes of the marketing net.

Customers don't want to be king, they don't want a salesperson to bend over backwards. Customers want to be seduced. Not by smell, color, price and advertising, but by people. Fun, excitement, adventure and play, that's what they want. The feeling of love. However, often people themselves do not know that they have this desire: it is taboo to say that you want to be seduced and prefer to walk around in love all day without knowing why and with whom. 

Something special is going on in the Netherlands. Not in The Hague, but in shops, because that's where it happens. Shops are becoming increasingly socially involved, reaching more people and getting closer to their customers. For many people, shops are important places. They go there every day in the millions, to meet, organically and casually. The influence that shops have on our society is greater than generally thought!

Virtually all store salespeople make the same classic mistake every day that results in a lot of lost sales. They are too hasty and too focused on the products and sales! 

Coolblue is a wonderful example of how smart technology is used to monitor and analyze customer needs and then respond to them with smart algorithms (calculations). In addition, various up- and cross-selling programs are running in the background. It is almost unfair for us as brick and mortar sellers to have to compete with these powerful formulas that 'know everything' about the customer and can analyze him or her from head to toe, at least, the internet behavior.

Geez, last weekend I was shopping at the Jumbo Supermarkets in Ommen with a friend, when the following happened.

Curious, I enter the store. What will I encounter? It is quiet. The back door is open, a cool stream of air mixes with me through the warm room. Nobody there. I stand still, listen. "Good afternoon," says a voice, close to me. I'm scared to see no one.

One moment he is walking with his backpack across the shopping square on his way home from school, the next he is on the podium of the Stichting Ondernemersfonds Lelystad Centrum. How did that happen?

In this article I will tell you how you can achieve a significant increase in turnover without costs. I take a shoe store as an example and assume that you are able to make the translation to your company yourself. The method costs you nothing and is very simple. All you have to do is be enthusiastic, dare to ask questions and do some math.

Fear of losing, fear of making mistakes. That is the emotion that runs as a common thread through many retail companies, especially at many chain stores. Their business organizations are built from this fear. Systems, functions, working methods, everything revolves around control, because 'all heads must be pointing in the same direction, right?' The question is 'Why should that be?' 

I looked at her stomach for a moment. “Congratulations,” I heard myself say to the friendly-looking customer who entered my shop. She turned to me in a flash, looked at me fiercely, and walked right up to me. Suddenly there was no sign of that kindness anymore. Evil eyes peered through me. There was silence for a few seconds, it seemed like minutes. “With what?” she asked sharply. I felt the mood linger and tried to swallow my words, without success. “Well…with your pregnancy,” I said falteringly. "I'm not pregnant," she said menacingly and took a step closer. Suddenly, laughing, I put my hand on her shoulder, looked straight into her eyes, and offered my heartfelt apologies for my misjudgment. A smile appeared on her face, "apologies accepted." phew! 

An empowered organization, the ideal picture. Everyone works from the same 'belief', encourages and coaches each other on the 'what' and the 'how'. One big happy family, beautiful! But is that really the case?

They are the spider in the web of almost every (medium) large company and manage the strength of the organization: people! 

.. by taking them seriously, listening to them, in between the words. To hear what they don't say but want. Customers want to be packed by salespeople who understand their trade. That's what they come to the shops for, just that little bit more. Adventure and play, that's what sales are.

Athletes measure their efforts to know whether they have made progress. That gives a kick. Working in retail is also a sport. What do you think, are retailers just as fanatical about measuring their work effort as they are about their sporting effort?