At every Uniqlo worldwide, store associates are trained to repeat six phrases they are expected to use while on the selling floor. And every morning before each store opens, associates -- called "advisers" - practice the phrases.
According to a profile of the Japanese apparel chain in New
York Magazine,
advisers at its New York Soho store were told one morning to pair off and repeat
these six phrases after a store manager:
- "Hello, my name is Uniqlo, how are you today?"
- "Did you find everything you were looking for?"
- "Let me know if you need anything. My name is Uniqlo."
- "Thank you for waiting."
- "Did you find everything you were looking for?"
- "Good-bye, we hope to see you again soon."
Each customer is expected to hear at least four of these phrases while shopping at the location. (Associates substitute their own name for 'Uniqlo.') The second and fifth are repeated because they are required both on the floor and at checkout.
Associates are also urged to return charge cards to customers "Japanese style" -- two hands and full eye contact. And the act of smiling is particularly stressed. Said Lauren Venatucci, a manager in the Soho store's women's department, to New York Magazine. "We tell advisers that you have to smile until you feel like you're crazy."
The article explored the secrets
behind Uniqlo's success worldwide that included a 30 percent comparable-store
gain last year by its parent, Fast Retailing. The Soho loacation, opened in
2006, is its most profitable store worldwide and its only in North America.
More U.S. expansion is promised.
Offering stylish basics at affordable prices was seen as the cornerstone of its success. But much of the credit was given to its motivated sales staff. Advisers are continually pushed to exceed goals for sales volume posted in the employee break room and called out at those inspirational morning meetings.
Advisors are also given strict limits for how long it takes to fold clothes and complete transactions at the cash register, as well as rigid guidelines on how to fold clothes.
But a large part of the article focused on the quirky, largely-immeasurable "Behaviors," or the ways associates are trained to interact with shoppers epitomized by the "six phrases."
"All companies have rules and guidebooks," said general manager Kristi Brink, the store's general manager who used to manage at Home Depot and Sports Authority. "But Uniqlo is on another level entirely. There's just a sense of urgency about everything in this place."
Discussion Questions: What do you think of Uniqlo's store associate training techniques and the "six phrases?" Can and should other stores replicate such motivational training techniques and morning sessions?