Boutique managment

Boutique  management:

            There are two types of people in the boutique, the buyer  (customer) and the seller (owner). To sell any thing in the boutique successfully the sales man should have to study the exact Psychology of the customer. The salesman should know the study the nature of each customer and change his marketing skills accordingly. The salesman should always keep in mind that customer is the Boss and Boss is always right.

Study of customers Psychology: - After seeing the facial expression of the customer the salesman should understand his nature, weather he is angry or calm, simple or cunning, weather he likes to be praised or he likes silence. Salesman should also understand the financial status of the customer and show him what he could afford .He should try to understand the exact need of the customer. The customer should always feel satisfied with what he purchased then only he may come to you for the next time. Always tell the customer that the outfit he has purchased is one of your best designs he will definitely feel satisfied.

Location of Boutique:

The site for boutique is main problem to be considered. It must suit ones proposed capacity. It may be big one or small, but it should be necessarily be attractive, modern type with preplanning. Financial status of the residents is also considered while choosing such place in the following manner:

Rich people and industrial capitalist: - If we have to select place in the above locality, their requirements will be high standard, high quality, i.e. of materials and of modern varieties (up to date fashion) .So the goods must be of selective production and good standard.

Middle class People (Industrial laborers, office going gentry, businessmen): - For this locality the materials must be of medium type and fashion as to suit their profession and pocket.

Low class people:( workers): - The requirement of these people will be only of bare necessities and with less expense.

 Besides this some more points are also to be considered: -

This site of the shop should be selected in the bazaar whether the people often come for shopping and as far as possible it must be in corner where the two streets meet each other.

It must be in the ground floor, as far as possible, otherwise the display of articles at least may be arranged on the ground floor and other departments may be settled on first floor

Appearance of the shop must be suitable to the goods class of workers etc.

It must have proper lighting arrangement and ventilation.

It must suit the circumstances (residents, their tastes, fashion, professions in which they are engaged)

Shop Fitting

The first impression of the customer of the customer entirely rests upon the arrangement of display and neatness of outlet of the business though it may be merely a tailoring shop or a posh boutique. It must be pre planned with furniture fittings and proper light arrangement etc. Because of these precautions, not only impress upon the customers but also create such psychological effects and impressions, which automatically turns into creation of good will towards the firm.

The furniture should be so arranged that after displaying the articles they should draw the customer’s attention as if they are going round an exhibition. While selecting the furniture one should bear in mind that they should not be too costly or most part of the capital will be locked up. Furniture to be selected should be of such type that they are useful for particular displays. By this the designer can arrange more articles in a small place too. It must be considered that the furniture should be comfortable not too much space consuming and also not too costly, because the money invested in furniture is a dead investment. Designer can save this money for creating new designs, which will increase the number of designs in the shop and give more returns. There should be a proper trial room with good mirror and light arrangement. The customer should feel very comfortable with the atmosphere of the shop.

Other accessories required for Window display are: -

            Different types of hangers, wooden pieces, steel rings dummy stands, modern style sitting arrangements, trial room equipments, cashier, s counters salesman ‘s equipments.

Lighting Arrangement: - Light men’s attraction and this is one of the most important items among the necessities in the progress and prosperity of any business. It must be so arranged that the customers can see the articles in a glace and with no strain their eyes. Lightning arrangement must be attractive and natural. Imagine yourself walking along the main road in a pleasant, comfortable time, especially at evening after your business! In short a great share of attraction to the shop lies upon proper lightning arrangement. For this purpose various types of modern fixtures are available in the market. The most suitable among them should be selected for workrooms sign board, window displays etc.

Window dressing: - From the point of view of prosperity of business, Different ways and means are adopted to attract the customers. Windows display is one of the best methods for a dress making business. This is one of the effective weapons by which an establishment not only attracts the public but it also speaks of the art created. Dressmaking is not a routine affair. It is considered to be the most important item inevitable and essential in present world. Window display is one of the advertising media and a popular one too. The place for such display can be arranged in the bazaar, city side or on a railway station where the people crowd too often, so that their attention is drawn easily towards the object under display.

           

There are five golden rules which apply to all business and which every young man should make it a point to remember and act upon,

1 To put down all orders in writing: - all detail of style, pocket s, buttons and other items should be gone into very carefully with the customer at the time of giving the orders. All requests must be recorded in the order book whilst the customer is in the shop. It is unwise to trust the memory.

To compute profit on the selling price and not on the costs of the article

To credit all income into bank and draw cheques for all disbursements.

To take stock of things, at least once a year.

Bare in mind that customer is always right.

Maintenance of permanent Measurement records:- For this purpose , a designer maintains an order book, in which he notes down the order with Nos., date of order, customers name and address, measurements special instructions if any, date for trial, date of delivery etc. By this garments  could  be  prepared order wise and the date of trial / delivery could be kept promptly.

Granting of credit facilities with discrimination: -

This of course is one of the methods of increasing business, but a great care has to be taken while adopting this method, without wrecking the main business, the following precautions must be taken (to remind them to pay the depth without paining them) while granting credit-

1)                  Financial position and profession of the customers must be considered and accordingly the credit allowed

2)                  It is worthwhile to have the signature of the customers to whom the credit is allowed. It is unwise to trust memory.

3)                  If the customer is not quiet acquainted we should not rely upon the signature of him, but it is worthwhile to have a witness while giving credit and his signature also is necessary. Full address to the customer will be useful in such cases.

Promptitude in giving trials and deliveries: - A designer no doubt maintains an order book, but may a times he may fail to keep up his promise because of not finishing the orders accordingly. To avoid this a chart containing order nos., date of trial, date of trial is to be placed before the cutter. The promptness in giving trial and delivery enhances reputation and attracts new customers. If the designer secures any new order in the meantime, he must consider fully while accepting this. Otherwise he must emerge an extra person for such urgent jobs for ensuring that regular orders are not disturbed. In this way the work should be systematically carried out.

Salesmanship: - The prosperity and progress of entire business depends upon the salesman. He is the most prominent figure of the shop. Every salesman should be extremely particular about his personal appearance in order to create a good impression. He must also cultivate a pleasing manner. A salesman is not engaged merely to see and sell goods, but also to sale services and to do this successfully he should know much about the technique of trade and be able to speak from first hand knowledge. He should keep entire knowledge of the costumes right from the material used to the price as customer can ask any type of questions. There are some necessary features of his qualifications.  He should make it a rule that when a sale is completed, he has something else at hand to show his customer, so that further interest is aroused and possibly further orders are secured. It is well to remember that weather he will remain a customer or remove his patronage depends entirely upon reception he gets and upon the manner in which his complaints are dealt with. The salesman should have a full knowledge of materials, current fashions and the characteristics of those material and trimmings to equip them with the ability to guide the choice of their prospective clients. While recommending fashions to customers, the salesman must consider his financial position, body built, complexion, profession, environment age, seasonal requirements, customers likings, their convenience, colors effect on emotions etc. Nowadays salesgirls are mostly kept, as girls are very calm, softly spoken and attractive. Salesgirls wearing short clothes can attract any customer towards her and boost the sale if she has the skill to convince the customer

Advertisement: - In any business, weather big or small advertisement for its progress is the must. There are many different ways of advertisements right from pamphlets distribution to advertisement on televisions. Always keep in mind that the media of advertisement should be according to the business. Never do a false advertisement, as people may not trust you next time. Due to proper advertisement the sale of the garments may rise and thus increase the profit

There are many types of advertisement   for boutique

1 Local Advertisements: - Advertisements near to the boutique are called local advertisements. This helps to attract attention of the customers towards the boutique. E.g. attractive name of the shop, neon signboard, large picture of a model near the door, Attractive decoration on the display window, decoration outside the boutique.

2 Regular and permanent advertisements: - Advertisements which are done regularly e.g. hand bills, posters, hoardings, newspaper advertisements, mobile advertisements, calendars, television advertisements, radio advertisement etc

2                    Occasional advertisements: - Advertisements during a specific ovation e.g. Diwali sale, Anniversary sale, Fashion shows, fashion exhibition, birthday or diwali greetings to the clients.

Help of advertising agencies: - The designer may be best in designing but may be equally bad in advertising. So for doing advertisements proper advertisement agencies should be consulted. This procedure may be little expensive but will surely be fruitful.

Selection of workers: - salesman, cutter and workers systematically carry out Boutique management. These parties must be co-operative otherwise the firm may loose future business and ultimately collapse. Mainly the workers must work with full mind

The following precautions should be taken while selecting workers:

1 Workers are to be selected according to the place of establishment, the extent of the production field and quality of work.

2 workers must be of good moral character

2                    Workers must be selected according to the merit in skill and proficiency in particular work.

3                    They must be experienced, hard working and disciplinary.

4                    They must be punctual.

5                    They must be duty bound

Allocation: - While allocating work properly among the workers the above points should be thought out before hand.

E.g. If a person is mastered in making shirt, he must be given shirts. By this time could be saved and the standard of a particular garment is maintained. This will be helpful for keeping up the date of delivery and thus contribute to the prosperity of business.

Maintenance of discipline: - It is said that the tendencies of workers are not disciplinary these days, i.e. they do not work sincerely with full mind. To get wholehearted co-operation from the workers the management should get the workers wholehearted support. It is management’s duty to look to them with sympathy and treat them as if they are its own people. The proprietor should behave with them in such a manner that they will have respect for him and think it as their pious duty to extend co-operation. He should allocate work equally to all, He must find out the reasons of indisiplinary behavior and try to remove their grievances. By this automatically, they will carry out the work with utmost zeal and bring the shop on progressive path.

Check on outputs of workers: - The proper allocation of work is helpful to ensure the employees continued service at the tailoring establishment. It is duty of the supervisors to check weather the work is properly and equally allocated to all. He is the person having more responsibilities. He should get the work done by the workers by his friendly behavior. He must maintain discipline among the workers. While doing this job, he must consider the following points:

1)                  Weather the work is allocated equally and properly to all

2)                   Weather the work is being done properly or not.

3)                  Weather the customer’s gets their clothes in time.

4)                  Observing of the comfort and discomfort of workers

5)                  Check the production of workers i.e. whether it is made properly or not; so that the mistakes are set right before handling over the finished material to the customers

Besides these, he must keep a check on the sales department

Relation of output to wages; waives of workers depend upon the method of production (whether it is prepared by project method or by single-hand method), miscellaneous expenses, labor, time quality of work, experience of workers, allocation of work etc.

Welfare of Employees: - The progress and the prosperity of business, and in short the entire future of the business, rests in the hands of employees. To ensure continued service from them, the manager or the salesman must look to their welfare. He must treat them as if they are his own people. He must be sympathetically, full of love, good whishes and mercy. All these characteristics are helpful to gain the workers mind. They must arrange accommodation for them (to reside) near the shop if possible. Even the practice of annual medical check up for the workers could be introduced to keep their health. He must behave with them in such a way that the management will have full respect of the employees. The employees may be facilited by arranging some annual functions on important days like diwali, new year day etc. they should be granted leave in their illness and that too with pay they may be paid liberally for their work, considering the cost of living.

Selling Price: - While deciding the maximum retail price of the costumes one has to keep in mind the cost price of the raw materials used for manufacturing the outfit. Add to it transportation, rental or maintenance of the boutique, electricity charges, employees salary, advertisement applicable taxes, market standards, interest to be paid if money invested is been taken on loan and miscellaneous expenses. Add to it a profit margin. But keep in mind the buying potential of the customer you are targeting.

            e.g.-  Basic cost of manufacturing a hipster is  $ 2,  advertisement,  transportation , boutique maintenance  per piece add upto another  $ 1, Generally profit margin is minimum 33.33 % of the total manufacturing cost, but it can be increased or decreased according to the status of the customer you are approaching and  value of your brand in the market.  So the M.R.P. should be $ 4 or more.