Brands have modernised their stores, websites and marketing, but most haven't looked hard at what happens when a customer walks through the door.

Ryan (Founder - Remarkable Digital) talks with Bethany, founder of Known Studios, who helps fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands like Aje Athletica, Accent Group, Assembly Label, Shona Joy, Nude Lucy and Viktoria & Woods improve their customer experience and store teams.

Bethany explains the "stalemate" in retail right now: staff are so scared of being pushy that they say nothing, and customers are so wary of being sold to that they shut everyone down.

She shares why "How are you today?" needs to go, why she treats customers like dinner guests, and why ATV and UPT matter more to store teams than budget.

Plus, why one great training day isn't enough, and the app she's building to help training stick.

In this episode

• Pre-chat: getting clearer on her niche after five years, and a new app for embedding training
• What Known Studios does, and the brands Bethany works with
• Why Bethany started Known: sitting through outdated training and knowing it wouldn't work in her own store
• The omnichannel gap: beautiful brand copy online, then no greeting in store. You often learn more from a website in 30 seconds than from a store visit
• Why in-store conversion is so much higher than online, and why staff need to back up the marketing
• Bethany's first retail job in the BI-LO deli at 14 and nine months, and choosing fashion over psychology (she now combines both)
• Ryan's first retail experience at 30, learning from Craig Gaspar at Sports Fever in Perth
• What brings brands to Known: usually a drop in the numbers, a blanket spending ban, or keeping up with competitors
• Why e-commerce brands opening physical stores are often getting training right
• Head office vs the shop floor: why Bethany always spends a day or two in stores before writing training, and takes head office's view "with a grain of salt"
• Regional managers stuck in meetings for 70% of the day, and why reports aren't gospel
• Ryan's shout-outs to Ed at Ralph Lauren Chadstone and Mel at Orlebar Brown
• The retail stalemate: staff too scared of being pushy to approach, customers too guarded to engage
• Why "How are you today?" and "Are you happy just browsing?" should go
• The dinner guest approach: welcome them, give them a moment, then come back
• Why the second approach is where most retail falls down
• The "why to try or buy": giving customers a reason to bother with the change room in a Melbourne winter
• Curious conversation starters: around 50 ways to start a conversation that have nothing to do with product
• ATV and UPT: the most controllable metrics for store teams, and what they reveal that revenue hides
• Hitting budget by not talking about budget for six weeks, and celebrating a $2 lift in average spend
• Inside Jobs: sending Bethany into underperforming or overlooked stores to model behaviour on the floor
• Showing beats telling: why people retain only around 15% of what they're told
• Looking beyond sales: visual merchandising, wage percentage, rostering, store standards and product knowledge
• No bad conference sandwiches, Times New Roman or stapled booklets: why training materials should look like the brand
• The Viktoria & Woods process: a bespoke customer framework, printed learning journals, a national leaders' day in Melbourne, then embedding
• Why embedding is the hardest part (it's like toilet training a puppy)
• The Known app: bespoke frameworks, live observation tools, training videos and incentives, linked to store results
• The Breakfast Club at Pacific Fair (GPT Group): open-brand training sessions every three months
• What store teams say: lots of "what", never any "how", and all the attention going to the top store
• Why consistent weekly recognition beats a pizza night or a good Christmas party
• A shout-out to mutual clients Erin and Chris at Clean Beauty Market
• How to get in touch with Bethany