RBG Helps Retailer With $2B In Annual Sales Increase Ticket Sales by 20%

With stagnating growth from new customers, Cabela’s, a specialty products retailer with over $2B in annual sales asked Reality Based Group to design a solution to increase average ticket price. RBG provided them with an integrated suite of customer experience and merchandising solutions including video mystery shopping and consumer survey tools to determine areas in the sales process that could be improved.

+20% Increase in Average Ticket Sales

Finding a Breakdown

Using proprietary GameFilm technology and consumer survey tools, RBG’s mystery shoppers made visits to all company stores over a six-month period, targeting different employees and rating their customer service interactions. Over a six-month data collection and research period, RBG learned that employees were asking customers to purchase additional items only 20 percent of the time, well below the national average of 33 percent. And when employees did suggest additional items, they were not making effective pitches.

The Management Action Plan

RBG implemented a manager action plan with the retailer to improve customer service from the top leadership all the way down to the field level. The goal of the program was to provide a uniform way for leadership to communicate their intent with their employees, give them the necessary skills, and hold them accountable for their new behaviors.

The action plan involved a detailed report and video highlights of sales interactions so all managers could see first-hand where they were missing opportunities. The video also showed positive interactions that were used to develop company-wide training videos.

Over the next six-month period, all store managers were required to continuously meet and train employees using coaching programs designed by RBG. They constantly talked about up-selling, reviewed evaluation videos, and reported on progress. At the same time, RBG continuously sent mystery shoppers into each location to gauge the success of the action plan and to measure any levels of improvement.

The effects of the manager action were substantial and highly successful. Within six months, the retailer was able to gauge a 20% jump in the average ticket price. The research validated the increase as the employees were now asking for add-on sales over 54 percent of the time. With even more opportunity to increase average sales, the retailer is firmly positioned to grow revenues without significantly attracting new customers.