“The monthly subscription, regular updates, and support are major advantages [of RICS].” -Tami Butts, Tri-N-Run
To learn more about our services and support, click here. Educating Customers to Create Loyalty and Advocates Located in Rochester, NY, The Foot Performance Center was started by David Cardillo, offering pedorthic and orthotic services. As the practice expanded, he realized that he needed to sell footwear that would complement the treatment and services they were providing. Their mission has been to carry shoes that have a purpose. Their retail store started off with just shoes that came in many widths and provided the support their clients needed. The Foot Performance Center has since expanded their selection to accommodate clients with special foot needs, as well as more fashionable options that still serve the purpose of added comfort for clients. In both their practice and retail side of business, they pride themselves on educating their clients and spending time with them to find the perfect solution. As a result, they have a very loyal customer base who refers new business to their store and practice. Their employees have a lot of expertise which they are able to share with their customers. Their staff consists of ABC Board-certified pedorthists and orthotists, athletic trainers, orthotic lab technicians, and sales associates. Because they strive to create an educational in-store experience for their clients, they face the challenge of finding new employees who understand their business and can continue to offer high quality customer service. David remarks, “Our ‘professionals’ can’t see everyone. We have to have staff that can accommodate that. We strive to show a professional image and it’s more than just selling a shoe. It is about educating a consumer on what shoe size they should have, and finding something that truly fits their needs.” The Foot Performance Center has proven that taking the time to fit and talk a customer through the process definitely pays off. The way that they have staffed their store shows they have the right people in place to educate and share knowledge with anyone that walks through the door. They don’t just pick out a pair of shoes and sell them. They have seen the results of forming customer relationships and building trust, so that shoppers feel comfortable making purchases and coming back. Their business has been built on referrals, and those can be directly attributed to the experience customers have at The Foot Performance and the expertise and education they receive from the staff. To learn more about how The Foot Performance has benefited from RICS as their business continues to grow, click here. As the world’s first franchisor of athletic footwear, The Athlete’s Foot set itself up for franchise success early on. Started in 1971, The Athlete’s Foot opened its first store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was also able to call itself the first athletic footwear specialty store in the United States. After a large growth spurt, rather than abandon the franchise model and go corporate, they felt compelled to stay the course. “We really believe in franchising, we think it’s a great model of success,” says Jerry Slover, Head of Commercial Operations at The Athlete’s Foot. And because of that, they’ve embraced the entrepreneurial side of franchising, giving their business owners a model for running a successful store. After years of stores using various POS and Inventory Management software, The Athlete’s Foot decided to shift to one required system. They wanted to choose a partner that gave them the functionality they needed from the store level all the way up to the executive team. Choosing RICS gave them the best of both worlds. RICS offers a platform where decision makers have close proximity to the consumer and have the tools and resources they need to control things around their business. As for the executive level, RICS gives them the ability to make decisions on influencing purchasing, store assortment, and product planning. RICS also helps track the successes of how products are performing at retail and offers all the reporting functionality they need. Having a software solution that was easy to use for all levels of staff was important to The Athlete’s Foot. They knew that switching systems would be an adjustment for some of their store owners. But switching to RICS as their required software gave them a system that works for all levels and lends itself to manageable training. “Whether it’s our part-time staff using it, to the owners who are making local decisions, RICS has the functionality that works for all levels,” says Slover. RICS partnered with The Athlete’s Foot to ensure the transition to a required system went smoothly for their business owners. The Athlete’s Foot continues to be a strategic partner, enabling the RICS team to hear customer feedback and suggestions on a regular basis. See how our other clients have improved their businesses with RICS!