The first thing that really draws me to Susan is her honesty and ability to speak on her company and the risks she had to take in order to get to where she is now.
There are several initiatives that ModCloth is taking to position themselves at the top, but the two that really stand out are the idea of engaging the customer and the company's overall online presence. These two initiatives actually go hand-in-hand in the success of the company.
When talking about engaging the customer, several other smaller initiatives come into play. Such initiatives for instance include, involving the customer in naming the apparel pieces. Features such as this, really enhances ModCloth as a company, and molds them into much more. ModCloth is a retailer and retail community rather than just a retailer. ModCloth has really bitten off the platform and approach of blogging in this sense, because they openly invite feedback and opinion. Susan also talks about how the apparel names are much more important than just a name. She says the names are important because they give the pieces character and which helps to tell a story. The names of apparel pieces not only stand out because they are "cool", but because the names are unique to ModCloth and ModCloth only. These unique names not only allow for the customer to identify with the product, but make it easy for the customer to google search the product itself. This strategy itself is just brilliant.
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| "Our Pittsburgh office recently welcomed Carnegie Science Center’s “Tour Your Future”program, which gives tech-minded teens a behind-the-scenes look at careers related to math, science, and computers. Through Carnegie’s Girls, Math & Science Partnership, girls aged 11 to 17 visited our Pittsburgh office to get a rundown on how tech plus fashion can equal an awesome career." |
Susan also talks about the growing platforms of the ModCloth blog and the "behind the scenes" page. These features again tie back to the concept of connecting with the customer, and providing the customer with a genuine online fashion community. This is what makes ModCloth so special. Customers feel they are a part of a fashion community, rather than feeling they are just visiting another retail site. This connection really draws in lifelong and loyal customers.
The second company initiative that really stuck out to me was the growing focus on online presence. From the site itself, to Twitter and Facebook, Susan really touches on the importance of how to manage those individual social media platforms. Susan talks about special promotions she will offer on the ModCloth Twitter page, along with promotional competitions featuring independent bloggers. Susan speaks on the matter of how to effectively run a Twitter page, and how it significantly represents the company itself. It's important she says, not to overload the followers. Twitter is not just about spatting out several tweets in one minute, but to be smart and strategic in those tweets. Bombarding your follower's news feeds with "empty" tweets only creates a negative perception on the company. In talking about social media approach and how to be strategic, she talks about potentially starting new twitter handles for her company. Such separate Twitter handles would include potentially, "ModCloth Happenings". Creating these separate Twitter pages allows the customer to follow the particular pages they are interested in and what they want to connect with. This strategy, thus, eliminates the factor of over crowding people's news feeds, and gives the customer the ability to choose what they want to see.
The top two qualities that make Susan a great leader is her ability to relate to the customer, and her overall long-term vision for her company.
What allows Susan to relate to the customer so well? Well, I was able to identify this quality during Susan's presentation, as she talked about the customer as "she". Just this language alone, shows that she identifies with the customer as a particular individual rather than just a customer or "audience". In addition, ModCloth is designed wholly on the idea of allowing the customer to interact with company itself. With this approach, Susan really encourages the customer to part take in the buying process: "Customers have a voice in what the company does". She proves that she values the customer's opinion, and she empowers the customer to be involved in the fashion industry: "Everyone should have a chance to participate in the fashion industry". Susan talks about who she envisions as her target customer. Susan talks about this in terms of: "What she's like", "She appreciates vintage clothing", "What are her interests"... etc. In order to identify with the customer it's not only important to identify with who she is, but what she likes, and what her hobbies are, etc. With this approach, Susan takes this customer connection to a much deeper and more intimate level. This approach shows that Susan cares, and that she strives to get to know who "she" the customer is. This detail alone makes Susan a successful leader and business owner.
The second quality that makes Susan a strong leader is her ability to view her business and company in a long term frame. When talking about her company's customer connections, she talks about the notion of "customer lifetime value". She doesn't care to make that quick initial sale, but rather she wants to make long term connections with each individual girl: "We are not thinking about that one sale". She talks about this topic towards the middle of presentation, and she focuses on the idea of the "trust factor". When presenting the apparel online she wants to portray the images in the most realistic way so that the customers know they can trust the site. Again, this relates back to the idea of the "customer lifetime value". She cares to make longterm relationships and connections through the integrity of her company, rather than focusing on the single and quick sales.
AB
fashion etc.
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