Have you heard the one about the kid in the phone store?

This is not Kelly's child. This is my child. Trapped on an airplane just like Kelly was trapped in a Telstra store. Not happy. You get the picture.

 If only it were a joke. Well, it was a joke, but not a funny one.

I'm talking about my business partner and fellow working mum Kelly who had to spend 40 minutes in a phone store recently with her 2 year old in tow.

Kelly was in there for around 40 minutes while the staff member went about bundling her telephonic services. The two staff members glared at her when her child began playing up after the first half hour. There was nothing to occupy him (except the same old stuff mum carried along in her handbag which, in toddler eyes, was sooooo boring), he had exhausted her snack supplies and the staff showed absolutely no interest in helping her by providing, say, a pen and piece of paper, or an old mobile phone out of the recycling bin or, well, ANYTHING.

And Kelly was trapped. They had gone so far in the bundling process with it's interminable form filling and whatnot, that to leave would mean coming back again for another stressful session. As it was, the staff member forgot a crucial element in the process and Kelly was called back the following week for another 40 minute session in the store. The frustration levels for everyone concerned (staff, customer, child) were ridiculously and unnecessarily high.

Could she have gone to the store without her child? Possibly. But on the days when he is in childcare, Kelly works. Domestic matters like shopping and paying bills and bundling your telecommunications have to happen when you're not at work. Which means taking a toddler with you.

The banks get it. Our client Westpac was the first bank to put in a dedicated play solution. Now most of the banks are doing it in one way or another. They know that over 85% of parents do their shopping with their children and they want to make the banking experience easy and pleasant for those parents. A parent whose child is safely occupied is also more likely to stay longer in the bank and is open to discussions about home loans or financial planning. And what a wonderful customer service initiative!

It's time for the telco stores to follow suit. The research is undeniable. Customers with children prefer to shop in a store where their child is welcome, where their child is safely occupied, where they can conduct their business without stress or glaring looks from staff.

Considering the vast sums the telcos spend on store fitouts, including a compact play solution is a relatively minor investment.

Including a half hour session into the next staff training day on how family friendly customer service practices can help generate additional sales would be of enormous benefit, not only to the customers, but to the staff who would be well-armed with a tool-kit of techniques and much more confident the next time they are faced with a cranky toddler.

Not to mention the store's bottom line. A customer with a contented child is more open to cross-selling and up-selling opportunities.

So come on telcos. What are you waiting for?

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au 

How to turn your Parent's Room from 'Blah' to 'Ooh La La'

Calling all shopping centre managers!

The time has come to say goodbye to the cold tiled walls, worn old chairs and threadbare curtains of your parent's rooms and hello to stylish, well-provisioned, modern rooms that will provide a warm and welcoming environment for weary parents to take a breather from all that shopping.

In many cases, you don't need a huge budget to make a few changes to your parents rooms. However, the investment you do make, can have a terrific impact on your centre.

The aim is to keep parents at the centre, spending money and keeping your retail tenants happy. If your parent's rooms are unwelcoming, smelly or lack the functionality parents have come to expect, they will simply go home.

So how do you go about revamping your parent's rooms with a little va va voom?

The first step is a visit to your centre. If your centre is not in Sydney, we can either provide you with a quote to come to you for the day, or we can work together using photos and videos that you provide to us.

Next we prepare a detailed, fully costed proposal for you, including a Vision Board so you can get a feel for how the room will work with colour schemes, play equipment and furnishings. Here's a sample:



Finally, we organise to have everything delivered to you, and in the case of flooring and murals, installed too. Everything else is easily fitted and/or installed by your maintenance crew. We can also make colour and surfacing recommendations on any structural work such as painting or cabinet-making for you to specify to your preferred contractors.

Easy peasy!

After 10 years in the business, we are in the best position to understand the specific needs of parent's room and how important it is for features to be durable and as theft-proof as possible!

Contact me to discuss your requirements. We will prepare a fully costed proposal to match your budget. Tel: (02) 9984 0769  Email: michelle@childfriendly.com.au

I look forward to helping you create a fabulous space!

PS. Check out our parent's room 'Before' and 'After' pics here . . .

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au 

How an awful stay in Sydney Children's Hospital gave us a great business idea & a way of giving back

Our little man Jack in Sydney Children's Hospital with Dad - On the mend & inspiring mummy's business

Back in 2005 when our son Jack was only 22 months old, he tried to walk across the living room floor and fell over. Then he vomited. A day later we rushed a limp and very sick toddler to the local emergency ward where he was quickly transferred to the neurological team at Sydney Children's Hospital.

And so began an awful week that culminated with a 6 day stay at Sydney Children's Hospital while Jack battled a double dose of meningitis and encephalitis.

Fortunately he made a 100% recovery and, as little children often do, bounced back quite quickly. But even though he was sitting up in his hospital cot reading books and watching videos after a few days, we needed to stay in hospital until he was completely stabilised.

During the long days of play punctuated by many naps, my business partner Anne came and sat with me and we got quite a lot of planning work done for the business. On our way back from the cafe one lunch time, we walked through reception and stopped to look at the enormous board that listed the hospital's many sponsors, both corporate and local businesses.

Back on the ward, we walked past a room with a big sink, a massive pile of toys and a nurse up to her elbows in suds, washing all the toys by hand. She grimaced. Keeping the toys on the ward clean and germ-free was all part of the job.

We looked at each other and the idea hit us - the Play Panels would be perfect for hospital wards where they could be spray cleaned every day with minimal effort from the nurses, and wouldn't become lost or stolen. And instead of the hospitals paying for them, we could ask businesses to sponsor the Play Panels, adding a branded badge to each Play Panel so that the sponsors could get a little bit of advertising exposure in return.

Eight years later, we have over 120 Play Panels in 12 hospitals around Australia, sponsored by corporates such as Westfield, Huggies and Children's Panadol, and by many small local businesses such as gyms, osteopaths, pharmacies, cafes, photographers, even a web designer!

This was the first Play Panel we put into the Emergency Department of Sydney Children's Hospital in 2005. That little girl had just vomited and I think you can tell by my face that I was willing the photographer to hurry before the next bout!

So if you're a hospital and you'd like to be part of the program, or you have a business and would like to become a sponsor, we'd love to hear from you.

As a sponsor you are able to brand the Play Panel with your corporate logo, website or message so you’re not only doing something great for the kids, you’re also able to gain valuable brand reinforcement for your business.

It's a win-win-win situation for the hospital, the kids and your business.

You can learn more about the whole program by clicking here. Or call us and we'll happily talk you through it.

Kelly is your go-to gal on this project, so reach her on (02) 9984 0769 or kelly@childfriendly.com.au. We'd love to have you on board.

Child Friendly Solutions Hospital Sponsorship Program Details

PS. Jack recovered beautifully and is now a robust, rugby-wrangling, piano-playing ten year old!

Jack after his hospital stay

Jack our star rugby winger

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au 

Could you be a Child Friendly Solutions Distributor?

One of the key drivers of our success over the last ten years has been to share the sales effort with our fabulous distributors and agents.

We have distributors who sell our acclaimed Play Panel and Play Centres in the medical, child care & shop fitting industries but we also have a number of great agents who prefer to sell our products online.

Of course, we are always looking for new distributors and agents to sell our play products. With the majority of our sales now coming via the internet, you don't even need a warehouse to stock our product. If you make the sale, we'll ship the goods direct to your customers and pay you a commission on the sale.

If this is something you'd like to learn more about, call me or send me an email and I'll be happy to send you some more detailed information including pricing and our generous commission structure.

We'd love to have you on board!

Michelle

0411 865 184

michelle@childfriendly.com.au

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au 

Parents Room Makeover - Eastland Goes Whimsical

Everyone loves a good makeover, especially with Before & After pictures to tell the story, and our Parents Room Makeovers are no exception.

When Eastland Shopping Centre in Victoria approached us last year, they gave us a brief that was a little different to any we'd had before. They wanted to incorporate a full wall mural with an In The Night Garden theme and design the whole parent's room around it.

Well, fortunately we love a challenge! The trick was to make sure the room felt stylish and comfortable, as well as having that gorgeous sense of fun.

BEFORE . . . cold, clinical, a typical parent's room

AFTER . . . neutral shades for floor, fittings & furniture makes the mural pop out in all it's whimsy!

You can see more Before and After pics of other parent's rooms on our website.

What could we do with the parent's rooms in your shopping centre?

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au 

Child Friendly Is Off To The Show!

No, not THAT show. The other show. The Retail Expo & Conference!

It's been four years since we last exhibited at Retail Expo and I must admit, I'm really looking forward to it.

What's not to love about an Expo? You get to speak in person to your suppliers (something that is becoming rarer in the age of the tweet!), check out all the fabulous new products and services for your industry, listen to some inspiring presentations that are sure to inject some serious motivation into your business, and eat the Minties and Fantales off other people's stands (because other people's lolly bowls are always so much better than your own!)

So where is all this motivation and lolly-eating going down? At the Sydney Convention Centre in Darling Harbour from 24-26 September. We will be at Stand B13 with our excellent range of play equipment specifically designed for retail stores.

So if you've been thinking about what you can do to keep customers with children in your store so they will actually have the opportunity of buying something from your store, come down to see us, say hello, and look over our wall mounted play panels and other clever ideas for keeping children entertained.

(And also? We'll have Tim Tams!)

See you there :)

Esprit - a great example of a retailer who knows how to keep their customers in store spending.

Medical Waiting Room Play Areas - Dos and Don'ts

Calling all medical practices and hospitals! It's time to ban the box of one-armed Barbie dolls and sad looking teddies.

You know how important it is to create a safe, hygienic area for children in your practice waiting area. However you may not be aware that it is a requirement of the RACGP Standards for General Practice that your practice waiting area caters for the specific needs of children.*

You might also not be aware that the toys in your waiting area could be making children a tad more 'germy' than they already are. Back in 2004, we sent off a couple of toys from a medical waiting room to a lab for testing. The results were just a tiny bit scary with staphylococci and dangerous coliforms found on all toys, one of which was of a strain resistant to antibiotics. Eeeek! 
(If you're a details-person, you can read the full report here.)

So do you still have a box of wonky plastic blocks, dog-eared books and broken Buzz Lightyears in your practice but are not sure how to create a safe, hygienic play area for children?

Our company has helped hospitals such as Sydney Children’s, Westmead, RNSH, as well as over 300 medical practices around Australia to create safe, hygienic, tidy play areas so we’ve seen it all!

Below are some ideas you can implement in your practice to ensure that you’re not only providing a ‘best practice’ play area in your waiting room, but also conforming to accreditation standards.

DO:

• Provide play equipment that conforms to Australian Standards
• Ensure the play equipment is of durable, commercial quality so it doesn’t break within a week or two
• Install play equipment that is self-contained & firmly fixed to avoid choking or tripping hazards

DON’T:

• Bring in toys from home – they are not safe or durable
• Provide toys that your reception staff need to constantly tidy – it’s an unproductive use of their time
• Provide toys that can’t be cleaned easily and daily – too long between cleans is a cross-infection risk

And of course, you know where to go for Australia's best supply of waiting-room-friendly play equipment. Child Friendly Solutions of course! (as if you had to ask :))

* Criterion 5.1.1 Practice Facilities, Indicator H. RACGP Standards for General Practice 4^th Edition, Oct 2010, pg 101.

Image courtesy of brittanaslove
Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au 

Small Business Tips - Selling, Cold Calling & Other Unsavoury Tasks

Ah . . . if only cold calling was this easy!

I hate cold calling. Doesn't everyone? Well, almost everyone. There is that rare breed of career salesperson who just loves getting on the phone. They don't mind the rejection because they see every 'no' as a step closer to a 'yes'.

I am not that person. I don't like it. Not one little bit. I'd rather staple my hand to the desk than pick up that phone.

But then I didn't like getting up in the middle of cold winter nights to feed my baby either but guess what? I did it. Because that baby depended on me for sustenance.

Well, Child Friendly Solutions has been my other 'baby' for over 10 years and, like any small business, it needs sustenance too and the thing that feeds it is sales.

Fortunately our business is now in a position where it can survive on internet sales. We have become the most skilled order takers on the planet. But do we want to just survive? No. We want to grow this business. It needs to feed two families! Pressure much?

When we first started the business, my original business partner was our sales guru. She was that rare breed I mentioned above, able to pick up a phone and make a sales appointment without breaking a sweat. (Or finding forty other VERY IMPORTANT THINGS that needed doing before picking up the phone, like me, Mrs Procrastinator!)

But our core business is built on those original sales to all of those lovely corporate clients and hundreds of small business customers. And if we want to continue to grow, we need to continue to pick up the phone.

Would you like the good news now?

It's not as hard as you think. Here's my trick. When you call that perfectly nice stranger who probably has zero tolerance for pushy sales people and zero time to waste, don't sell to them.

That's it. Don't. Sell. 

Instead, your objective is to get them agree to receive some information. Believe me, they will be so happy that you're not trying to 'sell' to them, they will happily hand over their email address and quite possibly their first born.

That's when you get creative. By all means, send them information by email. But if you don't hear back, follow up with a physical mailer. Everyone loves receiving something in the mail, especially with a handwritten envelope which they are more likely to open. We sometimes pop in something fun like a bag of snakes they can share around the office or a chocolate egg if it's Easter.

The other critical step is to stay in touch with that customer every 90 days or less, whether it be by phone call, email, snail mail or social media. Send them an article, let them know about an industry event, retweet one of their tweets, but just stay in touch. This will ensure that when they're ready to buy, you'll be front of mind and not a distant memory.

The guru on the 90 day technique is Wendy Evans. Her book, How To Get New Business In 90 Days & Keep It Forever, is the most dog-eared, highlighted, scribbled-on business book in my library.

Now I'm the first to admit, this stuff is hard to get going on and difficult to sustain. So were those midnight feeds! But if the result is a sustainable business with a strong sale pipeline and regular revenue, it's worth it.

And now that my real baby is growing into a toddler, it really is time I started taking my own advice and start feeding my business baby again.

Hello telephone old friend . . . . 

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au

8 Reasons You Need This Speaker At Your Retail Conference

Well it's that time of year when all you retailers out there are planning your annual conferences. 

What band will you dance the night away to at the gala dinner? Will you serve kool mints or minties during workshop sessions? And perhaps more importantly, who will be in your speaker line up?

The latest retail trend being embraced by Australian retailers such as Westpac, Big W and Esprit is Family Friendly Retailing. So what is it and why are these major retailers implementing Family Friendly practices in their retail environments?

Michelle Barraclough is Australia's leading expert on Family Friendly Retailing. With over 10 years helping major Australian retailers such as K-Mart, Myer, NIB, Westfield and Esprit to attract and retain customers who shop with children, she has a wealth of knowledge to impart to retail audiences on this important trend.

So what will your audience of experienced conference-goers learn that they've never learned before?

1. The 4 benefits of becoming a Family Friendly retailer:
   - increasing sales
   - improving customer service
   - attracting & retaining customers
   - reducing stock damage
   
2. Examples from major Australian retailers who have become family friendly including Esprit, Toyota, Westfield, Sydney Airport and more
    
3. How any retailer, large or small, can become family friendly
    
4. What works & what definitely doesn’t
    
5. How to create a family friendly environment that is safe & won’t impose on store design or space
    
6. How to use a child friendly space as a visual merchandise opportunity
    
7. Your legal and OH&S responsibilities regarding children in store
    
8. Tips for training staff on how to deal with children (and their parents!) in store, including how to turn browsers into buyers.

In other words, your audience will get a swag of ideas they can take back to their stores and implement immediately, as well as loads of inspiration from the case studies on retailers who are already incorporating family friendly practices in their stores.

Here's what happy clients said about Michelle's presentations:

"Michelle's presentation was excellent. She was able to capture the attention of all participants and they came away from the session revitalised and inspired"
ENS International

"Michelle, you were a really popular speaker and received the highest evaluation across all the two days of sessions I believe. Every respondent rated you as Excellent (84%) or Very Good (16%), which is a real testament to the useful, practical content of your message and your ability to get the information across in an informative and engaging manner."
Barbara Sullivan, Director, Import Export Show

So what are you waiting for? Call me to book Michelle or to find out more about Michelle's unique presentation.

 You can phone me on (02) 9984 0769 or email me at kelly@childfriendly.com.au.

Kelly

Kee Bee Play Panels

Here at Child Friendly Solutions we are always on the lookout for new products for our discerning clients.

But we have to be fairly rigorous in deciding which products fit the bill. Every product we offer must be:

• Commercial quality
• Durable
• Conform to Australian Standards
• Make us go "ooh aah"

The Kee Bee Play Panels from Canada fit the bill and we're pleased to announce that we've added the Kee Bee line to our range.

We like Kee Bee products because they are a little bit different from our own Play Panels and will suit unsupervised environments. They are fabricated from solid wood products and finished with conversion enamel coatings for durability and ease of maintenance.

So without further ado, meet some of the fabulous Kee Bee modular wall mounted play panels.

Monster Blocks - Flip the blocks to create funny looking monsters

Space Trek - move the space balls through wormhole tracks seeking planetary destinations

Robot Factory - turn different sized gears to see how cause and effect works

Lady Bug Lane - rotate this Roundabout maze to help the bugs find their way home

You purchase each Play Panel as an individual module, or put them altogether into a super-duper wall system like this one:

You can find the full range of Kee Bee products here or contact Kelly at our office to have a chat about what's possible on (02) 9984 0769 or kelly@childfriendly.com.au

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au

Play Panel Gets A Makeover

So the thing about creating one of Australia's most popular commercial play products is that it's . . . y'know . . . popular. And when I say popular, I mean popular in the way that a t-bone steak is popular in the lion enclosure at the zoo. Extremely.

Because the users of our Play Panels are generally under the age of six and, boy oh boy, they are one tough crowd. They kick, lick and climb that Play Panel. They twist, bang and thump it. They are made to be tough and durable, sure, and it's just as well.

Some of our Play Panels have been in client's stores, such as Westpac, Koorong and Esprit, coming up to 6 years which is an amazing life cycle given how much wear and tear they've sustained. But some of them are starting to look a little, shall we say, tired and in need of a little makeover.

To that end, we've introduced two initiatives to make the Play Panel even more durable and ensure our clients get the best life possible from their purchase. 

Stronger Poles

If you have a Play Panel, you'll know all about the kids who try to climb the poles. They are not meant to be climbed, but try telling a 3 year old boy that those 3 poles are NOT the rungs of a ladder! Yes, we failed to put a 3 year old boy on our product advisory committee. Our mistake.

But what all those small, climbing people out there have told us through their actions over the years, is that the poles need to be stronger so that they don't pop out or break.

So that's what we've done. Made 'em tougher than a steak cooked by my nanna. Take that 3 year old boys of the world! 

Proper Printing

When little nails go round and round the phone dial, or the panels are in a moist environment like a swim school, the paper backing behind the dial and the clock and gears can deteriorate over time.

We've now silk printed all graphics directly onto the plastic so they can't be scratched, torn, licked or rubbed off, no matter how hard a child jabs them with a piece of lego! 

How To Upgrade Your Panel

If you have a Play Panel that is in need of some TLC, you can order these new parts starting from $11.50 per part.

The good news is that the dial and all the poles can all be replaced. The bad news is that the clock and gears panels are impossible to remove and replace without destroying the panel. But the other good news is that you can replace your entire Play Panel with a brand new one and we'll give all repeat customers a 10% discount until Feb 29 to do so.

If you'd like new parts or a whole spanking brand new Play Panel using this special discount, please call Kelly on (02) 9984 0769 or email kelly@childfriendly.com.au.

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au

Hello 2012, we have great expectations of you

Francesca's new year's 'hope' is to give Mummy some time to work (yeah right!)

Hello, hi, happy new year!

We had a lovely break over here at Child Friendly Solutions HQ. Since we're based on Sydney's gorgeous northern beaches we don't really need to go anywhere. Beaches, cafes, galleries, markets - it's all here. Apart from a brief pre-Christmas sojourn to Melbourne, I holidayed at home, riding my new bike (an unexpected gift from the family), reading three nail-biting novels on my new e-reader, admiring the Lego work of 8 year old Jack and teaching Francesca to play with the sand, not eat it. Lovely!

We've also made some important New Year's Resolutions (well, let's just call them New Year's Hopes shall we?!)

First up, we're going to be blogging more often this year. Last year, both Kelly and I were wrangling new babies which, as adorable as they are, led to a SLIGHT downturn in productivity. Ahem. We kept up with customer orders and admin, but all the extra stuff like blogging took a backseat to feeding, changing, washing, playing, wiping up lots of mashed banana and scraping squashed sultanas off leather sofas!

So this year, now that the babies are perfectly behaved, well adjusted toddlers able to entertain themselves for hours on end (???), we will be bringing you more news and new products, helpful information and special offers.

We'll also be sharing more about our business. After all, we've been selling these simple little Play Panels for 10 years now and we're still going strong. In fact, I've been speaking to audiences about some of our successes in exporting, marketing and social media, as we've learnt a thing or two about running a small business over the years. If we can share something that helps your business, then that will make us happy!

We're also committed to improving our products and our range, to ensure that our customers are getting safe, strong, durable products that will withstand anything a Ribena-fuelled toddler can throw at them!

Stand by for a great special offer on Play Panels in February. And if you have any feedback about our website, blog or products, we'd love to hear from you.

Meanwhile, would you like to 'Like' us on Facebook? Just click here . . .

Have a wonderful 2012 everyone. My final 'hope' is that your New Year's Hopes become a reality too.

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au

Retailers - How To Turn Christmas Crowds Into Lovely Sales

Last year, retail guru Debra Templar was freaking everyone out on Twitter by saying how many days there were till Christmas. So she's not doing it this year because her followers were whining. They didn't want to know.

What?!

People, if you're in retail, you NEED to know. For most retailers, this is the biggest revenue period of the year and when that ticking clock winds down to midnight Christmas Eve, your opportunity to make full-priced sales is gone.

So Debra, I say bring back the ticking clock! We can handle the fear! Give us an incentive to go out today, all guns blazing, and bring in those precious sales.

Only 40 days till Christmas? Send out a catalogue.

25 days till Christmas? Put a pop-up stall at the other end of your shopping centre.

10 days till Christmas? Invite your best customers for some champagne night shopping.

And of course, now is the time to make sure you have something in store to occupy children because the mums and dads are going to knock you over in their rush to get their Christmas shopping done with kids in tow and you want them to buy from you, not your competitors down the road who are keeping the kids busy while mum and dad spend.

My article How Retailers Can Increase Christmas Sales in 3 Days will give you some great ideas on how to turn those mum and dad browsers into buyers so grab a cuppa and spend ten minutes planning how you will implement your 3 day strategy to increase sales.

Because guess what?

There are only 38 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!

Happy retailing :)


Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au

Image courtesy of chattamom.chattablogs.com

Hello New Website

Well we're all very excited over here at Child Friendly Solutions HQ as we launch our gorgeous new website this week.

We've added some new products to the range, including the bObles activity animals which are perfect for waiting room and child care environments. They will also funk up a retail space beautifully!

So do come over and check out the new site. I like it so much I want to take it out for a drink AND dinner. It must be love!

Come by and say hello at www.childfriendly.com.au. Don't forget to LIKE us on our little Facebook button on the home page. That's if you like us of course (which I hope you will - we're nice!)

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au

Groovy New Play Equipment & Kids Furniture

Do you want to give your store or waiting room a lift? Do you? I mean, really dish up an awesome customer service experience with a cherry on top?

Then you have got to check out this gorgeous new play furniture from Denmark. And get this - it's furniture that doubles up as play equipment! I know! Amazing!

Check out the Elephant . . .

Which, when turned over, doubles up as a cool rocker . . .

And the crocodile steps which can be used as balancing beams . . .























And how about this table and chairs set . . .

that doubles up as stepping stones . . .

 and a tunnel!

So how do you order? Just click here for pricing and here for an order form. Or do it the old fashioned way and call us on 02 9984 0769.

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au

How Retailers Can Increase Christmas Sales in 3 Days

There are many ways to increase your retail sales over the long term. A fancy new fitout, implementing a customer loyalty plan or designing a new product strategy.

But Christmas is less than 8 weeks away and there's no time. Meanwhile, there are plenty of hungry competitors looking to attract the same customers as you in the next few weeks in the race for the Christmas dollar.

So what can you do today to make sure those lovely Christmas dollars end up in your till?

The answer is to become a magnet for the 85% of women who shop with their children in tow and become a child friendly retailer.

Christmas is around the corner. These women not only want to spend, they need to spend and they need to do it efficiently and soon. Yet our research shows that 91% of them end up spending nothing because they are unable to make a purchase due to distractions from their children.

Not only that, but 93% of them said they would prefer to visit a store that provided a safe play product to occupy children. Guess where those customers are shopping? In stores that make it easier for them, providing a child friendly retail experience that minimizes distractions and maximizes their ability to spend.

So what are you doing to attract these customers into your store? If the answer is "nothing" then let me tell you how you can implement a fast strategy this week to get these women through your door and spending in your store.

Day 1 - The Play Solution

Firstly, you need to install a safe play solution somewhere in your store. It doesn't have to be large, expensive or take up too much valuable floor space. Wall mounted play panels that can be affixed to a column or in a change room are a great idea, as are smaller play maze tables that can be stored in a corner and pulled out when needed.

Forget about bringing in a few old toys from home or the local two dollar shop. They are generally not made for commercial use, are unsafe, unhygienic and a liability waiting to happen.

The most important considerations are safety and durability so go for a commercial quality play solution that has been approved by Australian Standards, such as those found at Child Friendly Solutions.

Day 2 - Train Your Staff

Many retail staffers have no idea how to approach a shopper with children in tow, perhaps because they have very little experience with children or because they think they won’t get a sale from those customers. Unfortunately this means parents can sometimes feel ignored or unwelcome.

When retail staff flip their thinking and look at these customers with new eyes, a whole new sales channel will open up.

Spend half an hour today teaching your staff these few easy tips for handling customers with children.


a. Greeting
A friendly greeting to both parent and child goes a long way towards creating a favourable first impression with the parent and doesn’t take much effort.

When you or your staff greet a child, get down to their level and say hi with a big smile, without getting too close. Children respond to a smile but shy away or get upset if you get “in their face”.

b. Use the play solution as a sales tool
Having a safe play solution in-store gives your sales team the opportunity to open a dialogue with the customer whilst simultaneously offering a greatly appreciated customer service. A good introduction might be:

“Hello, how are you. I just want to let you know we have a play panel over here which the children may like to play with while you browse.”

This is a great example of how to turn a browser into a buyer. Without the play solution, that opportunity wouldn’t exist.

A play solution keeps the parent in the store and we all know the longer a customer stays in the store, the more likely they are to make a purchase.

c. Change room antics
If the parent is trying something on, ensure the child is in the change room with him or her. Whilst it is not advisable to offer to look after the child whilst mum or dad is changing, let the parent know that you’ll cover the exits, just in case there’s an escape attempt! It’ll give them peace of mind just knowing you’re keeping an eye out.

Day 3 - Spread The Word

Now that you have a child friendly strategy in place, you need to let your customers know all about it. Here are several ways of doing that:

a. Do you have an email database of customers that you correspond with? Here’s a great reason to get in touch with them. Let all your customers know your store is now child friendly and what they can expect. Trust me, when a parent knows they will be able to shop in your store knowing their child is going to be occupied by something (anything!), they will flock to your door.

b. Put up a sign in the window telling passers-by that the store is 'child friendly'.

c. Include the 'child friendly' message in your advertising. None of your competitors will be promoting that angle, but parents will listen and respond positively to the message.

d. Contact your local paper and see if they'll run a story on the benefits of shopping at a 'child friendly retailer'. Most local papers are starving for content and welcome submissions, especially if they're daily. You can include the benefits to parents and even include a couple of quotes from satisfied customers. Feel free to use the statistics I've listed above from our research. You can find the report here.

e. Are you utilising social media? Twitter, Facebook and Blogging are all great ways of communicating with your customers so don't forget to spread the word via all that newfangled technology. You can even upload a short video of some kids playing in your store - set it to music with a couple of happy mums looking on and some crazy staff dance moves and you never know, it could go viral! Here are some great resources:

• Social Media - Australian Business Women's Network (blokes welcome too!)
• Facebook - Web Chameleon
• Twitter - Chris Brogan
• Blogging - Problogger (this man, Darren Rowse, is the god of blogging! I strongly recommend signing up for his newsletter)

So there you have it. Only 3 days to increased sales with minimum expense and time input. The edge you gain might just transform your retail revenues from good to great this Christmas! 

Please drop by and let me know how you go. I'd love to hear what you implemented and how successful it was.

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au

Image courtesy of thenewspaperworks.com.au

How a business owner's good intentions nearly ended in tragedy

I get asked a lot about why we started Child Friendly Solutions and how we came up with the idea of a safe, space-efficient, durable Play Panel to occupy children in stores and waiting rooms.

It was actually my former business partner who spotted the market need but the story about how she did that could have ended, not in a successful business, but in tragedy.

Back in 1998, she took her 2 year old daughter shopping with her. A thoughtful store owner had supplied a box of toys for children to play with so that mothers could browse in peace for a few minutes.

In theory, this is a great idea and one we have based our entire business on for the last 10 years. Keeping children safely occupied in a store allows parents to browse and increase the likelihood of a sale.

The problem was that the play solution the store owner had come up had one critical ingredient missing. It was not safe. The box of toys contained all sorts of bits and pieces, including some very small blocks which the 2 year old girl promptly put in her mouth and began choking on.

The tiny piece of plastic lodged in her throat and, in the end, had to be removed by a doctor in the emergency department. Fortunately, the story had a happy ending, but I think we can all imagine an alternative outcome.

As a parent, this story sends shivers down my spine. As a business owner, whether of a store or a medical practice, it should send shivers down yours too.

Under Australian law, business owners are responsible for the safety of visitors to their premises. So even if an injury occurs to a child on your premises that wasn't your fault, the liability rests with you, the owner of the business. Scary, but true.

To finish the story, not only did young Kayla survive the incident and has now become a gorgeous teenager, but it prompted her mother to come up with a design for a play solution that was not only safe, but met the other requirements of business owners as well. It had to:

• Conform to Australian Standards
• Not take up too much (if any!) valuable floor space
• Be easy to clean and maintain
• Be extremely durable to withstand the daily onslaught of small, but terrifyingly tough, children.

She came up with the brilliant design of the Play Panel - the signature product of Child Friendly Solutions which has been embraced by over 2000 retail stores, medical practices, hospitals and government departments in Australia, NZ, USA and UK.

Do you have any stories of how a prospective tragedy or a bad experience turned into a great idea? I'd love to hear it. Please share your story in the comments below.

BY THE WAY 1:

It's getting uncomfortably close to Christmas and you can feel the shopping frenzy is about to hit. If you are a retailer, click here to get 5 great tips on how to take customers away from your competitors (nicely!) this Christmas.

BY THE WAY 2:
If you are looking for a safe play solution, now is a great time to visit our website and view our range. We are giving everyone who orders in the month of October a giant 400g box of those scrummy balls of yum, Maltesers, for you to share with your colleagues (or not!) Visit www.childfriendly.com.au and click on Products to view our latest range of play solutions. There's something to suit every space and every budget.

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au

Retail Wonderland - Latest Retail Trends

Last week I attended the Westfield sponsored seminar Retail: The New Normal and it was absolutely fantastic!

I turned up at 7am at the Sheraton in Sydney, expecting maybe 50 bleary-eyed people milling around a coffee urn, hoping to do a bit of networking and maybe get a piece of rockmelon and a muffin.

Instead, the Grand Ballroom was filled with people and the mood was surprisingly buzzy for that time of morning. There were even three types of melon and baked goods aplenty! But the best thing were the speakers, Chris Beer from Luxottica, Jon Bird from Ideaworks (whose blog posts are always fascinating insights into the latest retail trends) and Howard Saunders from Echochamber.

Now, I'd never heard of Howard before last Friday but I am now quite the fan. His presentation was entertaining, informative, inspirational and, at times, crudely hilarious, and I could have watched and listened to him for another hour as he trawled through his happy snaps of amazing retail experiences around the world. From Milan, Barcelona and Tokyo to New York, Malibu and Shanghai, he showed us retail concepts that sent shivers down my spine. And by the way, did I mention I WANT HIS JOB!

You can find a lot of the stores and retail case studies that Howard & Jon talked about here.

For example, the gorgeous Anthropologie stores (above) where their aim is to create an 'experience' for the shopper, not just a departmentalised fitout so, right throughout the store, you'll find little corners full of 'collections' of fabulous items.


And how inviting does this fitout at James Perse in Malibu Cove look? Couldn't you just imagine curling up in one of those chairs with some fabulous tome from the wall behind? This was another retail trend - creating a small, intimate, special space for the customer. And, of course, never making them feel like they have to buy something to enjoy the space.


The other key trend is to display products like an art installation. Check out the Issey Miyake store in Tokyo, where the clothes are kind of 'held up' by these strange looking steel rods. How amazingly different and unusual!

I also love the trend of customisation, like in this Levi's Vintage store where you can select a jeans pattern from 1956 and have it custom made for you in the same kind of denim from back then.

Or the Little Miss Matched stores where little girls can be 'empowered' by selecting unique combinations of socks, or even design their own in-store!

It makes me wonder what Australian retailers are doing to create amazing experiences for their customers.

Luxottica is at the forefront of these trends, creating an eyewear store that has a concierge to greet you at the door, a sports simulation room and, something close to my heart, a well-appointed, sectioned off children's play area. And do you know why they put the kids area in? Because their customers asked for it. Amazing what you can find out if you listen to your customers. Go Luxottica!

What are you doing in your store to create an 'experience' for your customers?


Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au