Ariat International has been making performance footwear and apparel for ranchers and equestrian athletes since 1993. In 2010, Cristina Strunk, Director of Merchandising at Ariat, began a partnership with ExpertVoice (3point5 at the time) to educate retail sales associates and help them sell more. We had the opportunity to sit down with Cristina to ask her how the 8-year partnership has fared, any feedback they have, and their vision for a future with ExpertVoice.
How did you first learn about ExpertVoice?
One of our marketing people had started a conversation with somebody at 3point5 before they left Ariat. It was kind of being hot potato-ed around, and I immediately loved the idea. It was just so innovative. Nobody was really engaging the store employees and asking them to do training. That part of it was very compelling, and then to have an employee purchase incentive…it was very innovative. So I jumped in and said “Hey, I think that training and engaging with retail store employees is really a function of our field service merchandising department.” (That’s the department that I manage.) I said, “I want to do this, and I want to be, not only involved, but I want it to be mine.”
Was there a specific problem you wanted to solve by partnering with ExpertVoice?
Yes, absolutely. Ariat is sold in 6,000 retail locations across the country, and we don’t have the manpower to walk into each door and engage with every retail employee. ExpertVoice is an alternative that allows us to have a one-on-one relationship with the retail employees without having to be there with them in person. And, with ExpertVoice, we’ve done a great job increasing the engagement year over year.
How did the retail sales associates respond to training with ExpertVoice?
When we first launched, there was a lot of anxiety about how people would feel about having to spend time learning in order to earn discounts. The negative, interestingly, only came from our team — it was the anxiety of not knowing. Once it was live, everything went smoothly. The retail store employees have always been very positive and very engaged. And as the site has become more user-friendly, they’ve appreciated gaining information they can use in their sales presentation. They like what they’re learning and it’s just gotten better and better over the years. By and large, we get overwhelmingly positive feedback from the store employees.
What would you say is your favorite thing about working with the ExpertVoice team?
Every time we ask a question that starts with “Is it possible to…” the answer is always, “I’m sure it is, let me get back to you.” It’s been a real partnership in that way.
Have you had any frustrations working with ExpertVoice?
I honestly have no frustrations. Everyone’s been really responsive, and I feel like the value is incredible. The only things that we want to see are just where we’re going. We really like the ExpertVoice app, and we see that there’s a lot of improved functionality there on it, which we love. I feel like, if I can think about it, it’s already in the works.
Where do you see your partnership with ExpertVoice going?
We see it continuing for sure. That’s the easy answer.
Do you recommend working with ExpertVoice?
We do, because we want as many drivers to the site as possible, that only helps us. It really goes hand in hand with how we train the retail store employees. When my staff goes in and does retail training, we don’t just talk about selling Ariat. We talk about selling, because if they’re selling, they’re going to sell Ariat, too. The selling tools that they learn will help keep their stores open, and that, in turn, keeps us in business. We talk about why that’s important, why they need to drive consumers into their store and give them great service while they’re there. That doesn’t have anything to do with Ariat, specifically. But if we can drive people to ExpertVoice, then they’re going to train…whether they’re driven there by one brand or another, they’ll train with Ariat, as well. That only helps us.
The advertising industry has changed significantly over the past several years and will continue to evolve. How do you feel about these changes as it relates to Ariat?
What’s interesting is that we have done more with regards to social engagement than traditional advertising. We started out as a brand that was a lot more word of mouth, and it was kind of a special club to be in. We’ve never really done a lot of advertising as a brand, so what’s happening, and the changes we’re seeing in advertising is a lot more word of mouth through bloggers and through social media and that’s a more comfortable place for our brand, because we’ve always done that.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Our experience with ExpertVoice has just been really positive. We include ExpertVoice in our KPI goals for our team, in getting retail store engagement and this year we added engaging in the social content. I actually have one member of my team that is now responsible for going into stores and asking people to post and tag Ariat where they’re engaging with our brand, everything from what you’re doing in the store to what you’re doing out on your own. We continue to learn so much from Brandon [Ariat’s Account Executive from ExpertVoice] and from Hannah [Ariat’s Customer Success Manager from ExpertVoice], and how you guys are approaching the retail store employees. We really try to incorporate those best practices back to our team.
You guys raised our standards of the stores and it’s a pleasure to work for somebody who has the same spirit that we do, which is that our first answer is always yes, and then we figure out how to make it so. We are proud to be associated with ExpertVoice and we look forward to the future growth you guys certainly will have, and we want to be a part of that rise, as well.
If you’d like to learn more about leveraging experts to help drive awareness and increase sales for your brand, let us know.
