By David MacDonald S halomov has not for a moment strayed from his family’s vocational calling. Even as a teenager, before his days as a pharmacy and then law student, he was shoe-centered and walking the then uncharted path of ecommerce. “At about 17, I already had two companies under my belt. I remember the most awkward part was dealing with employees in shipping and other crucial areas – people who were my father’s age at the time. They never knew I was a kid. I never let them. I did almost everything over the phone or through email. I didn’t want them knowing they were working for a high school kid,” he remembers. This empathetic insight – an intuition that has served Shalomov very well – is a quality he looks for in his sales representatives. “But I didn’t see myself working for somebody else. Making somebody else wealthy didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I knew I had the potential to be something of my own.” “I prefer an unconventional approach to screening and interviews because that is so often how the retail world comes at you. I like to make small mistakes while review- ing resumes and CVs with my potential employees to see how they react. If they have a passion for the retail world, experience in the retail world, they know how to deal with these kinds of speed bumps. The bottom line, rule number one: the customer is always right.” The customer service experience that can be expected either online or in brick and mortar is as close to a trip to a traditional cobbler as one can imagine – and very detached from the aggressive and uninformed approach of so many Big Box stores. Out of the 80,000 items actively available at Shoecall.com and in-store, shoe care items evoke in Shalomov a heightened passion. “Say you have your favorite pair of shoes, shoes you love, shoes your feet are accustomed to, and it turns out the manufactur- ers don’t make them anymore. Your first line of defense to put some distance between visits to the cobbler is to take care of those shoes. And we teach customers how to do just that,” he explains. For shoppers not in the Tri-State Area, Shalomov and his team offer the same detailed and attentive service via their ubiquitous Live Support feature at Shoecall.com. Taking on this pedagogical task is a major component of Shalomov’s business model and, he believes, integral to his exponential growth. “People recognize genuine com- mitment,” he attests.
“I remember one customer at our Jamaica, Queens location in particular who bought a pair of suede Ugg boots – which is a constant best-seller – during the winter. She told me and a sales representative how much she loved the first pair that she bought, but that she wore them in some wet weather and stained them. Not only did we show her the right brush to use and the proper technique to save boots like these when they get wet with salty water, we encour- aged her not to throw the box they come in. I tell customers this all the time. When you’re not wearing your suedes, put them back in the box. It keeps them dust-free and safe. She was thrilled and I was able to work alongside one of my sales reps. Everyone was happy.” After-the-fact first aid is not the only concern at Shoe & Co. Preventative maintenance is paramount. “The heel and medial side – depending on how your feet move – on a lot of formal and daily wear for men and women tend to experience wear and tear. We put on a special patch, customized to the brand, so that you can keep your heel longer. We even professionally stretch out your shoes if they’re tight. The customer taking advantage of these services are also usually the customers who want to know how to keep their particular purchase clean and shiny. We always have the solutions to their concerns.” Providing this level of expert customer service to all walks of life may seem like a daunting or superfluous task to many retailers – limited potential employee pool coupled with training time and cost are concerns that come to mind – but for Shalomov, it is all part of walking the talk: The customer is always right. “We have a very dedicated and conscientious segment of shoe shoppers who want to know everything about the brands they’re considering buying. Not only what they sell and how they back up their product, but also what they stand for. We sell a lot of TOMS, for instance. We completely support them and their one-for-one business model – and they support us. I’m sure your readers know that for every pair of TOMS sold by their official retailers that one pair goes to help somebody in a developing nation. We love informing customers, but it’s that much better when we tell them that they’re giving back.” “So many of our customers are educated,” Shalomov elu- cidates, “some formally, some self-taught. They come from every professional field you can imagine – lawyers, medical professionals, you name it. They have a thirst for knowl- edge. It’s the Information Age. They want to know about their shoes, about their investments. People do a lot of research before they buy because there’s so much compe- tition.” Needless to say, Shalomov’s twenty-five employees must be on their toes, regardless of their footwear. “Investments,” he calls them. “I really look at shoes like an investment. If someone buys a car or a home – or any signifi- cant purchase, really – there are guarantees that come with
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS • JULY 2016
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