Selling more…

running shoes

Maxwell Godloza does not merely sell running shoes; he sells a love of running. When assisting a customer he does not think about selling him a shoe at a certain price point — he concentrates on finding the right product that will contribute to the customer’s enjoyment of running.

“Running makes you feel good all the time, and I wish I could get everyone to share the feeling,” he says. “I’ll rather spend an hour or more with a customer to ensure that he walks out with the right product for him.”

Never embarrass a customer, is his approach. With the easy availability of so much information on the internet, many customers walk into the store with a preconceived idea of what they want — which might not necessarily be right.

“Never fight with a customer. Never tell a customer he is wrong, always listen to what he says he wants, and why. Then help with suggestions. Start slowly with your own suggestions and gradually build up to what you believe will be the right recommendation for that customer.”

Because the customers know that as a runner Godloza talks from personal experience, they listen. “Next time they see me at a race, they’ll remember me and come and tell me about their shoes.”

Beginners

Most of the new customers at the store are beginners, and he goes out of his way to encourage them to become long-term runners. “I want them to walk out of the store, so fired up about the joys of running that they simply can’t wait to try out their new shoes. I don’t want them to go home and forget the shoes in their box under a bed.”

It is often difficult for people to start running, as it takes up a lot of time, he acknowledges, but it is always easier with support. He encourages novices by recommending a 10-12 week programme for them. He also invites them to come running with the group he coaches.

He also encourages them to call him to report back on how they are experiencing the shoes he recommended. “And it works,” he smiles, “they do phone.”

Product knowledge

It is important to know all brands of running shoes on the market, what they offer, and what technologies are used, he believes — even if you don’t stock them. It is also important to understand what technologies have the same function across different brands so that you know what a customer is talking about when he mentions a specific technology.

If a customer wears a brand that you don’t stock, you can only recommend an alternative if you know the features of his current brand. “Show the customer that the technology of the shoe you stock is as good, or better,” he suggests. “But, never try and run down the product he is interested in — acknowledge the benefits of that technology, but also show the benefits of the shoes you stock.”

Graphic illustrations of how a technology works displayed prominently close to the relevant shoes can help a lot with such explanations.

Godloza believes it’s easy to solve a problem when a customer has complaints about their shoes — if it is genuinely the problem. “But the shoe is not always the problem. Sometimes the body is not conditioned to running and you must first condition the body to fit in the shoe.”

In that case he will be sympathetic, and commiserate. “I tell them that I know the pain, I also run and felt the same pain — but that it comes from running too fast too soon. You start off running 20 minutes, then increase to 30 minutes and gradually run longer.”

About 45% of runners would nowadays come asking for barefoot running shoes, he says. He would, however, recommend alternating this with a shoe with more cushioning. You must condition yourself in slow steps to run barefoot — just as a toddler learns to walk in little steps, he says.

It is not only his salesman’s manner that keeps the customers coming back, it is also the care he takes to find the right shoe.

He recommends

Let him take off his shoes and look at his feet:

He also asks the customer to run on a treadmill to observe:

After you helped your customer to decide on the model and colour of a shoe, you’ll have to help him to find the correct size and fit (see box below).

With the customer’s foot in his lap, Godloza laces the shoe by crossing the laces and checking to see that the shoe fits snugly around the foot and that there are no bulges or too much tongue showing. He also loops the crossed laces at the top through the extra holes, set back from the others, at the top. “The heel counter is the life of the shoe and needs to fit snugly,” he comments.

Only once he is happy that the shoe fits the foot as it should, does he ask the customer to walk around or run on the treadmill to feel if it is comfortable — and hopefully leave the store eager to try on his new purchase.

More about Maxwell Godloza

Maxwell Godloza has been running since his early 20’s when friend and fellow surfer Gary van Rooyen challenged him to join him in running the Peninsula Marathon in 1980. Both of them were involved in surf retailing in Muizenberg in the 1980’s (Van Rooyen owned some stores) and would grasp any opportunity to catch a wave.

“My mom gave us Kool-Aid as our supplement at the half-way mark in a Tupperware mug and a corn syrup sachet — to share!” remembers Van Rooyen.

That was the beginning of his career as one of that elite group of runners whose form and chances would be discussed and analysed in detail by other contenders before every race. As a regular podium finisher, runners got to know him well. Thirty years later, as a Masters runner, he is still a top-five finisher (if not winner) in his age group. A Life Member of the Fish Hoek Athletic Club and the Masters Athlete of the Year 2010 of the New Balance Multi-Sport Club, it is safe to say that Godloza knows more than a bit about running.

Throughout his career his close friendship with Van Rooyen continued, and his running shoe sponsorships also reflect the brands Van Rooyen marketed — for the past decade he has been a staunch supporter of New Balance.

Still a keen surfer — he cools down from his Sunday morning run by taking to the waves — Godloza’s growing interest in running led to a change to his retail career as he joined sport store Jack Lemkus for ten years, and also worked at Shoe Link in Bellville and Athlete’s Foot in the Waterfront before joining New Balance when they opened the concept store in the Canal Walk shopping mall, where he now works.

Still a regular competitor in half marathons or shorter distances, Godloza is on a mission to get everyone running. “I’m in my 50’s, but I feel like I’m in my 20’s — and I want everyone to feel like that,” he enthuses. He is so keen that he invites all beginner runners purchasing their first pair of running shoes at the store to join him on an afternoon run so that he can ensure that he or she starts off correctly.