CFM-Customer Focused

Merchandising

By:
Anjuli Gopalakrishna
 CFM-Customer Focused Merchandising
By: Anjuli Gopalakrishna

'Top Ten Tips for being a CFM Merchandiser'

In today's extremely competitive apparel industry, CFM-Customer Focused Merchandising is the single most
important factor that can differentiate you from others in the field, whichever side you may be on, be it
retailing or sourcing as in buying offices or in manufacturing. We cannot afford to be satisfied with just being
'nice' to customer anymore. We must aim to offer them an unforgettable experience. This requires not just
training, skills and knowledge, but creating an environment where people take pride in serving others.
Buyers/ Customers are not just buying the product or service from you, they purchase 'how they feel doing
business with you'. It's the memory they retain of how it was to work with you...and that's what keeps them
coming back to you again.

1. Be the Expert

You must know your job thoroughly so that your customer can trust you. An understanding about fabrics, fit/
pattern issues, costing, lead times, etc is a must have for a CFM merchant. For example, if you get a
request from the buyer for making a certain complex garment at a very sharp price, you as a CFM merchant
should be able to act as a consultant to the buyer by giving them options of what modifications can be made
to make the garment fit in the target price, as well as warn them of any potential lead time or production
feasibility issues to allow the customer to make an informed decision right at the outset of development
stage.

2. Professionalism counts

Professionalism in every job that they do is what makes a CFM merchant shine above the rest. It's a
reflection of who you are as a person and as a professional. Whether it's a swatch card you make or
whether it’s a lab dip submit you prepare or whether it’s a cost sheet you send to buyer, in every job that you
do, you can make a tremendous difference to the experience the customer will go through, just by being a
thorough professional. I have witnessed a million frustrating moments which buyers face, when a job is not
professionally done. Trying to figure out a badly hand written tag, scratched/ rewritten information on swatch
cards, incomplete information on submit cards etc are just a few examples. A professionally done job is what
makes the customer go 'wow'!

3. Make it easy for the customer

CFM merchants will ensure to make life easy for customer. Simple! Let me give you some examples. If you
are offering different fabric options to the customer, as a CFM, you will make sure to include complete fabric
details in terms of count, construction, weight, width, lead-time, price etc...And you will even go a step
further to give an estimated garment fob for each fabric option being offered. There!, you made life easy for
buyer, by anticipating and proactively addressing all their needs, without being asked to! Wow! I am
reminded of a situation I came across in my life as a merchant. A particular submit was rejected for quality
by buyer with almost panic sounding remarks, when it was intended for colour approval! Now if you were a
CFM merchant, the situation would never have arisen, because you would have simply made sure to write
complete details on the submit including the purpose-ONLY FOR COLOR APPROVAL, NOT FOR
QUALITY.

4. Speed to customer

CFM merchants realise the importance of the need to respond quickly to the needs of the customers,
especially critical in the fast paced dynamic world of fashion and apparel. You have to be able to get back
with your price quotes, sample turnarounds, approval submits and the like within the limited time available.
In fact, the best is to be chasing the buyers instead of being chased by them.
5. Manage their deadlines

A CFM merchant will go one step further in not only keeping track of deadlines for various activities that they
need to do, but also act as a consultant and advise the buyer of the deadlines that the buyers need to keep
for activities owned by them to ensure on time delivery of goods. For example if your order involves an
accessory which the buyer is going to develop directly with the trim supplier, as a CFM merchant, you will
remind the buyer of the timelines they have for developing this trim and the latest by which they should
approve the accessory with the trim supplier, so you get it in time for the order.

6. Communication! Communication! Communication!

One cannot stress enough about the essential communication skills which are a must have for CFM
merchandisers. You have to be comprehensive, precise and crystal clear in your communication with the
customer. Since majority of business communication happens via email today, some of the crucial things to
remember while composing emails are-

0• Write self explanatory subject line

0• Use simple active sentences, instead of 'jalebi' paragraphs
0• Write in points
0• Answer all questions and then anticipate any further questions that might come up and answer
those as well at one go
0• Make specific date commitments, instead of 'asap', ‘next week’ kind of open ended commitments,
and of course you keep them as well
0• Consolidate all issues in one email instead of doing back and forth via several emails
0• Avoid using 'urgent' and 'important' for every email you write and use it sparingly for it to have any
meaning.
0• Be careful whom you put in 'to' box and who in 'cc' box instead of doing a blind 'reply all'
0• When angry with a customer, by all means express it in email with all your might to get it out of your
system, BUT DO NOT SEND IT, instead keep it in your drafts folder. Redraft it an hour later with a
cool and rational mind.
0• Do not write in bold fonts. It's simply rude and loud
0• Do not go overboard with inserts in your email with multiple colours! Stick to the two insert rule and
then draft a new email to avoid confusion.
0• Think before you press the send button! Because once that's done, you have no control over where
your written email might land up. So be careful.

Other than written communication skills, oral and non verbal communication is another important skill to
develop. You cannot go wrong with a 'thank you' and an 'apology' so use these magic words as often as you
can. Understand the subtle nuances of body language and the tone of voice while communicating.
Sometimes, it’s not what you say, but how you say it that matters.

A good thing to know with customers is you cannot win an argument with them. Do not even attempt it.
Instead approach the issues with an agreement frame of mind and look for win-win resolutions. Put your
point across, but before that make the customer know that you have understood their point of view. A simple
trick like, replacing the use of ‘but’ with an ‘and’ in your sentences can do the magic in terms of how you can
resolve conflicts faster. Try it.

7. Do not forget the internal customers

My dad taught me this early in life- 'clever is one who gets his work done'. A CFM merchant will apply all the
skills that he uses with the external customer on the ‘all important’ internal customers as well. These are the
people within your own organisation across the departments, your own vendors etc. Building rapport and
good relationship with people around you, helps in getting your work done faster. In the cross functional
environment, you cannot survive without this skill. Appreciate good work done by others in public, and
criticise in private. Be clear in communicating your expectations and above all be transparent and honest in
your dealings.

8. Cosmic force of Habit

Habit is a powerful force to break. A CFM merchant knows to use this force. By the sheer delight that they
are to work with, they soon get their customers habituated to working with them. Once the customer is spoilt
by your high level of service, it will be difficult for them to break that habit and switch to another supplier.
9. Build trust based relationships

Anybody wants to do business with a person or organisation they can trust. You must develop trust based
relationships and win your buyer’s confidence. Reliability in keeping your commitments goes a long way in
building your credibility. Sharing information in a transparent manner builds trust. Once you create a
reputation for yourself, it goes along with you wherever you might be. People might change organisations
and move on in life, but they will remember the credibility and trust you built with them in your past dealings.

10. Take pride in making a difference.

Nothing is more satisfying to a CFM merchant than a happy customer. They take pride in making a
difference to other people’s lives. Go ahead and make the day of your customers by doing that ‘extra’ bit in
everything you do. They will love you more and you will love yourself more too!

About the Author

Anjuli Gopalakrishna has spent more than a decade in the apparel industry, having worked with leading
companies including J C Penney Purchasing Corporation, Tommy Hilfiger India Limited and Li & Fung. Her
experience includes apparel marketing and merchandising, sourcing of home products, apparel, accessories
and leather goods. She has extensive experience sourcing for US and Europe from sourcing destinations
including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Madagascar, Pakistan, Taiwan and China. She is a Post
Graduate in Fashion Management Studies from the National Institute of Fashion Technology Delhi (NIFT).
She is now an independent consultant and trainer in supply chain merchandising to buying offices and
garment exporters and also a guest lecturer at NIFT Bangalore.

The views presented are author's personal views. Here 'I' refers to her.