A Bridal Boutique that Banks on Customer Experience
At Dreamforce 2019, Ramon Ray had the chance to chat with Nicole Staple is the co-founder and CEO of Brideside. Nicole and the team at Brideside are revolutionizing the bridal industry by making the boutique experience more convenient, stress-free and inspiring. Their unwavering commitment to providing a unique customer experience has rewarded them with a rapidly growing business and Nicole shared some of their success secrets with Ramon.
On Success and Growth
Nicole shares that a mentor once told her to “strip everything away from your business that money can buy, and that’s your secret sauce.” She said that one little piece of advice has done so much for her business and she advises other business owners to “double down on that.” For example, Nicole says that one of the things Brideside is really, really good at is giving advice to brides and then converting them to paying customers. Today, Brideside has a team of nearly 100, runs on Salesforce Essentials, and they are known for the great service they provide to bridal parties. Nicole says that if she had not received that advice, she may have gone in a completely different direction with her business.
More Than a Dress
Nicole says that at Brideside they are selling so much more than a dress. While they believe that a bridesmaid’s dress is the souvenir at the end of a wedding, what they are really selling at Brideside is an overall experience and peace of mind. They’re selling a customer experience that is “memorable, that makes you feel comfortable, that helps you celebrate with your friends.”
Measuring Metrics
From a very early stage, Nichole urges business owners to be able to hone in on what the key levers are that you can pull for growth in your business and also, “be maniacal about tracking those.” For Brideside, one of those key levers is lead-to-sale conversion. When a bride signed up for their site, her percent conversion to a paying customer was one of the key metrics that they tracked meticulously which allowed them to scale, grow, and experience success in the way that they have. “Find the key metrics that are truly the make-or-break for your business and make sure those are always at the front of your decision-making process every step of the way.”