No matter how good you think you are, someone is better.  No matter how strong you think your customer service is, someone is offering more.  No matter how good you think your staff is trained, someone is trained better.  No matter how well you think you merchandise your store, someone merchandises theirs better.  No matter how many awards you win, someone is doing what you do better (but just hasn’t been discovered by the judges).

So let me ask you.  Are you seeking out those retailers who do what you do better than you?  Are you learning from their ideas?  Are you copying their best practices?
Are you using their lessons to find better ways to do what you do?

You should.

Phil Tripp of Tripp’s Auto Shop & Collision Center was a panelist for the Jackson Retail Success Academy.  He runs one of the biggest body shops in the area doing far more business than the industry average.  Yet he had just returned from a trip to the Pacific Northwest to meet another body shop owner who had found a way to do even more business.

Phil figured if someone was highly successful doing something different from him, it was worth the investment to go visit and learn.

How much of your training budget is spent on your staff?  More importantly, how much is spent on you?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  The opening paragraph is something I remind myself all the time.  I love learning new “best practices” and trying to see how we can implement them in the store.  Some fit, some do not, but that doesn’t stop me from looking for ways to improve.  I hope you are doing the same.