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Category: Building Business

Planning an Event

Saturday is National Train Day.

We sell trains… Electric, wooden, and everything in between.  We are celebrating in style.

Activities for participants? Check.  Along with our usual train displays (and a couple new ones we are bringing out) we are doing face painting, coloring contests, having kids sign our almost life-size train poster, train photo ops, train history, a steam engine experiment, and more.

Incentives to attend? Check.  We have free train whistles to give away (thanks to one of our favorite vendors), prizes for two different prize drawings, prizes for the coloring contest and a whole bunch of delicious train-shaped cookies (I know, I tried a sample today.)

Marketing the event? Check.  We have made multiple Facebook announcements, sent out emails, put up signs all around the store, sent out press releases to all the media outlets, talked about it live on TV and radio, made posters to advertise it at two other events going on in town before our event, and created fliers to hand out when out and about in public.

Motivating the staff? Check.  The staff was involved in the planning process from day one.  It wasn’t mandated by me, it was conceived and planned by them, so there is 100% buy-in from the staff.  They are fired up and ready to rock.

Anyone see a checklist forming here?  Failure to plan is planning to fail, or as my grandfather always says, “Plan for Success”.

Events are a great way to draw traffic and delight customers.  But events require planning.  Make yourself a checklist and get planning some fun events for your store.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Events also cost money.  We have committed about $800 to this event above and beyond our usual expenses (for product giveaways, cookies, fliers, posters, etc).  I consider that money to be marketing and advertising money.  I am not concerned whether I make that money back on Saturday because my goal for this event – the first thing I put at the top of my checklist – is to draw a crowd and make a lot of people happy.  If I do that, the money was well spent.  Always write down your goal, then plan your activities around that goal.  

PPS  The event has been a huge success!

Buy the Book, I’ll Speak for FREE

(I know you know someone who could use this.  Please share it with that person.)

My book, Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel: Turning Your Staff Into a Work of Art comes packed 60 books to the carton.  What would you do if you had 60 of these books?  Do you know some businesses who could use help hiring and training a better staff?

60 books at $19.99 equals $1199.40.  I want to make you an offer.  Round it off to $1,200 even and I will throw in 4 FREE hours of me.

Yes, that’s right.  Buy one carton of books for $1200 and I will show up at your door anywhere in the continental USA and give you 4 hours of my business knowledge to use as you see fit.

If you are a Radio Station…
You will get 60 books to give to your clients that will help them hire and train a better workforce, thus ensuring they will be in business (and buying radio ads from you) for a long time.  If you think about it, that’s a far more memorable gift than the mug, candy or flowers you have been giving them.

Plus, you will get me teaching your sales staff how to sell your product more effectively, how to create killer campaigns for your clients, and how to craft powerful messages that drive serious traffic to their door.  Plus you can use me to help mentor your favorite clients, teaching them how to powerfully brand their business, and how to uncover their core message that will resonate strongest with your listening audience.

If you are a Chamber of Commerce, DDA, or Shop Local organization…
You will get 60 books to strengthen the quality of employees in your district, making your core businesses rock solid and recession-proof thus increasing your influence and the size of your district.

Plus, you get to choose from a vast array of training programs that will rock their worlds and make your businesses the envy of all the surrounding communities.  You can even ask me to show you how to plan Staff Meetings that people WANT to attend.

If you are a Trade Organization or Buying Group…
You get 60 books to help your members make hiring decisions and develop training programs that will turn them into the shining stars of your industry.  When they see how great your stores are doing, you will have other stores begging to join your proactive organization.

Plus, you get four hours of some of the best retail ideas on everything from Inventory Management to Customer Service to Pricing Strategies that put money in your members’ pockets (so that they can pay their dues on time.)

If you are an individual store…
You get 60 books to give away to all your business friends and family for Christmas.  You can even sell them in your store to get your money back if you want.

More importantly, you get four hours to pick my brain.  Use me to help train your staff on the kind of customer service that gets talked about.  Use me to help craft your marketing campaign into a traffic-driving force.  Use me to look over your financials and help you find lost profits and put them back in your pocket.  Use me to teach you how to make staff trainings fun again.

If you are a Nationally Syndicated Talk Show Host… (Stewart? Colbert? Kimmel? Dave? NPR?)
You get 60 business books that are soon to be the talk of the nation.  Heck, I’ll bring extra books so that you can hide one under every chair in the audience.

Plus, you will get a guest who is as comfortable behind a microphone as you are.  You get a savvy businessman who knows retail, has opinions, and is not afraid to share them.  Not only did I host my own radio show for three years, I have plenty of camera time sitting in the guest chair.  Plus, you will get top-notch ratings from the Jackson, Michigan market.

You buy 60 books and I’ll pay my own way to get there plus one night in a hotel*.  And you get to choose what business training you want for your purchase.

I have four full cartons of books ready and waiting to ship to the first four people/groups who contact me.  Send an email to phil@philsforum.com to set up your four hours of kick-ass, kick-starting presentations and trainings.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  If you want more than 60 books or more than 4 hours, I am more than willing to negotiate.  I will be happy to work with your schedule as much as possible.  Just remember that I have my own store to run, so we might both have to be flexible to schedule something.

*PPS This deal is good for USA travel only (unless you want to pay for the flight, too).

David Beats Goliath (Again)

March Madness is a great reminder that even when the deck is stacked against you, you can win.

In the first full round of competition in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, ten of the thirty two games were won by the underdog.  31.3% for you statisticians.

The more telling stat is this…

100% did it by out-hustling their competition.  They did it by doing what they do best, to the best of their ability, and by wanting it more than their competitor.

Some could not match up size-wise.  Others did not have the depth.  Some lacked the overall talent.  A few even needed a lucky break or two.  Gee, sounds a lot like independent retailers.  Size of store, depth of product, lack of educational business training.

Yet independent retailers are slaying Goliaths all over the place, even without a lucky break or two.  They do it by playing up their strengths.  You don’t need a deep product mix, just a few great options.  You don’t need a huge store, just a talent for merchandising it well.  You don’t need an MBA, just an understanding of how to relate to others and build relationships.

More importantly, you don’t need to beat Goliath to win. You only need to accomplish three things:

  • Keep the cash flowing
  • Show a profit
  • Make a living

Do those and you get to raise all the championship banners you want.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Not doing all of those three things, yet?  Do not despair. Sometimes all you need is some coaching to push you in the right direction.  For those of you who are self-coached, check out Freebies section of my website.  There are plenty of Goliath-beating tools you can download for free.  For those wanting a little more, contact me.  Sometimes the fix is easier than you imagined.

Someone Always Does it Better

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.

Universal Laws are Universal – Use Them

Newton’s second law states simply that Force = Mass x Acceleration.

That law is accepted as fact. It is a Universal law. That means it applies to everything.

Including your business.

Force = Mass x Acceleration
Impact = Size of idea (mass) x Speed at which it is delivered (acceleration)

If you have a great business idea and you deliver that idea quickly and succinctly, you will make a big impact. If you have a lousy idea and take forever to deliver it… Yeah, you get the picture.

You can even break that down to your advertising. Do you know why sound bites work so well? Big idea delivered in few words. Build your ads the same way. Make it about one and only one really big point. Deliver that point as simply as possible. Watch the needle move.

Tap into the laws of the universe and you can make them work to your advantage.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I learned this from Roy H. Williams at Wizard Academy. You should go there some day.

Two Things You Can Correct Right Now

Did 2011 go the way you wanted?

Do you want 2012 to be better?

Here are two things you can work on right now that won’t cost you an arm and a leg, but will make a difference.

BEAT YOUR CUSTOMER’S EXPECTATIONS

Your customer has a set of expectations of how she will be treated when she comes through that door. Either she knows what to expect because she has been there before, or she thinks what to expect based on your reputation or advertising.

And when you meet her expectation, she may smile, she may even say, “Thanks!” But that is as far as it goes.

When you exceed her expectation, however, magical things begin to happen. By the power of reciprocity she feels like she now owes you one.

She may repay that by feeling more loyal to your store and making a return visit.
She may repay that by gushing about you to her friends.
She may repay that by spending more the next time she is in.

One way you can exceed her expectations is Generosity. Is there something you can give away that will pleasantly surprise her? A classic example is the jeweler who changes your watch battery for free. Doesn’t advertise it, just does it. My favorite example is the expensive restaurant with the mouth-watering dessert menu. You and your friends have decided to split a dessert or two when the waiter comes to the table exclaiming how he is in a good mood and would like to buy dessert for everyone at the table. Do you think you’ll be bragging about this restaurant for a while? Of course you will. And you will be going back sooner than you think.

For more ways to exceed your customers’ expectations, download my free eBook Customer Service: From Weak to Wow.

SAY SOMETHING REMARKABLE

Your advertising is blah. How do I know? Because 99.9% of the advertising out there is blah. That is why it does not work. It has nothing to do with reaching the right people. It has nothing to do with the medium you are using. It has everything to do with you not being brave enough to make a bold statement.

Most ads are written not to offend. And they become so beige that they do not move the needle at all. Since about 90% of the population is not shopping with you right now anyway, who are you afraid of offending?

The best phone call I ever received happened last December. A gal called to tell me how much she hated my ads. At first I thought it was a prank. But when she did not break from this message, I asked her why she hated them. She said, “Because you make it sound like all the other stores sell crap.” Good! That is what my ads were supposed to say.

Spice up your advertising by saying something bold. Back it up with evidence. Make it interesting and relevant. Without spending a penny more, the money you are spending on advertising will become far more effective.

Do those two things and you will be praying the Mayans were wrong about 2012.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Not sure what to say in your ads? You should read these three eBooks. Don’t worry. They are short, sweet, and best of all, FREE. Read them in order and email me if you have any questions.
Understanding Your Brand (and the accompanying Worksheet)
How Ads Work Part 1
How Ads Work Part 2

Lessons from MLK Quotes

If you have seen my live presentations, you know I love great quotes. I love quotes that make you think, quotes that teach you a lesson, quotes that give you perspective.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. that relate to our type of business.

“Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.”

We all have customers who try to take advantage of us. It is easy to want to feel bitter about them or react by creating programs or policies to deter them. Unfortunately, those changes always come across as bitter or anti-customer. Do not succumb to those feelings. Accept that some people will act that way. Treat them well anyway. You never know what they are thinking and how you just might make a difference in their lives through your kindness.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

The pretty much epitomizes the mindset you need to be a successful retailer. Have faith in your abilities. Have faith in your business model. Have faith to take risks even when you do not see the outcome clearly because you will never see the outcome completely clearly. The only outcome that is clear as a bell is that nothing good will happen if you do nothing at all.

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

Embrace your tough customers. Embrace your unhappy customers. Say, “I’m sorry,” when someone is unhappy with your business. If they are unhappy, there is something you did wrong. Apologize, accept that you were wrong somewhere, and then make it right. Love those tough customers and instead of writing bad things about you on Yelp, they will become your most loyal supporters.

“Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.”

Put yourself in the service of others – both your customers and especially your employees – and they will lead you to greatness. The best training you can offer your staff is to role model the behavior you expect of them. Your staff will never care more than you so you need to care more than they have seen. They will never work harder than you, so you have to work hard (smart) enough that your staff’s lesser efforts are more than your customers expect.

“All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.”

The one mistake we often make is believing that once the next problem is solved, it will all be smooth sailing. If you wish to succeed, you need to be prepared to meet each problem head on. One way you do that is by furthering your education, furthering your own personal growth as a leader, as a retailer. You will never not have problems, but you can overcome them more easily the more you prepare yourself.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

–Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS If you are looking for a way to grow your retail business and are in the Jackson area, next Monday starts the fifth year of the Jackson Retail Success Academy. Contact me to find out how you can get signed up.

PPS If you are not in the Jackson area, but are interested in the contents of the Jackson Retail Success Academy, I offer a two-day workshop that includes all of the best content from that class in two jam-packed days. Contact me for pricing and booking information.

Be Good for Goodness Sake

(Yes, Christmas music has taken over my brain…)

Just a quick reminder that during this busy season it is easy to dismiss problem customers. It is easy to not give your full attention to a needy customer. It is easy to blow off that demanding customer.

You are already plenty busy enough. What difference does it make if you do not give everyone a great experience? Your numbers are good.

This year.

But you are also planting the seed for next year.

Retailers are farmers. We plant seeds, water and fertilize all year long so we can reap the harvest at Christmas. But unlike the real farmers who plant in the spring and harvest in the fall, we plant during the harvest.

We plant the seeds for next year in how we treat the customers this year. Treat them well and they will become perennials. Treat them poorly and your harvest next year will suffer (and you won’t know why).

This is your busiest time of year, the time when you see the most people. Do whatever you have to do to make sure every single one of them gets the best possible treatment. Next year’s harvest is counting on it.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS If you want some good ideas on how to fertilize that crop, download the FREE eBook Customer Service: From Weak to WOW! The one card you can consistently play and always trump your competition is the Customer Experience card.

Driving Traffic to Your Site (SEO)

I had a local entrepreneur contact me about her website. When she launched she was getting regular sales. But she hasn’t had a sniff in months. She thought maybe something was wrong with her site and asked me to take a look.

She sells Made in Michigan, lead-free, lightweight, high-quality, reusable shopping bags, something worth a look for stores like ours. Check out her site, www.berniebags.com. It will be helpful in understanding the rest of this post. (Full disclosure – nothing to disclose. I am not promoting her site or products, did not know her other than as a customer before she approached me, this is purely for educational purposes, but if you like what she’s selling, by all means, buy it.)

I took a look at her site and did not see anything inherently wrong with it. But I am not the best judge of that. I do not shop much online, prefer to buy local whenever possible. So I ask you to check it out and tell me what you see that could be done better.

Her biggest problem, however, is one we all face.

I Googled her product category “Reusable Shopping Bags”. Thirty five pages deep, I gave up. She was nowhere to be found.

So I gave her the following list of things to do to raise her site in the rankings of Google and other search engines…

1) Make sure you have good keywords and metatags. Whoever designed your website should know what I mean. Basically, you want to have the key phrases people might use to search for your product in the keywords and metatags (behind the scenes) parts of you website.

2) Get some “link love”. The more that other websites link to you, the higher your site will rise in Google’s eyes.

Ways to get links include asking your friends/customers who have websites to put your logo and a link on their sites. Also, you can launch a Facebook Page, a Google Places Page, a Yelp Page, etc. If you have a profile on LinkedIn or any other type site, make sure your website is referenced there.

Another way to get links is to comment on blogs and articles online. Run a search on all the articles on lead in shopping bags and write a quick comment like “That’s why I decided to make and market some Michigan-made, lead-free, reusable shopping bags.” Find the bloggers who are writing about this and make comments on their blogs, too.

3) Consider starting your own blog. You can get free blog sites from blogspot and wordpress. It takes time, but you can grow a following. Simply write quick, short, one-paragraph reminders of why using reusable bags is so good. Have links to other articles. Have photos and video. And make sure each post links back to your site.

4) Do a youtube video of the bag and why it is so cool. Most smartphones have video so making a video is easy. It doesn’t have to be polished, just has to be clear and informative. Post it on youtube (free), link to it from your Facebook page and website. Email it to friends and clients and ask them to share.

5) Find yourself in the Google Search and “+1” your listing (click on the little box next to your listing and get all your friends to do the same). This is tedious because you may have to search through dozens of pages of Google Search before finding yourself. But if you and 5 friends each do this on their computers, it will make a difference.

All of the above will simply cost you time, not money. If you want to spend some money, consider Google Adwords. You can drive a lot of traffic that way, but you have to convert a large portion of your visitors to be worth it.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I know there are some savvy SEO gurus out there who read this blog. Did I hit the mark? Anything I missed that she could do? Anything with which you patently disagree? Your comments will help all of us grow.

Right, Right, Right

Just read an interesting article on a discussion board (sorry, don’t have the source link) about the new wave in retailing.

Interesting because it talks about how big-box stores are downsizing to meet the needs of the new shoppers.

Interesting because it talks about how today’s shoppers (now being called Generation C for their connected, communicative, computer-savvy, community-minded outlook) shops differently than any previous generation.

Interesting because it quotes heavily an inventory management software company that uses a lot of 50-cent words like…

Deploying network inventory strategies that optimize stocking policies and maximize the availability merchandise, reducing stock-outs and eliminating excess inventory, in a forward-looking time-phased methodology combined with guided exceptions, and early warning signals to support root cause analysis.

The bottom line of the article is that today’s customer is using her phone, her computer and the Internet to do more research than ever before making purchases. She knows the products, the features, and the general price range.

She will only buy from you if you have the Right product in the Right price range and give her the Right kind of service.

Yeah, not really a new concept to retail. The only difference is that it is easier for customers to know what are the right products and right price range for them. So you have to be as savvy as them.

You have to be following trends in your area closer than before to make sure you have the right products. You have to be paying attention to price far more than you used to (although the Internet makes that easier for you, just as it is easier for her.) You have to be giving far better service than what is found in a typical retailer (and you cannot have an off day.)

The big box stores are in trouble because even with all their computers they cannot accomplish the first thing on that list because they cannot react fast enough when things change. And they never had a chance at Right kind of service. Yet all their focus has been on getting the Right price. They are downsizing because their sales are downsizing. Look at their same-store sales. Down for Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, Sears, and Toys R Us.

For the specialty stores, our biggest issue is having the right products, followed by having the right prices. We have to be careful we do not drive ourselves out of the market by dropping a line as soon as it gets discounted somewhere and thereby not having the right goods. Then we have to look at pricing and what we can afford. We don’t have to match but we have to be in the range. The one thing we do have Right is the customer service (most of the time:-).

The reason the Internet is having such a huge influence on retail sales lately is because it is accomplishing the first two Rights (product and price) and getting better on the third (service).

Retail hasn’t really changed. Customers haven’t really changed. If you have the right products to meet their needs at a fair price and you take really good care of them, you’ll have plenty of customers coming through your doors. Same as it has always been.

-Phil Wrzesinski

www.PhilsForum.com

PS Sure, you have to work hard to do all those things. But retail has always been that way. Ancient Chinese Proverb says, “To open a shop is easy, to keep it open an art.” Roy H. Williams said, “If making a profit were easy, everyone would be doing it.”

PPS Before you spend a penny on a software program full of 50-cent words, check out what I have to say for FREE.