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Recharging Your Batteries

It is 100 degrees out there.  Maybe if you live in Phoenix, that is no big deal.  But in Michigan that is a scorcher.  Easy to just want to phone it in.  No energy to do what you need to do.

It is middle of winter, the Christmas season well behind you, the buzz is gone and next year seems so far away.  You feel drained.

It is the end of August, Back-to-School dominates everywhere but with you.  Too early to get fired up for the holidays, too far removed from the early summer excitement.  The blahs are overpowering.

We all have these moments, these points in our year where the energy from our batteries feels drained and there is nothing on the immediate horizon to recharge them.  You need a charger.  You need a go-to event, activity or person that will fire you up and keep you humming at full capacity.

Go to an Event

One thing that always recharges my batteries is to attend a conference or trade show.  Good speakers not only get me motivated, they give me new projects to work on.  Walking a trade show floor, even if I don’t find any new products, gets me excited about my own selling floor.  I often get great merchandising ideas from the creative ways some vendors decorate their booths.

If there isn’t a trade show or conference in your industry, look for one in a similar or related industry.  Last year I attended the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association show for half a day.  It was just what the doctor ordered.

Craft an Activity

Another way to recharge your batteries is to plan a new activity.  Maybe it is an event for the store.  Maybe it is an event for the staff.  Maybe it is just an activity for you.  Something different than your normal routine.

One time I hosted a Game Night at my house for the staff.  We tried a whole bunch of new games.  Not only did they get fired up for selling games, they built some wonderful camaraderie that brought them all closer together.

On another occasion I planned a road trip to visit other retailers both in and out of my industry.  I had never been to an Ikea store, the nearest one being more than an hour away.  I must have taken four or five pages of notes.

On a quiet afternoon at the store, on a whim we took the Nerf guns outside and just started shooting them against the side of the store.  The staff was laughing, having fun, and engaging the customers in new, exciting ways.

Meet Some Peeps

The easiest way for me to recharge is to simply reconnect with my peers in the toy and baby industries. I have made a lot of friends in both groups and sometimes a quick phone call, email, or Facebook message is all it takes to get my creative juices flowing again.

Friends and family are great.  But having contact with your peers is sometimes even better because they share your concerns, your trials and tribulations.  As an added benefit, not only do you recharge your own batteries, you often recharge theirs.

The good news is that your batteries are rechargeable.  Make sure you set aside some time for recharging on a regular basis.  Everything works better with fresh batteries.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Then again, sometimes the best thing to do is simply unplug from everything.  Take a day off and go fishing, golfing, boating, biking, or whatever you want to get off the grid.  Unplug your phone.  Turn off the computer.  Stop thinking about your business.

Easier to Shoot Low

It is so much easier to lower expectations than it is to raise them.  So much easier to complain that Obamacare will cost too much, the Republicans will cut too much, the stock market will be too volatile, the economy isn’t growing fast enough, our local government is holding us back, the Internet is hurting us, the vendors don’t care about us, etc…

But what message does that send your customers?  Does it fire them up to want to shop with you when you complain all the time?  No.  It makes them hunker down in fear.
And what message does it send your staff? Does it motivate them to work harder and be more cheerful? No. It makes them polish off their resumes and start looking for someone who isn’t acting like they are about to go out of business.
Now, I’m not saying you need to go all Pollyanna on everyone.  You just need to raise your expectations.
What can you control?
Your attitude.
Your selection.
Your advertising.
Your merchandising.
Your level of customer service.
The experience your customers have in your store.
Raise the bar of expectation in all those areas.  Shoot high.  Really high.  Get excited about your ability to take all of those elements to the next level.  Get your staff excited about it, too.  Make it a game to see who can create a better endcap display.  Make it a contest to see who can come up with the next great event idea.  Make it a badge of honor to see who can create the most smiles in your store.
You might not hit your mark every time.  But just missing a really high mark is far better than easily hitting a really low mark.
Plus, when you aim high all those fears at the top disappear below you.  
-Phil Wrzesinski
PS  What prompted this post was an article where Citigroup was downgrading certain high-end retailers’ stock grades because of the volatility in the stock market.  Ummm… hasn’t the stock market always been volatile?  It is easier for an analyst to shoot low, because no one is mad if she’s wrong. You aren’t an analyst, though.  So shoot high.

What Your Employees Really Want

Don’t you love it when the keynote speaker tells you to do three things and you’re already doing them?

I had that experience last Wednesday at the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy.

Our closing speaker was Barbara Glanz.  You might remember her from the YouTube inspirational customer service video Johnny the Bagger.  Barbara talked about a number of topics, mostly on the culture you create in your workplace.  I had three basic takeaways from her presentation…

Create a Positive Culture
Barbara recommended that you start every employee meeting with what went right rather than what went wrong.  Share the positives first because it puts the staff into a good, high-energy mood.

Yeah, we’re doing that.

Recognize Your Employees Have a Life
One of the number one things employees want from their bosses is to be recognized as being human beings and having a life outside of work.  How often do we neglect that, worrying only about what they can do for us instead of what we can do for them?

Because my staff work retail, they aren’t exactly giving the 1% a run for their money.  I’d like to pay them more, but with the limited resources there is only so much I can do.  To give back, I focus on two things.

First, much of our staff trainings are on life skills more than Toy House-specific skills.  I want them to walk away with more than they brought to the job.

Second, at the beginning of the year I offered each member of my staff some money towards a goal they have set for themselves.  It could be used for dance lessons, for computer training, for a gym membership, or some other personal goal.

Make Their Jobs Interesting
People want to work where jobs are fun, where work is interesting, where they get challenged to achieve, where they know they are making a difference.  I think this is an area where all indie retailers can improve.

  • We definitely have jobs that are fun.  
  • Most of our customer base comes to our store by choice, not necessity, which makes for a much more pleasant time.  
  • We sell fun and unique products not found in every discount warehouse.  
  • We have the ability responsibility to have meaningful interactions with customers.

Sometimes, however, we neglect to show our staff how we do all this and why it is important.  Two things you can do to remedy this…

  1. Share all your customer reviews with your staff.  Let them know when they make a difference.
  2. Give your staff important tasks and let them run with those tasks.  They’ll take ownership, be more invested in the outcome, and see firsthand what a difference they make.

Three for three.  Heck, even I’m impressed.  Thanks, Barbara!

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Need help making the job more fun?  You can start by making your staff meetings more fun.  Culture takes time to build.  Make small changes and you will eventually see bigger results.

When and What to Change

Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender challenged me and a whole bunch of other toy store owners to change 10% of our store each and every year.  The premise being that what you do that is special today will seem ordinary and expected tomorrow.

The famous gymnast Mary Lou Retton tells the same thing.  What wins Olympic Gold this year will be the compulsory routine at the next Olympics.

But what do you change and when?

Let’s start with what not to change.  Don’t change your Core Values, your Character Diamond.   Not.    Ever.

But everything else is fair game.

Product
You should be changing your product by at least 10% each year.  Did you know that Mattel changes over 75% of its Barbie lineup every year?  A classic toy like Barbie goes through a major makeover every single year.  Look for new items that compliment your mix, too, not just the latest version of last year’s commodity.  Look for the latest and greatest on-the-edge products that fit within your Character Diamond.  You are the indie retailer.  People expect cutting edge from you.  Don’t disappoint them.

Services
Raise the bar!  Those special services you started offering a few years ago are now part of the expectation.  If you want to WOW your customers you have to go above and beyond their expectations.  Do things unexpected and wonderful.

Merchandising
Move things around.  Shake things up.  I know a store that paints one wall a new color every quarter and then merchandises that wall to match the color.  You think people notice?  Of course they do!  Take down every sign that has been up more than a year.  No one is reading it any more.  Make new signs to replace the worn and faded ones.  Change your window displays regularly.  Make them fascinatingly attractive.

Staff Training
I have more ideas on that than worth writing in this blog.  Download my free eBook Staff Meetings Everyone Wants to Attend and you should get enough ideas to change way more than 10%.

There are plenty of ways to make changes for the better.  After a little thought, I’m not sure 10% is enough.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  Not sure that change is necessary?  Ask yourself what is different about the way you do retail compared to ten years ago?  A whole lot has changed around you.  Change with the times or they will pass you by.

Working ON vs Working IN (Part 2)

At the panel discussion at the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) this past week, we discussed the concept of working ON versus working IN your business.  To clarify the concepts I asked the audience to define which of the following were IN and which were ON.  The results were interesting…

Marketing & Advertising – ON
Hiring the Staff – ON
Training the Staff – IN/ON
Buying – IN/ON
Receiving Merchandise – IN
Stocking Shelves – IN
Selling – IN
Bookkeeping – ON/IN
Financials – ON

As you can see, there were mixed opinions on Training the Staff, Buying, and Bookkeeping.  Some of it was based on what a manager can do, versus what an owner can do.  I think some people felt that managers can only work IN the business.  Do you agree? (I don’t.)

My own personal belief is:

IN is anything done that moves your merchandise out the door.  So Receiving, Stocking and Selling are the IN’s.
ON is anything that gets the merchandise you sell (buying), the people who sell it (hiring and training), and the people to whom you sell it (marketing and advertising).    ON also includes taking care of the money your business provides.

(But what about Bookkeeping?  I’m still on the fence about that one.)

Using that definition, how much time do you spend ON versus IN?  In our panel, the average was about 80% ON and 20% IN for the first 11 months of the year, and then swap that for December.  You, too?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Not only do I think managers should work ON the business, too.  I highly encourage it.  They take more ownership for the success the more they have a hand in creating that success.

Working ON or Working IN?

The big dilemma for most independent store owners is…

How much time should I spend working ON my business versus working IN my business?

I am going to be moderating a panel discussion at the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association Academy & Marketplace this coming Sunday on that topic.  I have asked my panelists to answer three basic questions…

  1. How do you divide the work between yourself, your managers, and your staff?
  2. What are your guiding principles for your management/leadership style?
  3. How do you learn to “let go”?

I’m curious.  How would you answer those questions?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  I’ll give you my answers next week after the panel.  Don’t want to give away the presentation quite yet.  (And yes, look for an eBook on the topic later this summer.  Maybe your answers will be part of it.)

Better Than Brainstorming

I just finished reading an amazing book, Imagine by Jonah Lehrer.  His was not the first book, but simply the most recent to dispel the notion of brainstorming, how it has been proven to be one of the least effective methods of creativity.

I admit, I was a brainstorming junkie.  As a typical extroverted, talk-to-think person, I bought into the concept, and often wondered why my staff couldn’t come up with as many great ideas as I thought they should.  My first breakthrough in weaning off of brainstorming came when I had my staff plan an event for us back in May.  The ideas they came up with were far better than any we would conjure up in our meetings.

This morning I put the final nail in the coffin of the traditional brainstorming by trying a new twist based on some ideas from Lehrer’s book and others who have helped me along the way.  Instead of the typical shout-out-ideas-while-I-write-them-on-an-easel-pad session, I split the staff up into partners with one rule – it had to be a new partner with whom you had not previously been paired.  I gave them a pad of paper and ten minutes to come up with as many ideas as possible for a new event we are considering.  After the ten minutes they brought their ideas to the group where we shot down the ridiculous ones immediately and added to the good ones.

By the time I was done we had pages upon pages of notes and people fired up wanting to get started.

Not only was the quantity of ideas better, not only was the quality of ideas better, the staff was motivated and ready to take up arms to get the best ideas off the ground right away.  Contrast that to your last brainstorming session.

Hi, I’m Phil.  I’m a recovering brainstormer.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  I used four new ideas this morning that I believe made the difference…

  1. Team up in small teams – collaboration is good and helps take the pressure off the individual without bogging down the process when too many people have to agree
  2. Pair up with someone new – fresh is best to get new and interesting perspectives
  3. Shoot down the obviously bad ideas right away – everyone knows they are bad, let them die a quick and noble death.
  4. Expand on the really good ideas right away – strike while the iron is hot!

A Bad Day at Golf

Those of you who golf know this saying…

A bad day at golf beats a good day at work anytime.

I put that saying to the test today.

I played in a charity golf scramble for The Exchange Club of Jackson to benefit the Jackson County Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.  It was low 50’s and rainy all day including one driving rainstorm early in the round.  I never expected we would even play so I did not dress properly for the round.  By the end of the day I was soaked and chilled to the bone.

Yet to everyone who asked me, “How was the golf?” I responded, “Great!”

Was it out of reflex?  No.  I actually had a lot of fun.  And the reasons why hold lessons we can apply at work.

I had fun because I was doing something I love to do.  I love to golf.  I love the challenge of mastering the elements, mother nature, and my own body all at the same time.  I love the exhilaration of making a great shot, sinking a long putt, and bouncing back from a bad hole.

Do you love your work, the challenges, the exhilarations and the bounce backs?

I had fun because I was in good company.  We laughed, we joked, we lifted each other up.  We kept a positive attitude after every missed birdie opportunity, after every rain shower.  We helped each other out, picked up each other’s errant shots, encouraged each other to excel.

Do you work with good people who help each other out and lift each other up?

I had fun because I knew we were making a difference.  The regional president of the Exchange Club was there.  The former president of the National Exchange Club was there.  The people who were going to benefit most from the fundraising were there.  Just seeing the difference my paying to play golf would make was fun.

Do you make a difference in the work you do, too?

I had fun even though the weather was lousy, our golf was barely up to par (pun intended – we were three under par, the winning score was seventeen under par), I lost six golf balls, and I didn’t win the 32″ TV they gave away as a door prize.

But I cannot say it was better than a good day at work because I do love my work, I do work with great people, and we do make a difference.  If you have those three things, you have the envy of everyone.

I’ve had some pretty awesome days at work.  Now, had the sun been shining, though…

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  If you want to love your work, commit to a mighty goal.  If you want to work with great people, hire them.  If you want to make a difference, make one.

It’s Not a Battleship at War

“To open a shop is easy, to keep it open an art.” – Chinese Proverb

“If making a profit were easy, everyone would be doing it.” – Roy H. Williams

My grandfather, who founded Toy House in 1949, served on the USS Arkansas Battleship during World War II.  68 years ago today he was training for D-Day.  67 years ago today he was preparing for Okinawa.  His tour of duty aboard the Arkansas was his first ever experience on a boat of any kind.  Yet, before his tour ended he earned his way up to being Officer of the Deck Underway (OOD), in other words, the top person in charge of the ship at sea.  

“Once you have been OOD on a battleship during wartime, well… everything else seems pretty easy in comparison.” – Phil Conley

Thanks for putting it all in perspective, Gramps.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS  I interviewed my grandfather on a couple occasions and am currently working on a book about some of the more interesting stories in our history and some of the lessons we have learned along the way.

A Tough Question

I have been asked to apply for a position on an advisory board for a new retail organization.  Part of the application process includes a questionnaire.  I am stuck on the last question…

Without regard for funding, what is one area of concentration or program you would implement today to help independent specialty stores survive? 

There are so many ways to go with this…

I could focus on vendor programs slanted in the favor of indie stores such as Minimum Ad Pricing policies, exclusive products, not selling to online discounters, etc.
I could focus on advertising and marketing to promote the value of shopping local and shopping independent.
I could focus on websites to help customers find their local indie store, or even website design for all local stores so that everyone would have that electronic presence required necessary to compete in today’s electronic world.

But the first place my mind went when I read that question was Training.  In many ways, we are our own worst enemies.  We undermine our own stores through weak customer service, bad inventory management, or ignorance of our financials.  We put out horrible ads that do nothing to attract customers.  We hire poorly, neglect training and wonder why our staff doesn’t get it.

Sure, most indie retailers do one or two things well, some impressively well.  But often that is not enough.

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli believes independent businesses need to be strong in three areas – product, marketing, and finances – to be successful, but most individuals have a passion for only one, maybe two of those.  It takes all three to be successful so his approach is to pair people with different strengths together.

I believe you can learn to be good at all three, but you have to first want to learn.  And that may be the hardest hurdle to overcome.  You can lead an indie retailer to training, but you can’t make him learn.

I guess in the end I will probably go with Vendor Programs in my answer.  But just imagine a world where every independent shop truly had WOW customer service, excellent cash flow, strong finances, and magnetic marketing…

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Yes, I was talking about you… and me, too.  I have a whole bunch of areas I need to improve.  Are you seeking yours out as actively as I am seeking out mine?

PPS Have you seen my 2-day Retail Success Academy course?  Get your business friends together and you can hire me to share what I know.  (The offer for 4 hours of training with the purchase of 60 books is still available, too)