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Negotiating About Price

This article from RetailCustomerExperience.com should be required reading of anyone working indie retail.

We all get told at one point or another, “Your price is too high!“

This article gives you clear responses that that anyone can use to handle such a situation.

(Reader’s Digest version for those lazy people who don’t want to read a five minute article… ask the customer, “What would you like to give up?” and put the ball in their court for why your price may be higher. You quickly learn what is important to your customer and you open the door for a discussion that makes your customer more informed.)

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS You really should read the whole article because there are a few more steps that anyone on your staff can follow.

Top Ten Blogs from 2013

A lot of people thought these blogs were interesting enough to tell others about it. Just in case no one shared these with you, here are the top ten most shared blogs from 2013.

Are You Open-to-Buy? Inventory Management is one of the most difficult and costly things to do in retail. Do it right and your cash flow and profits soar. Do it wrong and no matter what else you got right, you’re still out of business.

Sit in the Hot Seat for a Bit if You Want to Improve I made Ernie sit in the hot seat to find out how we could improve his business. We looked at each interaction, one-by-one, until we found the breakdown in customer service. Do the same for your business and you’ll know what to focus on for 2014.

Two Types of Customers (and Other Generalities) Everyone likes to have things broken down into simple lists and digestible analogies. This post does that for you.

Everything I Possibly Can Simple message: The best retailers are the best because they keep learning new ways to be better.

Great Minds Discuss Ideas My shortest blog of the year – based on a great quote by Eleanor Roosevelt.

I Did Some Showrooming Showrooming is a big deal that is hurting brick & mortar retailers all over the country. The real problem isn’t the smartphone or Amazon. The real problem is our own ability to close the sale.

I Tore Up My Office Yesterday If you want different results, you have to do something different. (I think this got a lot of love because everyone wanted to see my messy office.)

Peeing Before the Race The dog that does its business before the race will run the fastest. The business that does its business before the season will be the most successful.

Anatomy of a Staff Meetting – Play Value I’m on a crusade to make staff meetings more fun and memorable. Who’s with me?

The Mortar Between Your Bricks Bricks are the products you sell. Mortar is everything else. You need good bricks to build a good business. You need strong mortar if you want that business to last.

May the lessons of 2013 bring you great successes in 2014!

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS If you want more, here are the Top Ten Blog Posts of 2012.

Give Your Business a Physical – Track These Numbers, Too

There are many different metrics you need to measure to determine the health of your business. Two of the biggest are Profits and Cash Flow. If both of those are good, your business is probably doing well.

But that doesn’t mean you don’t look at other numbers, too. That would be the equivalent of a doctor checking your temp and blood pressure and determining you are completely healthy without looking at anything else.

Here are some other numbers you should track to keep a check on the pulse of your business.

Traffic – Number of transactions you had this year compared to last year. Did that number go up or down? If it went down, why? 
  • Did your location get worse? 
  • Was there a change in the types and numbers of stores around you? 
  • Was there a drop in population? 
  • Did you cut back your offerings and categories significantly?
If your traffic was down, but none of these other factors were negative, you have a hole in your Customer Service (repeat and referral business) and/or Advertising (first-timer business). You need to find that leak and fix it fast.

Average Transaction – Take your total sales and divide by # of transactions. Compare to last year. If this number went down, why? 
  • Did you carry fewer high-ticket items? 
  • Did you add more low-ticket impulse items that people might run in and grab? 
  • Did you do anything to attract more youth? 
If none of those factors were in play but your average ticket went down, you have a hole in your staff’s ability to sell. You need to fix that fast.

Market Share – This is a little harder to calculate, but an incredibly valuable piece of information that can pinpoint problems – even if you had a great year on paper!
  1. Find the national sales figure for your industry. 
  2. Divide that by the population of the United States to determine sales per person. 
  3. Multiply that times the population of your trade area to determine the market potential for your area.
  4. Divide your total sales by that market potential to find your percentage or share of the market.
  5. Compare it to last year’s number.
You can have an awesome year with solid sales growth and decent profits and cash flow, but still be in potential trouble if your market share is slipping. If all your growth was fueled by huge growth in your market, but you aren’t holding onto your share of that market, then you are ripe for being picked off by a better competitor entering your market. You need to figure out why your share is decreasing and fix that problem now.

You can also have a lousy year with declining sales and profits, but mostly fueled by a change in the market. Maybe your industry is in decline (smaller sales per person). Maybe your trade area is shrinking. But if your market share is growing, then your big issue is determining whether to cut expenses and inventory and hope the market comes back or move to a new market.

Make sure your Profit and Cash Flow are good. Those are immediate life threatening problems for your business. If those are good, it buys you time to check/fix the other problems.

Give your business a full physical. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

-Phil Wrzesinski
PS Be honest in your evaluations. Even if there are circumstances beyond your control, there are always circumstances you can control and improve while you ride out the storm.

Many Happy Returns

Returns are one simple way to set your store above the rest in terms of customer delight. The more you can do to make a customer happy while making a return, the better.

Here is what I reminded my staff regarding returns…

MANY HAPPY RETURNS

Actually, we hope we have very few returns, but we do know we will have some returns. I want all of them to be as happy as possibly. Here are some ways to make them Happy Returns.

Yes, we will take it back! Don’t worry about the customer’s motive, whether it is opened/damaged/re-sellable, etc. First and foremost make the customer happy by saying yes. Some items we can re-package to sell. Some we will get credit from the company. Some we can steal parts from to fix others. Some we can use as demos. Some we can donate to places that take used toys.

Yes, we will refund your money! If you have a receipt. Otherwise we will gladly give you a store credit good on anything at any time. This is one area where you might get someone demanding money back even without a receipt. If they are being really pushy about it, just give them cash back and send them on their Merry Way. (Get them out of the store as soon as possible.)

Apologize! Someone is bound to come in saying we ruined their Christmas because we sold them an obviously used/broken toy. Well, no, we didn’t. Not on purpose. But that doesn’t matter. Apologize. Say, “I’m really sorry that happened. What would you like us to do to fix this?”

Fix it! This can be tough. We might be out of what they need. It might be a part that needs to be ordered. But do whatever is in your power to fix it.

If we have the item in stock—swap it out for them, parts or the whole thing, whichever is easier.

If we do not have the item, you can offer to order replacement parts. Often we can order them directly through the company and have them shipped to the customer. You can check online or on the phone while the customer is right there.

If we cannot order the part or replace the product, offer them a store credit or a refund. But most of all apologize.

Remember this order…

  1. Make the customer happy.
  2. Tell me later what you did.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS You might not make everyone happy. There are always unreasonable people and just plain rude people. If you have tried your best and nothing seems to be working, do whatever it takes to get them and their negativity out of the store as fast as possible before they infect anyone else. Take the loss if necessary. Handle it with professionalism, kindness and respect regardless of how they treat you. Remember that other customers are watching and judging you and your character. Show them what you got!

“No, We Don’t Have That”

In these final days, the most common phrase spoken by retail employees everywhere is…

“No, we don’t have that.” Or its cousin, “No, we’re out of stock.”

Make sure in tomorrow morning’s huddle that you remind you staff that there is a better response…

“Let me show you what I do have.”

Learn to say that instead.

Before you say no, lead the customer over to an alternative. Put the alternative in his hand. He doesn’t want to drive all over in these last couple days for something that might be hard to find. More often than not he will accept the alternative.

But only if you offer it!

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS This works well in January, too. In fact, you should always use this approach. Positive beats negative in the retail game.

Maximizing the Final Week

Five Shopping Days left! Internet no longer a viable option. They have to come see you. Here are some things to remember to make this weekend HUGE!

Prep the Store

  • Get everything out of the warehouse and on the floor, even if you’re making creative piles in the middle of an aisle or off to the side of another display.
  • Load up on your giftwrap/bags/tape, etc. You don’t have time to go to the backroom and get more supplies.
  • Straighten the shelves and pull everything forward to the front edge of the display. It makes the shelves look more full and inviting.

Prep the Staff

  • Schedule breaks for them so that they are fresh when they are on the store.
  • Get food so they don’t have to leave to eat.
  • Healthy food so that they don’t have a bunch of sugar highs/lows.

Sell Up

  • Show the best first.
  • Limit the options.
  • Complete the sale by showing any and all accessories and add-ons that could possibly needed.
  • Ask this very important question… “Who else is on your list?”
    (nod to Bob Phibbs)

Have Fun

This is why we are in retail. This is our moment to shine. Be in this moment. Enjoy this moment. Have some fun in this moment. That is what retail is all about.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Other cool things you can do for your staff… Give them gifts – lottery tickets, gift cards to restaurants, gas cards, etc. Give them massages – hire a masseuse for the day to chair massages in the backroom. Feed them – order in pizza, or cater a healthy lunch/dinner. Put on Christmas Movies in the backroom to keep them in the mood.

You’ve Ruined My Christmas!

“You’ve ruined my Christmas!”

We’ve all heard it. You can’t be a retailer with 4th quarter traffic without hearing that a few times. The problem is that we often let that statement ruin our own Christmas.

Why do we give it so much weight?

Why do we let one customer ruin our day, ruin our holiday, ruin our year? Chances are we weren’t even the responsible party.

Most often that statement is said when the customer had an unreal expectation of what you could provide. Or maybe your vendor let you down. Or maybe the customer was just bat-sh#t crazy. Or maybe you did make a mistake, but because your steps to rectify the mistake weren’t perfect, you ruined their Christmas.

Why let that get you down?

Unless you’re a real f#@k-up, you probably only hear this once every few years. And you’re a stand-up person, so you made it right to the best of your powers. Yet you can still remember the day that mom screamed at you in front of six other customers. The hairs on the back of your neck go up every time you see a brunette in a fur coat just like hers. It colors your whole perception of the season.

Why don’t we instead focus on the people for whom we made their Christmas?

Go count how many transactions you had between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. Subtract from that all the ruinous statements. Now multiply the remaining number times ten. That’s how many Christmases you made last year. (Remember that people are in your shop not just for one person, plus, if you made their Christmas, you made the Christmas of those around them.)

Revel in those Christmases you made. Celebrate the Thank You’s. Exalt the I Love You Guys. Dance with the You Made My Day’s.

There are a lot more of those. Give them the weight they deserve. Pat yourself and your staff on the back. You all deserve that.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS This goes doubly for the staff. They are going to make mistakes. You really can ruin your staff’s Christmas if you don’t handle those mistakes properly. I remind all my staff that I expect them to make mistakes, just not the same one twice, so when they make a mistake, I say to them with a smile, “Good, you got that mistake out of the way. What are we going to learn from it?”

The Mortar Between Your Bricks

They call us Brick & Mortar stores. Physical locations where you go to pick out and pick up your goods.

But many stores are simply Brick stores – no mortar. Those are the stores being Showroomed.

Bricks are the products. Bricks are the items you choose to put into your store. Bricks are the items you buy, hoping to sell for a profit. Bricks are the reason you believe customers will beat a path to your door.

Oh, but you would be wrong on that last one.

Sure, you better have some nice bricks. But everyone knows that just stacking a bunch of bricks will not build a sustainable structure. Anyone can come by and knock it down.

Mortar is the glue that holds the bricks together. You need a good mortar.

Mortar is the staff you hire and train. Hire the right people and train them well. Give them autonomy to do the job they are capable of doing, mastery to do it better each successive time, and a purpose greater than themselves that will motivate them to do their best.

Mortar is the way you service and take care of your customers. Build policies around your Values. Build policies around the Feelings you hope to give your customers. Build policies around Delight, around going above and beyond what your customers expect.

Mortar is the way you invest in your community. Mortar is the charities you support, the issues you champion, the involvement and commitment you make to the greater good.

Mortar is the special touches you offer. Mortar is turning off the overhead music when an autistic child enters your store because you know it bothers him. Mortar is carrying the heavy item out to the car – even though it is parked hundreds of feet away – so that mom can manage the stroller and the toddler who wants to walk. Mortar is calling that customer who really wanted your sold-out, discontinued science set because somebody returned one the next day. Mortar is saying Yes! when everyone else says No.

The stronger your mortar, the stronger your store, regardless of which bricks you use.

Bricks are everywhere. The bricks that make up your store can be found online, in hundreds of other stores, all over the place. They can be found right in your customer’s pocket, one click away. If you want to make it in this retail climate, you need some incredibly good mortar.

Tell me what is your mortar?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Mortar is also your financial strength, your ability to manage your inventory and cash flow, your ability to manage your expenses and cost of goods. The best retailers find ways to strengthen their mortar everywhere they can. If you are in the Jackson area and want to strengthen the mortar in your store, sign up for the Jackson Retail Success Academy class starting in January.

Call Me Farmer Phil

A toy store in December. Time to harvest the crops. Time to gather the rewards from a long year of planning and preparing for this moment.

Yet here we are still planting seeds.

Check out this FB post from a customer…

We’re always impressed with customer service at the Toy House, but yesterday was over the top. Our family was there because our son was picking out a gift for our daughter’s birthday. He asked me about a ride-along horse which I told him was fine, and he raced off, I assumed, to tell my husband. The next thing I knew a Toy House employee was asking me if I was XXXX’s mom. I said, yes, and she said that my son was asking if they could wrap the toy for his sister’s birthday. She wanted to know if it was okay, and they would go ahead, remove the tag, and wrap it for him, and we could pay when we were ready to go. I appreciated them taking the time to interact with my son (and tracking me down) instead of just brushing off his desires to get something for his sister. Thanks again, Toy House, for the continued hard work and great customer service!”

Planting the seeds for the next generation of Toy House shoppers.

If you are in a retail business like mine, where your primary target outgrows you, you have to always be farming, always be planting seeds for the next harvest.

I have to grow a new crop pretty much every year, so I am always in planting mode. You should be, too. Here are some ways to plant seeds.

Treat everyone in your store the same wonderful way, regardless of how much money they spend. Today’s small spender might be on a tight budget, but might know some friends and relatives who are not. She might also find her luck has changed next year.

Treat everyone in your store the same wonderful way, regardless of how they behave. You don’t know the journey they are on or the troubles they are facing. Have compassion and kindness. Understand that this is just today. Tomorrow will come and tomorrow will be different. It always is.

Pay attention to the memories and feelings you are creating. We are emotional beings. We remember feelings long after we forget the facts. Design your policies, choose your staff, and build your store around the feelings you want people to associate with your business.

Call me Farmer Phil. I’m off to go plant some more seeds.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Here is a seed worth watering… If you are a retailer in the Jackson area and you want to take your business to the next level, check out www.JacksonRetailSuccessAcademy.com. A new class is starting in January.

Making a List, Checking it Twice

No, I’m not Santa (although some people in Jackson might disagree).

The list I am making is the list of traits my seasonal staff needs to have. Things like…

  • A willingness to learn
  • Knowledge of toys
  • Knowledge of play and play value
  • Ability to do math
  • Ability to work on a computer
  • A strong, confident voice
  • Friendliness
  • Problem Solver
  • Can giftwrap a package
  • Loves to help others
  • Has legible handwriting
  • Works well with others
  • Energy to stand on your feet all day

Wouldn’t you love it if your seasonal staff had all those traits?

Which ones are deal killers (if they don’t have it, you can’t hire them)? Which ones do you think you could teach? Which ones do you know you could never teach?

Make a list like this for every position in your business. Then take that list and make a second list. Separate the first list into two columns – the stuff you cannot teach, the stuff you can teach.

Now go hire someone with the stuff you cannot teach, and train them on everything else.

As for the deal killers – those are the first things you need to identify in your interview process. That’s how you get a seasonal staff up to your level of customer service in short order.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Friendliness, Problem Solver, Loves to Help Others, A Willingness to Learn – those are my deal killers. You don’t have those traits, you don’t work for me.