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New Statistics on Market Share

I just got back from presenting at the Michigan Downtown Conference in Bay City, MI. Robert Gibbs offered some new statistics on the breakdown of Retail Market Share worth passing along.

In 1955 the Central Business Districts of our cities had 90% of the Retail Market Share. Today the CBD’s have 2%.

The breakdown looks like this:

Power Retail Centers (think Wal-Mart plazas) 37%
Regional Shopping Centers (malls) 31%
Internet 9%
Living Centers (the new outdoor mall type places) 7%
Downtown CBD’s 2%

(I am guessing that the other 14% is in small strip malls and stand-alones that are spread out along the highways, rural areas and non-commercial districts of this fine country.)

That is a major shift in shopping habits. His solution for downtowns to reverse this trend is for downtowns to attract more chain retailers. The chains then become anchors that attract shoppers and raise the tide for all the shops. Unfortunately, that is not a reality for most small cities.

Especially after he told us the 50-50-50 rule for attracting chain stores. You have to have two of these three factors:

  • 50,000 people in the trade area (or more)
  • $50,000 average income (or higher)
  • 50,000 cars driving by daily (or more)

How does your community stack up? I am guessing that 95% of the cities in the US were eliminated immediately.

My solution is far simpler and works whether you’re in a bustling metropolis or quaint little town.

To gain back market share you need to be better than you were in marketing, better than you were in over-the-top incredible customer service, and better than you were in turning your customers into evangelists. Do that and the people will come. You don’t need a national chain store to draw you a crowd. Start your own crowd – a crowd of people who love you.

-Phil

To Labor on Labor Day or Not

Are you open this Monday? We aren’t.

Labor Day & Memorial Day are paid holidays for my staff (along with New Year’s Day, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas).

We’re also closed Sundays of Labor & Memorial Day weekends.

Why?

For my staff. They deserve a break. I expect a lot from them and so I need to reward them from time to time. Giving them paid holidays and long weekends is one way I tell them that breaks are important and family time is a priority and that it isn’t always about chasing the almighty dollar.

Plus, in our town it just isn’t a big shopping day for anyone but the Transactional Customers looking for a Labor Day sale. And I’m not going after them.

You may have your own reasons for being open or closed this weekend. That’s fine and good by me. Just thought I’d tell you mine.

Happy Labor Day! (wanted to tell you that now, because Monday I’ll be sleeping in:-)

-Phil

Completing the Sale

Rick Segel’s last post was on how to raise your average ticket by selling more. His suggestion? Suggestions (read his post here).

Of course, rather than tell you what to do, he invites you to attend his webinar to learn how.

With all due respect to Rick, I don’t want you to attend any webinars, so let me tell you how I taught my staff to do suggestive selling. (Hint… it’s not a whole lot different than, “Want fries with that?”, but then again it is completely different.)

Complete the Sale
Every customer that is making a purchase has an expectation of using that item in one way or another. But most often the item is not a stand-alone item. Most often there are accessories either optional or required that make using the item much more productive and/or enjoyable.

A radio-controlled helicopter needs batteries. A model car needs paint & glue. A coloring book needs crayons. A dress shirt needs a tie. A pair of shoes needs socks. A new car needs fuzzy dice.

Yeah, that’s the low hanging fruit. But every product has something that completes it, often many options to complete it.

Teachable Moment
To get my staff to understand this concept we started with our usual show-and-tell. Everyone grabbed one new item from their department to show off to the rest of the staff at one of our meetings.

But then I challenged them. I asked them to go back into the store and find five items that they could suggest to a customer to “complete the sale”. Not surprisingly, they were all able to easily find five items. Some came back with ten.

The point made was that with every item there are plenty of suggestions of complimentary products, some of which they need, some of which they might just want. But unless you are conditioned to think that way, unless your staff is already mentally thinking in those terms, just making random suggestions is as effective as selling french fries.

-Phil

Chapter 2 The Lunch

Another excerpt from the book “Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel: Turning Your Staff Into a Work of Art”… Read previous excerpts here and here.

Chapter 2 The Lunch
“Just as our eyes need light in order to see, our minds need ideas in order to conceive.” – Napoleon Hill

Thursday arrived and Mary breezed into work. But even then, the minutes ticked off slowly as Mary anticipated her luncheon meeting. Finally, at 11:30, Mary grabbed her coat and headed out the door. It was only three blocks from her office to the deli. With the sun shining, Mary walked briskly down the street, her enthusiasm putting a bounce in each step. As Mary grabbed the door handle, she noticed Dr. Scott a half block away. Mary waited.

“Thank you so much for meeting me. I am so grateful,” Mary blurted out.

“Oh no, the pleasure is all mine,” Dr. Scott responded with a grin as they entered the deli. “Shall we sit?”

Dr. Scott led her to a table near the back where it would be quiet enough to talk. A waitress took their drink order as Mary stared at her former professor, not sure where to begin. This was a different side of him that Mary had not seen as a student. Dr. Scott motioned to the menus tucked away between the salt & pepper shakers. “Order first, then we’ll talk. If we don’t order now, we’ll get hammered by the rush.”

As Mary scanned the menu, she could see the tables beginning to fill up. They both ordered quickly, and settled in to wait for their meals.

“As I recall,” Dr. Scott started, “you were always one with an open mind. No matter how many times I challenged you to do better, you did. So it was funny you would call the day you did. I was opening my mail when the phone rang and had just received an invitation to the best human resources training program ever. It’s in the evenings, right during my HR308 class. Believe me, this program would be perfect for you. It meets twice a week at the downtown YMCA and runs for five weeks.

“I know, I know, before you protest about not having time, trust me. You’ll be able to start applying the lessons immediately. And anyway, it’s too late to worry about all that. I’ve already signed you up. Here’s the brochure.”

Dr. Scott slid a simple tri-fold brochure, black ink on white paper, over to Mary.

Mary was confused. “The ‘best human resources training program’ came on a simple black and white brochure in a class down at the Y?” Mary thought to herself. Mary took the brochure from Dr. Scott and read the front of the flyer. Now Mary was even more confused.
“Pottery?! Dr. Scott, this must be a mistake. I think you’ve given me the wrong brochure,” Mary said indignantly.

Dr. Scott pulled back the brochure, peered at it though his bifocals. “No, it’s the right one,” he replied as he slid it back across the table. “Trust me, Mary. Use that wonderfully open mind of yours. The class starts this Monday and you’re signed up. But I’ll tell you what. Go to that first class Monday night, and I’ll meet you here Tuesday for lunch. If you haven’t learned anything new, we’ll figure out something else. You have my word on it.”

Before Mary could respond, the waitress brought their food. And Mary could tell by the way Dr. Scott dug into his ham & Swiss that further discussion was out of the question.

As Mary walked back to the office, she grappled with the idea of how taking a pottery class could teach her to find, hire and train twenty great sales reps. No answers came and even the sunshine could not force its way into her furrowed brow. “Pottery?” she continued to question.

Here are more testimonials for the book…

“What a wonderful book! I will certainly be recommending it to a few people. I like the analogy used with the pottery class in the story to develop a step-by-step best practice for finding, interviewing, hiring and training new employees. The story really made for a quick, relaxing read but with a remarkable number of “take-aways” to apply back on the job. It is, frankly, one of the better business books I have read (and I have read quite a number!) because in a short time you walk away with tips to use immediately.” – Gina Abudi, MBA – Partner/VP Strategic Solutions

“Phil, Your book was excellent. I really liked the digestible size. That’s perfect for managers who don’t have the patience to trudge through a lengthy dissertation. They could basically read it during a lunch break. The story was very engaging and fun. It kept my attention throughout. I loved the short chapters and the quotes, they really spoke to me. One of my favorites was “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” That is so true, and I wish more managers understood that. There’s so much focus on quality and checklists and process to get things right, but if you gave someone something they’d be excited to do, then they’ll do the best they can. Thanks for creating and sharing your own work of art. This will be an excellent resource.” -Rex Williams – Grootship

Buy your copy of the book here and transform your staff into the masterpiece you want them to be.

-Phil

An Open Letter to My Staff

The following is an open letter to my staff in our monthly newsletter. Feel free to copy it, model it, use it with your own staff.

You Were Hired…

You were hired because I believe in your ability to help me grow this company.

You were hired because I believe you can connect with customers, make positive lasting impressions on them, help them solve their problems and create memories.

You were hired because I believe you care about the impression this store makes on our customers, you care about the cleanliness of the store, the orderliness of your department and the efficiency with which customers can find what they need.

You were hired because I believe you want to make a difference in the lives of our customers, not just sit around and wait for a paycheck.

You were hired because I believe you are smart enough to understand our products and how they impact the lives of our customers.

You were hired because I believe you love to have inclusive fun, not at the expense of others, but fun that everyone can enjoy.

You were hired because I believe you want to learn. You are not satisfied with your current set of skills and are constantly trying to improve.

You were hired because I believe you are a go-getter, someone who will seek out projects to improve this store, improve the customer experience, improve yourself.

You were hired because I believe in you.

You Were Fired…

You were fired because I stopped believing in you.

I saw you sitting on your butt waiting for something to happen instead of making it happen.

I saw you making excuses instead of making customers happy.

I saw you paying more attention to your co-workers or your phone or your spouse than the customers.

I saw you worrying more about time off than paying attention to your time on.

Maybe my perception was wrong. Maybe I didn’t see the whole story. But I can only go by what I see and what I believe.

It is up to you to…

Show Me I Was Right to Believe

-Phil

Meeting Your Goals

Had another fun staff meeting this morning. More importantly, we met our Goals for the meeting.

Yes, every single one of my staff meetings has a Goal (or two). And I define that goal by finishing this simple statement…

This meeting will be a success if…

I had two goals for today’s meeting that finished that statement:

  1. The staff understands the importance of asking the customers questions and getting to know the special needs of their children
  2. The staff gains a new tool to make the experience more personal and special for our youngest customers

Across the Spectrum
The task I used to accomplish the first goal was a guest speaker who talked to us about Autism and the special toy needs of autistic children. If you know anything about Autism, you know there is a spectrum. What is good for one child might be completely wrong for another. But after the presentation the staff is now armed with a load of questions to ask a customer to help understand where her child might be on that spectrum.

What was even better, however, is that it helped them also realize that all children are on some sort of spectrum in their levels of play and that by asking the right questions of the parents they can better determine which toys to suggest.

Not Just Any Balloon
To accomplish Goal #2 I brought in an art instructor. This guy can teach any kind of art to any kind of student. The task I gave him was to teach to my staff how to doodle and draw in twenty minutes. He was up to the challenge. In no time at all he convinced my staff that they all had artistic talent, and he showed them simple techniques for doodling animal faces onto helium balloons.

Now my staff is empowered to not only give children free helium balloons, but to customize them with a quick little drawing. The kids don’t just get a balloon, they get a personalized work of art. It only takes a few seconds to draw, but it makes a lifetime of impact.

Best of all, the staff had a blast learning and have spent all morning practicing their doodling skills (wouldn’t you just love a job where the boss encourages you to doodle?). There’s a little friendly competition already begun to see who can draw the most balloons this week. Once again the staff is telling me how much fun they have at our meetings.

Are your staff meetings this fun?
Would you like them to be? All I do is follow a simple plan that you can follow, too.

Click Here if you want to learn how to plan Staff Meetings That Everyone Wants to Attend.

Or click here to go right to the worksheet to start planning an awesome meeting for your staff.

-Phil

Which Would You Attend – Revisited

A few days ago I posted 4 potential classes and asked a bunch of my retailer friends if they could only attend one, which would they choose.

I had two purposes for this post. First, to see how people choose which sessions and trainings to attend. Second, to see if there was one over-riding topic in which everyone was thirsting for more info.

The answer to the first purpose was interesting. There were three basic reasons for choosing which class to attend.

  1. It is the class that you deem most important to your business success (regardless of your own skill level)
  2. It is the class in which you feel your skills are least competent
  3. It is the class that sounds the most fun (of highest interest to you)

Professionally, I would think reasons #1 & #2 make the most sense, but I can also see how #3 plays into the equation. If you aren’t enjoying yourself, you’ll have a harder time staying focused, thus have a harder time learning.

The answer to the second purpose was less clear. All four classes received interest. Including the email responses, there would have been at least two people in each class, but no more than three in any one class. So no clear cut topic emerged. Darn! I was hoping to get some more focus for future posts.

So, in lieu of a single topic, I’ll keep writing a variety of posts on all topics important to retail success. If you have a question, send it along and I’ll respond. Maybe by the 4th quarter you won’t have to attend any classes.

-Phil

Help Me Choose A Workshop

At many conferences we have breakout sessions – three or four different topics and speakers from which you can choose.

I struggle with these because I usually want to attend more than one, and cloning has not reached the level to allow me that luxury. And trying to decide between one session and another is tough.

I need your feedback here…

I’m going to give you four options for sessions you could attend. For the sake of argument, let’s assume all the speakers are well-qualified to talk on their respective subjects and you can only attend one of those sessions.

Which session will you attend and why?

Session #1 – Marketing & Advertising on a Shoestring Budget
Learn the smartest ways to get the most out of your limited advertising resources. This class will show you how to use Social Media the right way, teach you new ways to market your business without spending a dime, how to get a guaranteed return on the money you do spend on advertising, and why you’re not getting the word-of-mouth you think you deserve (and how to change that). Every attendee will leave with at least four inexpensive ways to increase traffic and sales that they can implement right away.

Session #2 – Everyone has Customer Service, You Need Customer Delight
This session will show you how to train your staff to consistently give your customers far more than they expect. Topics covered include how to meet and greet your customers the right way, understanding the different customer temperaments, how to solve their problems, and how to finish each sale leaving the customer happier than when they came in. Each attendee will get a blueprint for training their staff including role-play examples and key phrases to avoid.

Session #3 – Knowing the Numbers, It’s Your Money After All
You can just hand over your financials to your accountant and hope for the best, or you can learn the numbers yourself and make them work for you. This class is for the financials novices who wish to learn simple ways to understand the financials behind their business. You will learn how to calculate important numbers like Cost of Goods Sold, Gross & Net Profit, and the many different ratios that banks use to determine if your business is growing or dying. When you finish this class, you’ll know exactly where your money is, what it is (or isn’t) doing for you and how to make it better.

Session #4 – Cash Flow Basics – How Smart Buyers Make More Money
When is a deal from your vendor too good to pass up? When is a discount not worth the loss of cash flow? How do you know when you have too much inventory? Too little? These and other questions will be answered in this buyer’s workshop including tools you can use to increase your cash flow and make you more money. You don’t need a point-of-sale system to be a better buyer. You just need to know these simple principles of buying that dramatically change your financial picture.

Which will you choose and why?

-Phil

Another Excerpt From the Book “Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel”

Here is another excerpt from my new book. You can buy it here.


Chapter 6 Lesson #2 Wedging
“The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.” – Gloria Steinem

Mary was ready when Dr. Scott entered the deli.

“So, what did you learn last night?”

“I learned that even if you have the right raw ingredients, you can still make two mistakes that will keep your pottery from turning out right. First, you have to select the right amount. Too much and you can’t work with it, too little and you can’t get anything done.

“The same is true about hiring new people. If we hire too many people they won’t have enough to do. They’ll get bored, complacent or lazy. Too few and we run the risk of burning them out by overwhelming them with too much to do, or worse yet, they can’t get the job done.

“I thought about this last night, and I think the company was right in choosing twenty. Based on the vision they have laid out, twenty should be perfect.”

“And what about the second lesson?” Dr. Scott asked.

“That was the fun part. We wedged our clay bodies by slamming them against the table. I still ache from that,” Mary said rubbing her arms.

“So are you saying you need to slam your trainees?” Dr. Scott queried.

“No, not slam them. But we do need to make sure we get all the impurities out, all of the air bubbles in their previous trainings. I guess I was thinking of the air bubbles as being bad habits they may have picked up, or even ways they were trained to do things that are different from our ways. We have to get rid of their bad habits before they crack,” Mary added with a smile.

Dr. Scott chuckled.

Mary continued, “It really comes down to setting the right expectations from the start. I know that the training program has to be clearly defined. In fact, I’m going to be working on the training manual this weekend to make sure our new vision is distinctly outlined.”

As they continued to talk and eat, Dr. Scott said, “I think you’re getting a handle on this. I’d love to keep meeting with you, but I’ve got a conference next week. Would you like to meet the week after that on Tuesday or Thursday?”

“Thursday’s fine. I’ve got plenty to do until then. Oh, Dr. Scott, thank you again. You’ve been such a big help.”

Transform your staff into a work of art. Buy a copy of the book today.

-Phil

Excerpt From the Book “Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel”

Here is an excerpt from my new book, “Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel: Turning Your Staff Into a Work of Art”

Flipping through her Rolodex, Mary knew she needed help. And there it was. Dr. Scott, of all people, her least favorite professor. Mary could still picture Dr. Scott peering over his wire-rim reading glasses as he handed back her assignments each time saying his catch phrase, “You can do better.” Although hard on every student, Dr. Scott had been especially tough on Mary. No matter how much effort she put into her work, Dr. Scott would still say, “You can do better.” The students often laughed that he should tattoo the phrase on his forehead and save his breath. Yet, each time he said it, Mary became more resolved to show him improvement. The more he pushed her, the more she did. Mary always felt that Dr. Scott disliked her immensely. She couldn’t have been more surprised on graduation day when he told her how proud he was of what she had accomplished – first in her class, Summa Cum Laude. Beaming like a proud father, he handed her his business card saying, “I push hardest on those I believe have the most potential. You certainly lived up to my expectations. Call me if you ever need help.”

Mary laughed at the memory, thinking at the time that this was one card she’d be glad to toss. But she found a pocket beneath her graduation gown and tucked it away. When she bought her first Rolodex, somehow his card found its way in.

Now she looked at the card. Should she call? Mary feared that all he would say was, “You can do better,” and she had no response. Doubts and fears battled across her mind.

She was muddled on what to do. Mary glanced at the memo staring back at her. Twenty great sales reps in three months. She had to find them, hire them, and train them with no room for error.

Mary picked up the phone and dialed. “He’s probably not even there,” she thought.

To her surprise, Dr. Scott picked up on the third ring…

Would you like an easy-to-follow method that takes your hiring and training to a new level? The book is an enjoyable read and will produce results for you immediately.

Here are a couple testimonials from the first batch of books sold…

I just read the book last night, cover to cover–I loved it! As a store owner, I thought the information was invaluable. I struggle with the correct steps to take in hiring and training new staff. The steps laid out in this book are so easy to follow…common sense really. The story was one that you didn’t want to put …down. Following the process of someone learning pottery, was a beautiful way of describing just how we are to create a “work of art” staff. Thanks Phil!

-Julie Wells, Imagination Station, Franklin, IN

I just received Phil’s book yesterday. If you didn’t purchase it at market you should order it. It is a easy read and worth the money if you struggle with hiring good employees. Phil, great job on the book, I started it this morning and didn’t want to put it down.

-Connie Hoeft, CR Toys, Kearney, NB

Buy it today right here. Happy hiring!

-Phil