Retail Today with Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor

How Do I Give Employee Feedback as a Retailer? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

We've talked a lot this month about retail sales training and holding employees accountable. One of the biggest skills that I think people miss is “How do I give feedback?” Because ultimately you would need to be able to give feedback that's both good and bad, right? So I always suggest first off that it's private. You don't ever want to get feedback like in front of other employees or customers. You want to do it somewhere off from everybody else to hear and then use the Oreo principle, which is start off with something good, then you've got something that may be bad or that they could do better, and then, you want to give them positive reinforcement to go with it.
So maybe you're going to start off with a goal. “This is what we wanted to do, but unfortunately, you're missing it. What I think you're doing is you're taking too much time with customers or you're hiding behind the racks or whatever it's going to be. But I know that you can do a good job of it because last week you are a #1 seller of whatever that product is.”
The important thing is to realize that feedback, both good and bad is the foundation of managing a team and why they probably call you boss.
If you love what you heard on Retail Today, connect with Bob by visiting retaildoc.com or send a message to bob@retaildoc.com. Thanks for listening!

Compare and Contrast for Better Results as a Retailer | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

I talk a lot about retail sales training and one of the things I find that really impacts is getting the right people into your store to begin with. A lot of us ask very nebulous questions, “What are your goals in five years?” All of that is in the future. What I always say is go back and find something they did in the past. One of the questions I like to ask when I'm interviewing somebody is “I want you to think back to the last retail job you have had. And I want you to think about a time when somebody came in to buy x, but you are able to sell them y.” And the reason that's so important is I want them to be able to compare and contrast because let's face it, you could go online and there's 140,000 SKUs for the one thing that somebody could look for.
The chances that you have that in your brick-and-mortar store might be pretty slim. However, if you can get them to compare and contrast it, then they could say something like, “Would you be interested in something the same or better?” A customer who drove all that way into your brick-and-mortar store would probably be open to it. But unless the employees can think on their feet, they're probably not going to be very good at boosting your sales. Your goal is to find out how they compare and contrast and then get them to think on their feet. And when you train them, that's how you build your brick-and-mortar store.
If you love what you heard on Retail Today, connect with Bob by visiting retaildoc.com or send a message to bob@retaildoc.com. Thanks for listening!

How to Use Your Customer List as a Retailer | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Do you have a loyalty program or an app or something like that? I hope so because people who have joined your list voluntarily, whether they're a customer or someone's that familiar with you, is the cheapest way and cheapest group to whom you can advertise. But a lot of times we forget about it. We might have an email list, but maybe it's on your website and we don't really think about it.
So you want to think today about how you're going to grow that list because that list is your most valuable source of marketing information. Make sure you have a contest. Make sure you have your employees well set up to talk about the benefits of being on your reward program and make sure that they do it. Share those numbers every week in your weekly meeting because your goal is to brand shoppers buts so that anytime they want something they remember you. Once you have a list, you can reach out to them once a week or a couple times a week. You can find ways to connect with them so that they never forget you’re their favorite store.
If you love what you heard on Retail Today, connect with Bob by visiting retaildoc.com or send a message to bob@retaildoc.com. Thanks for listening!

How Do I Reward Hours to Good Employees as a Retailer? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

When it comes to scheduling your employees, do you reward people who are able to get higher units per transaction, who are able to sell more per hour? I hope so because if you're just putting whoever can fill the shift, the chances are you're putting somebody like a race horse in the middle of a pasture, right? If it's not that busy and you have a great salesperson, you're squandering that. Likewise, if you have someone who's untrained or really just a clerk and you've got them on at your highest traffic times, they're probably costing you money because they're not upselling. They're not cross selling, they're not selling from the top down. They're simply clerking whatever somebody asks for. 
Today I want you to think about those who do what you want to do, who are selling the higher conversions, the higher dollars, they should get more hours, or if nothing else, they should get the most traffic times to be able to build your sales the best.
If you love what you heard on Retail Today, connect with Bob by visiting retaildoc.com or send a message to bob@retaildoc.com. Thanks for listening!

Focus on the Project, Not the Product as a Retailer | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Are you looking to get higher sales? Then get out of the bad habit of asking somebody, “What can I help you find?” Because the more you are just like a product, you're just interested in that one product. The more you're basically a warehouse for other people. Look, people go online to buy an item, they go into a store to discover items. So the power is instead of finding out what the product is, they're looking for, what's their project today, what are they working on? You want the customer to tell you everything that they could about the situation they're using it or where they're using it or how they're using it. Then, you pretty much just start putting together in your mind the product list that would all go together.
So instead of asking somebody, “Can I help you find something?” and the guy says, “Oh, I'm looking for um, lumber for a lumber looking for two by fours.” You want me to say, “What's your project today?” And then you find out he's building a deck and when he's building a deck, what else does he need when he might need power equipment. There's a number of things you could add onto the sale, but if you just stay stuck in that one item, lumber, you're probably settling for crumbs when you could have the whole feast. So stop talking and get the shopper to tell you what the project is, not ask them what that one specific product is they came in for.
If you love what you heard on Retail Today, connect with Bob by visiting retaildoc.com or send a message to bob@retaildoc.com. Thanks for listening!

How Do I Hold My Employees Accountable as a Retailer? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Have you ever found yourself accountable for your actions? I know when we watched the Olympics, you know that's probably the ultimate accountability is when we see someone get the gold medal that they did it. They did all the things it took to be a champion, and yet when we come into our brick-and-mortar stores, a lot of times people don't want to hold employees accountable. They want to be their friend. “Let's go out and have a drink. Let's eat.” And the problem with that is, is that you're going to be the same as everybody else, but without accountability, things simply don't change.
So if you train people how to greet a customer, how to do top-down selling, how you want them to pass off a sale, how you want a sale, the finish, whatever that's going to be, you've got to hold them accountable and inspect what you expect. If you're really going to be the boss and move the needle of sales, because holding employees accountable for your training is what's going to grow your sales better than anything else you could do today.
If you love what you heard on Retail Today, connect with Bob by visiting retaildoc.com or send a message to bob@retaildoc.com. Thanks for listening!

How to Navigate Discounts as a Retailer | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Are you stuck in a rut and can only sell things that are on sale or have a coupon or maybe you have some time, an endless promotion? We used to call them loss leaders, and while there are some aspects that can get traffic to your store, those days are pretty much gone because there's always somebody cheaper, especially on the web. What you want to do is to limit promotions and coupons because they damage your margins and the more margins are punished, less money you have to reward employees or to buy new stock or to fix up your store.
So, today I just want you to look at how many sales you've done, promotions, coupons, etcetera, and stop digging yourself deeper in debt. Instead, learn how to sell your full-priced merchandise. Buy my SalesRX online virtual retail sales training program because ultimately the one thing all your employees can do is to increase addons and increase your conversion rate much more than any sale we'll ever do.
If you love what you heard on Retail Today, connect with Bob by visiting retaildoc.com or send a message to bob@retaildoc.com. Thanks for listening!

How Do I Have the Right Mindset as a Retailer? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Do you ever hear about the power of positive thinking? It all sounds good and a lot of people ‘poo poo’ it and say, “Oh, it doesn't really matter,” but you know what? There really is something to getting what you put out there and one of the things I always say is it doesn't matter what time of the year, if this is the fall or the winter or whenever when you reach for the door, whether you're going to unlock the store for the first time or you're just going to go in, what's your attitude when you go in?
Do you consciously think “It's going to be a fun day? I'm looking forward to working with this person. I'm looking forward to making big sales,” or are you dreading it? Or like when it gets down to the holidays, are you talking about how much you hate Christmas and holiday shoppers?
Think about the energy you were bringing in there because when you approach a customer with that, that energy is going to come right back into you. Whether they pick up their smartphone and don't talk to you, or they don't buy as much and you end up settling for crumbs when you could have had the whole feast. So ultimately, I want you to think about what you focus on becomes reality, and choose the thoughts that are gonna make you more sales and ultimately have more fun at work.
If you love what you heard on Retail Today, connect with Bob by visiting retaildoc.com or send a message to bob@retaildoc.com. Thanks for listening!

How to Make Your Retail Employee's Day | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

If you're a manager and owner of a retail brick-and-mortar store, the most important thing you can do is to make your employee's day and then they'll make your customer's day. So many times we don't give that attitude. We don't have that feeling. We don't have that focus. And so, we pretty much just have your employees go and do tasks, move this from here, pick this order from the web, go over here and clean this, straighten that, etc.
And you know what? That's pretty boring, especially if you're pretty young, because let's face it, Millennials and i-Gen they're looking at possibilities. They are multitasking. They are looking for something fun and engaging and something to engage their mind. So that's gonna take some work on your side. Maybe you have to read some motivational books. Maybe you have to take some time away from the office to get recharged, whatever it is. Again, your job is to make your crew’s day, so they're going to make your shoppers day.
If you love what you heard on Retail Today, connect with Bob by visiting retaildoc.com or send a message to bob@retaildoc.com. Thanks for listening!

How Do I Set Better Goals as a Retailer? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Do you set a goal for your crew when you go in today? If so, you're on the track to making more sales. If not, well, you're probably squandering something because goals give us something to look forward to.
For example, if I was to say, “Hey, we're going to go on a cruise to Greece. We’re leaving at 10:55 on the U.S.S. (I don't know, some name of a ship) and we're going to go around from here to London. We're going to debark. We're going to spend a night by Big Ben. We're going to…” and I go through all these details. You'd be like, “Oh, I'm looking forward to it.” Now, what if I just said, “Hey, we're going to go on a cruise. We're gonna have a lot of fun. It's going to leave some time in a couple of weeks. We'll be gone, I don't know, a few days and we're going to have a lot of fun.”
Which would you rather go on where you want to go on? The one that has the detail and the detail is what comes from setting a goal. This is what's going to happen when we get there. So, your goal today is to set a sales goal. It could be a sales goal for your individual employees, could be for a certain time, or it could be for the whole day. When you set that goal and they achieve it, you've excited their minds into thinking, “What if we could do this?” And when that happens, you can grow your sales, set a goal, and make more sales.
If you love what you heard on Retail Today, connect with Bob by visiting retaildoc.com or send a message to bob@retaildoc.com. Thanks for listening!