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Episodes
Sunday Dec 01, 2019
Sunday Dec 01, 2019
Sometimes I hear people say, "Oh, I can't get my crew to upsell." And people say, "Oh, I can't do it. My crew doesn't do it." Well, maybe it's time to tune up your crew. And some people say, "Well, how do I do that?" I always say, “Give them some new customer service standards.” Be able to tell them, “This is how I want to do things.” And if they don't, or if they're somebody repeatedly have given warnings to and you haven't gotten rid of them, the best way to tune up your crews is to let somebody go.
I know that sounds brutal, and some of you who've been with me for an awful long time know that I actually had to get rid of a guy on Christmas Eve. But if I give you three written warnings and I say, “If this happens again, you'll be gone,” you have to follow through with that, whether that makes you feel uncomfortable or not. Because at the end of the day, the idea of being a boss is you have to make the tough decisions. And we want to be the nice person. You're not being a nice person because they're not meeting with great success either. And invariably, they're not learning anything and their mind is going numb, and they're looking for other opportunities.
So, why not tune up your crew and train them and get them so that they can do something and have fun? That way it's not just one person who understands how to do everything - it can be everybody.
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!
Sunday Dec 01, 2019
Sunday Dec 01, 2019
I was at an apple farm across the river from me yesterday and I was buying a pumpkin pie. As I was checking out, the woman said, "Do you want the cider donuts to go with it?" And I was like, "No." But with every single customer, she was obviously the lead who understood it. And so, she would suggest one other thing for everyone. It wasn't always the same. And I was like, “That's awesome.” Except that I also noticed that the young people that were behind her, she would just say, "Go get me this." and "Go get me that."
So, this one woman was the one person obviously who could upsell and the one person who could figure it out. And I thought, “Is that really the best?” But I will acknowledge that the fun thing about it is she understood that time is short. If you're going to do upsells, you've got a window on a busy weekend to be able to do that.
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!
Friday Nov 29, 2019
Friday Nov 29, 2019
Hey, today is Shop Small, originally started by American Express. It's the one time that Indies really have a spotlight on them. So if you have press that comes to you, you want to say how great it is and how much you're supporting it. You don't want to end up saying anything bad, because today is Shop Small, so make sure you welcome everybody you see, but most importantly, get their information. So maybe you have them check in on Facebook, maybe you go through and you have something at your register or some kind of an event to register for, a drawing, but you want to use the information you collect today and this weekend, so that you can market these people in January and February, when it's bound to be a lot slower.
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!
Thursday Nov 28, 2019
Thursday Nov 28, 2019
Hey, Black Friday is here so don't stress out. Look, I understand, things are going to happen and it's going to be a lot of people at one time and you're going to feel like you can't concentrate very well. Well, you know what the other side of that is, it's an awful lot of fun. I mean, let's face it, the day is going to pass very quickly. So, make sure you use your energy to solve problems and not complain today. It's kind of like exercising your choice muscle. I can either say how it sucks to be me working retail, or I can be grateful that I've got a lot to do and the day's going to pass well. And you know what, when you pass that along to your crew today, their day is going to go better too.
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!
Wednesday Nov 27, 2019
Wednesday Nov 27, 2019
It's Thanksgiving. This is a great day to just stop. It's the one day to be grateful. It's not the time for you to go running back out to the mall and try to get all caught up in all the stress of pre-Black Friday crazy. Just slow down. Take the time because you're probably not going to get much time off in the next six weeks. Instead of making it a ‘thanks getting day’, just make it a Thanksgiving Day and be grateful for everybody in your life and get ready to have a great holiday season.
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!
Tuesday Nov 26, 2019
Tuesday Nov 26, 2019
Have you ever been in a busy store and couldn't find anybody to wait on you and you look over and you see someone that's having a great time with one associate? That's a horrible thing if you're a shopper, especially if you're in a hurry. The thing to realize is that your customer service speed has to diminish with the crowd. The more people in your store, the less time you have to speak to them one-on-one. The length of time with one shopper has to diminish with the more shoppers in your store. So you've got to teach what? You've got to teach hustle today. Make sure that they can get around and touch more customers because even a quick, "This really goes well with that," or, "Did you see this other item over there?" Goes a long way to building your profits this holiday season, especially with six less shopping days.
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!
Monday Nov 25, 2019
Monday Nov 25, 2019
In the next couple of weeks, you're probably going to be getting a lot of shipments. Have you thought about that yet? I mean, things can easily get lost, especially this weekend. So, make sure you have a process for items that arrive that are defective or items that need to go back or need a call tag, and share your process for holds, or shipping from one store to another, or online fulfillment. And make sure that your new merch goes out quickly so that nothing's left in the back. You don't want any employees left in the dark, especially coming into this holiday kickoff.
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!
Sunday Nov 24, 2019
Sunday Nov 24, 2019
Did you listen to me yesterday about posting your schedule? Well, did you confirm it? Yeah, confirm it. That means that your employees acknowledge it. They actually sign it. When you have your employees sign your posted schedule, you're pretty much saying there's no wiggle room here.
Now I know some people will go through and they'll post a schedule on a private Facebook group or they might text it or something, but ultimately you haven't found out that they understand this is when we're going to work, and so when someone doesn't show up, they're going to say to you, "Oh, somebody changed the schedule," or, "Oh, I didn't know that." So make sure that you confirm exactly when people are supposed to work and then tell them to check it every day before they leave in case there is a schedule change.
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!
Saturday Nov 23, 2019
Saturday Nov 23, 2019
Scheduling employees, this time of the year can be a nightmare. I want you to think about today, how you're going to post your next six weeks' schedule. Employees want to be able to make plans, so post your schedule and don't be afraid of it. Don't create schedules based on when the employees can work. You want to base them on your need and then post them early. If you have rules about swapping, who has to sign off for it, etc., make sure that they are posted as well.
The challenge I see is that so many people let anyone work for another coworker, and then you have your best employees who are off at the very time they could most juice your sales, leaving the newest or most inexperienced to try to answer questions on your premium goods. You know what happens then? Those premium goods sit and you lose those 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!
Friday Nov 22, 2019
Friday Nov 22, 2019
You know when those holiday shoppers arrive next week, you're not going to have time to add on to everything. So what I want you to think about today is what can we pre-wrap or bundle for this weekend's big kickoff? The idea is to pre-wrap an item under $20 and then leave one out. So when you do that, put it up by your register, because it's something that everybody needs and something that you don't really have to think about. So one pre-wrapped item that's appropriate for anyone should be at your checkout counter for fast gifting. And then put a sign by it that says something like, "For the gift you forgot."
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!