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Episodes
Sunday Nov 03, 2019
Sunday Nov 03, 2019
Did you know there's going to be six less shopping days this holiday season? Yeah, that's right. There will be almost a full week of less time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And I know things can get crazy during December, but you've got to plan now.
So, what I want you to do today is, prepare your crew for what could go wrong. That could be anything from we've run out of gift boxes, to we've run out of receipt paper, to three employees are stuck and they can't come in.
We want to go through and come up with scenarios you probably have dealt with within the last few years and then make sure everybody understands what to do, and in what circumstances to reach you, and what decisions you allow them to make on their own. Because I'll tell you, when you work retail, you drill the details, especially at the holidays.
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 03, 2019
Sunday Nov 03, 2019
When you look at your website, does it show a lock? If not, you've probably got problems. Today, I want you to take a look at your website and look up on the top left and see if you see that little gray lock, and if you do, that probably means that you've already switched your website to start HTTPS. If you haven't gotten that far yet, you'll see your starts ATTP, and what that means is that the information that anyone goes to on your site is not private. And so a lot of people will find that when they searched that on Chrome it'll say, "This is not a secure site you should leave it." And that cuts your web traffic. So today what I want you to do is contact your hosting company today about getting your site certified and secure so that they'll see that lock and they'll have confidence in you, just like they do in your 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!
Saturday Nov 02, 2019
Saturday Nov 02, 2019
Have you ever had to set the reset button on an electronic gadget? Usually, it's just a restart of some kind, and it's a way to get the operating system back to where it was originally. Well, you know what, after a busy weekend, it's time for you to reset your store. So, try to move your displays around at least a couple of times before Christmas, and that's usually done on a Monday or a Tuesday because movement makes everybody, including your staff, look at your merchandise in a better light. When that happens, they discover new items that they can add to their list and add to their purchase. And ultimately, who does that help, you, because it helps with your margins.
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 02, 2019
Saturday Nov 02, 2019
Every year I get the question, should you say Merry Christmas? I get it, there's an awful lot of people that are very passionate on both sides, but the reality is the unchurched continues to grow, and not everybody may share your belief. What I always say is, if they say Merry Christmas to you first, by all means, answer back 'Merry Christmas' if you're comfortable with that. But if not, 'happy holidays' always works 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!
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
Do customers lie to you? Of course, they do. Are you taking their lie as fact? Look, customers lie to you because they don't trust you. Now, one of the most basic ones people say is, "We can't afford it." We take that as like, "Oh, they have no money."
Except research shows that even during downtimes, customers still buy. While you might feel good about that excuse, "Oh, they have no money." It's not going to get you the sale. So remember, people who don't have money don't go shopping. But if you aren't going through and being crystal clear of the benefits they'll get from buying from you, they aren't going to trust you and customers who lie to you happen because they don't trust you.
So, today I want you to think about the goal of the earliest part of your sale after you've greeted somebody, is to get enough trust so they'll be honest with you and you can dialogue about the sale, instead of hearing those lies. "Oh, we're just looking. We'll look around. I have to ask my husband, wife, partner, whatever." They knew, walking in the door, what you carried. It's up to you to build enough trust to get the sale.
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 Oct 30, 2019
Wednesday Oct 30, 2019
You know, a lot of stories are being written about the retail apocalypse and a lot of small businesses are jumping into it. So, when someone asks, "Oh, how's business going?" They jump in and talk about how horrible it is, or Amazon is doing this, or someone else's putting them out of business.
Here's how to get publicity for your store. Give them a story. Tell them something you're doing differently. You've upgraded your wifi, your communication systems, your POS system. You brought in a new line. You've gone through and you've worked with a local charity, but give your local reporters a positive story.
When you do that, you show that you're a mainstream person that's doing the job to make a community and to fight online retailers. Nobody is attracted to your sad sob story. So today, just understand the best publicity takes showing off what is new and different.
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 Oct 29, 2019
Tuesday Oct 29, 2019
Everybody likes to know how they're doing. Do you review your employees? Today, I want you to think about that because a lot of millennials and IGens really want feedback because that's what they've received throughout their lives and in school. And that's not going to wait for a year when you happen to think about it, that might even be in a month.
But I always encourage you to review at a minimum, every employee, 90 days with some kind of a form. If you're using SalesRX, we have a form within SalesRX.com that you can use, and follow it up so that you let them know what they're doing well, what they could use work on, and if they need any different training or goals, you can address that at the same time. But everybody wants to know what they're doing right. And so this gives you the chance to just have a conversation with your employees, put it in your smartphone and schedule it so that you won't forget it. Because ultimately, everybody wants to know how well they're doing. You just need to schedule it.
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 Oct 28, 2019
Monday Oct 28, 2019
Today, I'm talking about how do you handle a complaint. That's such an easy thing to deal with. It's something that everybody needs to know, not just your managers or your assistants, but everyone all the way down the line, because a customer is not going to complain to the highest store manager. They're going to take that person on the sales floor. Here's the four-step process I want you to think about today is first, shut up.
Ask them what happened. Let them tell you everything. You don't have to get into it. You don't have to justify anything. Don't call them stupid or anything. Well, you wouldn't call them stupid anyway, but you wouldn't act like, "Oh, you should have known that." You just want to be quiet and then listen to what they're actually saying, and listen for what they think they want you to do. I don't say like, "Well, what do you want us to do about it?"
You listen and then you say, "Well, here's what I can do," and you're going to give them maybe three choices. "I can give you a store credit. We could look for another one, or I could replace the exact same item for the same item." Whatever you can do, tell them that, and then go through and make that solution and then thank them. When you follow that formula, you'll handle complaints easily.
When they get to you as a manager or the owner, if your whole staff has done that, then they'll come to you with, "This is what we've already suggested, and here's what they are looking for," so that you're not having to overthink every single customer complaint or return. That's what I want you to think about 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!
Sunday Oct 27, 2019
Sunday Oct 27, 2019
If you sell anything, you know that trying to close somebody quickly can be really hard, that if you try to go through too quickly and you try to get them out the door, they balk. They don't feel valued, and they never come back, so how to close a sale quickly? Well today, I want you to think about look for the buying signs and questions. What are some buying signs? Their hands are out. They're open. They're holding the merchandise you're talking about. Their body is relaxed.
If they're not ready to buy from you or to close, their arms are going to be closed. They may not be looking at you. They might be looking at your feet. Also, listen to the questions. You're looking for questions that show of they're already seeing themselves owning it, so questions like, "How do I take care of this, or how do I wash this, or, Oh, that would really look good in the bedroom." Those kinds of things are ideal because the customer's in wonder, and they're wondering, "How is this going to fit into my life?"
At that point, closing makes sense. Then at that point, you've closed that main item, and now you can go on to the add on, but don't go too quickly through a sale unless you see those buying signs that say, "Hey, I think I want to buy this."
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 Oct 26, 2019
Saturday Oct 26, 2019
Well, we've all had that time when you've had a great run on one piece of merchandise and it comes to the end and you have a couple leftover and suddenly people say, "What do I do with old merchandise?"
You know, merchandise doesn't get better with age, and the one thing I always say is, if you're going to put it on sale, you can put it on sale for 20% off. That's fine. But when you get to clearance, that's the time to be aggressive. Put it on sale for 60% off, let's say for a week, and if that doesn't work, then get ready to donate it.
But one thing people do is we hold onto the old merchandise too long, and the problem with that is it's your money sitting there. It's not going to get better. You're going to take the loss anyway. So just admit it, take the loss, and then your store's going to look fresher instead of a bunch of old stuff that's on sale.
So today, I want you to clear out, closeout, and give away the merchandise that's been there for a long time. Another thing you could do is to color-code your tags if you don't have an updated computer system for that, and that'll help you as well.
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!