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Episodes
Friday Oct 25, 2019
Friday Oct 25, 2019
Are your systems in danger at your store? You know, the one thing that we often forget is our business doesn't have just us looking at our computers. There's a lot of other people. So today, I want you to be thinking about your passwords and it's probably a good time to change them.
Now, I use a company called LastPass, which means I can go through and put all of my passwords in there, and then I can assign them to people in my organization. If somebody quits, I can delete them or I can change them. But a lot of times, we're vulnerable because we don't think about what could happen. Quite simply, if you don't have your password somewhere on a hard drive or at home or somewhere, you're also in danger, because if you don't know them, that means somebody else might know them, and they can take advantage of you.
So today, I want you to review all the areas you could lose control of your computers and your business, due to your passwords, and then have the discipline to either log them today or change them, and then have a system to know who has access to them and who doesn't.
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 24, 2019
Thursday Oct 24, 2019
Do you know what your UPT is? Yeah, that's your units per transaction. It's the one thing that your employees have the most control over. Now, one thing we don't want to see is a units per transaction of one or 1.1, that essentially means people walk into your store, they ask for a product, your employee gets it off the shelf or off the hanger and hands it to them and they pay for it. That's really a waste. You're pretty much just a warehouse.
What you want to see and what the goal should be is at least two items go out your front door at a time, because once I say yes to one product, it's easier for the shopper to say yes to another.
So suggest selling what will go well with the first product they bought, being able to suggest a gift too, particularly when we come into holiday times, but the more units out the door help margins, even if they've bought discounted or clearance items. So that's your tip today is to make sure that your employees know how to suggestively sell more than one item and to get your UPT to as close to two as you can get 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!
Wednesday Oct 23, 2019
Wednesday Oct 23, 2019
One of the things we all dread is an employee who comes up to you and says, "I've got to talk to you." Then you find out that they're going to quit and they'll give you maybe a few days’ notice or any number of things. They might give you some excuses. But how to tell if an employee is going to quit is pretty easy.
First off, you start looking at their eyes. If they can't look at you in the eye, something is up. Also, look at the job details. Did they use to be on time all the time and now they're a little late? Did they use to always have the details on a special order right, and now they're lacking on that? They are telling you right away that I'm not all here anymore and you want to be able to nip that in the bud before it gets to, "I've got to talk to you. I'm quitting."
You know, here's the thing. The mind quits about six weeks before the body. Help them out, have that discussion early, and then you can go through and be aware that this person is unhappy. I can fix it now, but it won't have to get too much till they quit and I'm left shorthanded. By the way, the other part to that is making sure you're always hiring.
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 22, 2019
Tuesday Oct 22, 2019
Do you know how to create a compelling window display? Well here's a little tip for you, is to understand where their eyes will be. So if you have a window to work on, I suggest having somebody walk down the street, and then someone else is inside the window, and the outside person is going to mark where their eye is on the front of your display window.
The key is, once you've got that focal point, you build the whole display at that level, and a little bit below and a little bit above. Now if they are driving down the street, you can find out the same thing by letting somebody maybe pull in front and park, and you'll see where their eyes are.
But so many people miss it, where I am supposed to look, that the windows aren't really compelling, and they are just a bunch of stuff. And so when you know where their eyes will be, and you mark that window before making the display, you end up grabbing their eyes, their attention, and they say, "Hey, I want to go in that 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!
Monday Oct 21, 2019
Monday Oct 21, 2019
Should you have name tags in your store? That's what I want you to think about today. You know, when I go into a store and I see people all have the same shirt on, I think, "Oh, well, that must be the uniform." And then when they don't have a name tag you feel awkward, like "Is this really somebody who works here or not?" In fact, I often have people say that to me because of the way I hold myself when I go to a retail store and they'll say, "Oh, do you work here?" I'm like, "No, don't ask." But people don't want to guess. Shoppers want to be able to understand who can I go to with a question and who can't? So, today I want you to go through and look at your name tags and make sure that they're easy to read. There's a lot of different ways you can do them these days, but the number one thing is to make it obvious what the person's first name is so that we can ask them and we know it's a real person. And then you'll find that they treat those people with greater respect because they're a human being, not just somebody we're trying to beg for help.
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 20, 2019
Sunday Oct 20, 2019
When I asked some businesses how they're doing, they'll say, "Oh, our customers love us." And I always have to say, "Well, how do you know your customers love you?" "Oh, because they tell us." But you know, I don't really care about how your customers, your loyal customers feel about you. Ultimately, what you care about is, how does a new customer feel about you. And that's why you need to inspect what you expect. So if you are training your employees, and I hope you are, whether you're using my Sales RX, online retail sales training program, or you have one of yourself. You want to hire a mystery shop company and do mystery shops a couple of times a month so that you know exactly what's going on. And the mystery shop gives you peace of mind. You know what an average person who doesn't know your brand is experiencing. And that's my point to you today. That regular mystery shops tell you how well you're doing much more than loyal customers who sing your praises.
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 19, 2019
Saturday Oct 19, 2019
So many retailers these days are saying, "Oh, we just want to get our customers in and out." That's often because that's the way the employee or the owner wants to shop. I just want to get my stuff and get out. So, when somebody asked me the other day, "Is it better to get a customer in and out of the store?" I said, "No, not really. Because lingering is where the money is." So, when you're going through and you're waiting on somebody, instead of rushing to the counter to put the items up there, stay on the same side as the shopper and put the items up on the counter. Say, "Let me just put these up here while we continue to look around." "Oh, I'm done." It's like, "Oh, well, there's something else over here." And you continue to have a dialogue to get that add on. But once you go behind the counter, you pretty much said, "We're done with you." I want the customer to be begging. Please, ring me up. So today, don't rush to the counter but put the items on it from the front.
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 Oct 18, 2019
Friday Oct 18, 2019
How do you get customers to come back? Well, first off, make sure that they have an exceptional experience in your store. That means that they have to feel for those few minutes they're in your store, they're the most important person. And the reason that is is because they're the ones that pay your salary. So first, give them an exceptional experience, and then what you're doing with your marketing is to remind them of that.
So you'll go through and have a newsletter that goes out once a week or every other week. You'll go through and do some Facebook ads. Maybe you'll take your customer list and upload that into Facebook, and then go through and have a custom audience so that you talk to those people.
There are a million ways you can get customers to come back, but it's not just, "We're having another sale this weekend." Getting customers to return takes wowing them from the start, and then reminding them of the great time they had with you.
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 17, 2019
Thursday Oct 17, 2019
Setting a Higher Bar For Dress Code in Retail Sales | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing
I was in an apparel shop recently and there was a young woman with a tee-shirt that had stains and some rips in it, and it didn't look like they had bought that way. And she was waiting on a woman who was buying a pretty nice outfit. And I just found myself thinking, "Does anyone have a dress code anymore?" Because frankly, you're supposed to look better in a store than when you wake up or go to school. You should dress for your customers who'll be coming in.
And so for you, as a retailer, know what you'll put up with and what you won't. So today I want you to think about, "Well, what is our dress code? And do we have it written down? And maybe it's too strict, right?" Maybe you're saying, "Oh, it's a jewelry store and everybody, all the guys have to be in a suit with a tie." Maybe that's too formal, but my guess is more than likely it's unwritten and we just think we'll deal with it. So today I want you to write down what a dress code is so that anything goes is no longer the case when it comes to people dressing on your sales floor.
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 16, 2019
Wednesday Oct 16, 2019
One of the worst mistakes I see retail sales trainers do is they allow employees to get all the way to the end of the sale and they try to close it. And then the customer says, "Oh, I'll be back." And they're like, "Okay, well here's my card." Look, if you have to give them your card, you didn't really close them. And the reality is once somebody walks out of your store, they're open to another competitor getting the sale. So how do you deal with "I'll be back"? Qualify them before they leave. That means once they say that, say to them three things you heard them say were important to them. So you might say, "You said it was really important that you got this matching color because that color was really special to you growing up and you always wanted it in your dining room," if you're a paint store.
You might say, "And you said that you wanted to have this ready by the weekend because you have friends and family coming and you said that you and your husband have blocked off Wednesday to be able to paint. Did I miss anything?" And then just shut up. But your goal is to help them understand that they've just invested 15 minutes, let's say, at your paint store or whatever your story is, and that they really want this item. Why not help them through it? Because nothing pains us more than the things that we don't buy. And that usually comes down to the employee gave up at the very moment they needed to push forward and help us make that decision.
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!