Retail Today with Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor

Yes, You Do Sell Hope as a Retailer | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

You know when I do sales training, I'll often ask individuals, "So, tell me what you sell?" And people will go through, and they'll tell me the specifics of "Oh, we sell electronics, or we sell speakers, or we sell apparel" et cetera. And I keep going through until invariably somebody realizes, "Well, no, what I really sell is hope." And that's exactly right. You know whoever is coming in your doors is coming in in a hopeful way. It's rare for somebody to go into a retail store and say, "Oh, I just got fired, and I'm having incredible losses. I want to come in and spend money." They don't.
So if you're just curious why today did she walk in the door? Why today did that guy come in here? And you think, "Oh, well, maybe he lost 50 pounds because he got on a diet or maybe he got a divorce, and he's going through and living a new life. He wants to get a new wardrobe," or a million things. But if you're just curious about them, you understand that people who are hopeful, who meet hopeful associates spend more. It's that simple. You sell hope whoever is coming in your doors. And as long as you keep that in your head you know what? You realize the party's in the aisles, it's not behind the counter.
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!

What to Do When You Can’t Make Any Sales In Retail | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

The other day, I was talking about those afternoon doldrums you can do, when it just feels like your feet are made out of lead. Well today, I'm going to talk about something kind of similar, which is those days when you feel you can't sell to anybody. You may have the best attitude, but for whatever reason, they're just not buying from you, and you have one, two, you have three, you have four, you have five... You have to suddenly realize, like, "Wow, there's a pattern here." So my tip for you today is, if you can't sell to several people in a row, and you know you should have, then go out and get out of the store.
You know, maybe you go for a walk down the mall, maybe you go outside, get some fresh air, but when shoppers won't bite, you have to look in the mirror at your energy level, and a companion to that is, when you're having a great day, that's the time you need to just really say, "Wow, what did I do? How does this feel? I have to memorize this feeling so I can call it up on those days when people aren't always buying from me," and the more often you can put that to use in your head and say, "But I know I can do this, and I'm not doing the basics that I always do," the more you'll turn around your retail sales. That's your tip for today. If you can't sell to everybody, get out of 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!

How to Overcome the Afternoon Lull as a Retailer | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Do you work during the days in retail stores? I can tell you those afternoons can log on and on. Shoppers don't typically come in in those afternoon hours, that two-to-four range and you can get kind of sleepy. And especially if you had a lot of carbs for lunch and the thing that I have found is that sleepy times means I have to go in the back and when I go in the back I'm going to throw imaginary basketball hoops because it gets my heart rate going and it takes me out of feeling like I just want to take a nap. And so my note for you today is to realize that activity changes the attitude. So if you're feeling sleepy, move your body. And I find it's not just a matter of going out for a walk, because that doesn't usually do it. I've got to jumpstart that. So consider throwing some imaginary basketball hoops in the back. Yeah, don't do this on the sales floor. And that will turn that lack of energy totally around.
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!

Dealing With Bitter Bettys and Bitter Bobs In Retail | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

I was in Chicago recently at one of my favorite little fast food salad places, and this one woman at the register was just in such a mood. Normally, they would take the salad and they would ask you about the dressing, and they would put the utensils in it, and put it in the bag. And when they rang me up, this young woman just put the bag on the counter, and I said, “Wow, it's such a bad day, you can't even put it in the bag, can you? And she's like, "What do you mean?" And I just took my piece and I left.
That's Bitter Betty, and there's an awful lot of Bitter Betty and Bitter Bobs out there. They hate retail, they hate their jobs, a million things happen to them and they kind of take it out on the shoppers, and people that are actually giving them money. And the important thing to realize is, the customer pays your paycheck. So do you have a Bitter Betty or a Bitter Bob? Attitude determines altitude and you can't settle for bad ones. Now sometimes you'll have somebody who's just having a tough time. It's a good time to say, "Hey, go take a walk, or get off the floor and do something meaningless."
But if you let it stay, that suddenly becomes the worldview of whoever works with them. And I'll tell you, after you get rid of that person, you will hear stories from shoppers who say, "I would never come back to your store because of the service I received". So today, I want you to look and say, do I have a Bitter Betty or a Bitter Bob on the floor? And if so, how am I going to have a counsel session with them, so that they understand that their attitude needs to be changed right away? And that may even an end up in a written warning. Because attitude is just as much as skill as anything else. That's your tip for 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 Do I Stop Theft as a Retailer? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

I one time had a friend who was the Head of Shrinkage for JC Penny. I asked her what was the most outrageous theft of products you'd seen in the store? She said, "I had a woman who had a comforter strapped to the inside of her thigh trying to walk out." I was like, "Wow, that's pretty amazing." I think a lot of us are surprised by what happens in shrink. Shrink is either shopper or employee theft. Unfortunately, most theft seems to come from within. I want you today, your tip today ,is to look at your trash before it goes out every now and then. Just see what what's going out there. Also make sure that your crew knows how to properly do receiving of items coming in, as well as returns. Shrink affects every retailer equally. And ultimately, if you don't do these tips, your bottom line suffers because you really don't understand how much is really going out.
That's the other thing is take an inventory by category every now and then, match it to your computer and you'll see what your shrink is. Some are very sophisticated and tell you exactly what's gone and others will just know units. But make no mistake, when there's a discrepancy, most often that's going to come from an error, either in incoming, returning or in employees actually taking out in the trash. Take a look on that and get a handle on your shrink.
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!

Why Your Associates Are the Biggest Factor In Boosting Retail Sales | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Do you know who can most juice your retail sales? That's right, it's your associates because they're the ones that are interfacing with the shopper. And yet, a lot of times I find managers have nothing to talk with their associates about other than put this over there, get that out, you need to do this and this and this. The problem with that is it feels like your a cog at work, and that's not fun.
So today my tip for you is to connect with one of your employees. Every employee and every shopper's going through something, whether that's a kid that's on rehab, there's a parent who has Alzheimer's. There's a million things people are going through trying to put on a good face to it. All we have to do is just take a moment to connect with them as a human being. I said it before, we're all just sitting around the campfire hoping somebody will listen to our story.
So for today, find one of your employees. Really connect, share something from yourself. And then make sure you do that each day with one employee. What you find is you have that lower turnover and that associates who are going through an awful lot find that they have something in common with you. Their loyalty will be higher. Their attitude will be higher. You know who benefits? Everybody does. That's your tip for 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!

Does Your Retail Crew Look Their Best? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Did you know the average person judges people with under five seconds whether they think that they're a person they can trust or like, and that usually comes down to the way that they are dressed? So I want you to today to look at your crew. Do they look like they take pride in their appearance? Now, no, they don't have to wear a suit and a tie. They don't have to wear a fancy dress with fancy jewels. But if they look like they just took out your uniform polo shirt out of a backpack and put it on two minutes before they were supposed to go on and it's all wrinkled or the styling of them looks off base, understand, your shoppers see that first. And when they look into your store and see people like that, if it doesn't look like them, got it, doesn't look like the shopper and it looks like this is a mismatch between the people working there and the people who are selling there, then likely they're going to either move on or they're not going to buy as much because they don't really trust that person.
And remember, people judge people quickly by the way they look, so make sure yours look their best. That means the shirt is ironed. It means it's cleaned regularly, not some old thing that they pull on that's got a crust behind their counter. It means that they're going to dress up to be looking their best, even in a casual environment, because ultimately, they have to take pride in their appearance because it shows how much pride they have in working in your retail 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 Sell Expensive Merchandise In Retail | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Are you a salesperson in a retail store? Well, today I'm talking about how do you feel about selling your more expensive merchandise.
A lot of times that when I'm doing sales consulting, or I'm doing a training with a group of stores, I find that there's a lot of people who actually feel like they're being a fraud. They know how much something costs, and they feel bad about going through and charging as much money they do.
The problem is that when you feel that something is too expensive, you're going to go through and give that same feeling to the shopper. If you feel like a fraud, well you'll probably not sell much that isn't on sale. And so, today I want you to look at when you go through your merchandise, and you see something at the top end, do you feel like a fraud when you go to sell it?
And you need to work inside on your own feelings about that because maybe you feel it's not worth it. Well, you better find enough reasons why it is worth it or you'll never sell that product.
If you're a trainer, or you're going through... You're the retail store owner or manager, understand that that feeling like a fraud is leading to an awful lot lower average ticket because the associates could only sell what's on sale. They don't feel like anything is worth it. That's your role as a sales guide, is to go through and train them enough to understand that it's not about what you feel, it's about the shopper.
That's your tip for today. Look at how'd you feel when someone considers your most expensive item, and then make sure that you don't feel like a fraud and give that energy off to them.
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!

Which Option Should You Present First as a Retailer? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

You know, if you're trying to close a sale, one of the hardest things is just presenting too many options. You know it yourself, if you get overwhelmed, suddenly work is what shopping feels like and you shut down. You're like, oh, I've seen too much. I just have to leave. I'll come back. Except you don't come back. You'll probably go to some other retailer who doesn't make it feel that way. What I want you to do today is to look at curating down your products to a good, better, and best. Because too many choices leads to your shoppers saying, "I'll have to think about it." That's a good lesson you can work on with your employees as well, is for them to understand, oh, this is a good, better, and best alternative to someone who needs, I don't know, a new raincoat.
How do we present that? We always start with the best because that's the one that is probably more expensive due to the materials. What does that do? It's lighter weight or it repels water better, whatever that's going to be. If someone can't afford that, then you say, "Oh, I also have this version, but we lose the convenience of the lightweight. It's going to be a heavier, it's going to be a heavier cloth." Then if they say, "Oh, that's too much," and then you get down to something basic and then you're not trying to make that sound the same as the more expensive one. You're just showing all the things that they've lost. That's so different than what most people who are untrained do. They start off with the cheapest one and the customer says, "Okay, that's good enough for me." The problem with that is the more expensive merchandise sit.
Today I want you to curate down to a good, better, and best and role play so that they, your crew, understands too many choices leads to, "I'll think about it." You know what the problem with that is? They don't buy it from you. If that happens enough, you're not in business again.
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!

What Does Your Product Do For Your Customer? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Yesterday I was talking about employees and associates who just want to vomit useless fact after useless fact on people. They're typically kind of, an engineer or an analytical background and they think that the facts are what is going to make the sale.
And today's tip for you is, that you always want to lead with what the product does for the customer after you've talked to them. You don't want to talk about how much it cost, or just the facts.
Nobody buys based on just what the facts of what the product has. What they buy on, is what will work for them. And that's the key for you to think about today is. So, find your top five items, go over your crew with them, and then say, "What does this do?"
Now, that could be apparel. It's going to be more expensive, so it's not going to scratch your neck. It could be an appliance that goes through and it takes less water, or less energy. There's a million things that every retailer has that benefits the shopper, but if you're not looking at that and you think the product knowledge is your key more often than not you're just vomiting useless facts.
And frankly, all I need is three benefits and I'm going to buy it. So, today lead with what the product does, not what it cost, or the facts that it has.
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!