Retail Today with Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor

Ralph Lauren's CEO Can Teach Us About Leadership In Retail During COVID-19 | Retail Today with Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor

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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!

Neiman Marcus Is Closing Their Hudson Yard Store -- I Doubt It's Because of the Pandemic | Retail Today with Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor

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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!

Reaching Out to Your Retail Customers Through Social Media | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Now that you have more time than you might have liked, take the time to research your top 10 or 20 customers on their LinkedIn or Facebook profiles and see what charities they support, or in their social posts, and then send a note or a video thank you for their business. Then, add a line, "I was looking online and you know what I discovered about you? You like..." and then fill in whatever that is, and then share something you have in common before you sign off with your thanks. That's one way to show your customers that they are more than just money coming in to you, that there's actually a relationship.And on that note, this has got to be a pause in the flash briefings from me as I take a look into the effectiveness of these daily briefings, which I've done for a long time. I encourage you to check out my podcast "Tell Me Something Good About Retail" where every week I interview some of the most exciting retailers, brands, and movers and shakers for the retail area. In the meantime, do good work and remember, we're about as happy as we make our minds up to be.
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!

For Retailers During the Coronavirus Shutdown, Now Is the Time to Look at Your Finances. | Retail Today with Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

How Do I Staying Connected With My Employees as a Retailer During Coronavirus? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Staying connected is really tough at this time in our retail lives. So what I want you think about today is if you have employees you’re paying to stay home right now don't forget that you should still be checking in with him every day. Make it a schedule and expect them to be on Zoom on time, dressed, and ready for work. If they are not being paid but they’re home, maybe you’ve laid them off, don't forget that you still want to hold on to these people so they come back to you.
So one thing I've done is done once a week is just invite them to a virtual lunch or an official cocktail hour and everybody brings whatever it is important time and you're just being people at that moment. Know that if you're not paying them you're not paying for this - it's a way to try to keep some normalcy in it.
When the all-clear is given, which will happen at some point, you want these people to come back in a good mood and they're going to remember the courtesies that you gave them for being of service now.
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 Use Email to Stay Connected With My Customers as a Retailer During the Covid-19 Crisis? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

A lot of your customers are sitting in front of their computers a lot more these days so a great way to reach them is to email. If you don't have a regular monthly newsletter or you haven't communicated, now is a perfect time to start. If you have a monthly newsletter, I encourage you to make that a weekly newsletter.
Start off with a compelling subject line like “What to Do When You're Working from Home” or “It’s Too Early for Wine - What Can I Do to Lighten My Mood?” You decide. You can write to them on how to do so. Now, if you’re a bookstore, I can't think of a better time of talking to your customers. Invite them to share their best classics one day or to share their best for the next day on your site. If you’re a toy store or you’re a cookware store, you know how to do this. Hardware stores can talk about the top-five honey-do list items and what it takes to get them done.
Your message has to be really important though when marketing, so don't show pictures of large crowds or people high-fiving, right? Be cautious when choosing your images and if you post pictures of people in the store, it couldn't hurt to show them wearing gloves as a package orders or washing her hands really well to visually see that you are taking care of them right now. You should definitely be posting what you're doing to keep your place sanitary but also how you're doing curbside pickup, your store hours, and more.
With this marketing, you want to stay in front of your customers now to be able to build sales later.
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 Use Social Media Well as a Retailer During This Coronavirus Crisis? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor

What Type of Retailer Are You In a Crisis? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Yesterday I told you about a sewing machine retailer with change their Facebook banner and end up getting a sale and today I thought I wanted to just unpack for you that they're really kind of three types of retailers when we are in a situation like we are today. The first one is "There's nothing I could do. I just have to hunker down and endure it," and some people, that's where they're at. Other people are saying, "It doesn't matter. I can do anything. This could be a challenge and I could do it," and the third one is that people understand that "I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to do," and for you, if that's you, that's why I'm talking to you today.
Sometimes people are saying this is a lot like 2008. Well, it's not really like 2008 because in 2008 the plumbing was 'mucked up' and that's not the case here. We think demand is going to rise. In fact, I was just talking to someone with a reporter in China and they say things are getting back to normal and people are going out to Starbucks. I'm hearing here in the states I understand that home centers seem to be filling up and doing well, but ultimately, it's the attitude that we reach when we come to this place that's going to determine how you're going to get through it.
So, today, I just want you to realize when you get up and you look at your situation you might be in that middle I'm not sure what it is. I just encourage you to take one step today: "How am I going to talk to my customers in a different way while I'm going through this?" or "How am I going to talk to my staff in a different way to go through this, or "I need to talk to somebody about my finances so that I can get through it," but that little act of taking action is what brings hope and that's what I want you to do today.
Take one action to help get you from "I don't know what to do" to "It's a challenge - I can succeed."
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!

Making the Most of the Coronavirus Crisis as a Retailer | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

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 Keep Paying Employees as a Retailer through the Coronavirus Shutdown? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

One of the things retailers are asking me now in this time of stress is “How can I pay my employees?” And one thi I would encourage to consider is the share-the-burden idea, which is maybe staggering employee shifts and hours.
So, instead of someone working 25 hours a week they work 15 hours a week, but you’re able to maintain them on the schedule. Another way is to maybe have someone be on one week or another person be on the following week or giving someone two weeks of unpaid vacation.
There’s an awful lot of movement on the federal level right now about how they can get resources to small businesses. Make sure that you are following sba.gov and look at all of the options that are coming out in the next few days before you make a big change.
One of the things about getting rid of a bunch of employees is that it changes your culture quite a bit and it’s very hard to bring that culture back when your employees may feel like they weren’t part of the decision.
i hope that helps and I hope you are thinking positively as we go through this that there are people out there like me who are looking to help retailers like you who are going through 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!