Look after your team as well as your customers this week

It's Christmas week and my short message today is to remember your team as well as your customers. It's all to easy to just focus in the task in hand, especially if you're busy with those last sales before Christmas. But remember that as busy as you are in your professional and personal life, your team will be just as busy. Leaving a few minutes early to catch the kids school nativity play or an extra fee minutes on a lunch hour to get groceries for Christmas dinner should be something that's given appreciation for.

Also think about the environment you work in. A non-uniform day or a themed dress day, maybe for charity will lift the spirits and do some good. Laying on snacks, particularly festive snacks, will also keep the team's spirit high going into those last few days before Christmas.

I've written before in this blog that team spirit makes a big difference to your customers, and eventually your bottom line. People do business with people, not special offers or price promotions. Ensuring that your people are fully motivated and feeling valued will ensure that your customers want to do business with them.

I was watching a version of A Christmas Carol yesterday and a line jumped out at me that I'd never noticed before. Ebenezer Scrooge said  to the ghost of Christmas yet to come "I'll try to keep Christmas all year round." I thought that this sentiment rang true for this particular blog. All of the above, keeping the team motivated, etc is something that you should try to keep all year round. It's important to have a well motivated team at all points if the year.

Is it condescending to speak to all of your team about the cold?

It's cold and by all accounts it will be getting colder. It's the time of year when dark skies and cold weather make commuting more time-consuming and more dangerous. I think it's a good idea to speak to each member of your team about leaving a little earlier, driving a little safer, discussing where they park and ensuring they wrap up warm.

Some may see this as condescending but I think it's caring and shows some interest and compassion. Making sure that all your team are safe and well is a good start to every day.

The way you carry this out is entirely up to you - be it a team thing, a one-to-one or an internal email, I think the short amount of time taken to do this will make a difference to all.

Just a short note today, inspires by the weather!

Do you know how to interact with your team?

I know this probably first appears as a stupid question - of course I know how to interact, especially with my team. But look a little deeper and you'll find a communication, training and leadership issue that can determine the future success of your company.

Now whether you are an independent retailer with a handful of staff or a multinational with tens of thousands, it has been shown in recent years that people take in, process and act upon information in different ways.

In terms of learning, there are quite wide differences, where some understand written information much better than verbal and vice versa. Some understand theory and can adapt that to their role, whilst others require practical learning that they can immediately apply to their everyday job. Some need silence to be able to take in and process what is being conveyed whilst others need a group to discuss and question their own understanding.

And this is just training!

Add to this any tasks that you want your team to carry out, dealings with customers such as taking orders, and you have a potential minefield. But it does it have to be so.

I'm sure that you already have at least an inkling of how you need to interact with each member of your team, even if you've not yet formalised these ideas in your head. 

Think about who in your team reacts quickest to things you've said - these are probably those that can process information verbally. You get the picture!

It's about assessing your individual team member's needs and adapting your style to suit.

Try it - the results will be obvious.

Black Friday - are you participating?

In a really crowded marketplace, are you participating in the Black Friday sales bonanza? I think that this event has been created out of nothing relevant to the UK but retailers wanting to shift as many units as possible. Amazon started the trend and it's the big online retailers and multiples that have run with it. The good thing for retailers with the timing of the event is that it coincides with many people's last payday before Christmas, so they are feeling a little flush and many are ready to spend and get a large chunk of their Christmas shopping done.

As a small independent retailer, you have one of two options, in my eyes. You can either roll with it or try to stand against it.  Here's what I mean-

Roll with it

There has become such hype about the event, many independents will feel that they simply have to offer some Black Friday savings or promotions. To get lost in the retail marketplace on such a busy day would be a major trading blow. To compete with Amazon, Tesco and the like, you'll have to box quite clever to find a niche in the marketplace but they exist. I would think that this will be a good strategy for retailers that will see a large footfall passing their door - those in major shopping centres or city centres or those near a Tesco.

Try to stand against it

There is a viewpoint that independents won't be able to price compete on days like this. Independents can offer their own bespoke products and services at their own prices. Next Saturday is Small Business Saturday, and that's when you can get behind a marketing event that is designed just for you.

I'm sure that retailers will take many different stances in relation to this but the one thing I advise is that you measure how successful it has been and learn from it for next year.

Are events for your customers or your team?

Minh It's that time of year when retailers start sending you emails and accosting you in store to tell you about their shopping events-

Discount card promotions

Extra points offers

Pre-Christmas sales

Black Friday

Cyber Monday

Offer of the week

These are all events running in various retailers at the moment in the UK and beyond.

My question is -

Are these events for your customers or for your team?

I know that eventually they are for your bottom line, or your shareholders, but I think on the surface it's a different proposition. Do they serve the purpose of attracting more customers to your door? Or do they serve the purpose of motivating your team?

I think that here is a bit of both but more for your team than your customers. It's nice for your team to pull together for these events, inspire each other and feel motivated to give their all for a big sales push. It gives you all focus in the build up to get the store ready and plan what you will do to make it special. It has a unifying effect, and gives something to look forward to, and something to reflect back on.

This has its own value.

For all you independent retailers (which I hope is a large proportion of my readership) then Small Business Saturday on 6th December is one such event that you can get behind. It's not too late to get your pack from -

https://smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com

Get you and your team behind it, and support other local business as well.

Rigid structure or go with the flow?

Is structure and a set way of always doing things the right way forward? Or is rolling with what is thrown at you and adapting your business to deal with this the correct way in the modern world?

I have thought a great deal about this over the past few weeks. I have worked for many multiple retailers who have set policies and procedures for just about every eventuality. They usually have a company intranet where you go to find out what they require of you if a customer falls over, if an employee calls in sick, if a customer claims they have been given the wrong change, if just about anything.

There are other companies I have worked for and with that operate under a flatter management structure, where the heads of divisions and areas are much closer to the action and the team are empowered to make decisions that benefit the company and, more importantly, the customers.

You can probably tell from my tone that I am in favour of the second type. I think that training, coaching and mentoring your colleagues in the ethos of the company, and how you operate will give them the confidence to make the right decisions when dealing with customers. Being the business owner (as I'm sure many of you are) means that it's your ethos and your operation that you will be communicating. This flat structure means that there are not many layers of authority and it's easy for your sales team to contact you with any questions, suggestions or feedback.

Thinking in your feet isn't just something that you, the business owner, should be doing. You want an entire team that is able to be entrepreneurial in the same way. Building in incentives, to make your employees think that they own a part of the business will help you in this cause. Whether that is offering shares or offering a proportion if the sales commission is entirely up to what you are comfortable with.

Think about the emails you send out to your subscribers

I received and email today from Amazon, lettings me know about several deals. I scrolled through and saw a deal I found potentially interesting. When I clicked on it, I was taken to a general deals page. I thought I'd clicked wrongly and tried again - the result was the same general deals page. So I tried a different deal - same page. This I found frustrating, and I gave up. Not only did I give up, I won't be clicking through from Amazon emails again. So, what have Amazon achieved from sending this email? I would say, into case, it's had a negative impact. I am probably a similar experience away from unsubscribing.

Which brings me to my point. Please think about the content, links and impact of your communications with your customers, especially emails.

Content

This needs to be as relevant as possible for the people receiving it. If you are a retailer that sells in different categories then you could consider a filter on your email subscribe page. This will mean that, for instance, your baby customers won't get emails about your photographic offering. You want your emails to entice customers to click through to your website and browse. That will only happen if there is something in the content that they want to follow up. You can get tech that will report back to you in what was clicked, and where that led. This will give you the data to ensure that you know what content works and what content doesn't.

Impact

This leads to impact, where the effectiveness of your content triggers the sales of the product or products you are trying to push. The header of the email is the very first thing seen, so ensure that it leads the recipient to read on. A photo or image makes great headway, especially if the product is visually appealing.

Links

Like the Amazon example above, you need to ensure that the links take your customers to the right places. It means that they have the faith in you and your company to click again and to keep subscribed - this is the lifeblood of your direct email marketing campaigns.

The other consideration is the frequency of your emails - not so often that your customers get sick if you, not so rare that they forget you.

Hope this helps.

Where does the dynamic in your team come from?

Where does the dynamic in your team come from?

It's not always you, as the business owner, leader or manager - and that's not always a problem! Sometimes the spirit of the store can be a colleague or team member, and it's often their knowledge or ability to enthuse that sets them apart. As long as this person is enthusing people to do the right things (and not poison the well) then use their influence. You can let them lead and inspire the team in their natural way.

I have worked in many retail companies where the powerful influence hasn't been the manager. Some managers respect this and accept the fact that they can still be a manager and leader. Some managers hate this and fight it tooth and nail - I call these "title managers." Title managers need everything to come from them and through them, they hate any idea of influence coming from anywhere else and hunt down any other influential people - with intent to destroy them. It creates a hostile, negative atmosphere. And, in my experience, these managers are usually the ones that don't know a great deal about the business and have a low level of creativity. This stifles the natural creativity of the team and creates a vacuum, where nobody steps into the creative void for fear of the title manager's response.

I say that it is always positive to embrace motivation from within your team, wherever it comes from. An empowered, confident team are far more productive and resourceful than a team afraid to step on the toes of those in power.

Please think about how you want your team to operate - with of without you there.

Help your customers through your process and they will be your advocates

If there's a quirky or different part of your company up others then In my eyes, you've got a choice. Either-

Ensure there are always staff to hand to explain

Or

Ensure there is sufficient clear signage to explain.

In talking about parts of your business where customers don't intuitively know what to do. The ticket machine that required you to put your card in and remove straight away to work, the self-service till or well, pretty much the self-service anything. It shod be enough that you can have one team member looking after 6 or 8 tills, don't take this team member away!

Ikea does this beautifully with a mi. of the above approaches, more signs than staff though. It uses explanation and a little humour to let customers know that they will be picking and assembling the furniture themselves and the fact that this helps to keep the cost down. In fact they've now taken this quirk into a virtue - it's part of their business, their ethos.

If you have a part of your business that needs a little explaining or guidance then don't be afraid to explain or guide - your customers will appreciate your help and give you honest feedback about the process at the point that it's happening - one of the buzzwords in retail at the moment is "in the moment feedback" and it doesn't get more in the moment than that.

Set up conversations determine the quality of delegated tasks

What action do you take when a team member doesn't complete a task in the time set?

You set a task, and give one of your team a certain amount of the in which to complete it. They don't get it done in the time you've set them. What do you do next?

In sure this happens in retail all the time, and I'm sure that people deal with it in many different ways, with differing degrees of success.

I set out below the way in which I would deal with it, and hopefully this will give you a framework to deal with any similar situations-

Understand the delay

You need to ask questions as to why the task wasn't completed on time. Were there more customers than first though? as dealing with customers is a priority. Did another team member not pull their weight? Did the team member fully understand the task? Did you actually give aside enough time for it in the first place?

All of these factors can hugely influence the task and the following discussion.

Setting it up for next time

Once you have an understanding of the situation that has just happened, you will have an idea of how to set up the team member for the next task. This is going back as step or two but the set up conversation is key to the task. You can avoid a lot of these incomplete tasks by getting the set up conversations right in the first place.

This is a confidence-builder for both you (you understand that the task is more likely to be done) and the team member (they fully understand what they are doing.)

Giving feedback

It's not just the task being finished in time, but it being done correctly. The feedback (positive and negative) will allow you and your team to move forward with confidence.

Thinking about rewarding your team at this time of year

Little treats can make big differences to the morale of your team and how they work for you and interact with your customers - in the long-term this will mean more goodwill, trade and sales for you.

I have worked for many retail organisations, big and small; worked with retailers in an advisory role and run my own retail business.  Where you have people working for you, their morale implants heavily on their commitment to worm and their interactions with your customers. Approaching Christmas is a time where employers often look at rewarding their teams in various ways. I have experienced the following-

*10% of a weekly wage as a bonus. This smacks of a lack of inspiration and thought and unfairly penalises part-time and weekend-only team members

*a choice from a pre-set list of gifts. This takes a little more organisation, but can have the "wow" effect if the gifts are of a good quality.

*a team night out. This will have the added bonus of some team building, but each out for situations arising from too much alcohol.

*a day off work paid for Christmas shopping. The idea is great, but often the time just gets mixed up with annual leave. Try to mix it with a shopping voucher or an afternoon tea at a nice tea room in the local town to ensure it's fully enjoyed for what it's supposed to be.

*a box of chocolates, a box of biscuits or a bottle of wine. This can start to go down the same route as the money route at the top of the list.

In sure that all you inventive entrepreneurs can come up with really great ways of celebrating your teams contribution at this time of year, and inspiring them to greater things in the future.

Don't manage by pieces of paper - look at your customers

I know it can sometimes be difficult to let go of measures and just spend time in your retail establishment with customers and colleagues, but this is probably where your best results will come from. I know of many retail chains that look heavily at results, KPI's, scorecards or whatever they classify them, but solely managing by this method is dangerous and does NOT guarantee the best results.

Take a national retail company that I have worked for, as usual they will reman nameless.  Their focus and passion on the measures mean that their store management teams are rarely in the shop floor, and as a consequence, rarely spend time with customers and colleagues.

They are pressured from above to control costs (result is no toilet rolls in the staff toilets.)

They are pressured from above to control staffing costs (result is jobs are left undone and staff morale is through the floor.). 

They are pressured from above to hit certain sales targets in certain categories (result is other areas are completely ignored.)

They are pressured from above to get a certain number of customer feedback forms (result is that many are forged.)

They are pressured from above to respond to Head Office requests (result is that the management tam fear being away from their emails for too long.)

The end result is that there is a huge disjoint between management and the team (even more profound in stores with an experienced team.)

Consider the opposite - a manager or management team that spend their time on the shop floor, that are empowered to see what is important to their customers and colleagues and where the whole team feel as though they are pulling in the same direction.

Now how refreshing will that be?

Small Business Saturday 6th December

Saturday 6th December is Small Business Saturday so make sure you plan ahead to promote the fact. Mentions on your website, social media presence, in your shop and in conversation with your customers will help to make it as successful as possible. It's great timing that close to Christmas so plan ahead - I've seen some local shops advertising competitions, prize draws, free gift wrapping and others. This is a great way to lock in the trade at this time of year, and even steal a march on some of the chains and multiples by getting your customers to buy early from you, rather than later from them.

Understanding gross margin will drive your business forward

Marks & Spencer unsurprisingly followed other retailers in announcing disappointing results this week and, at least partly, blaming it on the weather-

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29911371

I have stated before in my blog that retailers have more than one trick up their sleeves and that cold weather doesn't decimate sales.

Marks & Spencer have now seen 13 consecutive drops in clothing sales, so there's much more to this than just a bit of unseasonal weather. The positive news from this is the increase in gross margin on their products.

If this is at too simple a level them forgive me, but gross margin is selling price minus buying cost. When you improve this, it can enable all sorts of changes to your business that you want to happen. Even if total profits are falling, an increase in gross thin means that you are working less hard for you money. If every transaction through the till brings you more profit every time, then it frees up cost for other expenditure or allows you to put money aside a rainy day.

It all boils down to the fact that you make your money from less transactions, less customers and potentially less staff. All of the time-consuming effort that makesyou  money also costs you money.

Looking at this as an entrepreneurs, you need to look at what profit ypu expect to make on every item you sell. I have seen independent clothing retailers have two sets of numbers in their price labels. The first is the price, the second (in a disguised format) is the lowest price they would consider if a customer wanted to haggle over prices or want a discount for multiple purchases. If you know what you want from each product then you know what products are worth the effort if youskr them yourself, or which products are worth the price at the wholesalers.

It is the start of every other calculation you make for your business and a clear understanding of this will drive your business forward.

Recruiters - cast the net wider

OIt's no secret that I live in the North East of England and I have a bias towards the North East of England when it comes to business and opportunities.

However, I feel that recruiters need to look further afield and cast the net wider when it comes to looking got potential recruits and new talent fof their business.  Even when they are looking for new staff for their London and South East operations, they need to consider a recruitment drive amongst the underemployed masses in other parts I've the country - especially the North East of England.

I have worked with so many people in the North East that could or would walk into a job on any profession in London. It is a sad fact that a huge member of graduates and experienced employees are employed beneath their talents in the North, North East and North west of England in particular.

A government policy to spread the talent across the regions will make a massive difference to each if the regions and the people who live there. A commitment to resolving this North/South divide in jobs and salary will make a massive difference at next year's election.

Unseasonable weather needent mean a huge drip in sales

A short share today - I'm just reading about Next warning that the good weather has hot their sales and cost them a potential £25m in lost profits.

I'd like to point out that Next and other retailers still can make money in good weather as well as bad. They may gave sold off a lot of Summer stock in their last sale but it's unlikely that their customers will have been shopping for swimwear instead of winter coats - the weather hasn't been that good!

Retailers have analysts galore to loom at all sorts of trends from weather to the harvests of the produce they sell, so it's unlikely that the recent good weather will have been totally unpredicted.

The stock that all retailers, especially the local entrepreneurial type I envisage reading this blog, have sat in stockrooms or storage will get its turn when the weather does eventually turns cold (it will, it's the UK.) It's just ensuring that you are ready to trade 100% when this happens.

Stsrt to make sure that you can access this stock at short notice, that it's listed on your main and mobile websites and that it's available now via Click &Collect if not already in store. It's by having these conrngemcies in pomace, and by having great conversations with your customers that you will be in the optim position to reap the rewards when the template is right.

If your retail unit is affected by the weather via what stock you carry, then stay tuned to the medium and long range forecasts, as they can and will give you an indicator of the general trading conditions you are likely to face, and give you pointers on how to react.

New recruits? Are you prepared?

How to organise yourself ready for new recruits

The lead-in time needs to be balanced-

Not so short that you're not ready for your new recruits when they start.

Not so long that the good ones find something else in the meantime.

I've seen so many new recruits work for weeks on end without uniform and name badges after starting. You will know what you want then to wear and how you want your people to present themselves to your customers. In advance if the start date, have all of this ready.

Send details through to your new recruit - dress standards, punctuality expectations - all the things that you want them to be ready for. Don't get the initially important bits (the customer-facing parts) lost in the weight of an employee handbook or contract or terms and conditions. Send this separately, via email, to your recruit a little while before they start and invite any questions in advance of the start date.

The first day should include all of the compliance bits that you need to get out of the way, so you can then concentrate on getting your new starter out there and learning the ropes. A great way to do this is to have them buddied up with an experiences member of the team, or members of the team. Get them working with the experts in each area, so they can learn from the best and have a great point of contact for any questions or learning needs.

All in all, a rounded approach with some guidance from many people, and you being ready to receive the new starters and inspire them will be the best wag forward.

A short note on inspiration

You can be inspired in all sorts of ways by all sorts of people.  Some of my inspirations are as follows-

Music
I love the music of Hootie and the Blowfish, and their lead singer Darius Rucker.  They can be found all over You Tube, but they also have a jukebox on their website-

http://www.hootie.com/internal.asp?catID=21218#content

I also love the music of Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and David Gray.

Art
I love all types of art and have been to many art museums in cities all over the World.  My favourite artist is Mark Rothko.  I don't get into the whole modern art debate, I just like his paintings-

Television

I think that TV is starting to take over from the movies as the premium entertainment vehicle of it's genre. Recent programmes that have caught my attention include True Detective, Hannibal and the recent Dr Who

series have been excellent.  My favourite show has just finished airing in the UK, it's the US version of The Office.  The characters had more depth and more time to develop than the UK predecessor, and the programme was witty, funny and hugely entertaining every single week.




I think that originality and creativity runs through the likes I have for all of these things, and I hope that shows in my work. How about you?

Celebrate every small win, as they add up

I've been thinking about how to motivate your team at a low level in a regular basis. It's important to know they you are appreciated and that your efforts mean something to colleagues, customers, management and the company as a whole. People need to feel valued, and for me, the biggest way you handle this happen is verbally and non-financially.

I know some companies where every 'appreciation' has to be given through the payroll. This just doesn't have the same impact. In the moment feedback is invaluable. Actually saying to someone how well they've dealt with a customer, straight after the event is worth so much more than speaking to your colleague later, or even rewarding them financially at the end of the month in their pay packet.

And I'm talking about celebrating all the small wins that add up to the big win at the end of your trading period-

Getting a big delivery dealt with

Solving a problem for a customer

Closing a difficult sale

Cross-selling items to a customer

Tenerchandising a section to make it look much better

It's only when your team feel involved, motivated and free to have the confidence in their abilities that they will fire on all cylinders and produce their best work for you.

What type of retailer do you want to be?

In terms of retail, there are many shapes and sizes, many categories, many markets and target customers.

Some attempt to specialise, others want to be all things to all people. Some want the multi-site outlets, whilst other are happy to have one store, or even no stores and just to operate online.

However, I believe that it is possible to split retailers into 2 categories- those that compete on price, and those that don't. This may seem absurd at first sight - of course all retailers have to establish a competitive price, don't they?

Well, what I'm saying is-

 Some retailers provide goods at the lowest possible price and use price as their marketing edge - Aldi, Poundland, Home Bargains, Tesco.

Some retailers provide a service or something else that goes above and beyond just a product for the lowest price, and subsequently can offer things at a higher price and still have a flow of customers - Boots, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer.

So back to the original question - what type of retailer do you want to be?

Price

I think that this is the tougher way to distinguish yourself. I think that there is always someone who can undercut you, or attempt to undercut you. There are some massive competitors out there that can run lost-leaders or price promotions to drive you put of business, should they want to.

Service

In my view, this is the way forward. If you can offer something to your customers that they can't get elsewhere, if they can't get it locally. I was once told that the definition of competitive advantage is -

"Doing something that your competition can't or won't do."

Now, to me, this isn't price - it's service. Build A Bear and the teddies that your kids have made themselves, Marks & Spencer and their superior quality food and service, or your local craft store that  offers lessons for children.

As a successful retailer, or a potential succesful retailer, you need to find whatever this is for you and your business. We used to call it a USP, it's the reason your customers come back to  you.

If you don't already know what this is, then work with your team, your customers and establish exactly what it is. Then accentuate it, run with it, use it on your marketing, talk about it ceaselessly. It's your future.

Amazon's 13,000 seasonal staff

Christmas planning should be well under way by now

Christmas is on the way! Didn't anyone tell you? Your planning for Christmas will depend in what type of retailer you are, but the planning stage should be through or almost through by now.

Some retailers see the trade uplift from towards the end of October, whilst others don't see that until December.

Planning takes many forms and needs to cover many areas-

Staffing

Generally retailers will hire temporary staff to assist with the uplift in trade. For me, it's all about looking at your needs from the outset. Not just what hours you want to be covered but the exact nature of the duties you want these temporary staff to carry out. Think about the areas where you will see an uplift in sales, where your existing team will be best used and then you can identify any gaps in your weekly planner.

From this point you can plan extra hours x number of weeks x hourly rate to work out the costings of your extra Christmas staff.

When you are happy with the costings, it's about advertising the vacancy/vacancies whilst you design the recruitment process and timescales.

Advertising

The fact that it's Christmas will be a part of the natural advertising for any retailer - people will arrive at your door looking to buy.  You need to enhance this by your own marketing or advertising. This doesn't have to be expensive - changes to your shop window, your website and your social media presence can have a big impact.

Range

Now I'm probably too late for Christmas 2014 but changes to your range in time for Christmas can and will make a difference to your sales. Gifting and capturing the imagination of someone buying for someone else has become a massive industry. If your range is too static to change this close to Christmas this year then ease consider what you may be able to do in time for next year.

Hope this helps.

Looking at how to analyse your company and your competition

I have been looking at different ways to analyse threats to your business, and came across this blog in a similar vein-

http://245daystogo.blogspot.com/2014/10/facing-my-fears.html

There are many ways at deciding what way to take your business forward and the above blog may be one if them. I've worked with many companies and used many ways of deciding which way I'd forward-

SWOT analysis

Competitor analysis

Annual cost reviews

SWOT analysis

This stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. And the analysis works straight along those lines. Divide a piece if A4 into 4 and in each section you simply write the Strengths, Weaknesses of your business, and the Opportunities and Threats to your business. From these areas you can formulate your plan. Expand on your strengths, work on your weaknesses, explore the opportunities, mitigate against the threats.

Competitor analysis

This is about looking at the key areas of the business and marking yourself and your competitors objectively. This will give the areas that you need to focus your efforts in. If your competitor scores highly in a particular area then you may need to rethink or redesign how you approach this area.

Annual costs review

I worked with a company that used the annual accounts to prompt a review into spending, and this prompted a review of all aspects of the business based on how spending decisions had influenced the year that had just passed.

For example - "we spent £500 on advertising in the Yellow Pages last year. How much business did this get us?" And from there you would check the referral database to see how much business came from the Yellow Pages, whether this was cost effective and whether it was something that should be repeated.

I like this method for the ability to relate the activity to cost and results, but it feels a little bottom-up in terms of how a company should be run.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to consider where your business is in relation to where you want it to be.

Technology can help, but not for technology's sake

I'm just reading an article in the i newspaper about John Lewis plan for the use of technology in their stores. It involves the use of GPS to locate your position in the store and push notifications in their app to inform you of any offers in that part of the store. You will complete your shop on the app, and it will be picked and packed at the checkout waiting for you to pay. Do they know something that we don't? Do John Lewis and Waitrose customers shop in a different way to the rest of us?

I can't see that walking around the store looking at your phone is in any way a different or better experience than pushing round a trolley and selecting the items physically rather than digitally.

It's a gimmick.

I know a lot if peoe will probably use it when it's first launched and it will gain some publicity, but in the long term it will probably be consigned to the dustbin.

But technology can help retailers, but in the places that make a difference. Apps and mobile versions of retailers websites are a great way to engage your customers in your brand, your stores and your offers (without the reported cost of the John Lewis system above of £100,000.) Poundland sends incentives to customers to Pinterest, Tweet and Facebook their experiences and their purchase and this makes headway into social media networking markets. Friends may not immediately run out to Poundland upon reading about it, but will bear them in mind on their next trip to the High Street. It's this kind of social media networking that is making unseen inroads  into customers spending habits. The retailers with the best apps, best online offering and best social media links will probably win out over those that have great stores, but no more than that.

Click and Collect plays a massive part in this, and retailers of all shapes and sizes have become aware that they can still make the sale, even if the product us not in stock. Pay today and collect tomorrow, whether the buyer is in store, sat at home on a computer or browsing on their mobile phone is a great way to ensure that the business stays within your company - and that people don't shop around and look elsewhere. All retailers need is for the collection process to be smooth and streamlined to ensure that customers feel confident to follow the process again.

I witnessed a customer this morning in an unnamed High Street national chain go to the till to collect her parcel. The cashier asked her to wait while she found the delivery, and came back 2 minutes later to state that it wasn't there. Irate customer asked cashier to have another look and said that they wouldn't be doing this again. Cashier found item, but by this time there was a queue at the till, so the customer had to wait her turn to be served. All of this could and should have been much slicker and customer-friendly. A dedicated collection point, cashiers that are really clued up about their systems and an attitude of ownership of the situation make a great in-store collection experience.

Hope this helps.

Who's next? Why we can alienate our customers before they've even reached us

I hate the phrase "who's next?" in retail. I hate it with a passion. It strikes me as out of control, rude, unfriendly and derivative.

So why do we use it in most retailers when our customers reach the point of sale?

There are so many better things to say-

"Can I help?"

"Hello"

"How can I help?"

Are all better phrases that could be used over the "who's next?" comment. It runs deep, and customers really don't like it. It is at the core of where you and your customers stand with each other. Every time I hear "who's next?" I think "well, the person at the front if the queue - that's who's next."

It shows a lack of control, as the till operator should know exactly who is next. And they always do know who is next.

It isn't very polite, as a smile, eye contact and the phrase "can I help?" say far more positive things about our relationship with our customers and how we wish to treat them.

If this happens where you work, please talk to your team and eradicate it.

Are Tesco set for more pain?

Tesco have issued a second profit warning, the share price has taken a hit and the new chide executive has cancelled his holiday to start a month early.

Are we seeing the fall if the retail giant?

I have made my feelings clear in this blog about Tesco's major failings in respect if their customers. They try to be all things to all men and end up doing none if it well. In the case of the profit warnings, I think that we are seeing stock market tactics and a chief executive that wants to lay a lot if the blame at his predecessors - "look at the mess I inherited" - before a turnaround that looks oh so much better when/if it happens.

We are still seeing it with the banks, where they report trading figures that don't add up to the performance. There are always hundred of millions of pounds put aside for potential future bad debts and misselling claims. For me, this is double accounting, as the bad debts and claims are accounted for in the present but don't happen until the future. At a certan point, the banks won't have these future potential losses to put in their balance sheet and presumably some of the money they have put aside will have to reappear for losses and claims that didn't materialise.

Things aren't always as accounts make then seem

Tesco's next step is to look at their operation and decide where they want to be experts, and where they want to step back from. Offering opticians, pharmacy, tech experts, cafés, mobile phones, etc on top of their wide-ranging food offering is diluting the quality of service and advice they can offer their customers.

Online and 'Click & Collect' can provide answers

Some services Tesco will want to be able to offer in every store, but some have a better foothold online, where the expertise can be pooled and not spread so thinly. Tesco had a functioning website and a reasonably good Click & Collect offering, so these can take the strain of the expertise, whilst try get back to basics in the areas they can lead on in store. Great customer service will never go out if fashion.

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What is the right mix of retailers on the High Street?

I'm sitting on a High Street, looking at the range of shops and wondering if the mix of shops makes the difference in the vibrancy of any High Street or town centre.

Just in my line of vision, I see a food shop, shoe shop, pet shop, pound store, pharmacy, clothes shop and a variety store. Over the street is a coffee shop, an optician, a card shop, 2 fast food shops, a bookmakers and a charity shop. It's a good mix and with ample parking and safe places to cross the road, it's a vibrant area with places to spend, eat and just stop and watch the world go by. Slightly further in the same street are 2 supermarkets, another fast food shop, a car wash, a chain pub and a DIY store.

When High Streets and town centres grow up organically to have a collection of shops that attract a range of customers, then it just works.  It's when the free market doesn't provide this vibrancy that local planners and councils need to get involved.

So how does this happen?

When there is a high demand for commercial property, then planners can look at accepting or rejecting certain uses based on the mix they already have. Landlords can look at choosing a tenant based on the longevity if their tenure as a viable business and a degree of survival of the fittest occurs to ensure the very best retailers are present.

When it doesn't happen

But we haven't been in a situation as competitive as this for several years now, so landlords will be far less choosy in their tenants. At the start of the financial meltdown, commercial landlords would probably have taken anyone who could pay the rent.

So planners have to take the lead and provide planning rules that allow diverse retailers to a High Street without penalising the landlords. This is a fine line, and planning officers have generally been quite lenient in their criteria over the last 6 years or so.

I would strongly suggest that the criteria be clearly laid out and stuck to rigidly for every application. Filling a High Street with charity shops or discounters in a downturn isn't the only way out of the downturn.

People look for bargains, look for value but the days of buying things just because they are cheap has disappeared. Customers are savvier and want something that will do the job they've bought it for.

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Have the High Street banks changed since the meltdown?

Lord Adair Turner tells policymakers to be radical in their thinking, as he analyses the current financial climate and the danger of returning to the dark days of the economic meltdown. Although a little short on detail, his speech hits the right notes in terms of discussing what exactly has happened and where we have ended up with regards the financial crisis that hit at the end of the last decade.  I would ask 2 main questions with regards this-

1. Has anything actually changed?
2. Did anything actually need to change?

I say the answers are -

1. Not really
2. Definitely

So, where do we go from here?

I think that the banking system has come full circle from fear, through self-pity and survival mode to business as usual.  The wider economy doesn't need business as usual, as small business and consumers struggle to get finance for house purchases and find they are further disenfranchised by a system that they didn't help to create, didn't ask for and now feel disengaged from.  This has gone along with repossessions, liquidations and the rapid growth of the payday loan sector.

How can this happen after the major shocks of 2008 and the fact that governments own large stakes in banks?

We are on a course for a similar shockwave of financial crashes if there isn't a change in the structure of the banks, the way they interact with customers and an acknowledgement of the errors of the past.  A whole industry has popped up to make the most out of banks errors - mortgage exit fees, bank charges, PPI miss-selling, etc and this is before the exposure of self-certification mortgages, interest-only mortgages, fasttracking of mortgage clients and others.  Banks have been subsidising high spending on cars, holidays and home improvements by the £10+ billion payouts for PPI misselling alone.

There needs to be a line in the sand drawn by the banks to gain public trust again - or maybe this has gone on too long and can never be repaired.  The public appetitie for payday loans seems to never be satisfied, so why not a Wonga Bank on the High Street?  A series of new entrants to the market that aren't tainted by the scandals of the past may be the only way forward.  Metro Bank is making progress in London, while Virgin Money seems to have escaped the association with Northern Rock.  Nationwide came out of the scandals with an enhanced reputation, as did First Direct.  M&S and Tesco are starting to offer a serious proposition in terms of everyday banking.

Is this the way forward?

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Shop Local is more than just a slogan

Why don't customers in all walks of life choose smaller, independently-owned local businesses to interact with?

Why would you get your coffee fix from a national homogenised chain when there's a local alternative available?

Local companies employ local people, are run by local people who then spend their income locally.  International companies funnel income away from your local area (often in tax avoidance schemes that deprive the UK Treasury of much-needed tax income.). The ethics of major banks, retailers and hospitality companies is regularly brought into question by their mis-selling, corporate governance and tax affairs - so why go global when you can go local?

I would urge all local independent retailers to push this fact in your marketing.

If you are local, live local, send your kids to a local school, spend locally, pay local council tax then you already have an emotional link to the area you are selling your products in and have an empathic link to your local buyers.  You must use this link to forge links with other local businesses and the larger local community.

I would suggest that you source your products from local suppliers wherever possible. If you can supply from your local community then the connection you have with your local community will be much stronger.

Can you survive without promotions or sales?

  As retailers, we work on tight margins for large parts of the year.

The time to refresh and clear out old stock comes in the sales. Traditionally an annual event, this had been pushed into 2,3 or 4 times a year, mainly by fashion retakes that want to cleanse their stockrooms of the last season's unsold items.

An alternative method, pushed by the supermarkets and beauty stores is the promotional period. Thick is where particular lines will be on a particular promotion, often BOGOF or 3 for 2.

The other, less used, method is to create a clearance section or stand in your store to rid yourself of lines that haven't sold, are short of date or you no longer stick.

Can you survive as a retailer without moving to sale, promotion or clearance?

I think that the ideal scenario would be to never have to end up with any of these situations, as your pricing strategy will determine the sales levels of your products.  Say you have a line available in 5 different colours, and 1 colour is being left behind. Well, a price drop would perhaps be a better way of selling that line through than clearance, or editing for the sales.

Some retailers rarely have a sale, some never use promotional periods, so what would be the way forward to become a retailer that stands on your own merits? Would being respected enough to have your products bought at full price all year round be desirable?

I say "yes."

And I point to independent local retailers as both the answer and the solution to this. A strong local retailer that satisfies a local demand by producing or sourcing products that people need at an attainable price should have no need for promotions of sales, but could strike deals with individual customers.

"I'll buy 2 if you knock £10 off the price"

This is a better way for an independent retailer to do business than to sale or promotion their way through stock.

There is another solution that I have mentioned regularly in my blogs - Click & Collect, where you open up your range to internet buyers and have the item ready to collect in your store.  This opens up the potential buyers, and can be used to sell nationally or overseas if the shipping costs are not too burdensome. This increases sales and allows you to clear your range more quickly.

A message to TK Maxx

Hello TK Maxx, I've spent time in one of your stores today and I have a few comments. I feel that generally the stores are good - light, easy to browse, well laid out and easy to lose track of time in. All ingredients for successful customer interaction and factors that will induce good sales.

The staff are friendly and approachable, but not at all intrusive - a good mix.

The queuing system and till area are well laid out as well, but queues can form really quickly in fashion retail, so you definitely need more staff either in or around the till areas.

One area I can see that will make an immediate improvement in your availability and sales is the processing of stock around the women's changing room area. I have noticed this in a lot of women's fashion retailers but it affects you far more than a lot of your competitors.  Your USP is the "finds" that your customers make - branded goods arriving daily at a knockdown price.  When so many of your finds are left next to the changing rooms (40+ items today on a quiet morning) then they aren't on the shop floor waiting for your customers to find them.

I would suggest a run every 15 minutes for someone to return all the items to their shop floor location.  This will increase availability and customer satisfaction.  The items that are tried in are the more popular items that others would desire.

Just a short note today, prompted by a visit.

Thanks for listening.

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We're a fashion retailer - we just don't sell clothes

Paperchase chief executive Tim Meglund was quoted yesterday as saying the above quote - "we're a fashion retailer, we just don't sell clothes" about the company as they posted their annual results.

I have long believed something similar of every company - that they are all marketing companies, that market different products or services.

• An estate agent is a company that markets properties
• A retailer is a company that markets their own or someone else's products
• A manufacturer is a company that markets it's products to retailers and consumers

For me, that is the raisin d'être of every company - to raise demand for their product or service by marketing.

What does this mean for me

You have a couple of options, depending on the type of products you sell.

If they are made by you, then you need a marketing campaign to raise awareness and demand. You can use a local marketing consultancy, usually at a reasonable cost, or go it alone. Social media, word of mouth, offering incentives, local radio or newspaper advertising, handing out leaflets - the list goes on and on. You will know what us a good fit for your business.

If the products are made by a larger manufacturer (and I'm talking the real big boys) then you have a reliance in the fact that these big boys will be spending money on advertising already. You can mirror their advertising with your promotions. For example, if Plenty kitchen towels are putting out TV adverts, newspaper adverts and a social media campaign (as they are now) then this is a good time for Plenty to be highly visible to your customers, and perhaps offered on a promotion. Again, you will know how best to make this work for your customers, from a choice of the options above.

So, don't just think of yourself as a retailer - there's a little fashion retailer and a little marketer in all of us.

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Ensure your team know exactly what you expect from them

As the title says, I urge you to let your team know exactly your expectations if them day-in, day-out. As a leader you should have a clear plan of your goals and ambitions for the store you are running and ALL of your team should know 1- what these are, and 2- how you will achieve them.

This should be brought about by taking several steps-

• Decide what exactly it is that you want to achieve
• Work out basic steps to get there
• Plan an overview meeting with your team at the outset to communicate the above
• Have regular progress discussions to keep your team informed and keep their actions on-track
• Have daily discussions with team members regarding their input into the longer term goals

Leadership style

For the good managers, this may seem quite basic, but it doesn't happen in a lot of retail environments. Your ability to clearly communicate what you want your team to do and how you want them to do it is the very basis of your motivating management style.  A stranger should be able to walk into your store and ask every one of your team what your expectations are and get the same answer.  Now ask yourself - is this true if you and your team?  If not, then please take a loom at the steps outlined above and work through them in order.  It will make you think about your business, your goals and your leadership style.  The right results will only come if everyone is working together to achieve them.

Adapting this style

Once you have this as an ongoing part of your team's day, as in working towards these goals, then the next step or adaptation is to get your team to have a greater input into the goals.  They can challenge you and each other and this, in turn, empowers them to inspire each other.  Taking on these challenges and taking risks within a supportive framework make the job more interesting and make the team more likely to grow together and stay together. The working relationship between your team is vital to the vibrancy if your offering to customers.  Anything you can do to nourish that is taking a massive stride forward.

Tesco sales drop is about more than price

I'm just reading about Tesco's figures and the fact that their sales dropped by 3.1% over the last quarter - the biggest drop since records began in 1984.

My wife and I were in Tesco yesterday and the problems became more obvious to me as we sat in the café overlooking the store.

The problem is that they get nothing right

Now this isn't an anti-Tesco rant. It's true. Look at the facts-

• They don't do quality as well as Waitrose
• They don't advertise as well as M&S
• They don't do cheap as well as Aldi
• They don't do mobiles as well as Carphone Warehouse
• They don't do cafés as well as Costa
• They don't do toys as well as Smyths
• They don't do tech as well as, well anyone really

This adds up to a poor showing overall. The growth of Tesco has come from the "all under one roof" philosophy but this has come at a price to consumers. The reality of the philosophy is "all in one place, but only 60% as good as if you bought it elsewhere."  The idea of training staff up to be as good as their competitors in each field wpuld take a huge investment. The model of the department store, with market leaders delivering each sector, stands up better than Tesco's current plan.

It is my belief that consumers in the UK tolerate standards that would be unacceptable elsewhere in the World.  For example, I conduct mystery shopping programmes for some major restaurant chains and the question regarding food quality is "was the food rancid or spoiled in flavour?"  Now is this a standard we find acceptable?  In most European countries poor restaurants close because people won't pay good money for something below par.

It's the same with Tesco - customers are starting to find them out. Why pay higher prices for less-informed service on technology? Why buy their Finest range when, for a comparable price, you can buy M&S?

There is a bottom ground for discounters and there are already a few in the market. Why are Morrisons rushing for the lowest price ground? Why are analysts urging Tesco to join them?

A company that ploughed some of their vast profits back into a living wage for their staff, more staff available for customers and a higher standard of service would win every time.

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Chart your promotions and marketing to see how profitable they are

The latest CBI survey shows retail sales growing for the 6th month in a row, but figures weren't as bullish as perhaps expected.

38% of respondents said sales were higher than a year ago

22% of respondents said sales were lower than a year ago

This equates to a balance of 16% - well below the anticipated figure of a 43% balance.  Retailers said they expect business to improve next month with the World Cup and (hopefully) Summer weather.  The CBI said that despite the slowdown, the fact that growth again, for the 6th consecutive month, was encouraging.

What did you experience last month?

What factors influenced this?

My main learning from this is to closely monitor your promotions and see how these impact your sales and profitability.  A simple spreadsheet will do the trick, where you can plot sales and profits against certain promotions with reference to certain times of the year, proximity to payday weekend, weather conditions.  I would say a day-by-day spreadsheet with a space at the end to note external factors will give you all the reference data you need to be able to lamb your future promotions, sales and other marketing activity.  Don't think that your competitors won't have all this information to hand to help their business - it's the norm, even for small stores.

Ensure you act and react like a professional business - the technology is there to assist you in making these decisions and your operation will run better for having the correct information at your fingertips.

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How do you measure your success in the immediacy?

Measuring success

With so many external factors at play in the retail market, how do you measure your success?  Simple sales targets don't always tell the whole story. Staffing shortages, roadworks, parking problems, competitors opening or closing nearby and other factors can have a major influence on your sales but aren't necessarily under your influence.

Inputs as well as outcomes

Your input with your team as a leader is just as important (possibly moreso) than the outcomes. There are many situations I have come across where a store has improved year-on-year and against target, but with little input from the store manager. A good manager will constantly look at ways of improving the store and their team, day by day.

What other measures?

I have been part of focus groups in the past where we have looked at other measures and KPI's to establish a measure of success.  Some include-

• Number of team members progressing to the management programme as a measure of developing your team
• Average basket size as a measure if getting the most out of the customers you already have
• Sales per man hour as a measure of productivity
• How many customers you sign up for your store card as a measure of driving loyalty

A suite of measures

As a rounded retailer, you will have a series of well-thought-out measures to ensure that you are measuring a well-rounded leader. Each measure will inspire your team(s) to achieve the shared goals of your company, and they will be more motivational than a "sales at all costs" target.

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Is it time for a major retailer to champion the High Street?

He question us rhetorical, but needs to be asked anyway.

In the light of Marks & Spencer's disappointing results today, does someone need to take a stand?

Is there a retailer out there that will say - "Actually we want to do our offline business solely on the High Steet."

Traditionally I would say that Wilkinsons, jewellers, the banks and bookmakers are High Street stalwarts.  Will one of these emerge from the pack and put their wholehearted support behind our town centre High Streets?

Let's have a positive mood to lead the market forward in saying we will protect our traditional High Streets and begin lobbying the government to do more to protect it.

How to increase town centre High Street footfall

Figures released today have shown that retail footfall dropped by 0.1% in April.

However footfall in out of town locations rose by 4% - the 4th month in a row that there had been an increase.

This is more evidence that the government 's town centre first policy is not working.

So what next.  I've looked at certain points in prior blogs relating to how this can be tackled.  Changes to the business rates in vacant shops and incentives from government to help local councils provide free parking are two ways that I think will have a massive impact.

The march of Click & Collect should also see some improvements in town centre footfall and sales figures.

What about YOU as a retailer - what are you doing to keep your High Street vibrant?

Do you have a town centre retail committee?

If so, are you on it?

Are you organising events and incentives to promote your town?

Do you cross-refer to other local retailers?

I think a prime example of the last point is  linked to weddings. A florist should always have a link to a bridal gown shop, a limo hire company, a local wedding cake company - and vice versa.

Local communities of like-minded retailers are stronger together.  Hosting town centre events for Easter, Christmas, Mothers Day, etc will make the whole town sing, encourage people to visit many stores and increase both footfall and sales.

Do this in addition to the moves I have previously outlined and there's a profit to be made!