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.

Audiobooks from Audible at Amazon

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.

Not everything can be bought on the High Street - MP3 version of NOW That's What I Call 21st Century

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.

Not everything can be bought on the High Street - MP3 version of The Hunting Party by Linkin Park on pre-order