About being retrenched (cross post)

Posted on 9 July 2009 by retailsmart

Most people would have experienced at least one retrenchment by the time they are 40. Right now there are many people experiencing this for the first time, so before we start on strategies to deal with it, let’s debunk some myths and face some harsh truths:

It hurts. No matter what a person says or who you are, it is an emotional knock-out punch from which you take time to recover. Everyone doubts their self-worth to some extent for a period of time after the blow.

It is harder than you think to get another job. The people who evaluate your application invariably wonder if you are damaged goods, and why the previous company did not value you. And they judge you accordingly.

People get painted into a corner to start their own business because it seems like the only option – and apparently gives you at least something to call yourself. This may not be the right decision if you are not the entrepreneurial kind. Circumstances are powerful motivator, but your future success or failure is going to be determined by your dedication and discipline; which will wane if it does not suit your personality. You risk failing again. Make your decisions very carefully…

What can you do?

KNOW that all organisations are dysfunctional – directly proportional to their size – and that they make really poor decisions. (If you need any proof, just think about how many great coached have been fired, only to achieve even greater things elsewhere? Does Wayne Bennett ring a bell?)

KNOW that you are still a human being with much to offer. Don’t let the job be the only source of dignity. The adversity may actually be in a good thing (in hindsight) but one should not say that before the event because it might earn you a slap even if it is true – ex post facto.

ACCEPT some responsibility for being in the situation and not anticipating & planning better. (Do it quickly, and then move on by taking charge.)

STICK your pride in your pocket and focus on the key issues.

KNOW that it won’t last forever, if you are lucky enough to have a job; do this before it happens:

  • Get your profiles up on LinkedIn and Facebook and while you are at it, also RetailSmartResults. And do the work required to make it worthwhile.
  • Get yourself a kick-butt resume – and include an online one – maybe try VisualCV.
  • Make contact with the people you have blown off because you were too ‘busy’ with your job. If you hit the street, unemployed with a big mortgage, you want to know who your friends are.

And you will also learn that your future success or failure depends on PEOPLE – not on your job skills. I recommend you learn that before it happens.

  • Re-evaluate your life, because you need to pick a direction before you have to pick it. Time will be precious when it happens – and that is usually when you least expect it.
  • Learn new skills – in your own time. If you take what the company has to offer, manage your away time very carefully – that makes you vulnerable.

Footnote for employers.

  1. Right now is a really good time to pick up some really good people. (I know a few and you can have them for no commission.)
  2. Accept that good people will legitimately take jobs which they are over-qualified for – and if you treat them right, they won’t necessarily leave when the tide turns.
  3. The tide will turn…

And whatever the climate… try and have some fun.

Dennis
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Filed under: Management, People, Personal Development, Words of Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

The day the media died: MUST WATCH!

Posted on 7 July 2009 by retailsmart

Whilst this is a fun take on the new vs old paradigms, it is worthy of serious discussion.

Any thoughts?

My view is that the future of news lies in journalism – and the ability of journalists to make sense of the noise and unearth the truth. Now THAT is a paper I will continue to buy.

Just like ‘the movies’ responded to the VCR, so can papers respond to the digital shift.

Filed under: Branding, Future, General, Marketing, Strategy | 1 Comment »

It’s Free

Posted on 7 July 2009 by retailsmart

Free – by Chris Anderson

If you haven’t read this yet – do it now! No excuses about being busy. Just do it…

Filed under: Future, Management, Marketing, Strategy | Leave a Comment »

7 Things I have learned about selling

Posted on 5 July 2009 by retailsmart

Things I have learned about selling in the last 3 years.

  1. Most potential buyers (decision makers) practice the slow no: they make a decision by not making a decision and avoiding a confrontation.
  2. Despite what (sales) people say, they still start from their own position of strength/preference instead of trying to understand what the problems/issues are.
  3. It is easier to sell a product than a service.
  4. It is easier to sell a solution to a problem, than a benefit or potential upside. (Too much perceived risk for the buyer in a B2B environment? When they are experiencing a problem, there is pressure to solve it. The biggest upside in the world is not necessarily politically expedient.)
  5. Culture matters – and the differences between people from different cultures are real and present obstacles to be overcome.
  6. Cold calling matters and it works.
  7. Saying YES is risky and hard; saying NO is EASY because nobody knows what would/could have happened.

What have you learned? What can yo share so that I don’t have to learn it (again?)

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Retail Proposition – Part 2

Posted on 30 June 2009 by retailsmart

This week we continue our series on the retail proposition. (The previous post can be found here.)

The reason why one should be able to articulate a clear proposition is to provide a clear, unambiguous description of your business that becomes a yardstick (litmus test) against which you can measure your day to day operations.

You can make practical decisions about:
•    Your visual merchandising
•    Your stock range
•    Your marketing communication
•    Your price points
•    Sales and service strategies

[Hint: All of the above is your retail mix :-) ]

When you are able consistently target the right customer group with your differentiated offer you are achieving the fundamental challenge of marketing:  finding out what the customer wants and helping them get it.

If you can’t describe your proposition in one simple sentence, every decision you take in running the business becomes a lottery.

So, exactly how do you go about doing it?

In order to answer the over-arching question (what business am I in?) you need to effectively answer three other questions.

The sum of these three answers will constitute your response to the question.
The questions are simply:
1.    What is my proposition?
2.    Who am I offering it to?
3.    How is it different?

Can you guess who the following retailer is?

Affordable fast food for people who couldn’t be bothered (time poor) in a family-friendly environment.

  • What: Affordable fast food
  • Who: For people who couldn’t be bothered (time poor)
  • How: In a family-friendly environment.

I hope you guessed right…

Of course the first one is McDonalds. If you now consider the image below, you will see how the proposition is the foundation of how they execute the retail proposition; it determines what they sell and how they sell their offer. Compare for instance how their proposition differs from a restaurant? From KFC?
McDonalds has answered the t

Execute the proposition - McDonalds

Execute the proposition - McDonalds

hree questions (whatever their methodology and their framework) and they have created something that is extremely hard to replicate. A well-executed retail proposition that is a virtuous circle: the better they execute, the more compelling the proposition.

The only way McDonalds will lose it, is if they fail to respond to the subtle changes in taste and habits. But as long as there are time-poor consumers and a market for affordable fast food in a family-friendly environment – they will continue to prosper.

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Retail Proposition – Part 1

Posted on 28 June 2009 by retailsmart

It is probably a sign of the times, but I have recently done more work than usual with struggling retailers. In such cases we obviously seek to determine the cause of failure.

I am loathe to describe what follows as the key to success, because I am not one who believes in magic bullets. Neither success nor failure is ever simply one thing that went right or wrong.

But there is one essential thing that most failing businesses seem to share and this is the lack of (or the ambiguity of) the retail proposition.

This is the first in a 2-part series to explore what a retail proposition is (part 1) and how to develop a succinct proposition (part 2). This post is therefore more ‘conceptual’ and will be followed by the pragmatic ‘how to’ in the following post.

We have to address the conceptual and contextual issues first because marketers (and academics) have been clouding the issue with so much jargon and every wannabe expert has created so many models and frameworks that it is all but impossible to even get consensus about simple concepts such as “brand”.

Positioning. Proposition. Mix. Offer. Mission. Point of Difference. Core benefit. USP. Sustainable competitive advantage; and the list goes on. All of these are somewhat helpful when viewed in isolation, but when trying to make sense of all of them, and then actually to apply the concepts in your business, then your realise it is nothing but a semantic soup.

The toughest question in business is: What business am I in?

This was the question that gave birth to the science of marketing and was first asked by Prof. Ted Levitt. He said that if the Railroad companies truly understood that they were actually in the ‘transportation’ business, then the railroad companies would not have lost their dominance.

He argues that (I’m paraphrasing) people are not interested in buying a drill, but really wanted a hole. That is, we should articulate our business in terms of the ‘outcomes’ and not the product. This means (as a retailer) you are not in the retail business. Nor the food business or the shoe business. Or the hospitality business. Or the fashion business.

Having said that, I don’t think it is particularly helpful to think of yourself as being in the ‘transportation business’ either. Surely Qantas and your local Taxi are very different businesses?

So, what business are you in?

In an effort to answer this question, marketers have responded increasingly with esoteric responses. Your local video shop, Disneyland, the Brothel, the Paintball joint, the Bowling Alley are all now in the ‘entertainment’ business. I really don’t see how that description can be helpful, can you?

Surely, the purpose of articulating what business you are in must have some practical value or else it is complete waste of time?

I express the answer to this question (what business are you in) as your retail proposition. Specifically, I use the following definitions to make sense of all the jargon:

  • Product x Price = Offer.
  • Offer + Brand = Proposition.

I spare you all the gory detail, but I have also developed a full framework that pulls together all the pieces of the puzzle. (Positioning, retail mix, USP etc.) In fact, I have just finished a short multimedia presentation that will be uploaded at retailsmartresults.com and all members (it’s free!) will get a newsletter later this week when it is all done. (Only for those who are a real student of the science of retail…)

Next week I will walk though the ‘how to’ develop a proposition. I won’t go through the whole framework, but there are 3 simple questions to answer, which will truly give you the key to success. (Actually that is not completely true. The secret is EXECUTING it not articulating it – but that part is up to you.)

In the meantime, as a bit of homework, why don’t you try and articulate your proposition?
Here are the rules:

  1. You are not allowed to use the words convenience, service, community. (These apply to ALL specialty stores so they are not helpful descriptions.)
  2. You are not allowed to use specific products (menswear) or a description of your distribution channel (newsagency).
  3. It has to be specific enough to make clear what your business really is.

If you are really brave, you can jot it down in the comments section below and we can chat about it :-).
(Or if you want to do it behind ‘closed doors’ here.)

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Filed under: Branding, Marketing, Merchandising, Strategy | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

The future? Worth watching & thinking

Posted on 24 June 2009 by retailsmart

Filed under: General | Leave a Comment »

Store Blindness – Part 2

Posted on 24 June 2009 by retailsmart

Our previous post touched on store blindness. But the issue is bigger than just straightening up a few signs or cleaning up a tatty carpet.

Store blindness has a serious impact on your business.

Stand in front of your shop tomorrow morning and then answer the following questions honestly:

  • Is your display window clean, this includes the top half where you spotlights are located?
  • Does you store blend in with the surroundings (beige, not fun, not eye catching, not telling a story)? Does your shopfront/ window stop customers in their tracks and attract them into your store?
  • Look at the fixtures in the front of the shop. How long has it been stocked with same old merchandise? (And this is you’re most productive space where, 50 % of sales happen!)
  • Look at the left-, rear- and right walls of the shop (standing at the entrance) what do you see? Nothing but old posters?  This is a focal point and the purpose it to invite customer in!
  • Look at the counter. Is it clean, open, inviting, effective, easy, customer friendly or is it cluttered with ‘impulse’ goods? How much thought went into it? Might it just be taking up space where mums can put their handbags when getting their wallets out?
  • Move your hand over the shelves, what do you find? Dust, grime, or in some cases…nothing on the shelves – a cardinal sin!
  • Look at your shelf talkers and price tickets. Do they tell a story, if it is hand-written (conveying a message of being “cheap and nasty”? (This is acceptable if you are creating a low-price retail proposition).
  • Walk into your change rooms. Are they dirty, messy and grubby?  This tells the customer you do not care and all you want is their money. Did you know that at least 70 % of your male customers will purchase the stock if you can get them to try the merchandise on? The conversion rate drops significantly in dirty change rooms.
  • Look up at your spot lights, is it aimed at your merchandise or is it a random white light on your store floor?
  • Smell your shop, listen to noises (music) talking of sales staff while they are suppose to serve customers.
  • How safe is your store? How many trip hazards? How many sharp corners? Can a person with sight impairment navigate the whole store safely? Do you have any idea what it might cost you if a customer is injured in your store?

Take off the blinkers – and do it frequently!  Luckily we are not really blind and we can fix it. Just a little bit of effort.

[Posted by Moonyeen.]

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Store Blindness

Posted on 22 June 2009 by retailsmart

Went to the hairdresser today, (Actually it was a barber, don’t have much of a head of hair worthy of ‘dressing’.)

They had a sign that read:

Concession discounts available Mon – Fri (9am -3pm)

They had another sign that read:

Pensioner concessions do not apply on Sat & Sun.
Obviously you can pick out the good sign over the bad sign, right?

But this is not a story about poor signage or poor customer service. This is a story of store blindness. The root cause is not that they are rude or don’t value customers. It is just that the sign was made (wrongly) but then after it was put up, it was simply forgotten.

When was the last time you wandered through your place of business and really, truly experienced it as a ‘customer’? I am not talking about mystery shopping (you can’t delegate your service experience to a student/ housewife – and I don’t mean that derogatorily.)
1.    Have you smelled that funny smell first thing in the morning (you know the carpet that got wet during the last big rainstorm?)
2.    Have you noticed the children’s handprints on the window?
3.    The sharp edge on the counter?
4.    The dirty coffee cup next to the till?
5.    The way the sun shines in the customers’ eyes when they…

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Retail Selling – the attitude

Posted on 20 June 2009 by retailsmart

This is the final post (for now) in the series of posts on retail selling. In this post, I will deal with ‘attitude’ – something that is traditionally seen as difficult to achieve.

WHAT ATTITUDE IS REQUIRED?

Be Confident

  • If you physically act confidently, you will experience confidence.
  • If you know your stock you can be confident.
  • People prefer to buy from people who seem confident.

Be Courteous
There is no substitute for simple manners. Please and thank you are some of the most powerful selling tools in retail. The key to all of this is that it must be really sincere. It is not something you can fake. IF you find this hard to do then you must consider whether retail is really the career for you.
Be Credible

  • By being truthful at all times you will enhance your credibility in the long run.
  • Wearing a neat uniform improves credibility.
  • Use facts and figures when explaining features improves credibility.

HOW TO CREATE THE RIGHT ATTITUDE

Recruit well. Make sure your retail sales personnel are ‘similar’ to the target market in lifestyle and key demographics.

Product knowledge is crucial when selling any specialty products. Unlike convenience products which are often perceived as low risk and bought as a matter of habit, specialty products are more ‘risky’ and requires sales assistance. Product knowledge is the key determinant of a sales person’s credibility.

Incentives and rewards are important. Don’t ONLY give the high achievers the rewards, but demonstrate practically to your staff that the right attitude is important and reward accordingly.

Most importantly, you have to be honest with yourself as leader/manager. Do you have the right attitude? If you care constantly whingeing about ‘head office’ for instance, these bad attitudes will be reflected in the service you your employees provide.

On a practical note; observe and mange your employees’ body language. Notice it and rectify it when it is wrong and negative. By ACTING confidently, you will increase the feeling of confidence.

If you have more questions – check out retailsmartresults.com – or ask away…

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