DMSRetail

This season, when you can expect to see heavier traffic volume in your stores, try a laser focused approach on the sales floor.

Often, during these busier times, you expect that customers will outnumber associates by quite a lot. While it’s a wonderful problem to have, there are certain things you must do to make sure that you are able to take full advantage of it; make order out of the chaos and reap the rewards in terms of sales -conversion, average sale per customer, average units per customer, etc.

Without direction, associates can get caught up in the whirlwind of activity with the resulting sales achievement being significantly less than what it could be. This might be a natural occurrence and may not necessarily be because your associates are doing something wrong.

What they need is continuous guidance, direction and coaching on the sales floor. With proper sales floor leadership and direction in place, your customers will enjoy shopping in an environment where everything is well managed. They’ll be able to get in and out fast, so they can move on to other things they need to accomplish.

They’ll enjoy being served (and sold to) by competent, happy, knowledgeable associates and getting their questions answered quickly. And for those customers who don’t want to take care of their shopping quickly – the ones who enjoy spending time choosing just the right items – your associates will be there for them too – providing exactly what they need.

A Sales Floor Director is not a luxury. The Store Manager, Management Person in Charge, or other designated management person must be free to perform the function of Sales Floor Director during busy times. This role cannot be delegated to just anyone..choose the person carefully. The sole purpose of this function is to increase sales by making sure all associates are properly employed and free to do their jobs – sales associates, cashiers, runners, greeters, etc. This means the Sales Floor Director must be aware of everything that is going on in the store at all times and must act to remove potential obstacles to performance. Clearly, customer’s will benefit from this organized approach during a hectic time.

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Store Manager’s can get super organized for 2015. The Store Manager’s Organizer is only $19.95.
No waiting – get it delivered to your inbox… today! Use it year after year!
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Here are some guidelines for your Sales Floor Directors:

• Keep moving around the store.
• Have a system for being kept informed of the store sales, and conversion rate, on an on-going basis.
• Always be facing the front of the store so you stay up to the minute on the traffic entering and exiting.
• Set up a signal system that associates will recognize – perhaps a slight nod – to acknowledge and assist a customer.
• Be aware of who is doing what at all times.
• Be on the lookout for fixtures that are sold down so you can tell the designated individual to replenish. And then follow up to ensure it’s done quickly.
• Watch for bottlenecks at the cash desk so you can take action. Actions like: a) calling a bagger to help out b) calling another cashier to the desk c) instructing a runner to go for supplies d) spending a moment chatting with customers who are waiting – taking their mind off the fact they are waiting.
• Check all areas of the store, regularly, to ensure cleanliness and safety.
• Watch for associates who are finished doing what they were doing and have not yet engaged in something else that is productive. Give them a new task or point them toward a customer.
• Let all associates know that they can, and should, look to you for guidance on any problems that come up. Let them know you are there to ensure the smooth operation of the sales floor providing the very best service to customers and that nothing is more important to you.
• Tell associates to let you know if they are leaving the sales floor for any reason.
• Stay on the sales floor. If you absolutely must leave the sales floor for a short time, appoint someone to take over.
• Review the schedule regularly. Change it if necessary. Lunch and break times must be adhered to unless you make a change.
• Above all, keep the associates motivated – be a Cheerleader and share information!

Converting shoppers into buying customers is much easier when a Sales Floor Director is on the job – removing obstacles and directing virtually everything. There will be fewer customers who leave without buying because you’ve made sure that they were greeted and welcomed into the store, that all products/models/styles/sizes that you have available are actually on the sales floor, that the environment is clean and safe, that associates are pleasant, calm and available to attend and sell to each and every customer and that the checkout lineup is under control.

Basically, you have provided a great shopping experience in an otherwise hectic and chaotic time and you will be rewarded with higher sales through increased conversion, average sale per customer, average units per customer, etc.

The Sales Floor Director is a ‘must have’, particularly at busy times. If you want to capitalize on increased traffic in your stores, try it.

All the Success!!
DMSRetail Team

PS: Here’s that link, again, for the Store Manager’s Organizer .

PPS: Check out DMSRetail’s Ultimate Retail Success Collection.

Reminder: Reserve your seat now for the Retail District Management Workshop and/or The Retail Operations Management Workshop in Miami in January 2015 and get the new year off to a great start! Go to http://www.dmsretail.com/retailtraining.htm or Send an email to training@dmsretail.com to inquire.

I just read yet another story about a CEO who was aghast when he found out that a customer had been treated badly in one of his stores. He simply could not believe this incident actually happened in one of his stores. Everybody knows that ‘customer service’ is the most important thing in their company and their world.

Yawn! Time to get past all of this nonsense.

These stories are old, tired and still plentiful. By now, everyone realizes that these stories are not one of a kinds; we don’t say “Oh my goodness, I bet the CEO was mortified” or “I bet heads are going to roll over this one”.

We all realize that the CEO involved didn’t become so upset that he made some grandiose gesture to the customer involved; everyone realizes that this is the norm now and we’re wondering why these stories even get to print. Sad but true.

OK, so let’s get one thing straight before going any further because this distinction must be made:

Customer Service is a phrase that should be reserved for the sign over the desk or counter, housing the individual that actually does some type of thing that services a customer – like process a refund; correct a mistake; update an email address; listen to a complaint; take an account payment. All of those things, and many more might be considered customer service…I guess.

We used to make a big deal out of teaching everyone that Customer Service is not a department – it was something much, much bigger than that.

But that clearly didn’t work. We’ve been beating a dead horse. So, let’s just admit defeat – Customer Service is, in fact, a department and, often, a poorly functioning one at that.

“Customer Service” just doesn’t describe what we need anymore. Maybe we should try calling it Customer Culture for a few years and see if that gets us anywhere.

Trying to figure out who, or what, Customers are …and what they represent to a company seems to be much tougher than it looks.

Let’s face it, Big John, we have issues that aren’t going away any time soon.

DMSRetail has always maintained that a strong customer culture must exist within the company if customers are going to be treated the way they should be and, indeed, the way Big John thinks they’re being treated; the way he expects they should be treated.

Trying to operate a business where the customer is, in fact, the most important person to the organization, without a strong customer culture, is like trying to playing whack a mole without a whacker. Or, as they say, whistling in the wind.

At it’s very best, it’s hit and miss. There can be no consistency.

When working in an organization with a strong customer culture, your people will almost always do it right. We qualify that statement with ‘almost’ because…as you know, there are Dumbo’s out there and, hard as you may try to eliminate them, you may just have one hiding somewhere in your organization ready to spring into action and create havoc when you least expect it.

But, with a solid customer culture, this should be a very rare occurrence, indeed.

So, here’s the call to action. Fix it Big John, or Mr./Ms. CEO; stop feigning surprise by letting your jaw drop when you see/hear something you just can’t believe happened in your organization.

Believe it. It happened.

And it’s most definitely going to happen again!

Your job is to fix it. And don’t think you can just have a couple of meetings and straighten some people out, or delegate it and wash your hands of it.

You can’t, Big John…it’s way too important. You have to own this. It is a big job to instill a strong, well defined customer culture and keep it alive and running full speed.

The fantastic news is…..once you get it right and, of course, have all of the checks and balances in place to maintain it….you’ll be much more successful than you are now.

There are many ways to approach this. We can help and/or we can do it for you. Call us at +1(312)239-0919 or email rcarter@dmsretail.com and let’s get the conversation started.

At the very least, Big John…buy our Ultimate Retail Success Collection because you have to get started somewhere to have a fighting chance!

Hello, Here is a short video summarizing the contents of the Retail Operations Management Workshop:

For detailed information. locations and the dates, go to: http://www.dmsretail.com/retailoperationsmanagement.htm

Always make sure you have a Plan B.
Plan your work and work your plan!
Fail to plan, plan to fail!
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do.

All of these statements probably sound familiar…they’ve been around for many, many years. And, for good reason. They’re all true.

These statements can be applied to many different situations; many different endeavors.

We want to talk to you about planning your business and working that plan. Over the years, we’ve seen some really intelligent, enthusiastic and even really well financed individuals fail or, at least, fall short of their goals in their retail businesses due to lack of clarity in planning.
I’m not sure if it ever really was the case that you could open stores, buy merchandise and offer it for sale and expect to make lots of money. But, one thing is for sure, you can’t do it anymore.

No, today, you have to plan your way to success in retail. Every hour of every, single day.

We’re talking about the larger universe type of planning right through to the details. And, about a higher level of success than meeting some targets, now and then, and managing to keep the doors open.

The kind of planning that DMSRetail addresses has to do with real success; the stuff that really counts. The plans that are designed to make the cash register hum; to keep your customers coming back time after time. Loyal customers who like to spend money in your stores.

We’re talking about plans that, when meticulously designed and consistently followed, will quite literally, take your retail business to the next level.

DMSRetail’s Proprietary Performance Management Framework enlightens and excites even the most skeptical retailer. It assists retailers in developing their operating plan from the highest level right through to the most detailed level, and shows them how it all works. It’s not theoretical.

It’s action based and guaranteed to put more cash in the bank.

Sounds great, right?

But you might be wondering if it’s really necessary. Maybe you’re a ‘let’s just see how it goes’ kind of person and, hey, you’ve been doing fine so far, right? Or, have you?

You might think you’re way too busy just getting everything done to get involved in higher level, larger universe planning. Maybe you think it’s just kind of ‘airy-fairy’ stuff.

But, think about it. If you’re too busy to get involved in serious planning, then you’re not going to get high level results. You may get lucky for a while, but that luck will run out and you will need the plan to fall back on.

And, again, if you’re too busy to do the planning for your own retail business then who do you think is going to do it? Who would care more than you? Who would be more invested than you?

We’ve seen how retail business owners and executives react when they first understand – when it first dawns on them – how our Proprietary Performance Management Framework actually works. It’s a wonderful sight to see and very rewarding for DMSRetail Consultants. And, we’ve seen the results they get, also. Astounding.

Of course, planning isn’t everything. Executing the plan is huge and DMSRetail’s Proprietary Performance Management Framework deals with execution like no one else – it’s an integral part of the framework.

We’ll get to all of that in future emails. Watch for Part 2 in the series.

All the Success!
DMSRetail Team

PS: Just a reminder that The Retail Operations Management Workshop is being held in Miami on June 23-24-25, 2014 and in Dubai on August 10-11-12, 2014. Send an email to training@dmsretail.com to request more information, or to register.