Making Retailers Successful
DMSRetail is at it again! 4 Workshops to energize, inform and refresh Retail Managers happening in the world’s retail center: New York City.
Go to the links below for details and to register:
Retail Brand & Category Management Workshop
Retail Operations & Sales Management Workshop
Retail District Management Workshop
Hope to see YOU in one or more of these workshops.
Best
DMSRetail Team
DMSRetail Inc. commences West Africa Operations
World leading retail management, retail consulting and retail training company, DMSRetail Inc. Canada has commenced its West Africa operations with the formal signing of Business Operations Agreement for DMSRetail West Africa.
A Partner business between Bervidson International Limited, Nigeria and DMSRetail Inc. Canada, DMSRetail West Africa will seek to make retailers successful at generating more sales, revenue, profits and returns to stakeholders while achieving a lasting positive customer experience.
Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony recently in the USA, the President/CEO, Bervidson International Limited, Mr. Joseph Ebata noted that, “DMSRetail West Africa is a retail management, retail consulting & retail training company that seeks to make retailers in West Africa successful using well established and time tested principles, metrics, materials and other support systems”.
“We are focused on increasing the effectiveness of retail management personnel with practical success guides, cutting edge training, the best utilization of retail technology and effective measurement tools and results management strategies. These proven principles and metrics of retail success have been tested and used to make retailers successful across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and we are very excited to make them available to West Africa”, he added.
Convinced of the benefit the new offering brings to retailers in West Africa, Ebata maintained that, “Exciting times are here for all retailers in West Africa because at DMSRetail West Africa we understand your pain and we are here to help you succeed in achieving your seemingly ever elusive dream of growing your retail business, increase sales, revenue and profits, while giving your Customers that unforgettable positive experience and value that will keep them coming back for more”.
On his part, Matt Parmaks, retail management and consulting expert and Co-founder/Senior Consultant, DMSRetail Inc. Canada, expressed delight with the opportunity of bringing the DMSRetail experience to retailers in West Africa through the team of professionals from Bervidson International Limited, Nigeria.
For DMSRetail Business Partner Opportunity in other countries, please send an email to jhill@dmsretail.com
When we talk about success, we usually want it now. The reality is, success comes in drips and drops. We must constantly work towards our goals and objectives and there are times it looks like we are not getting the bang for our buck.
But I can tell you, if you keep working on your plan and of course that plan better be the right one, you are rest assured it is going to pay off at the end.
That has been my experience.
Make sure you get your fundamentals right. When you are performing at the top of Retail 101, you are far ahead of the pack.
We are always here to help and support you.
Let me know if you have any questions.
A DMSRetail Team Member
This time of year is many different things to many different people. Your ability to understand what this time of year means to your people in the field, and your ability to tune in and give them what they need, is critical to the success of your operation during this holiday season.
Retail people know that this season is huge for them. There is a better than average chance of them meeting and/or exceeding their sales budgets. To many, that means a better than average chance of earning commissions or bonuses. They know that they will see increased customer traffic. They probably have lots of inventory great new novelty items in addition to increased quantities of other merchandise. They understand that this is an immense opportunity to contribute to the annual sales results for their store and their company. And they are looking forward to all of this.
Here are some of the things that they are not looking forward to:
The list could go on and on, but you get the picture. If you have ever worked in a store during this time of year you may have some understanding of what the field staff are going through. If you haven’t, maybe its time you did just to gain the very valuable experience.
It’s that time of year again. Many retailers are on a mission to beef up their staff rosters so they’ll have enough floor coverage and extra help, to handle the increased traffic coming into their stores. And, let’s face it, many of our customers are going to be subjected to some confused new hires who don’t know as much as they should. But let’s not be too quick to blame those new seasonal employees.
Even though many of the new seasonal hires will only be with you for a few weeks, they can add a lot of value if you do certain things right. Over the years, both as a customer and as a District/Regional Manager I’ve heard lots of comments about seasonal people…usually implying that something went wrong in service delivery, or mark downs, or visual display, or cleanliness or, whatever… due to the fact that seasonal people were involved.
That’s a cop out and it’s unfair. If you’re going to invest the time and effort to recruit and hire people – seasonal or not – then you’ve got to make the most of the investment. There’s no room for the excuse “s/he’s just a temp” when it comes to your store(s) and your company’s reputation.
One of the greatest benefits of hiring seasonal employees is that you get to see them in action; it’s like a working interview and you can determine quickly and easily if the seasonal employee is someone you’d like to bring on permanently after the holidays. Lots of retailers get some of their ‘gems’ this way, and here’s why…
People who are looking for seasonal employment may not be your regular job seekers. Some want to get into the workforce temporarily to earn a bit of extra income, and some may want to see if retail is something they’d like. Others may find that it’s easier to land a job when so many employers are trying to find people. Whatever the reason, once hired, many of them shine. There have always been at least a few seasonal employees that I encouraged Store Managers to hire on a permanent basis following the holiday period.
Of course, there are the others as well…the ones that make you say “What were we thinking?”. You know…the party animals who show up late for their shifts looking like death warme d over, and the chatterboxes, and the timid ones standing as far away from customers as possible, and the loud, boisterous ones who think they know everything (when they clearly do not), and the list goes on.
Want to really add value to the seasonal hiring effort this year? Want to get something out of the process? You don’t have to put tons of time in or take your other people out of their stores/districts to make this happen. If you have hired seasonal employees who are new to retail, or sales and customer service functions then give them a copy of the Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals Self Study Course – something that t hey can get through quickly and easily.. something that will help them get ‘in tune’ with what you expect from them and give them some skills to bring to the job. Give them this self study course and the party animals, the timid, the chatterboxes and the know it alls will, at the very least, understand that you expect more from them and that you’re investing to make sure you get what you expect. We guarantee it.
This time of year is way too important to leave this to chance. If you can help your new people get up to speed quickly enough to make a difference this season, why wouldn’t you? Consider this very simple example.
Your seasonal employee, Jane, will help clean and organize the stockroom, she’ll change lightbulbs and keep displays tidy, she might even be a really friendly greeter when positioned at your lease line. You may be very happy with Jane. But if Jane learns some sales & customer service skills she can be more productive by actively selling to customers, in addition to her other duties . Depending on your average sale, if Jane made just a few good sales, you’d recover your investment in the Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals Self Study Course in no time.
You can decide to make your seasonal employees a valuable asset this year.
All the Success!
DMSRetail
P.S.: Get your copy of the Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals Self Study Course now and take advantage of the $50 off!
“In simple words, it’s a retail Bible…very practical and useful contents…exposure to the retail insights, tips and techniques under one roof…almost touches 360 degrees retail aspect…just a visit to DMSRetail website is a learning and education…I personally tried to explore and find the exclusive websites about retail industry information, products, workshops, seminars etc. however couldn’t find one as good as DMSRetail…Thank you and looking forward to get more…”
Do you agree?
Please leave your comment… Thanks.
This is the last 2012 opportunity to attend The Retail Operations Management Workshop in Dubai, at the Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel & Towers in Dubai, UAE.
Here’s the link to check out the topics, fees, who should attend, etc.:
The Retail Operations Management Workshop – October 14-15-16, 2012
You can click on the link above to get all the details, and if you need more information, please don’t hesitate to contact me at jhill@dmsretail.com
Please let me know if you would like seats reserved so I can handle your request on a priority basis. There’s not much time left. Group rates are available.
Today’s ‘Words to the RetailWise’ are: If you don’t have traffic counters you are missing out on one of the most telling KPI’s there is.
Conversion. The rate at which shoppers are converted into buyers. This usually has a lot to do with sales associate effectiveness.
Without traffic counters, you can’t measure conversion. Unless, of course, you have someone standing at the door counting every person who comes into the store and then do manual calculations to figure it out. That’s not the most efficient way to do things! You can’t know what opportunities were missed.
Conversion is one of the best measures of your sales associate effectiveness. Remember the old saying…”If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” If you are not measuring conversion, you’re missing out on a clear opportunity to coach and train your associates to get more business.
And, further, without traffic counters, how do you know what the opportunities were? You’re looking at a sales or transaction report with lots of information…but you have no idea how good business could have been because you don’t know how many customers came in but didn’t buy anything. Of course, it works the other way, too. Perhaps traffic coming into the store was very low…but your sales associates did a fantastic job and sold to almost everyone. The thing is you just don’t know.
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Workshop seats still available:
Retail District Management – San Diego, CA – September 27-28, 2012
Retail Brand & Category Management – San Diego, CA – September 24-25-26, 2012
The Retail Operations Management Workshop – Dubai, UAE – October 2-3-4, 2012
Retail District Management – Dubai, UAE – October 10-11, 2012
Retail Brand & Category Management – Dubai, UAE – October 7-8-9, 2012
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In a convenience store, or a grocery store, you can pretty well expect close to 100% conversion. People coming into those stores are usually there for a specific reason and really aren’t just looking around. You might lose them if you don’t have the item they need, but that isn’t going to happen very often.
But in many other retail stores, it is the sales associates who will engage the customer to find out what their needs are and present merchandise for them to consider.
It’s the sales associate’s skill at building rapport, their depth of product knowledge, their ability to state and explain features and benefits and to overcome any objections…combined with the customers desire to buy…that will turn the shopper into a buyer.
Many Store Managers and Sales Associates are not in favor of traffic counters….and we’ll discuss the reasons for that, and how to make them comfortable with traffic counters, in another issue of ‘Words to the RetailWise’.
You need traffic counters and you need to pay close attention to conversion rates. Getting the selling skills and customer service fundamentals down pat is the first step.
All the Success!
DMSRetail Inc.
PS: For a limited time only, our top selling course is $50 off! Help your teams develop their skills and learn how to convert more shoppers into buying customers. Check out our Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals YourTime Study Course .
PPS: Early Bird rates still apply to some of the workshops mentioned above. Send an email to: training@dmsretail to inquire.
If you’d like to share today’s ‘Word to the RetailWise’, please forward it in it’s entirety. Or, better yet, if you have friends and colleagues who are interested in retail, they can sign up to get their own copy free…it takes about 3 seconds to sign up. When they confirm their free subscription, they get a copy of The “WOW” Effect – “77 Ways to Give Your Business the “WOW” Factor and Make Your Competitors Wish They were You!” AND “Powerful Offline Marketing”. That’s two freebies with sign up. Sign up right here: RetailWise.
Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals YourTime Study Course
This is an excerpt from Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals YourTime Study Course: It appears that even a warm, friendly comment of gratitude will activate the obligation to reciprocate on the customer’s part.
Real Life Study Shows:
A New York University conducted an experiment in a medium-sized electronics store. A subject entering the store was told in a warm and friendly manner: “Thank you for shopping here today. We appreciate having you as our customer.” As a control, the next shopper entering the store was not told anything.
The average amount of money spent by subjects who received the appreciatory comment was $408.03; the average amount spent by the 100 subjects who were not told anything was $240.54.
And it didn’t cost a penny to say Thank You!
Get your copy of Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals YourTime Study Course today!
All the Success!
DMSRetail
PS. You can find numerous examples and real life solutions at the Retail District Management Workshop happening in San Diego – Join Us!
DMSRetail 