DMSRetail

Heading into the weekend, we thought this should be short because you’re busy!

So, we decided to send out some examples of phrases that will sound like music to your customer’s ears:

• Let me help you with that.
• I’ll take care of that for you right away.
• Consider it done.
• We are always pleased to be of service.
• Let us know what we can do to help you.
• If you need help, you have come to the right place.
• We’re at your service.
• We aim to please.
• Certainly, we can do that for you.

Have a great weekend. Here’s to great sales and delighted customers!!

All the Success!

DMSRetail Team

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There is very little that can be done to control Mother Nature or prevent certain types of accidents. Snowstorms, floods, wildfires, sandstorms, freak accidents and the like will present problems to even the most well prepared individuals and organizations.

As retailers, we need to have our own plans in place to deal with emergencies. This is just a reminder to make sure the people working in your retail stores know what to do in case of an emergency.

For example, in the event of a power outage are staff supposed to ask all customers to leave the store and then lock the doors? This is usually done in the interest of public safety and store security. But, perhaps, that is not the way you want your stores to handle it. You may be located in a part of the world that experiences power outages very often. In that case, you may have some less strict rules in place. Or you may sell perishable items that cannot withstand more than a short power outage.

What if severe weather conditions cause road closures, or cause public transit systems to shut down, should your staff close the store(s) because there are no customers? Who makes the decision, and when? And then how is it communicated?

However your organization decides to handle emergencies, make sure all of your store staff understand it well. On the job training is not the best way for your people to learn how to handle these situations. You can prevent a certain amount of chaos by communicating your expectations in advance.

We hope you never have to find out how well prepared your organization is.

All the Success!!

We all know that not everything we buy sells well to the consumer. And of course, some merchandise sells faster, or slower, depending on which store it’s in. Fast or slow, the reason may have something to do with the customers shopping at the location or it may be management and sales ability. Only you have the answer to that.

Keep on top of inventory levels, at each location, using reports, your eyes, some gut feel and some solid input from Store Managers. Of course, you’re busy right now but if you think you might have inventory issues (and you probably do) then drilling down on inventory is time well spent. You have a small window of opportunity to move merchandise around to make sure it is in the right place. You don’t need to spend countless hours on this – it’s a pretty simple process for anyone who knows what they’re looking for and, if you spend plenty of time in the field, you do.

Weigh the costs involved with moving merchandise to a place where it will sell better against the costs of servicing the inventory that sits and collects dust because it was not where it needed to be when there was an opportunity to move it. You know how it goes… you snooze, you lose!

All the Success!!

DMSRetail

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If you want to capitalize on the extra traffic you’ll see in the malls and in your stores at this busy time, here are some promotional ideas you can easily implement at any level:
1. Sponsor a charity event.
2. Have a product demonstration or a show in the mall.
3. Invite customers to a ‘food drive’ and offer an incentive for dropping off a food item for the local food bank.
4. Talk to another retailer, whose product complements yours and work out a cross promotion. Chocolates & Flowers?, Clothes & Shoes?
5. Get your merchandise displayed somewhere in the mall for free.
6. Put one of your promotions on food tray liners at the food court. The printing cost will be worth it if you have a good message.
7. Arrange something special for mall walkers – perhaps a chance to shop before the other stores open.
8. Put an ad in as many free publications as you can find.
9. Post a flier in schools to attract teachers, adult students and parents.
10. Get involved in local community events to get your name out there.
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The Store Manager’s Organizer/Planner is the tool you need to get all of your stores organized and more productive. It’s available here: http://www.dmsretail.com/dmsretailer.htm. Quantity discounts are available – contact jhill@dmsretail.com.

If you like DMSRetail then go to http://www.facebook.com/dmsretail and Like us!

Missed opportunities can be much bigger during the busy holiday season. Retail stores see more shoppers but, unless the staff have received retail sales training, they may not be able to achieve high conversion rates. 

Think about your average sale $ amount and multiply that number by a reasonable number, say 5. If your average sale is $100 and you multiply that by 5 you get $500. If your staff have not received proper retail sales training they may very well be passing up $500 a day in top line sales! Yikes! It might be even higher, but let’s stay with $500 a day. $500 a day times  358 days in a year, taking statutory holidays into account, is a whopping $179,000.00 in a year. That’s a lot of sales to give up just because your staff have not received adequate retail sales training.

Make this calculation using your own numbers and then decide what you need to do about it.

We all want to see lots of customers purchasing in our stores but when the volume gets higher than what we can comfortably deal with, some check out line management is in order. Even stores that are accustomed to seeing high volumes all year round can get bogged down during the holiday season.

So, first of all, you need to make sure that all of your people know when check out line management is called for. Next, you have to give them ideas.

So here are a few for you to pass along if you haven’t already…a) Have a very outgoing staff member chat with customers who are waiting in the line up. b) If something is causing an unusually lengthy delay, show customers that you respect their time by letting them know what’s happening, what is being done to correct it and how long they might be delayed. c) Offer candies to customers while they are waiting to check out, but bear in mind – the candies must be wrapped and they must not be given to children; have the parents take the candy and give it to their child if they wish to do so. d) Have some type of entertainment or other distraction going on in the store that catches the customers’ attention. 

You know the saying, ‘time flies when you’re having fun’? Well, have some fun in your stores and you’ll have fewer upset holiday shoppers.

All the Success!!

Dianne Miethner

DMSRetail Inc. 

PS: The next session of the Retail District Management Workshop is being held in Phoenix, AZ on January 26 & 27, 2011. Email us for details at workshops@dmsretail.com, or go here for more information: http://www.dmsretail.com/districtworkshop.htm . Oh, and please visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/dmsretail . Don’t forget to Like us if you do!

Many retailers reward Store Managers and Sales Associates for achieving their targets. And that’s great! But why stop at 100% of target? Offering incentives and rewards for going above and beyond can be very beneficial.

Matt Parmaks, a Senior Consultant here at DMSRetail, tells a great story about how he once designed a compensation plan that rewarded Store Managers for achieving at several levels above 100%. For example, if you offer $500 for achieving 100%, then offer $750 for achieving 110%, $1,000 for achieving 120%, etc. You have to work out the numbers but, if your targets are set properly, then much of the added sales volume goes straight to the bottom line. You can afford to be generous if you’re getting the results.

Matt inspired a group of approximately 80 Store Managers with this plan and they produced 30% sales increases in two consecutive years. 

Something to think about when you’re designing next years’ compensation plan, or even something to try for your holiday incentives.

All the Success!!

Dianne Miethner

DMSRetail Inc.

PS: If you enjoy Retailwise Daily, check us out and Like us on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/dmsretail

Let’s all start the new year off right by providing retail sales training for our retail employees. At DMSRetail we are absolutely convinced that retailers who have instilled a performance culture throughout their organization and who have well trained sales associates will beat the competition every time. Because the sad fact is that most retailers do not provide retail sales training to their associates. So, don’t wait until you lose market share. Don’t wait until you’re missing targets every day, week and month. Provide retail sales training now.

DMSRetail offers a Sales Skills Webinar. It’s affordable and the instructor is Scott Michelson, Phoenix, Arizona. Let us know if you want to see Scott’s bio. Get more info here: http://www.dmsretail.com/salesskillstraining.htm

The next session of the Retail District Management Workshop will be held in Phoenix, Arizona on January 26 & 27, 2011.

Start the year off right. This workshop covers leadership and people management, people development and managing remotely!! For full details about this workshop, including a Learning Objectives Map and a Success Strategy Outline, go to: http://www.dmsretail.com/workshopinfo.htm . Contact jhill@dmsretail.com for registration or further details.