The economy has taken a downturn and the retail industry is being battered heavily. With news of store closures and reduction of headcount at Head Offices it is difficult to remain optimistic about the future.
But Matt Parmaks, EVP of DMSRetail says “remaining optimistic is the very least retailers have to do.” He goes on to say “Now is the time for retailers to examine their operation, very critically, and take steps to make certain that whatever they are offering to the customer is the very best it can be; they’ve got to insist on maximum performance and effectiveness from every one of their Managers and Associates.”
I’m sure most of us will agree that it is seldom we find employees in a retail store who show genuine care and concern for customers. And we don’t often find the kind of service we want and expect. Matt Parmaks says “This can easily be corrected with the proper training but, unfortunately, too many retailers don’t invest in their employees’ development as much as they should.”
The time has come to change all of the old ways. What we need is a whole new approach to our retail businesses. Only the strong will survive and prosper over the next few years and it’s up to the executive teams to lead a retail revolution inside their organization.
Matt Parmaks said “I strongly encourage retail executives to find out more about developing their people and to put the past practices behind them.” When asked to
explain what he meant by that, Mr. Parmaks said “Retail people need to be trained and developed and, up until now, there simply hasn’t been enough of that going on.”
Retailers are starting to buy in to the fact that they must do more about investing in their people. DMSRetail is seeing an increase in interest in their 3 day retail management training program – ‘The Retail Management Workshop’.
According to Mr. Parmaks, retailers who are forward thinking and growth oriented, and who utilize the newest techniques and methods are those who also realize the value of training in their industry. He says “Some retailers are able to adapt in difficult times and are even growing their retail businesses, and their management talent, and doing a very fine job of it.”
Below are the dates and locations for 2009 presentations of The Retail Management Workshop in North America, Europe, Middle East and Australia:
April 27-28-29, 2009 – Sheraton Jeddah, Jeddah, KSA
May 11-12-13, 2009 – Le Meridien, Barcelona, Spain
May 27-28-29, 2009 – Sheraton Chicago Northwest, Chicago, IL
June 9-10-11, 2009 – Istanbul Sheraton, Istanbul, Turkey
June 23-24-25, 2009 – Sheraton Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
July 7-8-9, 2009 – Sheraton Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, NV
July 14-15-16, 2009 – Sheraton Dubai Creek, Dubai, UAE
August 5-6-7, 2009 – Crown Promenade Hotel, Melbourne, Australia
August 25-26-27, 2009 – Sheraton Waikiki, Honolulu, HI
September 1-2-3, 2009 – Sheraton Centre, Toronto, ON
September 15-16-17, 2009 – Sheraton Nevskij Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia
September 22-23-24, 2009 – Radisson SAS, Kiev, Ukraine
October 13-14-15, 2009 – Sheraton Centro Historico, Mexico City, Mexico
November 10-11-12, 2009 – Sheraton ITC Maratha, Mumbai, India
You can find more information on the website: http://www.dmsretail.com/retailtraining.htm
DMSRetail 