Get in their heads

A friend of mine doing some reconnaissance work (aka: trolling the big boxes to see what they’re up to) commented about how poorly small retailers seem to be doing when it comes to making the customer feel appreciated. On her visits to discount chains, she’s welcomed with open arms. On visits to independent retailers, however, she gets next to no welcome, and very little warmth. In her words, “They’ve gotten lazy.”

My take? It’s more than lazy employees. More than having the right employees. It’s about fear...theirs.

In a big box or chain, there are several degrees of separation between the CEO and the part timer on Elm Street. Those employees don’t see the bottles of Advil and Pepcid AC lining an owner’s desk. They don’t see concern in the eyes of the person who actually owns the place. They don’t see a personal degree of risk as only one of 127 employees on the 20-hours-per-week schedule.

In an independent retail store, however, there’s typically no degree of separation between the staff and the person whose life teeters on the success-—or failure-—of the business. Employees know there aren’t multi-million dollar accounts spreading cross country to offset one location’s losses. They know the odds they’ll be the one “let go” are pretty high if there are only four others on the schedule. And they know that getting another 20-hour-per-week job in retail is gonna be kind of tough right now.

They’re as scared as you look.

So how do you fix this?

1. Explain to them that yes, this is a nerve wracking time, but that you have a plan. Walk them through the plan assuming they’re smart enough to understand it.

2. Explain how much pain your business can endure. In their eyes, you may be 98% of the way through the “buffer zone,” nearing life support when the reality might be that you’re only 10% of the way into the pool.

3. Explain the reason you’re ordering in smaller batches and not loading up on show specials (assuming you’re following my advice here and here) is because it strengthens the store’s cash flow. Your ability to be proactive is what protects the store from financial risk.

4. Explain the reasoning behind any other overt change in the way you operate the business right now. What employees interpret as crash-n-burn damage control might actually be a brainstorm you came up with six months ago.

You need to get that deer in the headlights expression off their faces so they’re more likely to look customers in the eye, smile, and welcome them to your store with sincerity. They need to engage with the customer, not cower from them, and make everyone feel welcome.

They need to behave as though they can breathe rather than be constantly holding their breath.

You comfort them. They comfort your customers. That’s what we retail types call a win/win.

Did I call it, or did I call it?

In browsing through some of the old RetailSpeaks newsletters, I ran across my column in the January issue. Somehow, it seems more timely than ever...especially when you hit the part about Washington Mutual:

Let’s face it-—what shakes the economy shakes our stores. Many of us felt aftershocks from the mortgage crisis jiggle our registers; next up appears to be a wave of shakes from the very thing we love to see-—our customers’ credit cards.

Notoriously the last to admit risk, banking officials have been not-so-quietly whispering warnings of potential disaster in 2008. According to Newsweek, Citigroup has earmarked $2.24 billion to cover credit card defaults this year; Capital One, Bank of America, and Washington Mutual are each bracing for a 20% uptick in losses; and AmEx-—long seen as the home of financial sound credit card holders-—is boosting its default coverage reserves by a whopping 44%.

...I’d be the last to suggest anyone should be buying as if we were still in the cash-rich days of the late ‘90s (oh, to be there again!). But I do firmly believe the fastest way to store failure is to circle the wagons, hide the checkbook, and stop looking for new product....

Concepts like “open to buy” and “turns” have never been more critically important to independent retailers than they are today. It’s not enough to remember how last spring’s sales went; that was last spring.

In the end, and regardless of how the quarter played out, independents need to remember that looking behind never bodes well for what’s ahead. We have the ability to spin on a dime, allowing us far more flexibility than the big boxes, and can can tailor our product mix to the customers we know will keep shopping.

...Remember that this roller coaster ride we call “retail” has wonderful peaks as well as sometimes scary valleys.

Read that bold faced type part again. And again. Now’s the time to get smart, folks. Now’s the time to plan your budget, then stick to it. Now’s the time to switch from big, whale-sized orders intended to carry the entire quarter to a series of smaller re-orders that can be placed as cash flow supports them. Now’s the time to pay that credit card down as fast as you can. Now’s the time to reassure your employees that things are under control so they don’t scare off your clientele with deer-caught-in-the-headlights expressions on their faces.

And now’s the time to smile at your customers, no matter how hard it might be...after all, they can’t see your knees shaking when you stand behind the counter. You have to remember, the image they receive is the word of mouth they’ll take away.

Hang in there. You can do this. Believe it.

$50 off on airline tickets

Got an email from PayPal offering $50 rebates on Northwest Airline tickets purchased with a PayPal account. Not sure if they’re doing the same with other airlines, but might be worth checking out.

According to the email:

Use PayPal to pay when you book your holiday travel with Northwest Airlines and get $50 cash back on each eligible ticket purchase over $250. Plus, you'll be automatically entered for a chance to win a $10,000 shopping spree.

You can get cash back on up to five eligible tickets, so the more you fly, the more you save.

Hurry, offer ends October 13, 2008

The best part? Read on:

Limit: $50 rebate is valid on the first five eligible tickets purchased on nwa.com using PayPal as the payment method.

That’s right. Up to five tickets. Travel must occur between November 15, 2008 and January 31, 2009. That means Thanksgiving...Christmas...New Year’s Eve...and most of the winter gift shows.

Bingo.

You have to be a WorldPerks member; if you aren’t just enroll first, book second. As one would expect, there are a few fine print rules, but none seem unreasonable.

To see the full list, drop me an email and I’ll forward them.

Advice, please?

I can tell the stress level has jumped in Retail Land. My inbox is seeing more SOS emails than ever before from store owners who find themselves in tense predicaments with tight time frames--many of which have to do with controlling the message about how their store is doing. It’s not unusual to see an email begin with “Help! I have an emergency!”

Been there. Done that. And completely understand.

On-site consulting isn’t the only thing I offer; you can also opt for phone consults. Need me for a couple of days? No problem. Need me for a couple of hours? Still no problem.

I’m here to work for you....remember? Drop me a line; I’ll help with the heavy lifting.

Personal sanity in a retail life

Yup. I watched Oprah again.

In all fairness, a friend called to instruct me (catch that? this wasn’t a request) to watch today’s episode about slowing down. Apparently my frequent travels have a couple of folks concerned I’ll misplace my trail of bread crumbs and get lost in the woods.

But I digress.

Admittedly, I “watched” the show while working on the computer (these are billable hours, after all), but managed to focus on what was arguably the most important two minutes of the whole thing. Norman Fisher, Zen master and author of “Sailing Home,” offered terrific advice for the overwhelmed and overworked:

“How are we doing with our state of mind? How are we doing with our happiness? How are we doing with our attitude? We don’t think about this. We think about all the things we’ve got to be doing and all the ways we’ve got to be perfect, but every day we’ve got to wake up and say ‘How’s my state of mind today? Am I losing ground? If I am, I’d better address that first because the rest of the stuff I do won’t be worth anything if I’m harried and hassled and in a bad mood.’

“And it has to do with telling yourself ‘I have got to take care of myself. I’ve got to make that a high priority.’”

Yes, that’s hard to do...especially if you’re trying to run a retail store while Wall Street telling you Main Street’s about to melt down. So what do you do to retain your grip on reality?

According to Fisher, you take 20 minutes...30 minutes...first thing in the morning. Get up before the kids, the spouse, or your normal alarm clock time. (Yes, losing the thirty minutes of sleep is a bummer, but not as big a bummer as dragging yourself through the day wanting to bite the heads off your customers, then spit them out on your employees.) According to Fisher, you should use the time

“...to breathe, to return to yourself, to digest yesterday’s emotions, to kind of take stock of yourself, and set yourself up for the day. Believe me, that amount of time [at the start of your day] saves you time during the course of your day.”

I buy it, partly because I’m pretty good about doing something similar to this. Took eight or nine years in the store to recognize boundaries weren’t going to prevent me from achieving goals, but were going to get me to them.

Try the twenty minutes thing, first thing in the morning, before you turn on the Today Show or say hello to your spouse. Slither out of bed, go to a quiet spot in the house where you can be completely alone, then breathe in. Breathe out. Take stock. And know you just invested in the best asset you have-—yourself.

Remember Forgotten

I’m on a roll...or at least have some good karma rolling my direction. Already, I have another terrific vendor to write nice things about (gotta love that).

Forgotten Shanghai is a line of Asian-inspired home accessories, gifts, bags, and other sophisticated items, many constructed from exquisite imported silk. A year ago, I might have strolled past them without pause, but since my trip to China this spring, all things Asian tend to catch my eye.

Thank goodness this one did. Forgotten Shanghai is terrific. Terrific worksmanship. Terrific colors and fabrics. Terrifically fasionable pieces that elevate a home, office, or one’s personal style.

During a visit to their booth at NYIGF in August, a couple of us got into a conversation about smoothies being sold upstairs at the Javitz. On a dash to grab one, I snagged a few extras to take to their booth, as thanks for the warm welcome they’d extended me.

Imagine my surprise when now, a few weeks later, a lovely handwritten thank you note appears in my mailbox, along with a couple of lovely silk treasures in the package. The first thought that crossed my mind was “They didn’t have to do this,” immediately followed by “but I’ll remember them forever because of it.”

And this, dear readers, is the lesson we all should learn. I was already impressed by the line. Everyone in their booth was beyond gracious. The product is stunning, the quality is dead on. I didn’t need to be sold; they already had me.

Still, they took things a step beyond the expected, and sent a handwritten thank you note. This seemingly small gesture assured that Forgotten Shanghai will absolutely never be forgotten in my mind. They nailed it.

To Shannon and Margaret: You rock.

And yes, I love the treasures...will be showing them off at dinner on Friday night. Thank you.

Classic Move

There are vendors who read the tea leaves and discuss them. And there are vendors who read the tea leaves, then do something about them. I’m happy to report at least one vendor who falls squarely in the second category.

Classic Impressions is an embossed stationery line many of us recognize as “those nice guys who left that other big, frustrating company” (you know who you are). Steve and his crew decided to strike out on their own years ago, determined to create a business built on positive retailer relationships, quick turn around times, and great product. Suffice it to say they succeeded, on all counts.

Times are tough, and they know it. In spite of producing a line that doesn’t have huge margins, and in spite of rising fuel costs, they just lowered their shipping charges.

Yes, you read that right. Lowered. As in less money. And that’s in addition to their normal “no drop ship fees” policy.

If you’re a Classic Impressions account who hasn’t received the updated shipping chart, call them. If you’re not a Classic Impressions account, check them out. These are the good guys, folks. You’re missing the boat if you don’t carry them-—especially during a holiday season that’s bound to be as price conscious as this one.