As I was walking the mall this past weekend I noticed a few strange trends. There were a lot of people in the mall, but there were lots of stores without a single customer. I chatted up some of the employees, and consistently received this generic response, "Yeah, it has been kinda slow lately". Then I went into some of the more "crowded" stores, and heard things like,"We are beating last year!", "Back to school seems to be starting early!", and "The mall seems to be picking up.". How can this be?
I did notice one common thread that distinguished all of the slow stores from the busy stores. The stores that were slow were messy and dark. There were fingerprints allover the windows, dust-bunnies in every corner (one actually swirled around the table when I picked up a bag), and lights out around the store. If it is so "slow" how is there no time to clean or change lights? Then, to top it off, the employees had this kinda "bummed out" vibe about them as they all stood around the middle of the store. I have mentioned previously about the impact the confidence of the staff has on the overall store, and the complacency that is developed during down times. We need to get our employees excited!
All of the busier stores had bright clean and exciting window displays (if you are a local reader, check out Anthropology in Scottsdale Fashion Square). The stores were clean, and the employees were spread throughout the store working on projects. At one store, I was greeted immediately with a big smile and a very bubbly "hello". As I walked further through the store I was greeted again by another very happy employee asking if I was finding everything. I replied, "Wow, you guys are a happy bunch today!" They both responded together with something like, "We have been having a lot of fun today!" I was so amazed at this interaction that I immediately turned towards the register to see if this was for real. Two cashiers, three customers waiting in one line, two in the other!! This happened to be the same store that told me the mall seemed to be picking up.
I was once transferred to a store that wasn't doing well. When I started, I asked one of the employees what was the biggest sale they have had recently. The response was a very discouraging $200. And she said it as if that was lucky! The employees started to tell me I didn't know what I was talking about, and customers in that mall just don't have a lot of money. I said I will prove that people are willing to spend, you just have to believe. I had three sales over my next two shifts over $300. That store was a low-volume teen retail store. It did annual volume of less than $700k per year. After I convinced them that people actually did have money the store started to take a dramatic turnaround. Phase two of my plan for that store; I added 150 extra lights that were getting trashed when another of our stores was getting a remodel. The last thing...I ordered their first ever dust-mop! That store ran over 100% increase for the entire months of November and December, and broke into another volume category at the end of January when it topped the $1million mark for the first time ever.
"What separates two people most profoundly, is a different sense and a degree of cleanliness." -Friedrich Nietzsche
Related BizBlog Articles:
- Changing The Way We Do Business
- Customer Conversion
I did notice one common thread that distinguished all of the slow stores from the busy stores. The stores that were slow were messy and dark. There were fingerprints allover the windows, dust-bunnies in every corner (one actually swirled around the table when I picked up a bag), and lights out around the store. If it is so "slow" how is there no time to clean or change lights? Then, to top it off, the employees had this kinda "bummed out" vibe about them as they all stood around the middle of the store. I have mentioned previously about the impact the confidence of the staff has on the overall store, and the complacency that is developed during down times. We need to get our employees excited!
All of the busier stores had bright clean and exciting window displays (if you are a local reader, check out Anthropology in Scottsdale Fashion Square). The stores were clean, and the employees were spread throughout the store working on projects. At one store, I was greeted immediately with a big smile and a very bubbly "hello". As I walked further through the store I was greeted again by another very happy employee asking if I was finding everything. I replied, "Wow, you guys are a happy bunch today!" They both responded together with something like, "We have been having a lot of fun today!" I was so amazed at this interaction that I immediately turned towards the register to see if this was for real. Two cashiers, three customers waiting in one line, two in the other!! This happened to be the same store that told me the mall seemed to be picking up.
I was once transferred to a store that wasn't doing well. When I started, I asked one of the employees what was the biggest sale they have had recently. The response was a very discouraging $200. And she said it as if that was lucky! The employees started to tell me I didn't know what I was talking about, and customers in that mall just don't have a lot of money. I said I will prove that people are willing to spend, you just have to believe. I had three sales over my next two shifts over $300. That store was a low-volume teen retail store. It did annual volume of less than $700k per year. After I convinced them that people actually did have money the store started to take a dramatic turnaround. Phase two of my plan for that store; I added 150 extra lights that were getting trashed when another of our stores was getting a remodel. The last thing...I ordered their first ever dust-mop! That store ran over 100% increase for the entire months of November and December, and broke into another volume category at the end of January when it topped the $1million mark for the first time ever.
"What separates two people most profoundly, is a different sense and a degree of cleanliness." -Friedrich Nietzsche
Related BizBlog Articles:
- Changing The Way We Do Business
- Customer Conversion
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