RetailBizBlog

Recession is slowing? We are on the edge of recovery? I have read several very encouraging articles over the past few days. Unemployment claims did not go up. Housing prices increased for the first time in years, and housing sales have seen their fourth straight month of increases. Car sales went up...duh! But the one I like to look at is the consumer confidence index. When it is all said and done, it is the consumers who determine if they are gonna start spending money again. Consumer confidence jumped a little higher than expected last month. It is now around 57pts which is a sharp increase from the lowest point of 23 hit just this past January. Unfortunately, it is still well below 90, which is the line of a stable economy, and even further from 110 which indicates strong growth. (Yahoo - Associated Press) Throughout this blog I have encouraged everyone to take control of their own stores. It has been discouraging to see sales decline, and stores close. People are still

So far, I have talked much about what kind of employee and leader companies should be looking for. There is another side of that coin. Employees, must also try to seek out employers that stand for and practice the things that are most important to them. In 2002, my sister graduated from Tuck's MBA program. Peter Dolan (then CEO of Bristol-Meyers Squibb) gave the investiture address. Most of the time at such addresses, I may find myself flipping through the program trying to determine how much longer I will have to endure this speech. Not this time. Mr. Dolan, who delivered this speech in the midst of his own corporate scandal, mentioned something very early on, that I have always remembered. He discussed that even in the face of growth and opportunity, you must keep your presence of mind to be aware that it is not costing your values or integrity. He faced such opportunity, and walked away, as the methods to achieve that opportunity no longer were in line with his own value

I had a phone interview yesterday. Since I have started writing this blog, I have become very aware of the actions and qualities of those around me in the retail world. After I had this interview, I collected my thoughts, and it occurred to me "WOW!! That girl really knows what she is doing!!" A phone interview is a very unique thing. You don't have all the benefits of meeting someone face-to-face. You can't see their reactions, their mannerisms, or even if they present the right image for you. You also don't have the ability to control the level of distractions for the candidate. With all these things against you, how do you get it right? I am simply going to tell how this person conducted this interview...cause THIS is how you do it!! She started off by introducing herself and very clearly explaining her role in both the company and in the interview process. Throughout that part, she used easy and energetic language as well as several different tones

I have written much about leadership, and what some of the things are that need to happen for retailers to push through this sluggish economy. I have received and email asking me to provide my definition of a good leader or leadership. I thought it was relevant enough to share in this forum. My personal definition of a strong Leader is: An individual that by a combination of their words and actions inspires people to act towards a vision that they have clearly provided. I firmly believe that leadership is a perfect marriage between communication and vision. If you do not know where you have been, or where you are going, it is impossible to get people to follow. Without vision, there is no leadership. Even if you have a strong vision, then comes the tough part - communicating it in such a way that others don't just agree with you, the believe in you! Unfortunately, I don't know anyone that can train on how to truly be a leader (although several leadership classes exist).

I have had a poll on my page for a few days now asking people which level of service they prefer when calling a company. I have also hosted several discussions about the topic. The result was somewhat surprising. The stats (at time of this article) were a lot closer than I expected between waiting to speak with a live person, and using an automated system that has the option to speak with a person. I believe that the automated system is a necessary avenue most companies need to explore during this penny-pinching economy. If it is structured properly, it is quick, convenient, and available whenever I need it! Unfortunately, most are not structured properly. There are pretty much two primary purposes for using this kind of system. 1. Informational/Bill Pay - This option will give the caller such things as; location, directions, business hours, account information, other FAQ's. Most of these are structured in such a way that are quick and efficient for callers to use. 2. Call

As with coaching, it is just as important to understand the person you are talking to. The result will be much more significant if the discussion is tailored to the individual. Even more important though is understanding your employee's ability to receive criticism. Some people welcome criticism openly, as they understand it is only designed to improve performance. Unfortunately, most people just don't like being told that they are not doing something correctly. When counseling an employee, it is very important to convey that you are simply trying to correct or improve a behavior or an action, you are not attacking them as a person in any way. The easiest way to accomplish this is to simply discuss just the action in question. It is best to avoid using directed words like "you", or stating other employees opinions about the action, because that makes the conversation about the employee and not the behavior. It is much easier to counsel an employee on an action

Coaching and Counseling are the two strongest tools a manager has to increase the productivity of their staff. Typically coaching and counseling are discussed together as they pretty much go hand-in-hand. Here I will focus on the Coaching aspect as "part 1" of this two-part article. First, I would like to identify the difference between the two. Coaching is a form of communication used to teach a new job skill, or to improve upon a current skill. Counseling, however, is used more specifically to help correct an observed behavior or a method of performing a task. For either to be successful, the most important part is being able to properly identify what form of communication would be most appropriate for the associate receiving it. I have usually seen employees grouped into 4 basic categories. 1. No Experience/New - It is this person's first job. They need the MOST communication. If you delegate them a task without thorough direction, they will not complete it ef

The most important people in any company that use retail outlets to sell their products are the Store Managers. Every company has a basic job description of what a successful store manager should be capable of. The job description that no company can create is a list of the intangible traits that a store manager should bring to a company. A truly successful store manager recognizes and embraces that they are responsible for the "face" of their company to the public. Unfortunately, it seems that there are way too many store managers that do not understand that point. Store Managers must be constantly setting the bar, and then raising the bar. One area that seems to be easily forgotten, but costs tons of payroll is receiving. Typically the receiving team is very small, and works with little to no supervision. It is a very easy scenario for people to lose their drive and ultimately a huge drop in productivity occurs. It is up to the Store Manager to set that standard, up

Last Wednesday, I posted that I was attempting to test the "Social Networking" power of two of the most popular networking websites; Facebook and Myspace. I ran several links to this bulletin on both sites. I also posted several links on other popular sites, LinkedIn and Twitter, asking people to vote on which site would provide the best source of traffic that would benefit a retailer looking to advertise. Lastly, I created discussion groups asking the same question. The winner by overwhelming landslide- .... drum roll please .......FACEBOOK!!! Facebook, was described as having a much more active community. Their interface is much more organized and easy to use than Myspace. There were several comments from Myspace users that would switch exclusively to Facebook if Facebook were willing to allow for profile modification and a music player. I must also note, that Myspace almost came in third place behind several "write-in" votes for Twitter. Part of this test