what your customer is going to want.
- Know what your customers like
Sounds obvious, right.
Most retailers ‘innately’ know what products their customers like, and what they don’t. What they choose to buy each season, is all “up here” (in their head).
However, when I ask retailers to go through their sales data and see what groups of items sell the best, every single time, they’re always a little surprised at what tops the list.
Thinking you know what your customers like and having the data to back you up, can change your store from a good store, to a great store.
- Have a team that accepts responsibility
Again, sounds like a no-brainer. Your team should know when something goes wrong, it’s their job to fix it, and to own the problem. If you have a team that runs to you every time there is a problem, or they’re quick to blame the customer, the pos system, the supplier, anyone or anything but themselves, it could be time for a bit of staff training. - Hang around with retailers that are growing their business, not whinging about them
This one is dear to my heart.
Social media has a lot to answer for. On one hand, it’s the ultimate connector – you can talk to anyone around the world, anytime of the day, instantly.
But, is it holding you back? How many groups are you in, where people are talking about what a bad week or month they’ve had, how their sales are down, or they’ve got no customers?
When you hang around with people like this, who are moaning rather than mastering, you’ll be inclined to wallow in the mediocre
Which brings me to:
- Have a plan in place
OK, so we’re all going to have tough weeks, or even tough months, it’s the rollercoaster ride that is business. BUT, when a retailer tells me that business is struggling, my reply is “show me your plan”. And you know what, there never is one.
Yu can’t wake up everyday and just wing it.
There is NO silver bullet that will smash your business into success.
You have to have a plan, and take action. Not everything will work, but if you’re doing nothing, you’ll get nothing back.
- Know and understand your numbers/cash flow
- Regular/ mini stockatkakes to control inventory
- spring clean
- Measure your metrics – ROI
- Become the go-to in your area/industry