myRetailer.ca

We staff the street corners, not just our store

A sales initiative that is largely overlooked and a huge opportunity for retailers is in outside sales.

Typically, most retailers, will set up a nice store, staff it, advertise it and then serve the customers who walk through the front door and sell them products. However, what opportunities lie outside your doors if your team actually went out and hit the streets trying to sell your products?

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Don’t worry about your product mix, its service that sells

In a recent survey, Canadians ranked level of customer service as one of the top four most important factors in deciding where to shop. Reinforce the importance of customer service to your staff and your customers.

I tell people all the time that we are in the service business. We just happen to sell home and garden products.

 Here is a short column that I wrote for all of our staff last week. (more…)

Handing Off The Business

Immigrant entrepreneurs are having trouble finding successors as their children pursue professional careers and the talent pool shrinks. The problem is that Canada’s economic health depends on them

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Lists Can Wait Until Prices Fall

The annual “game of chicken” has begun in earnest as consumers wait to see how long retailers can hold out before slashing prices even further as the Christmas deadline looms.

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I motivate high performance the way a leader should – with pom-poms

Don’t forget to celebrate the wins and communicate goals with your staff before the holidays. As a leader, your number one job is to become the cheerleader for your staff and team.”

This is probably one of the best business lessons I have learned over the past 5 years. This saying came from Jack Daly, a professional sales coach and speaker whom I’ve gotten to know very well. Jack is one of the most dynamic motivators I have ever known. 

He has built several companies during his career, and through each adventure, he admits that his number one job was to be the cheerleader for his team. He encourages all leaders to do the little things that make a big difference. Here are some tricks that I learned from Jack and use regularly.

• Hand written thank you notes to staff. I do them weekly.
• Take lots of pictures of staff doing great things. Then have them printed on a card and sent to them.
• Give staff freedom to make their own decisions. Then acknowledge them when they take the initiative on their own.
• Celebrate wins with your staff. For that matter, celebrate everything.
• Celebrate when someone new joins your company. Forget the departing dinner. Celebrate with they start and maybe then they won’t leave.
• Have your staff set goals and then work like hell to help them achieve those goals.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate. Especially during tough times.
• Regular performance evaluations. Remember YOU are not doing most of the work, your staff is.
• Always be full of energy and enthusiasm. If you can’t be, get the hell out of the office. Never let them see you down.
• Get to know staff personally and ask them about their families. Make notes if you have to, in order to remember all the details for later conversations.
• Be there when they need you. You are their coach and cheerleader. Act the part.

Hire right, educate, empower then motivate a high performing team to greatness. That is what a leader does. Become the cheerleader for your team.

Peer Advisory groups are a great way to discuss business issues confidentially with other owners, CEO’s and like minded business people. They offer the opportunity to get new ideas outside your regular circle of people, and can be useful to test ideas and receive some ‘constructive’ criticism.  There’s likely a group for every type, and several across the country.  We are looking to create a list of these groups across Canada.

I’ll add to this list as we find more sources, but here are some of the larger Canadian Peer Advisory Groups:

Innovators Alliance
www.innovators.org
Coverage: Southern and Eastern Ontario

Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO)
www.eonetwork.org
Coverage: .B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec

Presidents of Entrepreneurial Organizations (PEO)
www.peo.net
Coverage: Southwestern Ontario

Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO)
www.womenpresidentsorg.com
Coverage: B.C., Ontario, Quebec

TEC The Executive Committee
www.tec-canada.com
Coverage: B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick

Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO)
www.ypo.org
Coverage: B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia

Virtus Inc.
www.virtusinc.com
Coverage: Greater Vancouver

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