This interview features Ben Sprecher from Incentive Targeting and I discussing how technology can be raising the bar for customer service to unattainable heights, in particular the buy online, pickup in store movement.  Here is the video to watch and an edited transcription below.

Ben:            There are no isolated silver bullets in retail. Right? It’s all about getting the right collection of solutions together, and the collection, not just of technology solutions, but collection of people solutions, process solutions, store format solutions, all of these things together, are what you need to do as a retailer in order to get the most out of any one of these components. So, we were using the example of the person approaching the coffeehouse, ordering their latte. If you, as a retailer, provide that capability where they can pay on their phone before they get there, they can order before they get there, and they have to wait in the same damn line, you haven’t solved any problems for that person. But if you, as a retailer, say, “We have a new way to talk to our shopper in a very targeted, very personal way, in a very limited and quiet way, in a way that they respect and they want,” you also need to turn around and provide the supporting infrastructure within the store to make that a great . . .

Bob:            That can be a huge cost

Ben:            But it can be a huge opportunity. Right? If you think about the value of being able to have that express line sitting next, the red carpet line if you will . . . so you have the long line over here, you have the red carpet line over there. And the people in the long line notice the people in the red carpet line keep showing up, picking up their coffee, walking out of the door. Every single one of those people would say, “How do I sign up for that, man?”

Bob:            Dude, as a coffee guy from years and years ago, I’m telling you, you would have people livid that that happened because not all of them are going to be on their smartphone. And what happens on the day Janie forgets her smartphone to order it? Now she’s got to be in that line. But she’s telling the barista, “But you already know me. I’m always in the express line.” I guess, that’s one of the things . . .

Ben:            And this is where there is that transition. Right? It’s a complicated transition in that world.

Bob:            Yeah, but nobody’s adding staff for that. And I think – to the point of the shop online and pick up at the big boxes – management is saying, “Well, look, we already have people pick stuff up in our store anyway. Why wouldn’t they just be able to use existing employees?” Which makes sense. Wouldn’t you agree? I mean, if you were in your office, that makes a lot of sense – until you’re the guy waiting for two hours to pickup your TV.

Ben:            Right. It makes sense in terms of the spreadsheet of how many staff do I need for the store. What it doesn’t make sense in terms of is, how do I make sure that particular experience that consumer has is one that not only says, oh, I’m not just in New York across the street, but in other places in the country I’ll drive a half mile out of my way, to make sure I hit the coffee shop where I can get my coffee instantly as I show up on my way in the door, with no problems. People will change their behavior for really great retailers who do really great targeted customer things for them. And the people in that long line who, the first time they see that happen get a little bit upset, the person at the front of that register can’t be like, “Oh, dude, sorry, it’s, you know, your problem.” They need to be saying, “Oh, this is a great new program we have in place. Here’s what you do.”

Bob:            That’s not going to happen. I’m just looking at the operations behind that, especially a barista who’s being pay is dependent on being tipped. So now, your best customers will be going to the express line.  Talk about coming up with an unequal system in your store. It’s like the haves and the have-nots. I think that’s really dangerous, because I think retail is kind of a great democratizer. So, it becomes that . . . and let’s face it, the statistics last week out of The New York Times was that 1% of the people are driving 90% of the bandwidth in mobile. So, it’s a much smaller target than anyone’s saying. I mean, if this was 90% of the people had a phone and they could do it, great, but I don’t think that’s not where we are right now.

Ben:            The reason that bandwidth is being consumed by a very narrow group of people is because, I think, we collectively, we the technology industry, we the retail industry, we everyone have not provided the really great, compelling next generation of experiences on the phone that are so easy to use that everybody can use them. Smartphones are rolling out like crazy. Everybody is getting them. People are forced to buy the data plan. They’re spending $120 a month, anyway, but all they’re doing on that thing they’re occasionally checking their email.

Bob:            I’m often just looking at a map.

Ben:            Looking at a map. Yesterday there was a great session that Cognizant ran where they were talking about building the store of tomorrow today. They pointed out that we are at the point now where mobile web browsing, minutes per day in the United States, has passed stationary computer web browsing, in minutes per day.

Bob:            But what is that mean, though?

Ben:            What’s happening is people are shifting where they think about interacting with information, and they’re starting to do it much more on their phone. You’re right, there’s definitely a steep curve there. There are a lot of people doing a lot and most people doing very little.

Bob:            I guess my thing would be balance, Ben. I want to stay with the coffee house, because I think between that and the shop online and pick up in store is a big deal, because what I’m hearing is that it really is an integrated business but it’s almost a different business if you’re going to be doing the mobile with the cool technology. You really have to set it up that if this is always going to be on, then it’s almost like your store has to always be on too, right? That that customer could come in, and they have to be able to have that same always on experience, and then . . .

Ben:            Or have to have the right expectations set from the very beginning. Right? If that always on experience is available during rush hour in the morning and rush hour in the evening and lunch, then when you go into the application not at that time, it needs to say, “I’m sorry, you can’t place your advanced order right now through this application.” So it really has to be sensitive to be aware of not just the who and not just the marketing side of it, but the where and the when of each of these interactions with the shopper.

Bob:            And I’ll go to the next one, which is the operational issues that support it, because that’s the one I think that we’re missing.

Ben:            And the operational issues to support it. You can’t have a disconnect.

Bob:            People are raving about it like, “What a horrible experience.” I’m, like, “Really? You had to wait a half hour.” “But I ordered online.” Right? So . . .

Ben:            Right. It’s mis-set their expectations. They’re setting the wrong expectations and not executing on it.

Bob:            And even if a brand set that expectation, though, do you think a customer would listen to it? Because we customers are an impatient group. I’m talking over you right now.

Ben:            If it set all the way to the very front of the experience. One of the greatest experiences I had was with the Registry of Motor Vehicles in Massachusetts. Now, I don’t think anybody has ever said those phrases together before.

Bob:            No. I don’t think so. Any of you out there? No.

Ben:            When I had to do my most recent driver’s license renewal, I went and checked. I could look at each one of their locations and find the current wait time at each one of those RMVs online. I was able to change the one I was deciding to go to. That’s incredible. I knew that I was heading for a half hour wait, but I knew that I wasn’t heading for the hour and a half wait. Right? And so was I happy with that half hour wait? Damn straight.

Bob:            The expectation was set.

Ben:            Because the expectation was there right from the beginning.

Bob:            That might also be interesting if you were doing the application, we’re staying with the coffee house idea, that maybe it would say, “And there are six people in line right now.” That would be cool.

Ben:            A little camera there. You could see what’s going on in the coffee shop right now.

Bob:            All right. So, I think we’ve solved the world’s problems here with this. But anything else? Final thoughts come to mind about setting the customer expectation high or low and . . .

Ben:            At the end of the day, it’s all about respecting the customer, about talking to the customer in a way that values the incredible intimacy of this channel of talking to them, and that is targeted to who they are, to what they buy, to where they are, to when they are. When you start thinking about saying less and saying the right things instead of saying more to everybody and the wrong things, those are the retailers that are going to win. The retailers that are going to lose are the ones who treat this like printing in the newspaper, like broadcasting on TV.

Bob:            And that’s the stuff that could spook them, right? That’s the stuff that could spook customers, like, wait this isn’t any different. You’re just vomiting on me with your same stuff.

Ben:            It does not take very long to totally ruin a relationship, right? But it takes a very long time to build a good one.

Bob:            Excellent point an good place for us to stop.

Retail Consultants featured are part of the Retailwire Brain Trust Panel

The challenge

A regional chain was being challenged more and more by big box and online sales. The CEO came up to me afterward a speech and asked me, “How can we work with you?”  I asked him to call me. During the conversation, it seemed there was a great spirit of nurturing in the stores, but not much selling.   I’ll let the CEO take it from there…

The situation

“When I saw and heard you speak, it felt like you slapped me out of a dead-lock – and really challenged my thinking. You see, we had become bogged down in survival. And it wasn’t a healthy place to be… Not for me as the leader or my team. I needed someone to help me work on a new direction for my business and help me hear and observe what was going on. I was looking for a shift change in who we were. I had a hunch you could help us with your bluntness and track record.”

The prescription

To get to the true performance issues, we needed to find the root causes. Many of these root causes were buried in the organization’s structure. The “training issues” and interpersonal silos were masking why these problems were showing up time and time again.

We held a meeting with staff and heard things that needed to be changed and updated and looked at – and behaviors that had to stop- namely the discount game of both prices and people.

We wondered if they had the right people in the right jobs and were their personality styles allowing them to play to their strengths? We had every employee take the personality quiz and shared the results with the team while teaching the four personality styles and what their strengths were. “As you stated over and over, “NO MORE KUMBAYaaahhhhhhh. We needed everyone to perform, not survive so performance standards were set with ways to monitor.”

The results

“We aligned our staff into better responsibilities, changed our marketing plan, put together a training program and re-trained 200 employees using your comprehensive sales training program with several training lessons on product knowledge.”  Their customers rewarded their efforts with an 18% increase in sales and lower turnover rates. Several new stores were built and acquired.

“As it rolled out, we experienced a huge culture change with both resistance and excitement at the same time. Yes, some people were let go and some people didn’t want to change and left on their own. But we achieved what we wanted. Within months a new standard was set.”

The lessons for you

• It’s great to have a nurturing environment and you can still sell and be genuine.
• Survival isn’t a place you can grow your business from. Address issues and change the culture.
• Personality styles are very real and helpful to get the right people doing the job they are best suited for.

Have you undergone a culture change as a leader or employee? What one thing would you do again differently? Please comment below.

About Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor

Companies from some of the very largest, to some of the smallest, from luxury brands to startups, from franchises to regional chains contact me as a retail consultant because they are looking for results. Their successes are all theirs.

While every client and project is different, the ability to enlist me as a retail consultant who has a fresh set of eyes to look at the challenges you are facing can result in a focused, effective and creative path to profitable sales.  No matter what your size, let’s see how I can help you as a retail consultant that gets results.

This interview features Ben Sprecher from Incentive Targeting and I discussing how location based marketing can be used for a lot of things but if overused by anxious marketers they could spook customers to drop the whole thing.  Here is the video to watch and an edited transcription below.

Bob:            Ben, one of the biggest things that people are talking about is mobile marketing, right?

Ben:            Right.

Bob:            So if I get them to opt-in with their phone number, then I can send them messages when they’re walking by my store or if there’s a sale or something, right?

Ben:            Sure.

Bob:            I think a man’s phone is their castle. I invite you in on the idea that I can control when you talk to me. So the idea that somebody could, as I’m walking by, send me a little, “Hey, come in and get a $3 dollar widget or something,” I think that’s really spammy. I think you have a different opinion.

Ben:            I do, a little bit. First of all, I think that we are at a very important moment right now. We are at the beginning of what I’m trying to call the “great convergence,” the “great mobile convergence,” and there are five key components to that. Conveniently I’ve come up with an acronym called CLAMP.

Bob:            CLAMP?

Ben:            CLAMP. So you’ve got couponing and deals.

Bob:            You know how I feel about that.

Ben:            You’ve got loyalty. You’ve got analytics. You’ve got mobile marketing, and you’ve got payment. If you look around the show floor here, you’ve got companies like PayPal over there, Google over there. There are a number of companies who are looking at this giant convergence of all these different key areas, that have been very separated in the past, onto the mobile platform. The power of that is not simply that you have all these different components in one place. It’s by pulling them together, you can make a much better go of giving the shopper what they want.

Bob:            What do they want? Isn’t it just coupons and deals? Isn’t that what we’re making our smartphones into?

Ben:            The shopper wants relevance, right?

Bob:            So what does that mean to you?

Ben:            It means a couple of things to me. First of all, it means making sure, and for marketers this is a very counter-intuitive statement, but it means saying less. It means communicating less. Up until today, every new marketing vehicle, whether it was direct mail, radio, TV, whatever, has been perceived by marketers as another megaphone to shout at their shoppers.

Bob:            Absolutely. Which is like the guy in high school with all the zits on his face saying, “Look at me. I’m important,” but we don’t care, right? We care about us.

Ben:            We care about us, exactly. Up until today, every marketer has treated it, with some exceptions, as a new vehicle, a new megaphone to talk to their shopper. Now we are starting to have an incredibly powerful computer that is with us all the time, that has incredible capabilities and knows where we are, knows what time it is, and knows who we are.

Bob:            But still you’re programming it to be kind of spammy. I mean you’re saying if somebody’s within 300 feet of my store, then project this message or this image or try to get the rat to the cheese to come into my store, right? It’s not really personalized.

Ben:            It absolutely can be, and that’s the challenge to marketers today, is we all need to pull back and instead of saying, “Oh my God, I’ve got a new little megaphone that somebody’s got with them all the time,”‘ say, “I’ve got an incredibly powerful, incredibly personal way to talk to somebody, and I need to respect that and respect them and use it only for good, never for evil.”

Bob:            But that’s a whole new way to think, isn’t it? It’s like copywriting.

Ben:            It’s completely new.

Bob:            Beginning copywriters are all about “look how great I am, I do this, and I do this, this and this.” Yet we know that no one reads copy like that. They really look at how can he help me solve this problem?

Ben:            That’s exactly what it’s about. So when you have somebody who is walking down the street, if their phone chimes every 12 seconds as they walk by stores, what’s going to happen? They’re going to opt out of that entire thing, right?

Bob:            So one thing could kill the whole deal for them opting in to text messaging.

Ben:            Exactly.

Bob:            It wouldn’t just be that one store.

Ben:            The entire medium is at its infancy right now, and the entire medium has the potential to either tip in potentially the greatest way marketing has gone in human history, to be a little bit grand about it, or to be yet another way that you get crappy, spammy offers from everybody you walk by. What that’s about is saying less. It’s about using the information and the power of that medium to filter instead of to broadcast.

Bob:            That’s a whole different way of thinking, right?

Ben:            It’s completely opposite.

Bob:            That is not in evidence around here, I’m sorry.

Ben:            Well, I think that there are . . .

Bob:            I mean it’s a one size fits all. Just use our platform and you can do what you’ve always done.

Ben:            Say anything you want to, do whatever you want.

Bob:            Right. You can take your Valpak coupon and you can now make that into a Groupon coupon, okay, great. But there’s got to be more to it because that’s the thing that iPad promised, and that’s what got everybody so excited. Like the first time you saw Facetime and it was two people who were deaf, talking. That was a moment. You were taken aback, “I never thought of that.” But that took somebody to really turn it upside down, and I don’t think we’re seeing any good examples in mobile. Have you seen any examples where it has been customized and relevant and interesting, besides the work you probably already do?

Ben:            So to speak in sort of general terms, I’ve seen some of those articulated as “vision direction.” So again, if you look at Google and PayPal as companies who are trying to think many steps ahead here about where exactly is this whole thing going? The story that PayPal is showing at their booth is someone going to a coffee shop, he is being given not just any offer when they get anywhere near a coffee shop, but the phone knows them through loyalty as somebody who likes vanilla lattes, and they know they’re five minutes away on their walk from the coffee shop. So now is the time to tell them, “Get your order in right now. Do you want your normal vanilla latte?” That is something that anybody wants to receive. So, done right, focusing not just on the who, but the where and the when . . .

Bob:            But I go to the next level, even if it’s an execution issue, that’s all great. Ben, you’re 5 minutes out and you want to do it, except there’s already of line of 20 out the door. So your expectation, just go with me, is that when I show up, my drink is now first, and that may not happen.

Ben:            This is where the Retail Doctor comes in, right? This is about where you go and you help the retailers to understand that customer service means a different thing, a little bit, in an era where there are many different ways where your customers are interacting with you.

Bob:            This is a great idea. We’re going to take this up in the second, which is that idea of customer service has a new meaning.

If you haven’t downloaded my special report: Bricks and Mortar Retailing At Risk in the Digital Age, you can still do so here.

My thanks to Marge Laney at Alert Technologies and our cameraman Brian Laney who made this all sound and look great!

So what would it take for you to not allow a company you previously opted in with to sms you?  What creative uses for mobile marketing do you see?

Please add your comments below.

Retail Consultants featured are part of the Retailwire Brain Trust Panel

This interview features Paul Schottmiller from Cisco Systems and I discussing purchase influencers, staffing levels, technology and luxury boutiques. Here is the video to watch and an edited transcription below.

Bob:               Paul, so much of the activity here at the NRF Big Show in New York City is about technology and how we’re going to do all this stuff in the store and we value everyone. But as you and I started talking, we realized where the pedal meets the metal – in the store- it’s a little different. And you had some thoughts on that.

Paul:             Yes, there are a lot of segments in retail where it really appears they’ve sort of given up on the idea of staff in the store to help their customer, and I think that’s creating an opening for technology to come in and potentially play a role. We did a recent survey of 1,000 US consumers and asked them their top three influencers in the buying process, who helped them buy, and only 13% said store associates were one of their top three influencers, whereas 68% said online reviews.

Bob:            From anonymous people. (See the NYT article, “For $2 a Star, an Online Retailer Gets 5-Star Product Reviews“ )

Paul:           From anonymous people.

Bob:            That could have been bought, or from a competitor, but they trust them more.

Paul:           Yes, and there’s a real uptick in that trend.

Bob:             Wow. That’s fascinating.

Paul:

Even friends and family were down 20%, year over year, 60% the year before, 40% this year. Twenty percent said store associates in 2010, down to 13% in the most recent survey we just finished in 2011.

Bob:             So what were the top three?

Paul:           All online related. Online reviews.

Bob:            Online reviews, Facebook, social media, that stuff?

Paul:            Yes, other types of online recommendations and reviews as influencers.

Bob:            And is that different from geography or age?

Paul:           There was some segmentation by age and the things that you would expect.

Bob:            The younger, the more tuned it.

Paul:           Obviously, younger people, but, quite frankly, even in the middle age and up categories, more and more interest and initiative
around using the technology channels.

Bob:            Astonishing. So from my side, of course, I would take that we can grow that 13% if you train your people better.

Paul:            Right.

Bob:            I mean, that’s clear. But on the technology side, you’d say, “Well, if that’s the case, then why would we put any money in our employees?”

Paul:            Well, the question is, “What’s your value proposition to the consumer?” If it is qualified labor in the store, then you really need to make that a focus, and you need to spend the time, the energy, the money, and the talent to develop that. If you don’t, other people will and you’ll be replaced by these technology sources. I believe for a lot of retail, the reason we’re seeing what we’re seeing is that a lot of retailers have given up, and they really don’t have a strong effort towards making that differentiation. It’s different. It’s different at Wal-Mart than it is at Neiman’s or Nordstrom, for sure.

Bob:            Yeah, but the Amazon feature changes everything I think . . .

Paul:            Absolutely.

Bob:            . . . because maybe you were able to get an extra $50 for your item, and now the tuned-in customer is going to say, I can get it on my phone for $50 less. Now you’ve got this, almost violence, against your employee. He has to decide, do we do it or not? It becomes a policy or a service issue, but regardless, that $50 is gone from the system.

Paul:            What we saw was that if they’re absolutely price shopping, very focused on an item, particularly commodity items and price focused, things like technology and that’s very difficult to overcome. You’ve got a level of price transparency as a function of the smartphone and the mobile in the stores. Now if you can catch people earlier in the decision process, in phases we call discovery and inspiration, then if you’re providing them that guided selling, either in person or through some of your online tools, it does somewhat alleviate some of the pricing pressure that we’ll see otherwise when people are simply shopping.

Bob:            Luxury goods are now arriving onto flash sale sites like Gilt. So those products may all look great on Madison Avenue, but when it really gets down to it, luxuries could become commoditized too, right?

Paul:            Sure.

Bob:            So what would your advice be to a luxury retailer, for example? To not become a commodity.

Paul:           First off, you have to look at the digital component of the experience. Ignoring it is absolutely the wrong strategy. You need to look at it and figure out how you’re participating with your customer in that journey, the digital, but also the human interaction pieces, because the human action piece is important in some categories in some segments in some retailers for some customers. And if that’s part of your value proposition, you need to make sure that you’re not kidding yourself in terms of the investment in that area . . .training your employees and paying your employees. If you do, just like if you’ve got a higher price, it’s going to get exposed by the technology very quickly.

Bob:            But even then, if I had an extra person on board for three hours, let’s say, and that cost me an extra $30, isn’t the potential that if they turn just one sale around, they would more than pay for the person?

Paul:            Absolutely.

So what say you? Are some brands kidding themselves that they are staffing sufficiently? Do you trust strangers to verify the trustworthiness of a brand or store? Please enter your thoughts in the comments below.

If you haven’t downloaded my special report: Bricks and Mortar Retailing At Risk in the Digital Age, you can still do so here.

My thanks to Marge Laney at Alert Technologies and our cameraman Brian Laney who made this all sound and look great!

One of the occupational hazards of being the Retail Doctor is documenting what is good and bad to share with my audiences.

What is it about signs?  They should be short, informational, welcoming and clear; especially in smaller retailers, regional chains and Main Street boutiques.

Instead we find ones that are confusing or meant to stop or inhibit customers which creates a negative energy in the store (click on each image to view full scale.)

You want to stand out?

Don’t give the wrong person access to your printer.

How to do proper signage? See my post next week.

Three reasons to perform a physical inventory:

• Counting your inventory isn’t just for insurance reasons, but a major determiner of your store’s health.
• You can get buy-in from your employees that, once completed, will mean less out-of stocks and having more of the best sellers.
• You are also bound to find items you didn’t know you even had.

I’m sharing a system I’ve used for doing a physical inventory because 95% of retail consists of single store operators who may not see the value in doing one.

That’s because…

Physical inventories can seem daunting – especially if you haven’t done one for awhile or have a larger store. Or expensive if you hire an outside service. But don’t let either of those stop you – you can do a physical inventory on a shoestring budget…

Preparation is the key!

Here’s how to do it and maintain your sanity. If you already have procedures for your shop or other type of business, check to see if you’ve addressed all the points below.

A Week Before

Price it.

• Everything in the store, ideally with category number, price and date/yr.

Organize.

• Everything as much as possible by category.
• Write out an instruction sheet that pertains to your store. For example, what is a unit.

Map it.

• Take an oversize piece of paper and create a map of your store. Sketch out the location of every rack, display, wall, and shelf if necessary. Don’t forget the back room or storage area.
• Beginning at the front and working counter clockwise, walk around and assign each rack, display, shelf a number; each number will represent a different section.
• Number your inventory sheets to correspond to the sections on your map. Your goal is to have lots of sections to make counting easier.
• To speed counting, enter categories (from you POS system) onto the counting sheets with every price in the section listed. If a description could speed counting, enter it prior as well.
• Have plenty of extra blank sheets for sections that have too many price points for one page or missed sections.

Arrange it.

• Try to keep categories or merchandise together; you don’t want a lot of onesies and twosies or it will slow down counting dramatically.

Plan it.

• Decide the date you’ll close early say 5pm. If you’ll close early, put a sign up for customers at least five days in advance. An inventory should take no more than four hours if you have enough help.

Figure it.

• Write up details of how many helpers you’ll need and how you’ll pay them. Teenagers appreciate cash so I always paid out of petty cash having them sign a time card as proof with all their information.
• Call your insurance agent and see if they will cover your liability for a one‐time event.

Recruit counters.

• If you don’t have enough staff, call your local high school counseling center and tell them you want to hire about 15 responsible kids to help with inventory.
• You’ll pay them minimum wage cash and have pizza and sodas. They must call you in advance to confirm.
• Get their name, cell phone and email address. Signup any that call – some won’t show and you’ll be covered.
• Get plenty of pencils with erasers.

Wait.

• Don’t allow yourself to start counting through the day, customer service will suffer.

The Big Night

Feed them.

• Order a couple pizzas to be delivered with soft drinks.

Track them.

• As they arrive, check off their names.

Set the ground rules.

• No horseplay, accuracy is expected, be nice to each other, if you don’t follow rules, you’ll be asked to leave.
• No one will be paid until they have signed their time card and all information filled out.

Buddy ‘em up.

• Pair a person who knows the store with one who doesn’t.

Instruct them.

• Tell them what you are going to be doing.
• Show them how to count; they are to either make tally marks or if practical, count by category and price.
• All prices are at full retail, not sale prices.
• Anything unpriced should be pulled, brought to the counter and counted last.
• Count in pencil.

Show them.

• Count one section as a group to show your process including how to count, hash marks, what the sheet should look like when turned in, etc.
• They should check with you to make sure their first sheet is done correctly.

Help them.

• Before they turn it in, all tally marks should be tallied into one number per line.
• Assign one person the map– usually the manager to be responsible every sheet is counted.
• As sheets are finished they are to put a red check on the map and the inventory sheet
• If practical, the map person can tally up each sheet that night but could wait until the following morning.
• Each sheet should have a total $ at the bottom by category.

Thank them.

• If they did a good job, tell them you will contact them for the next inventory.

The Next Day

Total up all sheets by category.

• Enter your grand total somewhere safe

Once you have these figures, you can easily figure your open-to-buy (how much you can purchase based on what you already have in your store), shrink (the difference between what you thought you had and actually have caused by not checking invoices, sloppy transfers, mis-keyed items and theft,) and plan changes. Without a physical inventory you do not have accurate information.

Oh and if you do inventory matching scans to your POS – make sure you are transferring any shortages out to a dead store like #999 or in from store #999 so you have accurate tracking of the differences.

Even if you use your own employees for inventory, these steps will help it not be a hassle but an organized breeze.

As always if you have questions about temporary workers, age requirements and the like, please consult your local labor board to ensure compliance.

What have you found effective to make counting go smoothly?

Grab a free master inventory sheet you can use right away, just enter a bit of information below.

For more about using your inventory to grow your sales, pick up a copy of my book, The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business (Wiley.)

The challenge

A husband and wife were looking to grow their all natural sausage sandwich sales in an upscale strip center. The owners were frustrated by the long lines at fast-food joints on either side of theirs.

The windows, walls and menu at their stylish eatery were plastered with nutritional analyses that proved the private-label links made with ground turkey, chicken, spices and cheese had less fat, than most burgers, burritos or subs.

They advertised discounts in the local free shopper paper and distributed coupons regularly. But sales, which were below expectations the previous year, were still flat.

“Nothing has worked as well as we thought it would,” the owner told me.

The goal

Get more customers into their store.

The diagnosis

The primary marketing vehicle for this quickserve restaurant was the Penny Saver. Surveying the parking lot full of BMWs and Jaguars, I asked the owner if he thought their drivers read that publication. He quickly realized that his marketing was ineffective. In addition, when asked who he thought his customers were, he said both men and women equally. A week later after keeping track of customers by sex he found 80% were men.

The prescription

The owner wasted his marketing dollars on people who will never try his product no matter how low-fat or high-quality it is. He had forgotten that sausage sandwiches are a want, not a need. And he’d lost sight of their most important selling point: taste.

All the education in the world doesn’t mean anything if food doesn’t taste good.

I had him stop his ads in the discount weeklies and set their sights on getting their delicious product into the hands of the guys working in the community. I suggested that he cater events for the larger employers within a couple miles of the restaurant.

The implementation

Marketing materials were altered to speak to guys and simply say that their sausage was “probably healthier than you.” We came up with new brochures, menus and direct-mail marketing materials. By taking the sandwiches to the people most likely to frequent their business, we were able to get his product into the hands of many without discounting the product.

The results

Sales increased 60% year over year.

Lessons for your business

• Know who your market really is.
• Widely spread discounts rarely bring in the profitable customers you want.
• Target who your customer really is by getting in front of them.

What have you used to target your customers?

About Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor

Companies from some of the very largest, to some of the smallest, from luxury brands to startups, from franchises to regional chains contact me as a retail consultant because they are looking for results.

While every client and project is different, the ability to enlist me as a retail consultant who has a fresh set of eyes to look at the challenges you are facing can result in a focused, effective and creative path to profitable sales.  No matter what your size, let’s see how I can help you as a retail consultant that gets results.

Target last week made news with a joint letter from their Merchandising Chief and Chief Executive to their vendors.

According to the WSJ, “Target is reaching out to vendors to help craft a more competitive pricing strategy as it seeks to battle rivals and the lower-priced online market.”

In that letter, the retailer says it is not going to let online-only retailers use its stores “as a showroom” for their products. The result is an undercutting of Target’s prices “without making investments, as we do, to proudly display your [the vendors’] brands,” the letter states. The executives say they will be “challenging” the vendors “to work with us to develop an assortment that will allow Target to be competitive and profitable across all channels.”

Bravo Target!

This sends a bold message to online retailers and to the vendors Target has helped make successful. It is an opening salvo against the foregone conclusion that everyone is switching to buying everything either through smartphone apps or online. And against Amazon hijacking their customers.

Target’s partners are bound to accept the request, and Target won’t be the only one putting it out there. It could be as simple as vendors making minor changes in their products so the Target product wouldn’t have any exact match – the model number/bar code simply won’t exist anywhere except on the Target item. Therefore when customers find items at Target, they can’t swipe them with their smartphones to find them cheaper online. This is a step beyond private label – the reason to create these products is not to be necessarily a cheaper alternative to the brand. It is designed to be exclusive.

It would make it easy for Target to say, if you can find a lower price on the exact same item, we’ll match it because the exact same item won’t exist except at Target.

According to the National Retail Federation 95% of all retail operations are single store units.

Smaller merchants need to be able to mimic Target and say you won’t be able to find this product online either.

Look, 92% of merchandise is still purchased in bricks and mortar stores according to CNBC.

Smaller operators need to claim the kind of power Target has in order to thwart the online retailers who are looking to make bricks and mortar stores into showrooms for online products. But as single operators they don’t have much clout.

How to do it?

Most bricks and mortar retailers belong to at least one trade organization or buying group. They should band together and request this from their vendors so that their SKUS don’t match the online-only sites.

Ideally vendors have to be willing to create products that are slightly different and aimed for sales in either big box stores, smaller retailers or online retailers – but not for all.  I’m sure many will be skeptical this could work.

But if bricks and mortar retailers can use their buying power to increase personalization through their instore channel, then they can leverage the advantage they truly need against the showrooming of Main Street.

What do you think? Could this work? Please comment below:

The challenge

A company that had used me as their “go-to guy” for sales training at their large quarterly meetings was looking to provide additional training for their independent dealers to help them standout from their competition.

The situation

The independent dealers, who had committed tens of thousands of dollars to upgrade each of their store interiors,  wanted to get a higher return on their investment.  The company was looking for ways to deliver that higher expected return. One salesperson shared, “I thought our owner paid a lot for those fixtures which we didn’t utilize.”

The prescription

We created a 2 1/2 day intensive sales training course.  The goal was to raise the average sale and increase the closing ratio.  We created a custom program which incorporated the new store design, product scripts, a more detailed sales process, and new ways to follow-up on leads. Special emphasis was placed on limiting participant size. We offered lots of hands-on training, personal coaching and role-playing for owners and their salespeople. The weekend concluded with the dealers in teams teaching what they’d learned to the rest of the group.

The results

The stores who participated in the sales training weekend saw their sales rise 22.3% over the next three to six months. Five stores, who did not attend the training in the region, saw their sales decline during the same time period.

Participants shared some of their “aha” moments including, “My personal relationship to the customer makes or breaks the sale, I’m not just selling a product, I need to now sell myself,” and, “I never had an ‘approach’ – I winged it, but I now have a process for myself to be consistent with my approach.”

Lessons for you

You’ve probably attended sales trainings before. You’ve heard about features and benefits and making a customer feel important, but a lot of sales trainings don’t stick because people need to internalize the training, get over their own fears of selling, and have a chance to practice in a safe environment. My retail sales training does exactly that.

I don’t mean to toot my own horn but if you can’t hire me for a custom retail sales training program, here are three things that I include that lead to “aha” moments.

Try sharing these three sales training elements with your crew:

• Role-play a customer and salesperson and ask the group if they would have purchased based on that presentation. You are looking for honest feedback on how it looked and felt.
• Have your sales crew write their thoughts about admitting to family or friends that they are salespeople. Have them list three emotions they feel when they tell someone. Then have them share it with the group.
• Everyone takes a trip through your store looking for a fixture or display that is not used to its best advantage. Then brainstorm on how to improve the use of those fixtures or displays to better sell your merchandise.

An added benefit of these sharing moments is a closer connection to your crew.

The more time you can devote to getting your sales force comfortable with selling, the more impact these training moments will have. Having participants teach it back shows how well they learned and can transfer that knowledge to others.

It may not be new fixtures or a lack of return on investment that leads you to call me. It might be that sales are suffering, or you feel you’re in a rut, or wondering how much higher your business can go, but whatever the reason, if your store or region is not where it needs to be, if you’re not getting that higher conversion and higher average ticket and you still intend to win at retail in 2012 and beyond, I can help you demystify the sales process and upgrade your salespeoples’ ability to sell. And isn’t that what success is all about?

What in-store exercises have you used to increase sales or lead your crew to becoming more comfortable selling?

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About Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor

Companies from some of the very largest, to some of the smallest, from luxury brands to startups, from franchises to regional chains contact me as a retail consultant because they are looking for results.

While every client and project is different, the ability to enlist me as a retail consultant who has a fresh set of eyes to look at the challenges you are facing can result in a focused, effective and creative path to profitable sales.  No matter what your size, let’s see how I can help you as a retail consultant that gets results.