Five quick retail wins you can implement tomorrow
New Orleans -- Not everything one does in retail is something that need require a lot of planning. That was the main idea behind the NRHA's "Quick Wins" seminar at the Orgill Dealer Market, which outlined a number of easy-to-implement strategies for boosting business.
"What is a quick win?" posed Dan Tratensek, executive VP of the NRHA. "It's something you can do quickly to have an impact on your business. You don't have to turn your operation upside down to implement it. Sometimes you're so focused on the long-term that you overlook some easy things you can do to improve your business."
Tratensek outlined 20 stellar ideas. Here are five of the best ones.
1. When you go to the market, bring your customers with you. The whole idea here is to get your customers excited about what you're doing and discovering, and moreover, to show them you're out looking for new things to bring them. "Do your customers know where you are?" asked Tratensek. "Do they know you're out looking for new products to bring to them, or special deals?" Setting up a display to advertise your new finds could be a very effective way to tell customers you're advocating for them.
2. Establish your local credentials. "One of the most compelling things you can offer your customers is access to products and services they can't get anywhere else," said Tratensek. Bringing in local artisan products is a strong way to differentiate yourself from the big boxes, and it's the sort of thing customers will specifically come into your store for.
3. Treat time like the commodity it is. If you haven't implemented blind receiving yet, ask yourself whether it's worth your staff's time to double-check every shipment if your fill rates are already high. By moving product quickly from the receiving area to the floor, you may well end up losing less money than you do on a negligible amount of loss.
4. Always Be Recruiting. Many retailers continue to get hung up on their inability to find and keep the right people. "You never know when or where a good potential employee will show up, so be prepared, and never miss an opportunity to add to your team," said Tratensek. One way to do this: keep business cards on you that are specifically tailored to potential hires. When you receive exceptionally good service somewhere, let your prospect know that you'd love to have someone like them on board.
5. Yelpify your store. Customers love reading peer reviews, but as it turns out, that's not something you necessarily need a website for. You can use this same strategy in your store at the shelf level by displaying reviews written by local customers. It's surely an added bonus if this adds to your store's community street cred.