Your Defining Moment

Ever get so excited about an event that you just can’t wait for it to happen? Just like a 6-year-old boy waiting for his birthday — that is how I am feeling. That is exactly how I feel about the project that I am working on. Please understand, I am much closer to the end of my career than the beginning of it (not that I have any intention to ever retire).

I have lived through almost every type of sale or promotional event a business can produce. From spectacular store openings, to powerful price and non-price promotions, to sales of all varieties, to expansion events, and to new business initiatives. If there is one word that is common to every type of event, it is the word “Showtime.” You are a show producer and director, responsible for a thousand little details that must be coordinated together to produce a finished product which can determine your success or failure for years.

These events can be discussed casually but I think anyone who is reading this column can attest to the emotional baggage, both positive and negative, that is associated with one of these events. I’m sure that all of you have already associated such an event in your mind as you read my words. They define you as a person, as a business person, and many times become the regulator of one’s levels of self esteem. They define us both fairly and sometimes unfairly.

Here is the process we go through in the creation of an event, a sale, a promotion, or a new business initiative. We have an idea, we try out our idea with family and friends, we then decide to proceed, we make our plans, then test our ideas and plans until we feel comfortable, then we execute them, and finally wait for the results. Talk about extreme highs and lows. The next time you are involved in one of these projects, remember one of my favorite quotes from the author and educator, Dr. Alan Weiss:

“We are NEVER as good
as our GREATEST accomplishments
and NEVER as bad as our greatest failures.”

That’s the best advice anyone has ever shared that has saved my mental stability. I mention all of this because in just 14 days I will experience probably the greatest defining moment of my professional life. On September 8^th The Retailer’s Advantage will launch version 2.0. It is a culmination of a significant investment plus thousands of hours of work from 14 people who have worked tirelessly on this project to make it a success.

Because I can’t wait any longer, here is a sneak peak at The Retailers Advantage 2.0.

Let me share some background information on this project and why I feel so excited and committed to the vision and mission of The Retailer’s Advantage.

Just a year ago, The Retailer’s Advantage was born. The product launch was spectacular, and then we did what every business should do and listened to our customers. The comments we heard all had a familiar tone to them: The information is great BUT the site is confusing. That’s an easy task, just simplify it. So began Project Simplification. However, that is not easy on a site that has more than 1000 pages and is growing daily. Plus it’s hard to have the same people who made it confusing make it simple.

At first, it became a daunting task to simplify and streamline the site. “Who ever said simple was simple?” I don’t want to go into many details about The Retailer’s Advantage now because you will be getting more information in the next week or so. (But I will tell you that the reviews have been AWESOME!)

However, what made it easier was the power of our focus.

I want to follow up on last week’s article which was all about focus. I am going to use the development of the new Retailer’s Advantage as the perfect example of how powerful focusing can be, plus I would also like to comment on the many emails that were sent about The Power of Focus.

We wanted the focus to be all about making The Retailer’s Advantage a true advantage to retailers. In order to do that, we asked ourselves the question, “How and what would you have to do to achieve that?” Just having great products isn’t enough if the customer can’t find them? Therefore, we had to make the site as user-friendly as possible with great products (information).

Yes, it is the focus that made it work, but I believe the key was the single focus, the big umbrella that everything else comes under. Where many of us get confused is thinking that we have multiple focuses. User-friendly is important but it is a part of the big picture, not its own picture.

There were some really interesting comments about how so many of you are using The Power of Focus. Actually, I got a wonderful education on Focus or the correct term which is Prosperity Mapping from Cindy Welch, who runs a very successful Quilt Shop in Nunda, NY that does business across the country. Cindy is a real expert/student on Prosperity Mapping which she has been involved with for years. What we are doing is asking the universe for prosperity. It is the Law of Attraction! Visualize it and you will receive it. She spent the time to share the many ways she applies this even down to “crabby customers”. They all leave smiling. It is fascinating stuff. Thank you.

Rhonda Cohen, from RU Craft Designs wrote, “We so often forget the “human-emotional” side of ourselves. There is a great deal of power in positive thinking in whatever modality (visual, auditory, etc) that may be.”

Bonnie Barney, from the award winning vineyard, Hunt Country Vineyards in Branchport, NY said, “We are constantly asked ‘How’s business for you?’ Of course there are ups and downs, but if we offer the positives, we share the expectation of success, which in turn improves the chances of achieving it. Don’t dwell on a drop in the average customer purchase if you can celebrate an increase in foot traffic.” That’s Awesome!

Fiona Coachman, from New Zealand, shared the focus of her mother who continued to focus on her knitting as she was dying of Lung Cancer. There were no pity parties there.

One of the most captivating responses came from Nancy, a jeweler from the Midwest. I am not revealing her name or business because she admitted she doesn’t talk about this stuff very much in public because some people think you are WEIRD. She shared that even her husband thought she was a bit NUTS. Of course I related to that because my wife feels the same way about me sometimes because of my beliefs. It’s probably because they are practical and pragmatic. But it is so sweet when these ideas work and they do quite often.

Nancy said to ERASE negative thoughts from your mind and your life. Visualize a “wall” to keep them out. The key is to really concentrate and FOCUS. I could go on about many of her techniques and I really want to learn more about them, but I am afraid you will think I am weird too. (Only kidding but I couldn’t pass that one up!)

Have great week and look for the information about The Retailer’s Advantage. It will be my defining moment.

The Power of Focus

I got a wonderful and inspiring email response from a woman in Michigan from last week’s article about cranky and crabby customers and employees created by the recession. I asked and received permission to reprint. I think this is the type of article we all need to read. It inspired me to share a story I never thought I would write about but seems so very important in times like these.

Isn’t that the way we should all be? Now sit back and read my story about the POWER OF FOCUS.

I don’t consider myself a touchy feely guy.I like to make decisions based on facts, numbers, and hands-on experiences. (Although I must admit emotions play a big part as well) I say that because the story you are about to read might be considered a bit off the wall, but trust me, it is as important a business tip as I have ever written. I am writing this because I think that during challenging times like we are in, we need to find new ways to motivate us. New things to focus on.

Please understand this is the first time I have ever written this story and I have never used it in a speech but I can assure you that everything I am about to share is truthful without any exaggeration.

In 1997, I was the President of the New England Speakers Association. Once a month we would have meetings that would attract about 100+ professional speakers. We would invite high level professional speakers to share their expertise. This one particular month we were fortunate enough to have the national president of the National Speakers Association, Glenna Salisbury.

Glenna spoke on self esteem and motivation and is a wonderful person. When Glenna arrived she brought with her a rather large box of magazines. That was strange but what was even stranger was after she did her keynote address she did a smaller workshop where about 20-25 people were given 2 or 3 magazines each and a pair of scissors. We were then instructed to cut out pictures from the magazines of things we really wanted. Then we were to glue the pictures on to a piece of construction paper.  I felt like I was 8 years old and doing arts and crafts at Day Camp.

I had no options. I couldn’t get out of doing this because I was the local president and it wouldn’t set a good example. She explained that this was an exercise in focus and visualization. That sounded good but I wasn’t buying into it. However, I did what I had to do and started cutting out pictures. I cut out pictures of people with caps and gowns graduating from college (I have 3 children who were in college and we are never sure they WERE going to stay). I even cut out an illustration of a man jumping for joy with a sign that read DEBT FREE. I cut out a picture of a Caribbean vacation, a picture of a speaker in front of thousands of people. I cut out the book best seller list. I even cut out pictures of brides and grooms (I was hoping my kids would see that one.)

Then I pasted the pictures on to the construction paper and was to place the paper in my office or a place I would see them everyday. I did just that. I put them beside the light switch in the office. After about a month I honestly forgot they were there. Now fast forward 4 years. My wife calls me over to look at something at her desk. She had taken down the pictures ( she did the same project as well) and we realized that every picture we had cut out had become a reality. My son who didn’t even have a girl friend at the time had gotten married. My wife cut out a picture of a home on Cape Cod which we now owned and she cut out a picture of a set of knives for the kitchen that we bought a couple of years earlier. EVERY PICTURE BECAME A REALITY.

There were a total of 9 items that came true. I must admit that this gave me goose bumps. I really didn’t talk about it very much cause I was afraid people would think I was weird or something. The story doesn’t end there — it ends two years later. I was so impressed at how this worked I did it again. But this time I just put one item on it. It was a picture of the new Lexus RX300 a small SUV. I have never been much of a car guy but I really liked that car. So I got a picture mounted on construction paper but this time I mounted it on the wall behind my desk. It stayed there for over a year until the piece of tape holding it on the wall gave way and the picture slipped behind the desk that was against the wall.

My desk was an extremely heavy desk and I wasn’t about to move it for a silly picture of a car. So it stayed there and frankly I forgot about it. Fast forward another year or so and we were moving from this house that we lived at for 32 years. I emptied the draws of the desk to make it lighter for the movers. As they moved the desk I saw the mounted picture. The picture was faced to the ground but I remember what I had done, but just not the specifics. When I picked up the picture I really got freaked out. The picture I cut out of Lexus SUV was the EXACT car I had purchased 6 days earlier. I mean exact. The same color, same trim, and even the same the same year. I bought a two year old car the exact same one in the picture.

Let me repeat everything I have reported is the truth. But there is even a bigger issue that I am failing to report to you. We weren’t the only ones that this had happened to. There were quite a few stories that were similar to mine.

This isn’t magic or any type of Hocus Pocus. It is the power of focus. When you buy a certain make and model of a car, what do you see when you are driving. It’s as if you just bought the most popular car on the planet.

We are and what we will become is what we focus on. Focus on the negative and you will get negative results. Focus on the positive and you will get positive results. People who try to lose weight and put up a picture of themselves when they are at the fattest rarely lose weight. Put a picture of what you want to look like or just write down all the things you will do when you are thin and it WILL happen. (Trust me… I lost 90 pounds and carried my list everywhere I went.)

Focus on your store full of customers, focus on fun and you will have fun, focus on making great buys and it will happen. We have a choice on just about everything and maybe we can all learn from Katrina, a woman who works on a farm in the state with the worst economy in the country, Michigan and she is making it happen.

Do the exercise. Share experiences like this you have had or the words you use to focus you. Vent if you like, but share. We will all grow stronger when we do. Then ask yourself one question:

What are you focusing on?

I look forward to your responses. Send them to me at rick@ricksegel.com and I will publish them all.

A Side Effect of the Recession…

Cranky Customers, Cranky Employees,
and Cranky Store Owners

What Can We Do About Them?

Although there are signs that this recession is nearing its end, we still have a long slow road to recovery. Business conditions will remain challenging for the foreseeable future. That does NOT mean that your business is going to be off — you just have to work a little harder. Actually I think we are truly reaching  a new normal.

We need to promote more and in every way. This doesn’t mean just having price promotions but we must promote anyway we can to bring customers to our stores, websites, and to make use of the new social media connections. We also need to explore every new method  of marketing. As we saw last week in our discussion and contest on Facebook, we have success stories and new models to follow. I will be exploring every new form of marketing over the next few weeks but this week’s column is about two topics I have been getting a lot of calls and emails about and have been asked to comment on.

We are dealing with people who just aren’t happy. There are many reasons for this. As retail owners, we see that business isn’t what it once was. It has changed especially if you are located in an area affected by layoffs. We all know people who have been laid off, can’t find a job, and we have employees who are feeling the pinch at home as well. Our customers love to buy and they aren’t happy about cutting back.

What does it all mean? They have a reason to be down, upset, or depressed. So what! That is no reason that they have to be so cranky and miserable and take it out on us. Of course, we have a little shorter fuse as well.

Here are my top 10 tips to handle cranky people — but #6 through #10 also focus on the root causes for the problem.

1. Be empathetic. Use terms such as “I know how you could feel like that.”
2. Let people talk. Sometimes they just need to talk it out. The worst thing anyone can ever say when someone is trying to discuss an issue is “I don’t want to talk about that”. Of course the other interpretation of I don’t want to talk about it is when some says to you, “All you are doing is harping on the same issues. Move on.” People need to talk things out. That’s why physiatrists have patients come back again and again. Shut the door on the communication and shut the door on the relationships.
3. Ask for a remedy. If you did something wrong, then ask how it can be corrected.
4. Dealing with the unreasonable remedy. Simply use the expression, “I wish we could.” That works just about every time.
5. Thank you. We cannot thank people enough. I am becoming a believer that we are in the midst of an epidemic of people who just expect everything. You do something for someone and they don’t thank you. It is so easy but so few people do it. When was the last time you thanked a customer for coming in the store or sent a thank-you note after a big sale?
6. Expectation management: What does a customer expect when they walk in your store? Take the time to write it down then have a friend or even yourself walk into your store as a customer. You will avoid problems before they happen.
7. Become a Flexetarian. Don’t be so rigid. Lighten up. The times they are a changing and the rules of the new normal are yet to be written. Things are never just black or white. There are many shades of gray.
8. Be a Seeker and a Doer. Many times our policies become stale because we never shop other businesses to see what our customers are experiencing. It’s one thing seeing good ideas but it’s another thing implementing them. You can’t be successful without both of them.
9. Decisions of Convenience: Again, I am seeing more people make decisions because it’s the easy way out. In the retail business we sometimes get lazy and make the decisions because it’s easy or convenient to do. Somehow we start to have different rules and policies for different customers and employees. It’s the same as buying from a rep because it’s easy. Just be aware of the amount of decisions we make because of that. It’s scary and extremely dangerous business.
10. Commitment. The retail business isn’t easy. There can be long hours and frustrating times. BUT you have to love it. You have to get excited when new merchandise get delivered. You need to get excited to call a customer up and be so enthusiastic that you were able to get exactly what they are looking for. You need to get excited about every display, sign, and buying trip that you push yourself to visit one more vendor when your dead tired but that new vendor becomes the winner of the season.

Retailing is easy when you love it, but it’s the worst job in the world when you can’t stand the sight of a customer. To answer all of those store owners who have asked me when is it time to leave your business? That’s simple: “Love it or Leave it.”

Somehow the customer knows and they become sharks in the water when they see blood.

You see, sometimes it’s not the customer who makes us cranky. Sometimes we make the customer cranky as well.

The 7 Things Every Business Needs To Know About Facebook… Plus The Winners!

1.	Know the FOUR Business Goals for Your Facebook Account Get found by people who are searching for your products or services Connect and engage with current and potential customers Create a community around your business Promote other content you create, including web pages, blog articles, and your advertising.
2.	Every business should (must) create a page, so your customers can become your fans. The myth is that Facebook is only for kids or Gen Y. It is for everyone. Older people and especially Baby Boomers (the oldest Baby Boomer is now 63 years old) which means most boomers are still working, in pretty good shape, and don’t think or feel old like they are ready for the rocking chair.
3.	Profiles are for people, Pages are for businesses. Do not create a personal profile for your business. This is one point that many people who are successful at Facebook are not even aware of (including me). A Page is similar to a Profile except that it is, by default, public and users can become a “fan” of your Page without first requiring approval from the Page administrator. Creating a Page is completely free but will require your time to build and maintain. To get started, visit www.facebook.com/pages
4.	Make Your Page Easy to Understand ~ Use Tabs (The Tab Interface) – This allows you to group the content and applications as per your requirements. Not only you can edit the default tabs, but you can also add new tabs giving you complete control in its customization. You can freely drag them to arrange in required order. With new Facebook application standards in effect, almost every new application (internal or 3rd party) can be integrated with Facebook tabs. This opens endless opportunities to create customizable tabs with your choice of third party applications.
5.	PROMOTE – PROMOTE – PROMOTE Know the Six Best Ways to Promote Your Page Draw on your existing network. Start promoting your page to your own customer list. Although Facebook is a do-it-yourself type of endeavor, have your webmaster make sure your pages are indexed just like your website pages. The results are amazing with this little fix. Create Events, Discussion Boards and/or News Flashes about your business and community. Join the various networks of people who would have an interest to buy from you. Buy a Facebook Ad. For some reason this is not as widespread. Every quarter, create a poll to get your fans’ feedback about their views on various pages or page elements.
6.	Schedule a block of Facebook time (15 min?) each day to monitor your account/keep up with things/add new content.
7.	Go to http://Facebook.Grader.com to grade your profile or page for free. This is another free service from a company I love and I am an account of. HubSpot. You will be hearing lots more from this company in the months ahead.

I would like to thank all of the people who helped in forming this list. Especially my friends at HubSpot, a web marketing company like none other, Interactive Insights Group, and my chief researcher, Cindy Potts.

 

NOW… FOR THE WINNERS!

There were so many great responses to decide on just one winner, so after arguing back and forth, here is the Grand Prize winner who will receive a 2-month subscription to The Retailer’s Advantage, plus the choice of any of any Rick Segel book. The other 3 winners will receive the 2-month subscription to The Retailer’s Advantage.

Grand Prize Winner ~

Chistine Joyner
Diamonds Direct • St. Petersburg, FL

Website: www.DiamondsDirect.us
Facebook: Click Here

We are using Facebook with great success. I set it up at the end of May and it has exploded. We have over 400 fans and nearly as many friends. I have integrated a Facebook widget on the homepage of our website so that a viewer can become a fan, read the thread, etc. We have gained two known sales from this vehicle. Clients coming in the store that haven’t bought yet are asking us about products they have seen us talk about on facebook.

We used it to introduce a new commercial and get viewer’s response and comments before it aired. In the next few days we will be setting up advertising to coincide with a commercial that we are launching in the next week. I have posted comments to entice viewers to visit our website and sign up to win a $50 gift card to a local high end restaurant… we drove more traffic to our site and gained more entries for the contest, but most importantly, we are using it to grow our client base.

Overall, Facebook seems to be helping with top-of-mind awareness. Plus, if we are already their “friend” before they even walk into the store, the barrier to gain a rapport with the client is reduced.

Check out our website, and become our friend on Facebook!!

Runner-up Winners ~

Ann Burlingham
Burlingham Books • Perry, NY

Website: www.BurlinghamBooks.com
Facebook: Click Here

I expected to blog more — I come from a Usenet background, where I wrote daily in a number of modes on different subjects, easily — but I haven’t. I set up my Facebook page for the bookstore and had a number of people become fans. What I’ve started doing lately, in addition to posting event notices, is to write a quick daily (or so) note about a book, item in the store, things going on in town, etc.

Not a lot of feedback from it, except some positive comments and encouragement, but I think it’s a good way to go – easy to do on part, easy to read for the customers/fans. I know from the store that my personality is one of my strongest sales tools; since I find writing easy, Facebook is another way to let my personality, sense of humor, community involvement, and the like shine out.

One more way of reminding people that there’s a Real Live Local Bookstore with Real Live People in it, locally involved and so much better than *blech* Amazon. Just as we see new customers in the store daily, I seem to see a few new fans on Facebook everyday.

Shawnda McGinnis
Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce, NJ

Website: www.OceanCityVacation.com
Facebook: Click Here

Hi, Rick. Not on Facebook? Is that even an option anymore? We had almost 2,000 fans before we even announced that we had a page.

We use FB for just about everything! We announce events, put up teaser photos from the event from the previous year, announce new businesses with photos from their ribbon cuttings, attach a link to our website with “What’s Happening” each week, link all press releases from our website, we ask and answer questions, send event notices, traffic updates if there is an issue with one of the bridges coming onto the island, last minute info or changes for events, and much more.

People write into us and tell us how much they LOVE Ocean City, NJ, send us pictures, and taut their favorite businesses. We even have a farm that is located “on the way to the shore” who posts notices to our page saying, “stop here on your way to the beach.” A local fundraiser also used our page as a way to get their info out to raise money to stop childhood hunger.

We direct people to our website for more detailed information about things we are posting. Once they are on our site, they stay and look around which is great for our local businesses that are on our site. AND… we can track it all!

Through FB, we can also get a glimpse at the demographics of our “fans” and from which areas they are coming.

We can check and update information 24/7 from just about anywhere. The best part? It’s FREE! We love Facebook for promoting Ocean City, NJ.

Sarah Deveau
Cater Tot Consignment • Airdrie, AB Canada

Website: www.CaterTot.ca
Facebook: Click Here

How do I love thee, Facebook? Let me count the ways.

I created a Facebook presence for my children’s consignment boutique over a year ago, and it has been phenomenal for my business. We have a Page, with more than 900 ‘fans’ who are seeing our status updates in their news feed or receiving longer Updates from us as well. On our Page, we offer links to articles featuring our store or the products we carry, we link to like-minded businesses, we offer contests and coupons, and encourage our fans to post their photos of their kids using products they bought at our store. We announce special sales and latest arrivals exclusively on our Facebook page.

Since introducing Facebook into our marketing mix, my revenues have increased by more than 10% – in a recession. Where stores around me are closing their doors, we’re flourishing, in part due to this new form of advertising and marketing. I have slashed our advertising budget in half and funneled it nearly completely into Facebook. Previously, customers might come in occasionally and say they had visited our website and decided to drive out and give us a try (we’re 15 minutes away from a city of 1 million). Now, many times a week customers come in with a list of items they found on our Facebook page that they want to buy. When we ask new customers where they heard about us, it is always Facebook. Often we’ll announce new products on our Facebook page and the cash register will start ringing within an hour as moms log on, see the update, and head for the store.

Though I rave about the power of Facebook, many stores still don’t appreciate the immediate results they can see from this incredible new marketing tool. Yet, I do understand their hesitation. I think Facebook is really only fantastic if your customers and potential customers are also on Facebook, and you’re executing it well. I have tried Twitter, to no success. Only a tiny fraction of our customers use Twitter, and even those that were on, were not checking it often enough to see our “tweets.” Thanks for the emails Rick!