Did you catch the BP oil hearings yesterday? Seems they had 760 Willful and Flagrant violations while all other refineries had only one.  Imagine if you had an employee like that.

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On the anniversary morning of their first year with you, they arrive late, you write them up.

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On the anniversary of their second year with you, they arrive late, you write them up. “This time,” you think “they’ll change.”

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• The next morning they arrive late, you write them up for the 760th time.

When did the employee learn that write-ups meant nothing?

So many times the information is staring in our faces that the employee (company) is not cutting it. If you are a Thinker personality, you may feel like “writing them up,” will make a change. It may but only if it has teeth.

Here’s the easy way to do it:

1. Make a policy, three written warnings and you’re out.
2. Note whatever happened and when
3. When you have time that day, make out a written warning with just the facts, how it impacted your business, what behavior needs to be changed, consequences if it happens again.
4. Before the employee leaves,  go over it with them. Have them sign they understand and enter their comments if they wish.
5. File it away.

Too many times we give people fifth, sixth and seventh chances when the employee obviously knows nothing will happen.

Don’t wait for a disaster like the BP spill to make you go back to your employee records and find many more instances of poor behavior. Stay on top of it and you’ll have a crew that understands consequences for bad behavior.

Learn how to manage a great sales team in my new book, The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business.

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Are you in a position where you are trying to get people to change for their own betterment?  Here’s the secret to making it work.  Leave the bottom 20% where they are.

Those 20% are not going to change.  As the old saying goes you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

Should you spend your time instead on the top performers?  Regrettably no.  They are doing what needs to be done.  Give them space to crow about what they have and are doing but frankly, they probably understand what it takes to be successful more than you.

The sweet spot, the place you can make the most difference is that middle 60%.  You want to keep them from spiraling down to the lower 20%.  That’s because misery loves company.

Those who are struggling often are looking for allies and someone to blame.  Their view of the world is it is nasty and something that is ruling their lives.  Being responsible for their own happiness is foreign.  This holds true whether you are dealing with a group of franchisees, a group of employees or a sports team.

You have to intervene and keep that middle 60% progressing forward, not going back.  That means giving them training, personal attention and opportunities.  Too often we spend our precious time on the ones who can least change – the bottom 20%.    There are only a dozen eggs in your basket of energy.  You spend 7 on the lower 20% there are only 5 left for the rest – and your sanity.

Give the Bitter Bettys as I call them – your lower 20% – a chance certainly, but don’t waste your precious time trying to raise them from the muck. Instead, let them go.

Learn how to increase your business with my new book from Wiley & Sons.

Care to share a time when you spent too much time on your lower 20%?

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I was working with a small chain of coffee houses on the West Coast the morning of 9/11. As the towers fell I was the confused, scared and riveted to the cable news channels. What was next? What did they know? When could we return to normal?

Reports were surfacing that all Starbucks were closing. I called the founder of the company who, due to a home remodel had been at his sister-in-laws without a TV. We decided we had to keep the stores open, people would want to talk. Could the employees bring in TVs? No.

I hesitated writing a blog about gulf coast retailers when the disaster hasn’t officially landed, but was approached for comment yesterday about what could businesses do to return to normal. My list is short:

1- DON’T put your TV in the shop, office or waiting room so everyone is reminded of the problem. If people are in your shop, they are interested in shopping.

2- DO offer your location as a collection point for local volunteers, updated information for how to help, or use your FB account to spread the word.  You could also provide trash bags, buckets, brooms, sponges, rags, and so forth.

3- DO donate water or food to volunteers. Just see where they are working, order some food and bring it down, stay long enough to clean it all up too – they don’t need any more work.

4- Yes, you and your crew can help cleanup if that is appropriate, even wearing logo shirts but don’t do a press release. It isn’t about “look at how noble we are” as much as being good neighbors. Watch how BP handles this one -ads or action.

5- Rally the spirit of hope and talk about that with other merchants and customers. Don’t be Pollyanna, but whatever you do don’t run around talking about how the shrimp industry is going to die or worse. No one shops with nervous Nellie rattling the cage.

Bad things will always affect us. I remember when Ronald Reagan got shot in the 80′s, the mall was virtually dead where I worked – but there were shoppers. We told the few who came in we had a “Reagan got shot sale.” Black humor to be sure but shopping is supposed to be fun, not work, not reality, and not a downer. Don’t add to the fear but work to making your community better.

What tips would you have for retailers in the gulf?

Learn more about improving your business here.

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“There’s no denying that retailers have taken a beating lately. But the smart ones find a way to stop the bleeding and start looking ahead for new opportunities. With his plainspoken style and real-world anecdotes, Phibbs gets back to basics and provides a helpful guide for entrepreneurs determined to position themselves for the next big upswing.” -Rod Kurtz Sr. Editor, Inc. Magazine

In planning The Retail Doctor’s Guide To Growing Your Business,  I listened to readers of my popular first book, You Can Compete, who said they wanted updated information on how to use the Internet to boost sales as well as how to look at financials to truly gauge success. If you’ve heard me speak in the past year about social media, this is the book that covers it all in Chapter 7.

Like Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares, this book has definite ideas of what you should be doing and what you should avoid doing.  Known for my concrete advice and accessible style, you’ll receive insights that can be immediately applied by any reader.

Although I’ve been known for my work in retail, the target audience for this book is any small business owner who is nervous in today’s economic climate.

I’m holding  a webinar for those who purchases from any retailer prior to Thursday, May 6 at noon EST will be held Thursday night at 8 PM EST. Can’t make it? I’ll record it so you can download afterwards for one week.

Register here for only $39.

After your purchase, email me at orders At retaildoc.com prior to Thursday at  noon EST with “DONE” in the subject line, the company you purchased it from  and date. Please note- to participate in the webinar, you will need to log in to the web link we provide you and dial in from a phone line to hear the audio.

Purchase your copy today so you don’t miss out!

The last email I sent out boosted the book to #1 on Amazon business books,but it is a constant battle to maintain momentum.

The more orders, the more your local bookstores will take notice.  The more they take notice, the more likely they are to order more copies of the book.  With that inventory, more business owners will be able to compete and gain hope, not wallow in the mire of cable news. Here’s the 2 min video created for the book.

Still not sure? You  can download the introductory chapter from The Retail Doctors Guide to Growing Your Business here http://www.retaildoc.com/guide/free-chapter.php.

The book launch is a big thing obviously.  I have never solely pitched a product and won’t make it a habit, would appreciate you linking back to this or RT or posting on FB to get the word out!

If you’ve started to read the new book and have questions regarding the four personalties and what they mean to your business, please leave in comments.

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1) Know who you are and who you aren’t.  Yes,they have customers waiting but that doesn’t mean they have gum ball machines or other irrelevant product.

2) Make it easy for customers to know what you do. Nothing is more frustrating to customers than guessing what a store carries. Nothing is more frustrating to managers than employees who don’t tell customers all the great programs or services they offer.  They shouldn’t have to – it should be obvious.

3) There are no counters, no walls and nothing to interfere with their interaction with their customers.  A shoe shine operator is completely exposed and focused. No shoes to shine = no food to eat. Simple.

4) Be visible in your community.  If shoe shine operators aren’t busy, they are engaging busy professionals by saying, “Want to look your best?” No 20% discounts and no “sales” – just thinking what their customers ultimately value and reminding them.

5) Engage your customers. There’s most always a banter from the person shining your shoes.  They know the more they connect, the higher the tip and more importantly, the sooner their customer will come back. Contrast that to the ice queens you meet in many businesses whether at the doctor’s office, the Macys or local hardware store where you hope you’ll never run into them again.

6) Hustle and focus. They never want someone to feel the wait is too long so they move quickly to do a great job and keep everyone happy.  Focusing only on the customer’s experience often means you need to give up going on break, a personal call, anything that will distract from the person standing in front of you – after all, they’re the ones that pay your salary.

7) Thank every one. Whether they are tipped well or not at all, shoe shine operators always thank – its their livelihood.

Oh and if you think I’m just talking about men who shine shoes, a woman I know has been at the Men’s Shoe Department nearly 20 years at Nordstroms in South Coast Plaza, CA after giving up her corporate gig. By using her sales abilities she makes more money, has less stress and more of a feeling of accomplishment when she goes home than she ever did as a financial executive.

A lesson about doing a great job you can be proud of that we can all use.

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Newspapers love to do these types of stories about family businesses, that prided themselves on longevity, have chosen to close their doors.

That is foolish.

Frequently cited reasons are (in no particular order,) the economy, shoppers trading down, trading area not as vibrant as it once was, big boxes, and online shoppers.

Are you looking at the landscape for the luxury consumer and it doesn’t look like it did even five years ago? Have you dumbed down your offerings to try to meet a price point at the expense of more profitable items? Are customers just not coming in anymore?  There’s hope, but you have to work at it.

If your store has been around for generations, you have an abundance of goodwill in your community. That can be leveraged.

As an example, if you are a jewelry store, all those rings, watches and graduation gifts count for a lot, yet most jewelry stores are a time machine backward. Here’s what I mean.

When I go to jewelry store in 2010 it pretty much looks the way they did when I first visited them in the 1960s. Jewelry stores aren’t known for carrying a big retail footprint so why do jewelers want to segment every customer to one or two display cases?

For example, why am I still asked the “Pinpoint” approach? You know, “Can help you find something?” Then taken to the one display case of offerings? I may only see 10% of their offerings because their salesclerk has decided it was most efficient for me to look at what I came in for, rather than exploring the whole store. That’s a huge lost opportunity. You don’t know who I may need to buy something for some day.

The best retailers display multiple items together so customers are intrigued to stop, consider and browse. That means changing the way you display things so more of your store is shown in more places. Yes, you’ll have to hear employees say, “They keep moving things on me.” To them I say, “Deal with it if you want a job.”

The other approach I call the “Museum.” That’s where the employee says, “Look around and let me know if you’d like to see anything.” That expects customers to do all the work. Guess what, they won’t and will leave.

With Facebook and all the other social media sites, it is clear customers are responding to friends and trusting their advice. If you’re still expecting customers to come to the mount and have you efficiently explain a setting, you’re missing it. That means changing the way you approach selling your fine jewelry.

Both of those approaches are conducted behind large glass counters where the employee is literally the keeper of the keys. I call it storming the castle. Major banks, hotels and retailers have cut their counters in half, now more like desks than anything. The days of rows of cases that isolate are over. That means changing the way you setup your store.

Along with that is the approach many boutique retailers are using to sell from the side, rather than in front of the customer. It would mean unlocking a case and coming around the counter to build trust with the customer. Not hard in theory to do but try it, it your employees will fight the change.

To compete in 2010 you’ve got to ask the hard questions and then find the answers. Generations of Americans have owned their own jewelry, hardware, and gift stores and generations to come will as well. But it’s not going to get easier – you can’t blame someone else for you not being successful. You have to question. You have to think. And yes you have to be willing to risk trying new things.

As your competitors shutter their doors and online sites proliferate, it doesn’t have to be you that goes out of business.

It does if you’re not willing to change. And maybe that’s what this article is really all about: the willingness to change, to risk; to realize we’re not going back to the go-go 80s the flamboyant 90s or the home-equity fueled 2000′s. Know whatever future we have in retail will be determined by people like you who look at the way they’ve always done business and say, “how about if we…?”  They don’t take the easy way out, they don’t leave their community hanging, and they don’t find the media to announce, “We’re outta here,” but rather, “We’re here to stay.”

-

Best-selling author and speaker Bob Phibbs has helped thousands of independent businesses compete and has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Entrepreneur magazine. His new book, The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business (Wiley & Sons) has received advance praise from both Inc. magazine and USA Today and can be ordered at http://www.retaildoc.com/guide.

©Bob Phibbs 2010

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Here are a few tips for retailers affected by major snowstorms:

1) Call all employees and confirm they are OK, if they have transportation to and if they can schedule work.

2) Get to your store with a snow shovel, assess any damage. Yes, you might have to shovel your way there from your car.

3) Do whatever is necessary to clean off your awnings, windows, sidewalk and street in front of your shop.  Enlist other shop owners to do the same.

4) If necessary, hire private services to clear your street, parking lot as well as egress, ingress into your shopping area.

5) Update all your customers via email blast, Facebook Fan page, Twitter what your hours will be, who to call if there is something the customer needs – for example a pickup of a dress for an event if you are a woman’s apparel store.

6) Consider making a quick YouTube video showing your store, that you are open, how to get in and out, etc.  Post then link to your contacts in #5.

7) If you have seasonal items, put them on sale sooner than later.

8) Get to the local media and show your area is open, don’t assume they’ll just find you.  Don’t just talk about “how much business we lost.”

9) Listen to authorities of course but open as soon as you can to get back to business, don’t let your store, your street, your neighborhood be a victim.

Realize that customers have postponed shopping, not given it up. Don’t dwell on the past event but remain focused on those customers who do come in and give an exceptional experience.

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[Updated 2/2: The New York Times reports, "At almost every step that led to its current predicament, Toyota underestimated the severity of the sudden-acceleration problem affecting its most popular cars. It went from discounting early reports of problems to overconfidently announcing diagnoses and insufficient fixes. You can read it all here.]

But they’re not the only ones.  Have you checked out the new Dominoes pizza ads that basically say their pizza crust sucked for the past 50 years and they had to do something to acknowledge customers’ honest comments? They’ve even created their own website reinforcing again how they had to change. You can watch Patrick Doyle’s message here.

But wait, it’s not just the Domino’s Pizza company CMO and President saying they’re sorry. How about Jr. and Ramon (the District Manager?)’s video apology to a Twitterer’s tweets about a bad experience. Just amazing to watch a DM in Chicago apologize about Dominoes 223 Lincoln.  Domino’s may have still been smarting from their disgusting employees in Conover last year and how their response was anything but mea culpa. If you missed that post, its here.

What’s fascninating is they are major companies taking the lead in saying, “Yep, we got problems.”  Maybe its due to the influence of social media they want to get ahead of things, I’m not sure but the acknowledgements are almost reveling in their rottenness.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, imagine saying to your sweetheart, I can’t see you anymore because I’ve been unfaithful, not sure when I can stop so stay tuned.” Or, “I know I’ve been unfaithful, here’s the room we stayed at, the bedsheets and notes I wrote – I get it, I’m bad but give me another chance because hey, I’ve got a video.”

Is this where watchdog reporters have led us?  Think back to Lee Iacocca’s commercials for Chrysler in the 80′s – he never said, “We sucked and hope you’ll give us a chance.”  His message was “We’re doing amazing things.”  Of course, the difference is he had high safety ratings, when you have cars that accelerate uncontrolably, you kinda ‘cede that.

Now consumers who have purchased Toyotas and those who will undoubtedly buy them in the future will scrutinize the brand like never before.

Lesson to businesses large and small, if you want to become a larger brand, you better pay attention to the most basic brand promises:

• eating our product won’t taste bad or
• our products won’t kill you.

It really is the little things that allow you to say those things. Take your eyes off the ball and you’ll be whipping yourself like the judge in Stephen Sondheim’s musical Sweeney Todd – hopefully not on the global stage like Toyota and Dominoes. Which could tarnish the reputations of others in their categories and, Toyota’s case, a whole country.

PS – This isn’t like the Tylenol scare which killed 7 people because of a saboteur tampering with the bottles in stores.  Toyota has almost 100 deaths due to sudden acceleration – they knew about this as far back as 2006. This won’t blow over.

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“Don’t need it, its basic science what has to go in and what proportions.”  She was after all a science teacher.

I thought about her baking recently as I heard more predictions of businesses needing to do “more with less” in 2010.  In fact a Google search resulted in over six million results. More with less.

If you add more flour to bread dough, it won’t rise. Why? Because the yeast can’t lift the added weight.  If you cut the yeast in half and use the same amount of flour, the dough won’t work either. In either case, less is still less – something suffers.

So how can you get more with less?  Entrepreneurs are still wearing too many hats; are they supposed to put on another one?  Instead of adding staff, are retailers supposed to give existing staff even more responsibilities?  Is a store department manager supposed to manage an additional department’s employees?

In all of these cases, something has to give because the reality is, less is still less.

This reminds me of another old saying I heard a lot at NRF recently, “perception is reality.” No, only reality is reality. If I perceive I’m Tom Cruise – sorry – it doesn’t make me Tom Cruise. I think that makes me delusional.  Only reality is reality.

Doing less with more, cutting past the fluff and the fat into the marrow, has led to:

• Deterioration of basic merchandising and display techniques
• Deterioration of hiring standards
• Less people on the sales floor
• Less training by the few who run the sales floor
• An emphasis on looking backwards at data rather than selling in the moment

So what should you do? Make a list every morning of what you want to accomplish.  Next prioritize it.  Work through your list.  What is left each day may be insignificant or major.  After awhile, you’ll probably see that many major things were left undone.

I think we’ve seen plenty of “profitable” companies crowing how they are doing more with less.  Really or are they just doing less?

For many retail businesses, the bread’s in the pain – waiting to rise to the occasion or sit. What’s your choice going to be?

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The holidays are almost here so I’ve come up with my blunt reminders for both staff and owners of specialty retailers after seeing Bruce Buschel’s blog in the NYT.  They’re by no means all the “Don’ts” but especially at the holidays, they can make the difference between hearing, “I’ll take it,” and “I’m outta here.”

1. Do not let anyone enter the shop without a warm greeting. If you can’t or won’t do that, go work at Macy’s.

2. Never say it’s “slow,” “dead,” or voice any negative thought, we get enough of that from cable.

3. Leave your problems at the door – no one wants to work with high drama whether that’s your daughter’s lost keys or your boyfriend’s mom had a facial appointment.

4. Don’t come to work sick – ever.

5. Don’t complain about Christmas music, it’s playing for the customers, not you.

6. Don’t arrive late saying there was “traffic.” Of course there was traffic, it’s the holidays. Plan accordingly.

7. Don’t change into work clothes that you’ve had scrunched into your backpack all day – leave the wrinkled homeless look for the streets.

8. Don’t keep asking if you can go home early unless you are prepared to ask if you can come in early for the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas.

9. Never reply to a customer inquiry with, “No” unless it is immediately followed with, “But we have…”

10.  Don’t just ask questions that can be answered with a “yes” or “no.”

11.  Don’t ask if there is “anything else?” Suggest one item that logically goes with what they are purchasing.

12.  Don’t say you’re “not authorized” to give a discount, they’ll just ask, “Then who is?”

13.  Saying, “No problem” is a problem. It sounds condescending like, “ it’s just you – I’d do the same for my dog.”  “You’re welcome” is the “A” answer.

14.  Don’t walk past a discarded wrapper, used diaper or other leave-behinds of customers. Pick it up and dispose accordingly.

15.  Don’t stand in front of the store looking bored.

16.  If you ask, “Did you find everything OK?” listen to the answer and fix whatever is not right.

17.  Never say, “I don’t know” to any question without following with, “I’ll find out.”

18.  Know before approaching a customer who has been waited on. Do not ask, “Have you been helped yet?” Open your eyes!

19.  Never take a return without asking what went wrong. Obviously, something didn’t work and many times it can be fixed or exchanged without refunding the cash.

20.  Do not have a personal conversation with another employee within earshot of customers.

21.  Do not eat or drink in plain view of customers. That means no food visible on a shelf or the counter either.

22.  Never reek from perfume, cigarettes or body odor.

23.  Do not call a woman “lady,” or refer to two women as “you guys.”

24.  Never acknowledge one customer over and above any other, especially the one in line behind others you do not know. All customers are equal, even if the one at the back of the line is your best, wait until all others have been helped.

25.  Do not gossip about co-workers or customers within earshot of customers. Better yet, don’t gossip.

26.  If there is a service charge, delivery charge or special order charge, alert your customer before you ring them up. It’s not a secret or a trick. Likewise if something can’t be returned for a full refund after the holidays.

27.  Know your products inside and out. If you sell Zoobie plush toys that are also a soft pillow and a comfy blanket, know something about Zoobie plush all-on-one toys.

28.  Do not ignore a customer because they are not your customer. Stop, look, listen, lend a hand.

29.  Do not stand behind someone who is looking at product. Make eye contact and stand next to them or in front.

30.  Never blame the boss, the part-timer, the vendor, the weather or the economy for anything that goes wrong. Just make it right.

31.  If a customer is having trouble making a decision, help out by giving them a choice like, “Do you prefer something lighter or darker?” “Something hot or cold?” Don’t just stand there like a dead fish or walk away like they have swine flu.

32.  If someone wants to know your life story, keep it short.

33.  Don’t tell customers you are out of something before they ask for the missing product.

34.  Do not disappear.

35.  Do not ask, “Do you still need some time?” Shopping is not work — until questions like this are asked.

36.  Never suggest ringing someone up until the customer explicitly asks for it. If they are holding many items, ask, “Would you like me to place these on the counter so you can free your hands?”

37.   Do not stop your exceptional service after the order is rung up. Final impressions are lasting impressions.

38.  Never dismiss or patronize a customer who has a complaint; listen, take it seriously, address it.

39.  If someone is yelling or swearing on a cellphone, politely suggest they go outside.

40.  Never hover long enough to make people feel they are being watched or hurried, especially when they are figuring out what to buy.

41.  Do not show frustration. Your only mission is to serve. Be patient; it’s not easy.

42.  Don’t ask how customers are. You don’t care, they know it.

43.  Don’t ask customers if they have a budget- of course they’ll say cheap-no one willingly says the “sky’s the limit” even if its just for a box of Crayola crayons.

44.  Don’t talk to customers’ backs. Either get in front of them so they know who’s talking to them or shut up.  No customer wants to try to figure out where a phantom voice came from.

45.  Don’t thank customers as they are opening the door to leave if you never spoke to them after they arrived. (See above.)

46.  Don’t hide behind the counter – customers shouldn’t have to come to you, you should go to them.

47.  Don’t stock when any customer is in the store.

48.  If you are in a mall, be prepared to give directions when people ask if you know where they might buy a particular item. No one wants to hear, “I don’t know.” Try.

49.  Don’t call other stores to see how busy they are. No time. No need. Nothing to help you achieve your goal.

50.  Don’t look at your employees as serfs. Chronic short-staffing, distracted, nickel Napoleon managers–make it nearly impossible to give good service. Treat your staff with respect, i.e. how you would like them to treat others. Bring out the best in them.

©Bob Phibbs 2010 All Rights Reserved

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Best-selling author and speaker Bob Phibbs has helped thousands of businesses compete by using his unique sales approach and not discounting. His Book, You Can Compete: Double Sales Without Discounting is the backbone of several companies training programs and teaches his methods for making over a business. Download more free tips at http://www.retaildoc.com/media/free-articles.htm and watch for his new book available in April from Wiley

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