With Valentine’s Day a mere three weeks away I was reminded of this posting from a few years ago and decided to bring it back up. That’s a biggie for retailers and like most gift giving times customers tend to procrastinate until the last minute, and then have to scramble to get that special gift. Help your customers beat the rush by planning ahead and doing their Valentine’s Day shopping early, and with you.

Dig Into It
Too many retailers are content to make a sale and then forget that customer. Others capture e-mail addresses and then do nothing with them. I see people standing in stores today complaing about traffic when they have hundreds of thousands of customer names in their data bank.
Now more than ever is the time to reach out to past customers and let them know that you appreciate their business. Invite themm to your store to see what’s new, or just to see you. I know one retailer that sends e-mail to his client list every now and then offering special deals to them alone. He has after hours events by invitation only, warehouse sales to see new merchandise before it hits the floor, special deals on close-out mechandise, gifts with purchase, drawings for vacations and much more, all promoted via e-mail, which as you know is free.

Celebrate Buying Occassions
Make a list of the times in the year that people buy gifts for others. There’s bithdays, anniversaries, graduations, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, Valentines Day, and of course Christmas. See how many of these important dates you can tie to your best customers. Get involved, help them with these buying obligations. Get busy talking to your past customers and you won’t have time to whine about traffic today.

Great Lesson Here
I read a very interesting story today about the manager in a jewelry store who asked this question of his salespeople. After hearing some real big numbers, one salesperson said, “My best sale was for $49.00.” What?
He went on to say, “One day a lady came into the store and, after a lot of serious deliberation, bought a necklace for $49.00, and financed it. She was so pleased with that necklace. She obviously showed it to everyone she could because over a period of several weeks, one person after another came into the store and made purchases of their own, and each time telling me this customer had sent them. One lady who came in spent over $5,000 could not say enough about the good friend who had sent her to the store.”
He continued, “The lady who made the original $49.00 purchase came into the store every week and made a payment on her necklace. On the day she made the final payment, she looked around for quite some time and, once again, after some obvious inner debate, she bought a bracelet, this time spending $145.00. She hasn’t spent even $200.00 in our store, but she has sent customers in to see me personally who have purchased merchandise totaling over $10,000. That $49.00 sale was absolutely my best sale so far in my career! I’d love to have more of those.”

My Comment:
Never “look down” on a small sale; you never know where it will lead. When you place the best effort in the interest of your cutomer, your reward will surely come, sometimes from where you least expect it.

Hooked!!!
I am certain there are bigger Apple fans than I am, but I’d bet that most of them are more knowledgeable about the technology than I am. Once I got my first iPhone I was hooked on the brand.

Aiport Extreme
Today I have the latest iPhone4 as well as the new MacBook Air and Airport Extreme sending WIFI throughout the house.

Recently I bought the new $149 Beatles package, and am loving it. The documentaries are fabulous and there are songs in there that I have never heard before.

Airport Express
My latest Apple “discovery” was the Airport Express where I was told that I could stream my iTunes and Pandora music wirelessly from my computer or iPhone through my Bose stereo system throughout the house for a mere $99.
I went to the Waikiki Apple store and asked one of the “experts” to tell me all about it and what I needed to make this magic happen. He said that since I already have the Extreme, that all I need is the Express hardware and a cable. I asked about installation and he said, “Just plug it in and go.” I repeated, “That’s all?” he nodded and said, “Yep, that’s all.” I handed him my VISA card and said, “Sold!”

“#!~&*!”
I rushed home and enthusiastically opened up the two boxes, plugged it in, and NOTHING! All I saw was a blinking yellow light on the Express. I tried again and again; NOTHING!!!
So I packed it all up and decided to return it to Apple Waikiki. However, I found myself in Ala Moana that same day with a few minutes to spare, so I strolled into the Apple store and asked a different “expert” what I was doing wrong. That’s when I learned that there is an extensive “one time only configuration process” I need to do so that the Express will be recognized by the Extreme. He showed me the process and I screamed, “Over my head.” He suggested I sign up for Apple Care; Tech Support Hot Line and they will walk me though it over the phone. Cost; $250.
Instead, I contacted my personal geek and he informed me further that all I could stream is what I have on my iTunes, not Pandora. However there is a software called Airfoil that I can download, and it will allow me to play anything. He sent me a link to that software saying, “I suggest you do it.” I emailed back saying, “You get over here and do it.” he said, “Sure thing.”

Worth It All
One of my all time favorite Einstein quotes is, “I’m no smarter than anyone else, I just stick with the problem longer.” Now that’s pretty smart!

Beautiful, Eh?
Actually when it rains for more than a few hours in Hawaii havoc is created. Traffic is jammed, potholes open up, streets get flood, power goes out, and people freak out.
That’s been the case here for the past two days, and right in the heat of the Christmas Shopping fever. I went to Ala Moana Mall this morning and found more than half of the retail stores without power and many with closed signs in the window. Understandable; right?

Not if you are Apple
Of all the stores you would think need power to function, one would be a computer store, right? When I saw Apple blacked out, I thought they were closed, but when I went to look, I found their employees outside, cheerfully greeting customers and letting them know that they are open for business, taking orders and making appointments. I was impressed.
One of my favorite sayings is, “One who wants to finds a way, one who doesn’t finds an excuse.” Apple found a way while many wallowed in their excuse.

By Curtis Wilson Cost

This is a re-print of a memo that Curtis Cost sent to his staff:

Many years ago, I had a tennis-lesson-from-hell at the Maui Country Club. Steve, the club pro, came up to the edge of the net and asked me to hit the one stroke I was absolutely certain I could return successfully within his reach every single time. He would hit it back to me and we would count how many hits we could accumulate before missing a ball. He fed me a ball and we started rallying and reached 10 or 15 before I missed one. Steve re-approached the net and said again, “Hit the one ball you know you can hit each and every time.”
The next rally got to 30 or so before I missed another. Steve once again approached the net but this time he raised his voice. “Hit the one ball YOU KNOW you can get back safely!” His tone was a little unnerving and I started to wonder what gave him the right to speak to me like that. After all, I was his client, not his subordinate. Our next rally got to about 35 hits before I hit another a little out of his reach. All of a sudden, Steve threw down his racket and marched up to the net and yelled at me. “CURTIS, HIT THE ONE YOU KNOW YOU CAN HIT BACK SAFELY EVERY SINGLE TIME!”

I stood there completely aghast as he walked back to pick up his racket. He turned and calmly fed me another ball. I was beside myself. I could not believe the nerve of this guy. I decided that I would report his abuse to the club’s board of directors. When the ball reached me I hit it so focused on not missing another one that I hit a safe little dink, just to make sure it went back to him. I did this again and again, focusing and concentrating on my footwork, bending my knees, stepping through the ball making absolutely sure I got it back to him. We reached well over a hundred hits. At that point Steve grabbed the ball out of the air. “Exactly! That is exactly what I’m after. That focused little dink you’re hitting is the one I’m looking for. You need to be aware that you possess it. That’s the shot you need to rely on. It’s the absolute minimum and essential shot that will get you out of trouble.”

I walked away intent upon reporting him to the club officials. He had clearly crossed the line. On the other hand I DID learn what he meant for me to learn. There is a place to go to, mentally, which has a different focus. I didn’t know that I possessed a shot which I can hit every time if I focused and concentrated on removing all the unnecessary variables. I would not have found it if Steve hadn’t taken it to such extremes. In my quiver of tennis strokes, this is the one on which my game is now based.

My motive in telling this story has to do with The Boss goals in the Morning Report. When you set your Boss goals, you need to use the same strategy.

The Boss is an instrument to HELP you, not demoralize you. If it is demoralizing you, the goals are not set right. Set your goal at something you KNOW you can daily attain. It’s okay for it to be low, but it MUST BE REACHED EVERY SINGLE MONTH. Remember, it’s an average. You might make up a few bad days with one good day. But it is vital that you commit to a number and maintain it.

It’s also equally important to use the diagnostics Ron Martin provides to improve your performance to higher levels, such as the Sales City Express.

Everything yields to focused concentration and attainable goals. It’s a proven system you can rely on. The charts are illuminating if you use them, but they must be used to do any good.

Ask others for tips and advice. Make Pro-active, No-Pressure Selling the focus of your time at work. Read a chapter in the book before starting each shift. Rehearse the steps with every customer.
Set reasonable and reachable goals and commit to them.
-Curtis

Who Gets the Money?
A recent debate on this subject has caused me to dredge up this blog posting from the archives.  

Question: Should salespeople be on individual commission or work as one team?
Answer: My answer to this one varies depending upon the nature of the store or business. Generally speaking when only one person is involved in the sale, an individual commission makes sense. When other team members are required to complete the sale then a team based compensation makes more sense.

“Can’t We Just Get Along?”
Question: How do you best solve disagreements between salespeople as to whose sale it was?
Answer: When two (or more) salespeople are arguing over a sale and I am asked who is right, I say, “You are both wrong. The commission on any one sale is never more important than your relationship with each other. I wasn’t there, get together and work it out, and then tell me what you have decided is fair.”

Then What?
Question: So what’s the solution when they cannot come to a decision?
Answer: It’s Easy; Make it a “House Sale.”

Teams Work
Question: Why does teamwork work?
Answer: It’s Easy; Unless you are a “One Man Band” you can get much better results by working together towards a common goal. Regardless how your compensation program is structured, emphasizing and rewarding teamwork as a part of it will go a long way. We can help you with that on the Morning Report. If you do not get this tool in your store, give me a call. It’s a “team builder” like no other.

Looking Back
The parking lot at Ala Moana Shopping Center looks like the 4th of July at dawn this time every year. Some stores are actually opening at midnight. Most of Ala Moana will open at 6 AM. Last year I made a YouTube movie of the action at Ala Moana. To see it just CLICK HERE:
I won’t be making one this year because I have an early morning meeting at Kahala Mall and they don’t allow any picture taking in there. HUH?
We were supposedly was in the heart of a recession this time last year, but you wouldn’t know it from that video. Everything I hear about 2010 is that it will be much better than in past years. I refused to buy into the negative projections heard at that time, and continue to see ample evidence that all is well when you are doing what works.
I wish everyone a super successful holiday season starting today; “Green Friday.”

Shoplifting Season
Yes, this is not only the season for shopping, but also the season where the most shopLIFTING is done as well. Salespeople are busy, stores are crowded, security is occupied and the professional shoplifters are having a hay day.
Of all the deterrents to shoplifting, the most effective is an aware, alert salesperson. Ironically the best thing you can do to prevent theft is the same thing you do to sell.

Greet Everyone
As difficult as it may be at times, make it a point to greet every customer. Shoplifters are immediately discouraged once recognized. When they feel they are being watched and can be identified, they move on to another store hoping to find someone less proactive.

Here Today; Gone Tomorrow
It seems like only yesterday that I read Jim Collin’s book GOOD TO GREAT. He followed companies from 1965 to 1995, and made a list of those which had gone from “good” to “great” in that time. They were:

Abbot Laboratories
Circuit City
Fannie Mae
Gillette
Kimberly-Clark
Kroger
Nucor
Philip Morris
Pitney Bowes
Walgreens
Wells Fargo

A look at that list 14 years later shows some big changes. 

Like This One
Circuit City apparently found reverse gear somewhere along the way. CNN just announced that Circuit City’s will close 567 U.S. stores employing 34,000 employees. They plan to launch a liquidation sale immediately and run it through March 31, providing they get court approval. They will shut down their website and call center on January, 18. I found it odd that they plan to continue to operate their Canadian operations, which employ 3,000 workers.
The most significant comment in the article (to me) was citing a decision to “get rid of salespeople” as one of the reasons for their downfall. My thought was, “Duh!” This is what happens when the importance of good salespeople is underestimated. We certainly saw that during the demise of CompUSA here in Honolulu. The person who is face-to-face with the customer is the most important person in the company.

I was asked today to do a blog post on setting and hitting goals. Rather than re-invent the wheel, I am reprinting this one from a couploe of years ago. I like it and hope that you do as well. 

Set It - Hit It!
Setting a goal is the first step towards achieving it. To reach a yearly goal, start by breaking it down into manageable monthly goals, and then track your progress. Easy? Not for everyone. Some of the biggest mistakes take place somewhere in the goal setting/achieving process.
Here are some tips to remember, and pitfalls to avoid when setting goals.

Why a Goal:
A goal to a business, or person is like the rudder on a ship. Imagine a ship without one. People who know where they are going are more likely to get there. Goals tell people what they can do. Goals provide direction and motivation. There are two kinds of people and businesses; those who get what they want, and those who take what they get. Guess which one does the best. Getting what you want begins with identifying it.

How To Set The Goal:
Setting the right goal can be the right piece in your success plan. The two biggest mistakes people make are setting their goals too high, or too low. Too high demoralizes everyone early on, while too low pacifies everyone at the offset. The proper goal will cause your people to produce more than they would otherwise, and to be better than they might have otherwise been.

Formulas
Many times, companies set goals by simply following a strict formula based purely on last year’s results, like “Last year plus 5%.” Easy; right? Wrong! The problem with this practice is that last year may have included some unexpected windfall or disaster that is not likely to repeat this year. You should “consider” last year’s sales, but also look for any and all extenuating circumstances that might be different this year, and take them into consideration as well.

Get a Grip on the Results
It would be an ideal world if all you had to do was to set the goal, and all of your employees would embrace it, and then attack it with a vengeance. All too often the goal is “handed off” to someone who sets it aside while sweeping the floor, and forgets to pick it up later, or something like that.

Nail it Down
Managers and owners determine the degree of importance that their employees place on achieving the goal. Your employees can tell how serious you are, by how you deliver the goal, and how often you check-up on the progress towards achieving it.

“Yeah, Yeah.”
It’s a bit like getting your kid to complete some project that you have given to him or her. The child may wonder, “Does she really mean it, or is it like that other thing that she asked me to do, and then never mentioned again?” When you are serious about the goal, it will be very obvious. How? Because you are constantly talking about it.

Feedback
Every day you are reminding your salespeople where your store’s sales are as a % to their goal, and whether they are on track to hit it or not. When the store is on track, you are all “high fives,” but the minute it falls behind, your eyebrows furrow, and you start looking for why. You have a reputation for not accepting excuses like, “It’s slow…” or “We are out of this or that.” You took everything into consideration when you set the goal. You cannot have your employees critiquing the goal that you set three weeks ago. You want your employees focused on how to hit today’s portion of that goal, before today gets away, that’s all!

It’s Urgent
One good way to maintain a sense of urgency to hit the goal is to pretend that today was the last day of the month, and then act accordingly. It’s easy. Just take your monthly goal minus the amount already sold this month, then divide that number by the number of days left in the month. That becomes your “Magic Number.” Start with that number at the beginning of the day, and then count it down to zero as you make sales.

Count Down!
Countdown with the attitude that; I’m not going home until I hit it. Do that today, and you will exceed your daily “Magic Number,” do that every day, and your monthly goal becomes a “So What?” You’ll be so far over your goal by the end of the month, that you will enjoy the finish, and go well over your goal. Sound idealistic? It is, but it also works, and It’s Easy!

Click Here to download a copy of our Success Dynamics Countdown Sheet. While in the site, you will find many other tools and suggestions on successful goal setting and achievement.

Incentives:
Everyone filters all requests through WIIFM. (What’s In It For Me?) Once business owners and managers realize that, they tend to think differently when structuring special incentives for a specific task to be completed, like hitting a goal. Incentives do not have to be monetary, although those seem to be ones that work the best.

Get More Than Expected
We find that when businesses offer some % of all sales over the goal to all of those who contribute to hitting the goal, that magic happens. We see a level of teamwork that before was just lip service. When people have a common goal, and work in harmony towards it, they hit it. It’s not Rocket Science. It Works!

Keep Score and Keep Smiling
How exciting would any sporting event be without the goal to attain, and a score sheet of some kind to keep an eye on it? You may wonder why we compare sports to selling. It’s because both can be very challenging, and when you are keeping score the challenge becomes fun rather than work.
Enjoy Success. It’s your right.