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.

See Added Clip at the End 

I was just asked  for some advice on how to deal with two strong salespeople who both are claiming credit for a sale. I dove into the archives and found this blog post. Here it is again: 

Seek Harmony on the Sales Floor and at Home:
Disagreements over little things can become big things if not handled properly and nipped in the bud. Anger is only one letter short of danger. Salespeople squabbling over a sale is one of the worst things that can happen in a store. I advise managers when this happens to just make it a “house sale.” People start working together pretty quickly when neither of them has anything to gain from the argument.
I read an article today offering advice on settling spousal disagreements. Hasn’t everyone had one of those? I found the tips to be just as valid as in the case of salesperson disagreements.
To read the article, CLICK HERE and give it some thought. 

This just added: CLICK HERE: WOW!

“Remember that time IS money.”
-Benjamin Franklin

“We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch.”
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

One thing I believe you will agree with me on is that “time” is one of your most valuable assets. That being the case, it stands to reason that it should be used wisely. I was recently asked how a couple of my more successful clients plan and organize their time. I will have this discussion with them, but in the interim I would like to know what your method is.
Please Comment:

Some people seem to get more done in the same 24 hours that everyone gets. The time goes by whether you are using it wisely or wasting it. Time spent doing something you truly enjoy is never a waste. Perhaps one of the differences between successful people and others is that they enjoy doing the things that lead to their success.

I once read a book entitled “The Game of Work” by Charles Coonradt, and it made a big difference in my own success. “Games” are seldom seen as “work” so making work a “game” makes it easier to do.

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.

Aha! A Salesperson
As a vegetarian I have never been a huge fan of Zippy’s, but they do make a good vegetarian Chili, so I get in there from time to time. Until today I have NEVER been impressed with the service.
As soon as Amy approached our table I knew something was different. She flashed a big smile and spoke to me (in clear English) as though I was a “customer” and not just another person likely to create work for her. I told her that I always get the vegetarian chili and she suggested trying the chili on top of spaghetti. I asked, “So how did Zippy’s ever get a person like you?” She said, “I worked as a salesperson for Gillette for many years, and just decided to simplify my life.” I complimented her on her style and told her that it’s time to move her talents into retail. She took my card. We’ll see.
The point here is that everyone is a customer and customers know good service when they see it. One of my favorite quotes is from J. Paul Getty, who at the time was the richest man in the world. He said, “I start buying when I meet people that are selling.” The chili with spaghetti costs more than the chili alone. Amy made the sale today and because she did Zippy’s will see more revenue now every time I am in there.

I Call Him Smart
I came across this posting from two years ago while browsing through my archives today. Because I have so many new friends and followers I felt compelled to re-post it.

When I watched Ted Turner being interviwed by David Letterman recently, a number of things struck me as quite smart. The smartest of all was when he was questioned about war. I do not recall his exact words, but his basic philosophy is to travel around the world and make friends with people in all countries. He commented that people do not want to kill their freinds, so if presidents would do that there would be no wars. That sounds pretty simple and brilliant to me.

Call Me Ted
In his autobiography, Call Me Ted, he describes what it was like being raised by a drunken father that beat him constantly. In spite of that, he loved his father, was motivated to succeed by him, and was devasted when he shot himself in the head.

Love Lost
In the book he describes how painful it was when Jane Fonda chose to leave him. It takes a lot to make a man like Ted Turner cry, and a big man to admit it publicly.

Always a Winner
An avid sailor, Ted won the America’s Cup at age 39. Later, his Atlanta Braves won the World Series. He is the only person to have won both the American and National Leauge titles.

CNN
He created the first 24-hour news station with CNN. He always saw opportunities where others saw nothing, and he had fun doing it all. His current focus is a promise to “care for Planet Earth”!