Success in the ultra-competitive marketplace is fraught with challenges. Margins are small, costs are high, online multinationals are predatory, good people are difficult to find and retain, and even one ill-timed unreasonable customer experience can derail your plans for driving your business on any given day.
Success, the ability to adapt, to innovate, to manage risk, and to grow is very achievable; however, to succeed you should consider and plan for the following.
What makes you special? What are your competitive advantages? The fundamental question all merchants should ask constantly is, why would customers or clients choose you over your competitors. To succeed you, your organization, and your customers need to know and value your competitive advantages. Every action your organization provides should deliver value to those people you wish to attract.
Do you prioritize? As a merchant, I am well aware of the distractions, tangents, and interruptions that can occur each day. To succeed, you and your organization must prioritize all of the goals, targets, and plans and avoid as many “rabbit holes” as possible. Using tools such as a simple “Kanban” board can make the difference between losing control and driving your organization. Additionally, beware key people can fall victim to tangents that sidetrack your people or short-term goals and tasks.
Are you able to respond quickly and effectively when needed? As important as your ability to prioritize, your ability to be nimble and effective is key. For example, the lifeblood of a retail business is driving traffic, not only for immediate sales but also to “keep the machine” fueled. You may have salespeople, office people, and delivery people; all of whom must be kept busy, successful merchants appreciate plans may need to be altered when traffic is too little or too much.
Know your competition. Nothing in our marketplaces remains static. To compete you and your people must be aware of what your competitors do well, what are their weaknesses, and how to successfully overcome what they do. Use your people to “shop the competition,” review advertisements, and listen to your customers.
Every one of your people must try to provide an exceptional customer service experience to every person who visits your location, calls your organization, or visits your website – every time. From your salespeople to your office people to your service and delivery staff, everyone must believe in the importance of this simple statement. All of your systems, processes, and training must reflect and execute this goal.
Are your prices competitive and does your pricing have integrity? Even the best sales organization in the world cannot succeed if your pricing is not competitive. You and your organization need to be vigilant to be competitive. Equally important is to have integrity and transparency when you have a sale. Far too many merchants play with their pricing so that their sales really benefit the merchant but don’t necessarily benefit their customers.
As an owner, manager, or leader, do you constantly build loyalty, morale, and staff retention? People want to be treated with respect and dignity, they want to be treated fairly, they want to trust and be trusted, they want feedback and/or encouragement, and they want to be rewarded for their efforts. Building you and your people is a mindset that is 24/7/365, your people are looking for you to lead and develop them and their skills.
Are your systems and processes written, communicated, available, regularly checked, and updated? It is almost impossible to effectively accomplish what this post strives to deliver if your systems and processes are not documented. Not only should they be documented, but they should be the result of collaboration, review, and fine-tuning, not only by your people but by the feedback from your customers. Someone in your organization should always be looking at your organization from a customer lens so you don’t accidentally impose rules and guidelines that make your customers go elsewhere.
Do you have “people-centric” recruitment and onboarding processes? Finding and keeping new people is the key to your future. Too many organizations do not devote the necessary resources to finding the right person, interviewing, hiring, and training and then complain when they are unable to keep the good people they find. Having the right trainers and supporting new people is worth the extra cost.
Do you provide the necessary tools for people to do their jobs? Often not enough thought is given to this topic by leaders. Tools can include everything from current software versions of Excel, PowerPoint, and Word to current online tools such as Zoom and Teams. Additionally, mundane things such as office supplies, photocopies, and tools to open and build items for customers.
Do you automatically say “NO” without giving consideration to suggestions and new ideas? To empower and grow your people, giving simple consideration to new ideas does not cost you much. It is difficult enough to get people to tell you what they are thinking without you squashing their input callously.
Do you hold people accountable? Do you really? Using accountability isn’t always negative, accountability can include following up and being interested in the outcome of an idea new policy, or product. Simply making a decision and expecting it to be executed is a recipe for failure and is very common among merchants.
Do you have to be the smartest person in the room? If you are smart, the answer to this question will be “no.” As the owner, manager, or leader of any organization, you should always be aware of finding and retaining people who may be smarter and more capable than yourself. Empowering these people will help your organization grow past the point that you can “push” it. Additionally, always be conscious that you have blind spots, having people who will make you aware of them will only help your organization.
Do you have good meetings? Meetings should have a purpose, they should be interactive, they should provide value for the attendees, and they should only be as long as absolutely necessary. Have an agenda that is released before the meeting and expect people to be prepared and on time. Avoid those “rabbit holes” that derail too many meetings leaving the original agenda in tatters. Additionally, ensure your meetings are connected to the previous and the next ones, and use recaps and summaries to keep your purposes focused.
Do you say thank you at least twenty-five times a day? A simple tool, but one that is often overlooked by busy managers and owners. Count the number of times you thank your people daily; you may be surprised at how little you use this appreciation tool.
Do you have a personal development plan for your people? John F. Kennedy once said, “A rising tide raises all boats,” and this applies to having a collaborative plan to improve the skills, experiences, perspectives, and attitudes of your people. Trade specific learning is important, as is First Aid Training, Mental Health First Aid, and even supporting your people to volunteer in your community will help grow them as well.
Do you maximize the resources provided by your suppliers? In my retail sector, many of our suppliers offer free “online” training and information seminars, what do your suppliers offer? Learn about them and use them to make you and your people better.
Do you do what you say you are going to do? Perhaps the most important element of building trust is to be trustworthy yourself.
Do you provide meaningful feedback? I once worked for more than twenty years for an organization and only had four reviews. Telling your people, through your managers, how they are doing, how they can improve, listening to their concerns, and discussing “them” and their place in your organization is a hallmark of success in great organizations. If you are not doing so yet, start now, it’s that important.
Are your short/medium/long-term goals compatible, clearly defined, consistent, and within a 25-degree arc? The enemy of “getting things accomplished” is having too many and too divergent goals and tasks. No one can do everything and a key element of prioritizing is making decisions about what, where, and when you want to accomplish. Keeping your short/medium/and long-term goals aligned with a certain amount of leeway to a great way to do what you want done. Using a tool such as a “Kanban” chart again can be very useful.
Do you have a risk, innovation, and failure strategy? Every day you and your people make decisions, take risks, innovate, and fail. Having a plan to mitigate risks will help your organization innovate. Appreciating most new ideas will not be perfect on the first attempt, i.e. what happens when things fail, and supporting those people will ultimately make your organization stronger.
Do you have an effective change management strategy and appreciate that change is not a once-and-done process? Successful organizations do not simply happen. The process of building a strong organizational culture that supports growth and development is hard work and having an “evolving change management” plan will help guide you and your people through changing attitudes, skills, and performance.
Do you share your organization’s accomplishments? At every stage of its development, your organization will have success stories. Ensure that you share these successes with your people and as appropriate with your customers. Build your people’s confidence in theirs and your ability to accomplish the tasks and goals you both establish.
Expect ingratitude and try not to internalize. Expecting not to be appreciated is not cynical, it is just an unfortunate reality many days. As a manager or owner, you live and breathe your organization; for many of your people, their lives are just as demanding and you and your efforts, while appreciated may not be directly acknowledged by them. It’s not personal but segueing on that thought is the skill of not internalizing negative comments from staff or customers. When a customer or person is upset, often they will lash out verbally; you are the target because of what you represent, not who you are. Remember this and it will help you defuse and handle the person better.
This has been a short introduction to a path for building your and your organization’s success. When faced with competition, challenges, and unexpected obstacles, your best allies are your people and the systems and processes you put into practice daily. These have worked for me; I hope they will work for you.
Good luck,
Paul