Redundancy
Fourteen teenagers and 13 adults carrying 25 buckets, 64 work boots, 128 gloves and a handful of shovels met at the airport for a 12-day mission trip which had been in the works for 5 months. But the trip’s leader was stranded on the side of the road with 200 pounds of cargo, 3 unhappy children, 1 unflappable wife… and 31 passports dutifully turned in to him for safekeeping.
Promise
Do you ever tell Ms. Jones no? Is it a better service to say no than to say yes and fail? What can you do when you can’t do anything? Can you call your competitors to find what she wants? Can you rack your brain and search your racks to find an alternative? Or are you willing to sacrifice your staff and stretch your resources to “try” to leap through Ms. Jones hoops?
New
We’re in the middle of a whole lot of new around our office, and I’m struggling to keep up. It’s all good, don’t get me wrong, but “new” can be stressful, too. In fact, many of the Top 10 most stressful events in life all revolve around something new: being newly single, newly married or newly bereaved; starting a new job; having new children; moving to a new house. Toss in a new economy and a new generation coming of age, and you’ve got one stressed out country.
Give
I struggle with generosity. I’m all about fairness, using an even hand to give each one their due. It’s much harder for me to give (or forgive) when doing so would tip the scales in someone else’s favor, when it will cost me more than I will gain. I tally dollars and cents, hours and minutes, costs and benefits. If I’m on the short side, I squawk!
What is your five year plan?
You are doing way too much in your store right now. It was a fact of life. Jobs and dollars had to be cut to make the business work. As a business owner you took on the brunt of responsibility and ultimately you got tasked with more than you were used to.
Fit
Is there a job title for “Fitting Room Designer”? Does someone actually put one ounce of forethought into this inconspicuous closet, often confused with the adjacent stockroom? Flickering overhead fluorescents highlight every flaw as you bang your elbows on its flimsy walls while trying to shimmy into clothes that probably don’t fit anyway. But this maligned room, an afterthought on most retail floors, is where Ms. Jones makes her purchase decision.
Do not be traditional!
What worked last time or the time before that does not cut it anymore. Ms. Jones has found new ways to shop and find the product she needs. Unless you can fit into the new way she can shop—she is not going to shop from you.
Nice
Have you ever been someplace where everyone was glad to see you? Where people catered to your every whim and met needs you didn’t know you had before you even knew you had them? Where bells tinkled as you walked in the room, where smiles gleamed and faces beamed in radiant joy just to meet you
Find Your Audience
Ms Jones knows the stories you told. She accepted the worldview that you, the marketer, created for her. In an effort to create sales to keep the lights on you probably violated the stories that Ms. Jones had accepted. Cuts in price on items and products that you were carrying probably violated the very fabric of the worldview your retail outlet embodied.
New Economy. Same Hard Work.
Take a deep breath. You are making it. You are cutting back on expenses. You are moving forward with the retail environment that was thrust onto you. You are surviving a business climate that many could not.
Retail is recovering. Ms. Jones is beginning to buy something. Your operating procedures, pricing, marketing strategy, and business have changed. What do you do with it now?
Let’s create something great!
Looking for a company that can help your local furniture store thrive? Just saying hi? Whatever, the reason. Let’s talk about where you are, and where you want to be.
We mean it when we say, “We love it when you succeed.” Our entire business depends on achieving the best possible results with each campaign for every single client.
– The Doran Family
Contact
Corporate Headquarters
8320 Coppertop Lane
Lewis Center, OH 43035
Mailing Address
PO Box 197
Lewis Center, OH 43035
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