Right Action + Extreme Focus = Desired Results

I spent most of Monday talking with retailers around the country to get a better feel for this past weekend and what it means for our clients and newsletter readers.

There's no doubt that the biggest difference we'll see this year versus last is a more cautious middle-income consumer.  They want to - and probably need to - stretch their dollars this year.  One retail executive I spoke to on Monday told me that in all his years being in stores on Black Friday he's never heard so many customers ask about what's on sale.

If you're a specialty retailer and you came anywhere close to your last year's Black Friday weekend numbers I consider that pretty darn good. I'd take it and move forward after the craziness of those "Midnight specials" and the "4:00 a.m. Doorbusters" from the discount retailers. Most of you can't and shouldn't compete with those Black Friday specials.  What you are competing for is those dollars the customer is going to spend going forward.  They're going to be cautious. They want value.  But most of all, they want to feel good about their purchase.

I firmly believe that most of your customers want to shop in a specialty store this season.  While your customers are also going to shop online or in a discount store, they still want to - and will - shop with you. Over 90% of all U.S. consumers are still shopping for the holidays!  And they still have a lot more to do.  The key to making this holiday a successful one is to execute when they come into your store.

So unless you're exclusively serving a high-income customer, chances are you need to have some good values in your store(s).  Beyond that, what's most important is that the staff knows and executes the critical actions for your business to succeed.  The days of just ringing sales is gone, or at the very least gone until the economy starts heating up again.

So let me ask, what are the three to five actions your employees must take with every single customer?  You have to be able to answer that or there's no way you are going to maximize your customer opportunities.

I'm not talking just about greeting customers, although that might be the first action on the list.  I'm talking about the actions they need to take to create a sale.  It might be getting a product into a customer's hands or on their feet.  It might be to say "when" not "if."  It could be saying "let me show you this" instead of asking "is there anything else?"

Actions alone aren't enough, though.  You and your staff need to stay extremely focused this year.  In one store I visited yesterday the staff was so busy stocking the store and straightening up that they totally ignored me.  I wanted to shout, "People! You can't afford to miss me.  Focus on the customer!"

My greatest concern for this holiday is the challenges that regional and independent retailers may have.  I am positive that retailers like the one above will not make their sales numbers.

No actions + No focus = Poor results

So what's your actions? Even more important, does your team know and do it?

I recommend you spend the next few days with your staff sharpening their ability to execute right actions with extreme focus so you can achieve your desired results.