I got a call the other day from a retail colleague of mine I haven't spoken to in a long time. We talked about family and mutual friends, and then the conversation turned to work. He said that his business is off from last year and immediately launched into an economic dissertation worthy of the front page of The Wall Street Journal.
He started with "the recession that started a heck of a lot earlier than the feds want to admit." From there it was the collapse of the housing market, the rising price of gasoline, spiraling food costs, tightening credit, and consumer confidence. I think he eventually even tied in Paris Hilton but I'm not sure because by then he had lost me.
When he was done ranting I asked, "But aren't those just distractions? A lot of stores are hitting their goals."
And off he went again. This time he told me about all the challenges he faces as a result of the above. His payroll was cut, his marketing budget is down, his inventory has been reduced and his travel budget was cut, which he doesn't seem to really mind since it means he is home more.
To which I replied, "But those are just reactions to the distractions. What are you doing to help your stores achieve their DAILY goal?" There was a long pause on the phone, and then he said, "Probably not as much as I should be doing."
My old colleague is an excellent motivator. He's wonderful with people, he's a great coach, and people love working for him. But he's gotten so caught up in the distractions and the reactions he can't control that he hasn't been doing the things that will enable his stores to succeed.
I reminded him that he could have a great year by just having a successful day. Today. That's all it takes. One day. If he can lead his stores to hit today's goal in spite of the distractions and reactions then he is on his way.
I told him to forget everything he just ranted about. I jokingly suggested that he clearly needs to spend less time online or watching the news. What he needs to do is figure out what actions he and his managers can take to achieve today's goal.
The actions he needs to take today are no different than last year or even five years ago. Be a great leader. He needs to encourage and motivate his team, set high expectations, coach them to achieve those expectations, and take action if someone is falling short. How he does those things might be different than before, but the actions are the same. Because he manages managers he also needs to make sure this is happening in every one of his stores.
It was a great call for both of us. I was energized by the conversation and you could hear the difference in my colleague's voice. He seemed excited to get off the phone and do what he can to make today's goal.
Of one thing I am absolutely certain. If we set aside distractions and reactions and focus on the right actions, we'll receive the satisfaction of hitting the one goal that's most important. TODAY'S.
So regardless of your position, what actions are YOU taking to achieve today's goal?
I was so encouraged by this blog post and hopes every retailer finds this post! I am a blogger too, on the gift and home channel - http://www.giftandhomechannel.com/blog/user/TKcouture/ and I am constantly trying to find information on how to compete with the big boxes, how to avoid the recession gloom and this post was so inspirational to me. I particularly enjoyed the line - "I reminded him that he could have a great year by just having a successful day. Today. That's all it takes. One day."
So thank you for the positive light in this otherwise dim time for retailers. Onward and upward!
Posted by: Toni | April 23, 2008 at 12:52 PM
What a terrific post - thank you!! What you say is SO true; if we're not careful the doom & gloom that we are bombarded with becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Obviously we need to be smart about how we run our businesses during these challenging times, but if we sit and whine and moan about how bad things are the next thing you know they WILL be bad!
Posted by: Metro Home Style | May 28, 2008 at 04:03 PM