Retail Contrarian

Are You Measuring the Other Foot?

A few months ago I was leading a workshop for a group of independent shoe retailers.  We were listing what they do in their stores to differentiate themselves from their competition. We listed some of the standards like greet and give good customer service. We even had a couple of store owners report that they send out thank you cards. Yes, that brought a smile to my face.

We were almost done with the list when Bill Beck raised his hand and said, "We always measure the other foot."  Not being a shoe guy I wasn't sure exactly what he was talking about.  Bill went on to explain that in almost all shoe stores the sales people only measure the right foot, but since not everyone's feet are the same size that often results in a poor fit. Bill said his family's stores always measure both feet not only to make the proper fit but to clearly demonstrate their expertise compared to their competitors.

I figure Bill knows what he's talking about because he grew up in the shoe business. Bill's father Ole started a shoe repair shop in 1919 that branched into selling shoes. Bill started working there at an early age and eventually took over the business with his two brothers.  In 1959 Bill opened his first shoe store and the rest, as they say, is history. Beck's Shoes now has eight stores in the Bay area operated by Bill's son Blain and many more Beck family members. (Here's a good story about the Becks)

A few weeks after that event I found myself shopping for some shoes at our local mall. And sure enough, nobody measured the other foot.  Most of the salespeople didn't even bother to measure one foot but just asked me my size.  I had learned from Bill that even though people may know the size they've been buying that doesn't mean it's the right size.  As I went from store to store I kept thinking to myself, "You're clearly not an expert because you're not measuring the other foot. You, sir, are no Bill Beck!"

Every specialty retailer should "measure the other foot," In other words, engage the customer in a manner that positions you and your staff as experts or delivers a higher level of service, both of which will differentiate them from the competition.  One of the most successful examples of this is Apple's genius bar. Before Apple, "service" was a hidden away cost center.  Now it's a profit center that's showcased.

Years ago at Bose, our way to measure the other foot was to draw out a customer's room and show them where to properly place their products.  With today's technology I suspect that's probably way too low tech.  Nowadays it probably requires a tablet PC and custom CAD software.

Here are three essentials to differentiating a store with a key building block of the customer experience:

1. It should be visibly occurring with every customer. Bill didn't say that they put the customer in the correct shoe or helped customers make fashion decisions; he said they always measured the left foot.  It could just as easily be that they shake every customer's hand or goose every customer on the way out.   (Although I don't recommend that last one.  Not all differentiation is good.) 

2. It should position your store as one staffed by experts or as a great place to shop. A cellular phone store could show every customer how to set up their new phone or they could instead choose to give every customer a bottle of water, since these are appropriate expert or experience positioning.  But if they decided to call every customer "Bubba" it would not be likely to differentiate the store in a good way

3. It needs be done by every employee and to happen with almost every customer.  I'm sure that at Beck's Shoes they don't insist that a customer get his feet measured before buying a pair of socks but they do insist that every customer buying a pair of shoes have both feet measured. The bottom line is that to effectively differentiate a store with an engagement element it must be consistently executed, not just be aspirational.

So let me ask, how do you "measure the other foot" in your store(s) and do you and your team execute it with practically every customer?

By the way, I ended up buying shoes at a local shoe store where the salesman did indeed measure the other foot.

My Summer Reading List

A member of my mentor program asked me the other day what I choose for my summer reading.  It's a good question because I think reading and learning is indispensable for a successful retailer.  Stimulating your mind is essential to stimulating ideas.  So here's what I'm reading this summer.

Every day I read a large number of blogs which I'll post in my next posting. I try to not miss the daily online edition of The Wall Street Journal. I've said this here many times; I firmly believe that every retailer should read the "Marketplace" section of the Journal to see what's happening in industries besides our own.

I subscribe to Time, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, and Fast Company.  Magazines are great when I travel, so if I'm off the road for a bit I do get behind in reading them.

Now for my summer books.  I've shared before that I often read multiple books at once. Call it retail ADS I guess.  The downside is that it can take me a while to get through a book. The upside is I'm reading and learning in multiple areas.

So here what's on my desk, nightstand, and in my pool and computer bags.

1. The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, by Joseph Michelli.  I've gotten to know Joseph from work we've done with the National Association of College Stores.  Joseph is brilliant, funny, and writes a great book.  I've just started into this one and have already learned a lot. 

The five leadership principles are:

1) Define and Refine

2) Empower through Trust

3) It's Not about You

4) Deliver WOW

5) Leaving a Lasting Footprint

The chapter on remaining relevant to customers should be required reading for all retailers. I'll share more thoughts and lessons from the book after I finish it.  I can tell you already that you should buy this book, read it and use it.

I'm also reading

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, by Chip and Dan Heath.

Sam's Teach Yourself Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 in 24 Hours. (I have colleagues who tell me I should outsource this part of my business, but I have to confess that it's one of my favorite things to do.  It's more hobby than work.)

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, by Jeffrey Toobin. (I don't read much fiction so I read this kind of book for fun. So far it's pretty good.)

Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back, by Frank Schaeffer. (Very interesting book.)

So let me ask, is there anything you're reading that you would recommend? More important, are you reading enough to stay fresh and on top of your game?

The Butcher's Rule and Avoiding Sticker Shock

A client asked me the following question, which I think is worth a posting.

Our stores have been using your Butcher's Rule; that is, showing our best product line first.  One of our associates wonders if this is really a good idea.  When we do this with a customer who may not be familiar with our brand, won't he/she immediately go into sticker shock and subsequently not really listen when we show other products lines or great offers that are significantly lower-priced than our best product line?

I can certainly appreciate not wanting to give a customer such major sticker shock you lose a potential sale.  While this can sometimes happen when applying the Butcher's Rule, it can be avoided by properly qualifying the customer and identifying his/her needs.

First, let's review the Butcher Rule. The Butcher Rule is to always show the best product that meets the customer's needs. When you walk up to a butcher counter and ask the butcher what's good he will never reply, "The ground turkey is awesome today."  Instead, he will tell you about the filet mignon or prime rib.  Of course, if a customer is looking for chicken he wouldn't suggest a filet since that would not meet his/her needs. But the butcher might recommend the free-range chicken that listened to opera instead of the chicken that was penned up and didn't get to enjoy any tunes before meeting her demise.

The key to applying the Butcher Rule in a way that maximizes your customer opportunities and ensures you're delivering a service is to make sure you ask the right questions and then use that information to recommend the best product for that customer.

Say you run a store that sells nothing but wallets. You carry wallets from $5 to $5,000.  If a customer comes in and is looking for a wallet you wouldn't show her the $5,000 wallet first thing. Talk about sticker shock!

Instead, you want to discover what kind of wallet she currently has and what else she has owned.  You also want to know if she is looking for something casual or something for a special occasion. You want to know if there are any particular brands and styles she likes and appreciates.

Based on her answer you might show your customer a wallet in the $400 range. If she asks, "What else do you have?" take one step down.  As a result, your customer might leave your store very happy with her new $300 wallet.

Chances are, if you had started with the $5 wallet your customer would have walked away empty-handed.  She might not have sticker shock but she might have salesperson-missing-the-boat shock.  Not understanding a customer's needs and showing too inexpensive a product can be just as off-putting as showing the most expensive.

As experts, it's our role to match each customer with the right products.  The only way to do that is to know as much as possible about both the customer and the product.  I believe most customers get sticker shock because the salesperson didn't learn enough about them. 

So let me ask, are you showing the best products that meet your customer's needs?  As Sam the Butcher says, "Never suggest hamburger to a customer who wants or needs a steak." 

Your Signature Dish

One of our favorite restaurants is Hamersley's Bistro, located in the South End neighborhood of Boston.  It's a beautiful, inviting space that combines France and New England, with wooden ceiling beams salvaged from a Connecticut barn and French tapestry florals.  The open kitchen - one of Boston's first - creates a lively and fun touch.  Chef Gordon Hamersley is known for straightforward dishes that creatively use seasonal and local ingredients.

Every time we dine at Hamersley's my wife studies the menu intently.  Recently the menu has included such tempting dishes as Spicy Halibut and Clam Roast with Bacon Braised Greens or Vermont Quail with Black Mission Figs and Grilled Napa Cabbage.  With so many wonderful dishes to choose from she inevitably orders the same thing every time - Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon and Parsley.

What's so special about roast chicken?  Trust me; this is no ordinary roast chicken. Boston magazine recently wrote that on any given night 20 to 30 percent of the dinner orders are for this chicken.  It's a signature dish that has defined Hamersley's since the restaurant opened in 1987.  Ask anyone who has ever dined at Hamersley's what you should order and you can be almost assured the answer will be roast chicken.

To be a successful specialty retailer we too need to have a "signature dish."  Something we're known for and a reason our customers recommend us to friends and family.  Our "signature dish" can often be a product or a selection of products, much like a restaurant becomes known for a particular dish.  Unfortunately that is getting harder and harder today due to Internet shopping as well as the willingness of many manufacturers to sell to big-box retailers.

For most specialty retailers the best "signature dish" is the customer's in-store experience.  Like a good recipe, an in-store experience is a balance of the best ingredients mixed together for something special and memorable.  For most specialty retailers it's a blend of the right products, smart merchandising, and a heavy dose of friendly, engaging, and knowledgeable salespeople.  The right mix of ingredients, well-executed, will create that signature in-store experience.

Creating a signature in-store experience takes a lot of vision and an incredible commitment from the owners, executives, managers, and staff.  Delivering the "dish" day in and day out is a challenge.  The reward of doing so is a more loyal customer and less pressure on margins than experienced by retailers who don't stand out from the crowd.

Boston Market sells a roasted chicken dinner for $6.99.  Hamersley's roast chicken goes for $26. One is selling a commodity, the other a signature dish.  You could say that they aren't targeting the same customer.  On the other hand, they're both selling chicken.  You have the same choice in your store.  Either create a signature in-store experience or compete against others as a commodity.  One option is easier - but the other is a lot more profitable.

So let me ask, have you defined your signature dish and do you execute it daily?

The BIG 5-0 50 Things I've Learned

I can hardly believe that last week I hit the big 5-0 on July 11th. Yes, I am officially eligible to be a card-carrying member of AARP.

It seems like just last week I got my first job in retail at the ripe young age of 16.  It seems like just last week that I opened my store in Florida.  It seems like just last week I met my wife in Boston.  It seems like just last week I went to work for Bose in their new Retail Direct Group.  It seems just like just last week that I adopted my daughter Kate, and then my daughter Jane. It seems just like just last week that I started Dynamic Experiences Group.

Then again, it seems just like last week I was 49. Oh wait, I was.

Overall, it has been a very good life. That's not to say I haven't had some challenging moments in my life but those times enable me to appreciate even more the wonderful people and opportunities that have come into my life.  I'm a lucky guy.

So in honor of hitting the big 5-0, here is a list of 50 things I've learned so far.  Some are about retail, some are about family, but all of them are about living life to it's fullest.

1. It's easier to give advice than take it.  Usually the advice I give is also meant for me.

2. Having the answer isn't nearly as important as asking good questions.

3. Jobs, places, and things come and go.  It's the people we meet that make life special.

4. It's my actions that define who I am, not who I say I am.

5. Learning to start my day over was one of the best things I ever learned.

6. Humility is the greatest trait I can have as a leader, partner, husband, friend, and father.

7. One of the worst things that can happen to me is to have no hope or dreams.

8. The next worst is to not act on those hopes and dreams.

9. The only person who can decide if I'm having a good day or bad day is me.

10. The more teachable I am the more I know. The more I know the more I can help others. The more I help others the better my life is, and that's why I remain teachable.

11. Work hard when it's time to work. Play hard when it's time to play.  If you play when you're supposed to be working you'll have to work when you're supposed to be playing - and that is a bummer.

12. When you're a manager people have to do what you want them to do. When you're a leader people want to do what you'd like them to do.

13. Everyone makes mistakes but not everyone learns from them. The difference has a huge impact on the ability to have a happy and productive life. 

14. The only person or thing that can hold me back is me.

15. We all need mentors in life.  Do you have one?  More important, are you one?

16. Your children won't remember much of what you said while they were growing up but they'll always remember how you said it.  The same advice applies to people who work for you.

17. To be a good parent and a good manager I need to set high but appropriate expectations.  It's even more important to hold the children or the employees accountable for meeting those expectations.

18. Most people are inherently good.  I can't let the few who aren't impact how I feel and act towards the others.

19. Take care of your employees and they'll take care of the customers. Take care of the customers and they'll take care of the business.

20. In the same respect, neither your employees nor your customers will know you care unless you tell them.  Tell them.  Often.

21. You can't ask people to give service with a smile unless you've given them something to simile about.

22. Every retailer must have an objective way to measure the customer experience, because it is nearly impossible for him/her to be objective about it.

23. Always do what's best for the customer  - unless you no longer want that customer.

24. Human beings are all fallible.  That's why it is a manager's job to adhere to all loss prevention policies and procedures to keep the honest employees honest.  The dishonest will eventually get caught. Some of my saddest times at work were terminating good people who made a bad choice.

25. Every time I'm told by a retailer "we have no competition" I always think "and you're delusional."

26. Criticizing someone you don't know and who has no impact on your life is a total waste of energy.  Criticizing someone you know is a waste of good karma.

27. Innovation is important to most retailers' success only if it is built on a bedrock of a commitment to customers and employees.

28. I make an effort to learn something every single day.  I know that combining the experience of the past with the knowledge gained today creates success.

29. Failing is important because if I never fail I'm not trying enough new things.

30. Failing is acceptable as long as it isn't from a lack of effort.

31. Don't miss the moment.  As my wife says, keep your head where your feet are.

32. I once took a client only because I needed the business. Never again. Now I only take a client if I know they are likely to benefit from our working together.

33. Specialty retail is more about relationships than selling products.

34. Accept or change anything in your life that causes you problems or concerns but don't waste energy complaining about it.

35. The greatest gift you can give someone you don't know is a smile.

36. Ask for help when you need it.  Offer to help when you don't.

37 Surround yourself with positive people who love life and love you. Don't listen to people who don't share the same values you do.

38. Never regret the past.  Use it today to create a better tomorrow.

39. Don't underestimate the potential benefits of giving your employees a greater say in how your stores are run.

40. Prioritize your day and always put the customer first.

41. Whatever your title, if you're in a leadership role you always go first.

42. Passion trumps knowledge and skill.  Never try to cover the lack of knowledge and skill with passion.

43. Never shy away from a difficult conversation with an employee, friend, or family member.  You'll both be the better for it.

44. Be happy for others.  Don't compare their lives to yours, identify with what they do or have done so you can do the same.

45. Always say, "thank you," "please," and "you're welcome."  Expect the same from your staff and your children.

46. Sometimes bad things happen.  It's one thing to be a victim; it's another to stay one.

47. No matter the cause, if I'm bent out of shape about something the problem is always within me.  If I don't believe that I'm giving others the power to control me.

48. If you don't take the time to enjoy the rewards of your hard work, why work hard?

49. In my 20's I thought I knew everything.  In my 30's I learned that I didn't.  In my 40's I learned that I knew even less.  Now that I'm 50 I'm looking forward to learning even more from others.

50 Love and value your friends and family. You never know when your time together will end.

51. Always go above and beyond for your customers, your staff, and your family.

I spent my birthday on the beach at Martha's Vineyard.  As I was looking out over the ocean and contemplate turning 50, I cranked up Jimmy Buffet's Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes and heard him sing these words,

Oh, yesterday's over my shoulder
So I can't look back for too long
There's just too much to see waiting in front of me
And I know that I just can't go wrong

With these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of my running and all of my cunning
If I couldn't laugh I just would go insane
If we couldn't laugh we just would go insane
If we weren't all crazy we would go insane

Clearly Jimmy is singing about us retailers!

- Doug

A Mental Health Alert from the Retail Disease Control

I was trying to get some work done today when I realized that I have come down with the malady Early Summer Doldrums.  Early Summer Doldrums, also known as ESD, runs rampant in retail stores in mid-July.

We all seem to get it to one degree or another.  The weather is beautiful, the ride to work is too short and we wish we were anywhere but at work.  Our thoughts turn to upcoming or just completed vacations, cookouts, and other non-store activities.  Of course the challenge is that those daydreams occur when we need to focus on work and customers.

Here are the five actions that managers and owners that can take to help treat Early Summer Doldrums. 

1. Let people leave early if you have enough staffing.  Getting out of work an hour or two early is great medicine for ESD.  Being able to leave even fifteen minutes early can cure ESD until at least the next shift.  The best part of letting someone go home early is that it also treats WSPM, an owner/manager condition known as Waning Summer Profit Margins.

2. Create fun contests and make sure the prizes include summer activities.  A two-week sales or UPT contest with the winner or winners getting tickets to a baseball game or a concert is a great way to keep the staff engaged and focused on achieving desired results..

3. Leverage your schedule.  One of the best ways to overcome ESD is to let those who are affected get some extra time away from the store. Stack someone's days off together so they get some extra time away or encourage someone to use a vacation day to extend their time away.  Be as generous as possible with weekend days off WITHOUT compromising the customer experience. 

4. Get the store into summer mode. Unless you're a high-end retailer I think most customers are okay with a store staff wearing more casual clothes in the summer.  As a matter of fact, the Center for Retail Disease Control has been able to trace back ESD pandemics to excessive unseasonable wearing of neckties and pantyhose.

5. Treat the malady with fun.  Get someone to cook out some burgers and dogs and bring them in to the store on Saturday.  Create Saturday theme days and hand out cold lemonade while summer music is playing.

Here are some tips to turn ESD into ESSB - Early Summer Sales Boost

6. Talk to customers about their summer vacation plans.  Talking about upcoming vacations is a great way to snap out of ESD.  By talking about vacations with your customers you also are able to explore how your products can enhance their vacation.  It also puts people in a more relaxed mood and we know the more relaxed your customer is the more likely he/she is to make a purchase.

7. Plan a staff summer outing or cook-out that may or may not include the staff's family.  A staff outing or a cook-out is a great way to get your staff out of the store and build a stronger team.  Summer is a great time to relax and hang out outside the store.  The stronger your team the more likely you are to achieve your sales goals.

8. Create summer-themed customer events.  There's no need to wait for holidays to throw a fun event, every day can be a holiday in the summer!  This works especially well in mall stores where customers walk in and out of boring stores that are infected with EDS.  What can you regularly do that will have your customers leaving your store carrying their purchases and talking about how much fun it was to shop in your store?

9. Make sure managers are immunized against EDS.  EDS is easily transmitted but studies have shown that when managers and owners are carriers the disease is passed on faster and with greater consequences.  Managers can avoid EDS and stop it's transmission in the store by staying focused on engaging the staff, keeping them focused on customers, and continuing to improve their staff's skills and performance.

Not only is ESD treatable, but the treatment can actually increase your sales and profits.

Retail Rumble Strips

I was driving down the highway when the car slowly drifted to the right and onto the rumble strips. As I corrected my line, my daughter Jane asked what the loud sound was.  I told her that they are rumble strips along the side of road that warn a driver he needs to steer his car back into the lane.  She asked, "So we almost ran off the road?" I assured her that we had not and that all was fine.

A few minutes later I ran onto the rumble strips again and once again corrected my line. From the backseat Jane said, "Dad. You started to run off the road again."  I said that wasn't the case but that I had just drifted over a bit.  Jane responded, "So the rumble strips had a false alarm?"  I told her no, the car actually has to run onto the strips to make the sound and vibration.  And like any smart kid she asked once more, "So you were running off the road?"  What could I say?  I was busted.

For the rest of the trip home I paid attention to my driving and avoided any more rumble strips. The more I thought about it the more I realized that Jane was on to something.  The rumble strips had indeed alerted me to a problem but I hadn't seen it that way because I could easily explain it away.

The same thing happens in our stores. We have "rumble strips" that can, if we choose to heed the warning, alert us to steer away from a potential problem. Take for example a store or employee's average daily sale (ADS).  If a store's ADS has been trending down for the last two months a manager or owner might be blame it on current economic conditions. They might be right. They might not. But it's a warning and only by taking time to analyze it will they be sure.

And even being able to explain something away doesn't mean it isn't a problem.  If I hadn't taken corrective action after running on the rumble strips I would have indeed run off the road, to certainly dire consequences.

As we finish the first half of 2008 I encourage you to review all of your potential rumble strips. First and foremost are your store metrics. Take a hard look at sales against goal and LY, UPTs, average sale, store traffic, sales per payroll hour, etc. What is that information telling you?

Other rumble strips include staff morale and turnover, customer experience scores, mystery shops, customer feedback, store standards, and even the freshness of the inventory.

Are you speeding down the highway or are you getting noise and vibration?  And if you are, don't try to explain it away but make the effort to determine what corrective action you need to take - and then do it.

As my daughter pointed out, drifting is just another way to say you're running off the road. Here's to speeding down that open road!

The Tune-Up

In late April I went to start my lawnmower for the first time this year.  I pulled and pulled and finally it started.  Not only did the engine start, but it started smoking, sputtering, and sounded as bad as I would if I had just woken up from a long winter's rest.

I immediately shut it down to analyze the problem.  Here's how I analyze problems with machinery and electronics:

1) It's broken. I may not be the most mechanically inclined person but I know the engine shouldn't smoke and vibrate. 

2) It's time to buy a new lawnmower. It may not be efficient but that's how my mind works. When something mechanical doesn't work my first thought is that I need to replace it.

The phone rang as I was looking at newspaper flyers to determine which mower to buy.  It was a friend of mine, asking what I was doing that afternoon.  When I told him he said, "You know, the mower probably just needs a tune-up.  Replace the oil and spark plug and I bet she'll be as good as new."  I replied that the mower had given off so much smoke and vibrated so much that he couldn't possibly be correct.

One quart of oil, one spark plug and $5.23 later, my lawnmower is running like a dream. My friend was right.  I didn't need a new lawnmower, I just needed to give the one I have a good tune-up.

The same holds true for most stores. When some part of business is falling short of our expectation we sometimes think that it's "broken" when in reality it just needs a tune-up.

Here's an example of a business that only seemed to be broken beyond repair:

While reviewing a store's marketing history we learned that the owner had been advertising in the local newspaper for years with some success. Over the previous year very few customers, if any, had mentioned the ad so the retailer quit advertising in the paper.  When I asked her, the owner couldn't say why the advertising had become ineffective. I asked if she had spoken to other businesses that advertised in the paper about their results. No, she hadn't.  Had she asked her customers if they still read the paper?  No, she hadn't. Had she asked the paper about their circulation numbers?  No, she hadn't.  I then asked to see the last few years' worth of ads.  She didn't have a whole lot but what she did have showed that she had shrunk the ad's size and moved from a promotional message to a more institutional message.  It was now obvious that the newspaper strategy wasn't broken but that her approach needed a tune-up.  It also wasn't surprising that her store sales had fallen off over the last year.

The area that most often needs a tune-up is staff execution.  I've seen stores that think they have store traffic problems or that a product lines is off because competitors are stealing that part of the business but in reality the staff's selling skills need a tune-up. 

So let me ask, is there anything in your business or store that's in need of a tune-up?

Creating an Extremely Successful Fourth of July Weekend

The upcoming Fourth of July weekend can bring a nice sales boost for most retailers. (Non-US retailers can use this for any of their upcoming holidays as well.)  It can be even more productive for retailers who remain focused on turning every customer into a buyer.  Owners and managers can make that happen with a little bit of planning and a whole lot of leadership.

Here are eight steps that will help you create an extremely successful Fourth of July weekend.

1) Set daily goals for Thursday through Sunday. You want them to be stretch goals but they need to be achievable.  Some managers don't include Thursday, which is a mistake since it can be a good sales day - if you plan on it being one. Lots of people are out shopping before heading out for the big weekend. Don't miss these sales!

2) Next, determine the three to five product categories or promotions that are most important to your store exceeding goal. Of course you want to sell as much of everything as you can but knowing what products and promotions offer the most opportunity is important to maximize the store traffic.

Example: Sammy's Shoe Store is looking to have a big weekend. For them to exceed their goal they will need to have strong Croc sales, a good showing in ladies summer shoes, and they hope to do well with the current New Balance promotion. (Shoe retailers reading this will know I'm making this up but play along.)

3) Determine any new pricing or offers that aren't already in place. Most company stores will skip this step as will retailers who already have done their holiday weekend planning.  It's a good idea for all stores to review the pricing or promotions, though, since you are sometimes able to spot an opportunity that you hadn't previously planned on.

Example: Sammy's Shoe already has the New Balance promo in place as well as some other aggressive promotion.  One thing they have decided to add is a free Croc charm with every purchase this weekend.

4) Next, identify three to five actions the staff can take that will leverage the key product categories and promotions. Really think this part through. It might be to tell every customer something, show every customer something, ask every customer something, sell every customer something, etc. You get the point.

Example: At Sammy's, they have determined that since the 4th is the start of the their summer season they want to make every Croc sale a multi-unit sale. They want to make sure every Croc customer is shown at least two new styles/colors and that everyone is told about the Croc charm promotion.  They are also going to show every woman looking at summer shoes two additional styles.  And last but not least, they want to make sure that every customer looking at New Balance shoes is aware of the weekend pricing.

5) Now it is time to brand the weekend. That's right, we're going to name the weekend. It's fun, it gives people something to rally around, and will be an element used in the next step.  The name can be something as simple as "The Amazing Fourth of July Weekend," more specific, like "20% Up or Bust," or targeted based on the key products and promos.

Example: Sammy's could call it "A Croc of a Weekend" but instead decides to focus on selling shoes in pairs.  Sammy will be rolling out "Pairs for Squares" to align with the contest he's put together.

6) Contest time. Every store that wants to see a sales boost on Fourth of July weekend should put together a contest. Not only will it help drive sales but it makes work a lot more fun for the staff. This is important since some of them might be missing out on holiday weekend activities with family and friends. It also makes sure we're rewarding for right behaviors.

Base the contest on the opportunities you identified in steps three and five. Make it fun and build it on the branding of the weekend. Give out one or two nice prizes as well as a bunch of smaller ones so everyone wins.

Example: At Sammy's they are going to do a few things in the Pairs for Squares contest. First thing Sammy did is post a goal board with fifty squares numbered 1-50 in the backroom.  Every time an employee makes a sale that includes two pairs of shoe the employee can put their name in a box.  If the sale includes three pairs of shoes they get two boxes, etc.

At the end of the weekend they will draw numbers out of a box and give prizes to the person with that particular box.  Sammy's big prize is an iPod and he's also giving away some gift cards and some shoes. If all the boxes haven't been filled in Sammy will keep drawing until someone wins.

At the same time Sammy got his New Balance rep to contribute a prize for a separate contest. The person who sells the highest volume of New Balance shoes over the four days will win their choice of any two pairs of shoes.

7) Kickoff the weekend every day. That's right, every day. On Thursday morning and every time a person comes to work throughout the day the manager/owner will make sure they know the theme, daily goals, the keys to achieve the goals, and the contest itself.

The manager/owner needs to meet with the employees every single day of the weekend to share the day's goal, how the store is doing against goal for the weekend, remind them of the contest, and any other important information.  Don't skip this one because it's so important to creating an extremely successful holiday weekend.

8) Lead the team. Talk up the contest.  Praise people for doing well.  Feed them donuts! That is what we do in retail, right?  Have a potluck lunch on Friday.  Do whatever it takes to make the weekend sales happen.

And there you go: eight steps to an extremely successful holiday weekend. So what are you waiting for? Good luck and have fun.

Have a Happy Fourth!