Customer Service

When we look at the statement "customer service" and it's use over the last ten years, it doesn't look good, in fact it stinks. Companies who have used "customer service" to their benefit are better placed today to survive, while companies who viewed acceptable customer service as a spotty sixteen year old part-timer are wondering where all the customers are.

Retailing jobs have been devalued over the years into a temporary position on the way to another "better" position. However through out all the recessions, retailing is the one industry that emerges stronger and better able to adapt. The company that offers a true and effective level of customer service as a standard throughout its history will be better able to retain customers and compete with their competitors.

Hard to achieve, yes! harder for large organisations where the ideal is watered down by the time it reaches the front line. A quality manager who views his store as his "business" will actively promote customer service as it reflects on him how the store is perceived. However a "quality" manager will also cost, are you prepared to pay for this and then pro actively manage it so as the promised returns are achieved?

A very thin line between Operations manager, Area manager and Store manager must be achieved so as the Store manager perceives that he is part of the business and his opinions counts, you need a thick skinned area manager to achieve this and an Operations manager that is questioned on performance daily by the CEO. Remember the front line pay the back line.

Year end!

It strikes me as we near the end of 2008, that the capacity of events to surprise us is diminishing fast. Can this be a good thing? If you look back at the events both good and bad over the last year each of the main events would stand out on their own as a major news event. However because there have been so many major news events we are now sensitised to the breaking news and are not all standing around in front of the TV set saying " imagine that, it's unbelievable".

I ask the question again, is this a good place for the world to be in? What can happen that will truly surprise us, shake us up, put us into action? For myself I look back to the tsunami off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.This happened in 2004 and resulted in the lifeforce of 225,000 people being wiped out in hours. This resulting loss of humanity, the largest single loss in terms of hours that the current population has seen. The resulting shock wave of anguish never materialised and set forth the view that we are immune to large news events.

This would suggest that a nuclear incident in a large city would not have us in too large of a panic, in other words after the first 24 hour news cycle we will have started to move onto the next event. So large or small, the effect of news to impact on our lives diminishes in direct proportion to the more outlandish the news becomes. Again the question, is this a good thing?

Happy new year to all, we as humans can only be positive and look after each other.

Flapping in panic

The world at a cross roads and a new President elect collide, the resulting supernova will be a birth or a death pain. The possibilities are now endless with all cards on the table, a serious of moves and solution's will now be pushed through many governments, given a mixed bag of results.

The fact that the way forward is uncharted, but still must be governed by rules, does not inspire a level of confidence. For those now in there mid forty's, when you look back to your younger years, the possibility then that the people in government new what they were doing gave a small comfort. These people were for the most part over forty themselves, now those who find that they are in there forty's are for the most part the people in government. This again as you look around your office at the buffoons employed their, does not instil a level of confidence that the situation will be remedied any time soon.

The current crop of forty somethings are those in charge and this is there time, from now on they will steadily become older than the next crop of forty somethings that will come into governments and therefore will start to lose the small grip they have on decisions being made that can effect them and there welfare. This will be a crucial time and the future will now more than ever reflect the decisions being made today in your name.

So while today's forty somethings can have an impact on decisions, it is time to get involved, time to monitor and protest decisions. Time to make a decision to engage with the political process and to leave a small legacy to how you will be treated and looked after in years to come. 20 years from now upon retirement age, do you want your pension plan to have dropped 30% and counting?

Day 93 of the recession

It is now possible to have any toxic debt you may posses bought by the US government to leave yourself free to enjoy your life style and like Catholic confession absolve yourself from any blame or guilt you might entertain, if you are a large bank that is. Wouldn't that be a nice position for any mere mortal who strives to fulfil all their obligations to their family's, co-workers, employers, governments. That our only requirement at the end of the day is to pay all our bills not amount debt that could sink a battleship and have some cash left over for an illicit drug (alcohol works for me).
It seems to me that GWB top 1% of tax payers has once again received a get out of jail card. Thanks to all the other 99% of GWB taxpayers who now have to foot this bill and live in an altered banking universe, where mortgages that seemed reasonable are now prohibitive, your job may be outsourced, your mortgage outsourced, your war outsourced hell even your government may be outsourced...

It is quite possible that when the dust settles and people are better able to understand the effects of all the turmoil, that we will have an era of a shrinking marketplace, with less cash to spend and less jobs to earn it from.

Day 3 of the recession

Dinned last night in a family restaurant around 6.30pm to 8pm, Wednesday night cold and windy, the place was packed. We need to be careful folks that we do not convince ourselves that we are in recession. The building and house business have gone into freefall, just an adjustment, but the fundamentals are strong, Let us not panic but continue to shop in a circumspect manor. Indication are that June has been a better month than May and hopefully the Summer sales will carry forward consumer confidence. August and September will be quiet, I am prediction a good Christmas. People will be so tired of restraint by then that they will give it one last fling.

Marketing & Footfall

Footfall & Marketing are so intractably linked that the two should always be referred to whenever you are producing a report. Footfall is the lifeblood of retail and Marketing drives footfall. Nothing in terms of marketing is too small, everything has some effect. It is important that you have some system of recording footfall, even if it is a basic beam system. With new technology available, the camera system which can distinguish between groups of people and count them separately is a relatively cheap piece of equipment. It should be on the agenda of every centre manager, large shop manager etc.

When referring to footfall during an event it is also important to give alternative information, such as past counts, weather for the event and past events, other events on at the same time and any other pertinent information. This will help contextualise your information. Don't be afraid of Marketing, encourage individual retailers to carry out there own, instigate marketing opportunity's in the area and with the local community. Involve your retail outlet.

Wobbley Moment

When you have been working on an idea and have developed it as far as a presentation to all and the day is looming for that presentation. It is never good when someone loses there nerve and feels compromised by your presentation. When this someone wants to cancel and regroup, to make a new presentation that they may have more control over or are afraid of the response to the presentation. It will take some skill on your part to walk all the relevant party's through the mess and finally get to the presentation. Of course you have to believe that you are right, even if the other party has panicked. You need to talk them through calmly what is going to happen what your expectations are what you envisage the result to be. Say to them that we have to follow through not in a bull headed way "by god Jim we are heading this way..." but in a reasoned, calm, thoughtful confident approach. Be aware of your own ability to deliver the presentation, practice, practice. Be aware and prepare for awkward questions. Use the stock answer "I'll get back to you on that...". You are in control and sometimes we do have to go forward even if it is a 50/50 chance that the whole thing could backfire.

If you find that it didn't go as expected use the line "sure the questions were aggressive but all in all they were positive because they were asking how we would move forward.....". Think it through, walk everybody towards the light and deliver. You may just come out as the saviour and that has got to be worth it.