Retail To Don’t List

So Windows 8 launched recently, and with my Samsung laptop doing a bit of “hiccupping” (I am sure there is a better technical term for this), I decided to check it out.  I went to Best Buy.  It is close to the office.  No intention of buying unless otherwise engaged.  I would actually buy…I would.  […]

Managerial Exceptional-ism

So here is another thought on the same line as my last post. What if you are a manager and YOU are just merely good at what you do, not elite?  What a slap in the face, right?   I am positive you look in the mirror and see more than just good.  Sorry, I have […]

Exceptional Realizations or Realized Exceptionalism

Great title, eh?  A little context.  I was speaking with my brother-in-law yesterday (he has been mentioned in my posts on many occasions).  I had asked him about Jack, his son, my nephew.   The discussion centered on soccer or rather how he was doing at soccer.  Jack likes soccer.  My brother said, “He is not […]

A management training discussion

I had a discussion recently.  We all have them.  I love ‘em.  They inform.  They stimulate.  They provoke thought.  We discuss the weather, politics and sports.  We chat about our issues, our kids and our pastimes.  We speak with our peers about our jobs.  I had one of those.  I love what I do and […]

managerial mendacity

The customer is always right…right?  No.  That is not true.  It is a lie.  Here is where we get to go.  This fabled statement is not an entire truth since a customer could absolutely be lying about something to get something else in return.  Maybe something at no cost.  So are they right?  NO.  Stanley […]

Managerial “-isms”

When you become manager, you are typically given a lot of information.  From learning what the process is for staffing or scheduling to what is being measured and tracked to how to deal with customer relations.  There is a lot to know…and do. Having worked with management, with managers and with curriculum development for a […]

Joy: a management imperative

Retail is retail.  It exists when you are there or not.   And when you are there, what makes it a better day?  Is it a big sale?  Is it that everyone actually showed up today?  Is it that a customer did not come in and yell at you?  Is it that it is not the […]

Score, part three

OK, part one dealt with the awareness of the score in retail.  This led us to the next part sharing some of the most common scores in retail.  This one deals with the question I posed and what to do with the score. Perhaps the most important element of our three parts is that the […]

Score, part two

An old saying in retail is…you must sell what you have (a.k.a. sell what you have today).  While that is true, there is a little more than that to consider. Retail is defined by its performance in sales.  It measures this performance in many different ways.  These ways are made up of numbers.  And the […]

Score, part one

When I grew up in Illinois, I played in little league…for a lot of years.  And I excelled in baseball during that time.  I got to be pretty good and played every position.  Pitching was nerve-racking (all I had was a fastball).  Outfield was great, third base was my favorite and catching made me realize […]