FRUITFUL STORESVisit the Best
What is the world’s highest-selling retailer per square foot? If you said Tiffany’s, which does a credible $2,666 per square foot, you would have been right — until recently. Now, it’s Apple, with a whopping $4,032 in sales per square foot. Business author Rick Segel attributes Apple’s success to staff training, customer focus and their “wow stores,” like the huge glass cube on Fifth Avenue that attracts 50,000 shoppers a week. If you’re near a landmark Apple store, drop in to see what else it’s doing right.
PSYCH STRATEGYHold Off on Lunch
You’ve spent the morning on a new marketing plan, settled on a bold new initiative and now it’s time for lunch. In the afternoon you’ll come back and hammer out some detail. Wrong move, says business coach Karen Salmansohn, author of Ballsy. A better strategy is to leave the project at a place where you’re psyched and you’ll be excited to get back into it the next day, she says.
COOL WARMINGGo Green
Global warming is the big story of the moment. Get some local press by becoming the first store in your mall, street or neighborhood to declare that you’re going “carbon neutral.” This obviously takes more than a simple vow, but doing all those environmentally friendly, energy-saving things will pay off in the long run for you, your business and, oh yes, us too.
EXCELLENT EXCUSEHAVE TO RUN
Here’s a fun way to get out of a meeting or social engagement you fear will drag on for hours, eating into your work day. Log on to popularitydialer.com beforehand and set a time for your cell phone to be called. The free service plays a tape that allows you to engage in fake but serious sounding conversation. You can choose the topic: cash-short relative, male/female admirer, work crisis and so on.
OOPS SOLUTIONCreate Evangelists
Most retailers hate dealing with complaints. Rick Skidmore, president of wooden-shutter maker Timberlane, told INC.COM he embraces them. When employees learn that a customer is dissatisfied, the company gets in touch immediately and promises quick resolution of the problem. Skidmore also sends them an “Oops Kit” containing a flashlight and a note that thanks the customer for “shedding light on the mistake.” Such responsiveness has fueled the firm’s rate of referrals, which now account for 25 percent of sales, he says. Such service can turn an unhappy customer into your company’s “biggest evangelist,” Skidmore says.
SNAP DECISIONSGo Digital
If you don’t already own a good SLR digital camera, go out and buy one today, and pick up a macro lens and external flash while you’re at it. Now, when you have a customer who’s in a rush to get back to the office and can’t decide between two pieces, you can say, “I’ll just snap a few photos of both pieces and e-mail them to you later. That way you can decide on your own time which one you want.”
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THAT’S AN ORDERLook Sharp
Sgt. Matt Eversmann took part in one of the U.S. military’s great “no man left behind” stories, leading troops in the Mogadsihu, Somalia, firefight that served as the inspiration for the movie Black Hawk Down. So, what’s his take on leadership? Fearlessness, charisma, self-sacrifice? No, it’s looking sharp, he tells Carmine Gallo, author of 10 Simple Secrets of the World’s Greatest Communicators. To start with, “always dress a little better than everyone else,” he advises, especially your subordinates. “Presence” makes people receptive to the important stuff that follows, he argues.
