J.D. Associates Retail POS Solutions Blog

Driving Sales

  

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Today's blog post comes to us by way of Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor. And yes, you CAN believe every word Mr. Phibbs says. He'll be the keynote at our event on October 12th in Leominster, MA:  You Can Compete! I'll be blogging about it in coming weeks.

There's really only one way to make money in business and it isn't busting your suppliers over COGs on a monthly basis or your latest coupon promotion. No the only way to make money is drive profitable sales. Without that, none of your percentages of COGs, labor, rent, etc. make any sense.

But it can be tough when you have purchased or built a beautiful car but don't sit in the driver's seat.

Anything but the driver's seat limits your ability to see the whole picture and limits your effectiveness. This short article will help you decide where you are in your car and where you want to be to drive sales.

When you are in the driver's seat you:

• Are actively participating in and driving sales.
• Are setting a path to where the business is going.
• Know how to care for the inside with employees and on the outside with customers.
• Adjust to changing conditions.
• Scan the horizon looking for opportunities and dangers.
• Pay attention to everything on the road and in the car.
• Take care of the car, regular tune-ups, checking the tires, etc.
• Acknowledge, "It's my fault if we crash or don't make it on time."

• Are passively watching the world go by; has very little to do with the business' success.
• Are not participating in the day-to-day of sales.
• Are coming and going as you please.
• May think you are helping with directions but may not know how to read the map.
• Are not interested in the car, but what's outside so you comment on the road signs, (competitors down the block, the economy, politics, etc.)
• Don't notice the pothole in the road – only that the driver swerved to miss it –and spilled your drink.
• Take care of the car, regular tune-ups, checking the tires, etc.
• Will say, "If we crash, it wasn't my fault."

• Issue a lot of instructions, give a lot of advice, offer no end of criticism.
• Don't do a bit of the hard work.
• Second-guess most everything the driver (or your manager/ partner) does.
• Are often scared at what the driver is doing, especially since the backseat driver may not know how to drive.
• Are stuck in a car that you once liked but instead of acknowledging to not ride any longer, make everyone else in the vehicle's life miserable.
• Have "a better way," not necessarily based on anything other than their opinion.
• Are unable to see the big picture
• As you crash say, "I should have stepped in long ago and put my foot down. No one can do anything as well as I can."

1. Free and easy person lovin' life. If there's money left over at the end of the month you're successful!
2. No way to even hear the conversations in the car, much less pay attention to any of it.

To read the rest of this article and find out Bob Phibbs' "7 Ways to Jump Into the Driver's Seat," subscribe to our monthly Retail Source newsletter and you'll read it in the August 19th issue.

Researching retail point of sale software? Call Debra @ 978-840-2096 x 242 and talk aobut the right retail technology for your business.