The “Why” Of Dress Codes

Ugh. Dress codes. Most people cringe at the thought of someone telling them what to wear. The real world isn’t a private Catholic school, after all. But should the real world and real businesses – namely yours – have dress codes established?

Dress codes have a bad rap, unfortunately. The reality is, however, that dress codes don’t have to be bad. Sometimes a dress code is exactly what a business needs to help establish a brand look. Other times they provide direction for the not so stylish to follow. And often they simply provide a foundation as a list of do’s… not just don’ts. Whatever the reason, dress codes can actually offer a positive addition to various types of businesses. From fashion forward boutiques to trend setting furniture stores to baby focused shops to service focused bizs, dress codes offer direction on how employees should represent the business in which they work for.

If dress codes are something you currently have in place, consider reviewing how your policies are set in place. Are employees told not what to do, or rather do you set the policies with a tone of yes’? Additionally, how do your employees react to the dress code? There are sure to be whispers if things are not to their approval. But better yet – hopefully you have heard first hand their thoughts on your dress code policies.

If dress codes are something you do not have, consider how your business may be responded to differently if they were in place? One example of this may be if you believe the dress of some of your employees does not represent your store environment very well. If their dress was better suited to your business, do you think customers would respond to this employee differently?

It’s important to always respect each person’s unique character, style preferences and budget. Asking employees to buy clothes specific for their work is not always ideal, however sometimes a necessary evil (hopefully discounts can apply here). It’s important to also remember not everyone enjoys getting dressed the way you may, so a dress code could provide them with relief to the question mark of what to wear everyday. Whatever the reasons, simply remember to be fair and aware of what your policies – or lack of them – do for your business, your customer impressions and your overall brand identity.

Employee Reviews & Ways They Can Benefit Your Business

Even without your  own official HR department in place, it’s always a good idea to practice employee reviews. This not only provides the opportunity to strengthen your employees, but it also allows for your business to strengthen, as well.  By taking some time during your employee review to get a “review” of your own, you can learn a lot about your business. Ask your employees questions that will allow you to gain valuable insight to how others view your business and possible ways to improve it.

Some suggested questions to help ignite a review of your business during an employees’ review include:

1. How can we help you become a stronger, more valuable employee?

2. Are there any guidelines we have in place that you think need to be altered? Why?

3. Are there any guidelines we don’t have that you think could help the overall business? Explain.

4. What current trends in the marketplace do you see taking  place that we could leverage off of?

5. Are there any items in the product assortment of the store that you think we are missing?  Why?

6. Are there any items in the product assortment that you think could be eliminated? Why?

7. How do you collectively see the employee working relationships in our company?

8. Can we do anything to help strengthen the overall morale of the company? Explain.

9. If  you could change any two things about our company, what would they be? Why?

10. Do you enjoy working here?

Many of these questions are straight-forward and simple while others may provoke thoughts you might not want to hear. Take all of your employee’s responses into consideration and evaluate what, if anything, you can do to improve your work relationships, company policies and more. By making it a habit to constantly learn from your associates, you can gain tremendous success in your combined efforts to maximize your business.

Dealing With Everyday Stresses

Stress happens. Whether it’s brought on by work or follows us to work, stress lingers among us and influences our actions. As a result, it’s important to identify when we are stressed and how we can deal with it – particularly when we work in environments that are so heavily influenced with consumer interaction. A bad day for you shouldn’t mean a bad day for your customers, so what can you do to help control your stress? There is no sure proof answer here, but below are a few suggestions that have helped others in retail environments while dealing with stress.

Reduce Unneccessary Workload

Need to unpack boxes to fill some empty shelves? This may be a stress reliever and help take your mind off things… or it may cause you to stress even more about  how to merchandise your new product, the mess the boxes are making in your already too tiny backroom and more. When feeling stressed, try and eliminate projects on your to-do list that don’t have to take place right away. Only do what you have to, then take the extra time to engage in work related projects you enjoy more than others. Catching up on your favorite retail trade publication with some coffee, reading your favorite retail blogs online, reviewing products for the seasons to come and even cleaning up your messy desk can all be stress relievers. Respond to what you know is soothing to you and let the stress slip away for awhile. Of course, as soon as a customer walks in the door you should put on your happy face, but until then, try and relax in your more favorite work responsibilities.

Leaning On Others

Sometimes it is just impossible to do it all. As much as we each want to believe we can handle the juggle of work, family and life, sometimes we need to believe that what is best for us is to actually have others help out. This may mean taking a “sick” day and having a trusted employee work for you, assigning work responsibilities to others to help balance your work load or hiring out retail support to help tackle all your retail needs.  Whether you believe it or not, having others help cancontrol the stress on your plate. Of course, this all depends where your stress is coming from but when possible, this is a great way to help control the stress you have. An example may be if you are worried about attending an important trade show and still managing to merchandise the new product that just arrived. Letting someone else merchandise the product may not be your first choice, but it is not as crucial as the products purchased at the show since you can always re-merchandise as necessary. Now throw in picking up the kids from school, attending a friend’s important event or having to speak at your local chamber meeting and the schedule gets even tighter! Pick and choose how you can lean on others to help eliviate the stress in your workload.

Give Yourself Time

Between checking our Blackberrys, catching up on Twitter and updating our Facebook pages, it’s no wonder people are short on time! These are all great tools that benefit many of our businesses in many ways, but they can also clutter your day if not managed effectively. When dealing with stress – no matter what kind of stress it may be – it is always important to know when to “back away” for while. A day or two without Twitter won’t kill you. Let time be your friend versus your enemy here. Lay just a little longer in bed in the morning, enjoy your walk to work without rushing by everyone on the way and try and relax with a few deep breathes throughout the day. If you are like the majority of us nowadays, this is way easier said than done. But just give it a shot and see how the time opens up for you. Let this time be your stress reliever in between all the other things you have to get done. Things will pass, time will move forward and the stress will ease in some way or another… You just need to get through each day.

Finally, be realistic with your expectations, workload and stress management. We all break at different moments and under different levels of stress, so let you be the judge of when enough is enough. But don’t fight it. Deal with it. And by dealing with it, hopefully you won’t break but instead will get through it. Your customers will be glad to have the normal you back!

The Positive Spin For Negative Feedback

If someone is unable to discover on their own through probing and “conversational interviewing” the area of needed improvement, don’t point out what is wrong but rather what can be done to achieve a result that is important or desirable to both parties involved. For example, rather than show someone stressed out at work, Corona© shows us through their advertising campaigns that that if you drink their beer, you will be relaxing on a peaceful beach in the Caribbean. Alcohol advertisers are masters of this type of tactic!

We can all agree that feedback is a necessity in any type of relationship, but the actual giving and receiving of it can be a bit arduous in many aspects. Feedback can take many forms: 360 assessments, conversations with your clients, performance reviews, customer/employee opinion surveys, chatting over dinner with significant others, and check-ins with those reporting to you - to name a few. Positive feedback is fun and easier, so let’s talk about the harder part of feedback: the areas of needed improvement – A.K.A. critical feedback.  Ideally, and if feedback is being given in a face-to-face interaction, with proper probing and reflective listening, the reviewee will discover the areas of needed improvement that need addressing and then resistance is minimized and growth strategies can begin to be developed. However, sometimes the issue needs to be presented by the reviewer as they are the one who has taken the responsibility for the other’s growth (by giving feedback as well as by being their manager). The problem is that many times the reviewer’s critical feedback takes on an air of criticism that leads to excuses, defensive behaviors, frustration and resentment.

A wonderful way to reduce these negative outcomes is to give the “negative” feedback in specific, actionable, positive steps with a positive pairing of what’s in it for the reviewee to begin correcting the needed areas. For example, if  the boss of an employee named Natalie is filling in the comment box on her Annual Performance Appraisal and says something like “Natalie has poor customer service orientation,” she may feel attacked, wary of where the information came from, discouraged and unmotivated.  Now if the same issue is addressed in a manner more along the lines of “If Natalie increased her attention to the needs, wants and behaviors of her customers (specific actionable steps), she would be able to further strengthen her customer relations and  increase her sales and commission earned  (paired with a positive outcome that Natalie and her employer care about),” she is more likely to feel cared about (the reviewer took a few extra seconds to specify what would make her better), empowered, and integral part of the organization (or relationship), and motivated! WIN-WIN!

By choosing words that support your associates, you are choosing to help support your business, as well. Make sure to think, react and manage with a positive spin to eliminate negative work!

The above article was  contributed by Jonathan Eisler, MA, Organizational Consultant at RAJ Associates. While most would say that the reason any company and those that work there exist is to make money (an operations mentality), RAJ Associates believes the reason all businesses SHOULD exist is to acquire new relationships and improve upon the ones that they already have (a marketing mentality).  Our team of Industrial Organizational Psychologists  works collaboratively to deliver high impact training, coaching and professional development  that assists managers in becoming coaches, sales reps becoming consultants and customer service agents becoming client advocates so that adaptive constructive change is inevitable! Get in touch to learn more.  www.jonathaneisler.com, www.rajassoc.com, (312) 943-0479, jonathan@rajassoc.com

Why Email Etiquette Matters

Whether in retail or wholesale, there is no question that you will use email to get much of your business done. However, because many of us are very familiar with email and use it in our everyday lives with little thought to grammar, punctuation, proper language and more, business email etiquette has become a  bit “sloppy” as a result. Recognizing this and reacting to it can impact your business, though, and should be considered in an effort to gain more professional respect, efficient response times in your email communication and much more.

Protecting Yourself And Your Business 

The first thing to recognize is that if you have other people working for you and your business, it’s important that they understand what you expect from them in their email communication. By making your guidelines clear for all employees of your company, you can avoid possible problems, including potential liability issues and even lawsuits. While some of the below points may seem clear to you, it is beneficial to make your points known to all your employees.

1. Avoid any comments or language that are racist, sexist, defamatory, offensive or obscene. This includes forwarding anything that includes these details.

2. Keep your language gender neutral.

3. Do not use email to discuss confidential information, such as social security numbers or personal issues that have been identified as such.

4. Use disclaimers on all emails sent both internally and externally that highlight specifics to your company and protects you from possible problems due to unprofessional emails.

Becoming Efficient Through Your Choice Of Words

Time is of essence to everyone these days, so there is no point in wasting anyone’s time – particucarly in the busy world of retail. The goal should be to get to the point in your email communication. But in doing this, you should be polite and clear through your choice of words. A few tips on how to do this include:

1. Be direct and clear with a polite, respectful tone.

2. Answer any questions that have been directed to you with respect and direct questions you may have in a clear, professional matter. Often people get frustrated when they think their time is being wasted answering what they believe should already be known, so you want to avoid giving the impression of “frustration” or “annoyance” in your emails.

3. Use proper paragraph structures and professional layouts  for your reader to easily read through your email. Avoid one, long email that all blends together.

4. Do not write in all capital letters. This gives the impression you are screaming. In addition, do not write in all lower case letters. This gives the impression you are lazy.

5. Read and edit your email prior to hitting send. It’s amazing what reading it can often point out to you. Take the time to make necessary changes.

6. Avoid abbreviations even if you think they are obvious. What is obvious to you may not be to someone else.

7. Do not request delivery and read receipts. This takes time away from your audience since they likely have to approve this request. In addition, it’s often perceived as annoying and not necessary in most situations.

8. Don’t forget to include a concise, meaningful subject in your subject line. It should identify what the email is about without being too long in length.

Be Professional And Get Treated Professionally

Fingers get pointed whether we like it or not. He said, she  said is unfortunately part of most businesses, so make sure that what he or she is saying about you is not that you are unprofessional. A few additional points can help portray your business as the professional leaders you want to be.

1. Always respond quickly to emails. Don’t let emails sit in your in-box without at least a short, efficient and professional reply to the sender notifying them of when you can get back to them with additional emails. This puts your audience at peace for a bit and allows you to gain professional respect along the way.

2. Do not overuse the high priority option unless you truly, 110% believe your email is of high priority. Late shipments would fall into this category so a retailer could plan accordingly. However, letting your retailers know about a new product would not be considered high priority in regards to email notifications.

3. Don’t let your emotions get in the way of your professional words. Feeling pissed? That’s human. But think about how your emotions may come across in your choice of words in an email that can ultimately result in your business success – or failures.

4. Be careful who you copy (cc) and blind copy (bcc) on your emails. In addition, only hit “Reply All” when necessary and keep those not necessary in the email correspondence off the email thread.

Finally, enforcing an email policy for your business can help ensure professional communication and results. Identifying what is important to your business through a written policy is the best way to do this. Make sure to communicate these details to all necessary employees and have them sign an acknowledgement that they have read and understand it. By enforcing this, you protect yourself and your company. In addition, you gain respect from clients, customers, potential accounts and more! A better possible result? Increased sales! So make sure you are putting in place an email policy today!

Earning Your Employee’s Trust & Respect

The business of retail and wholesale are often 7 day a week jobs. As owners of your businesses, there may even be weeks when 7 days aren’t even enough! If you are fortunate enough to have great help – whether from family, friends or associates – then you are steps ahead of many other small business owners out there who manage to do it all on their own. No matter who is working with you or for you, though, it is important to earn their trust. In doing this, you are also giving respect to your business so that the efforts of your employees are performed to the best of their abilities.

Give Trust To Earn Trust

As business owners or even managers, expectations are set that are expected to be performed accordingly. Any track off course from an employee can cause disappointment, frustration, lack of trust and many other feelings that may result in an employee relationship that is micro-managed from your end. It may not, though, as well. Depending on your management style, you may look at mistakes as an opportunity for growth. On the other hand, depending on what is being done incorrectly, you may feel that it isn’t your job to teach some of the basic retail or wholesale skills in which you are managing. Whatever the case may be, remember to deliver your message of correction or concern to your employees with respect. In addition, make sure to allow your employees the chance to do things a few times before your expectations are set in stone as one way or no way. Your employees need to feel as if you have confidence in them in order for their confidence to grow, typically allowing them to grow in their skill set, performance and dedication as employees of your business, as well. The benefits of this type of trust and respect can lead to stronger sales and better customer service, in addition to a healthier line of communication between you and your employees.

Mending Broken Trust

Not only can you feel like you don’t trust employees, but they can feel like they don’t trust you. Possibly you promised them a weekend off and then “forgot” or added them to the schedule anyway. Maybe you dismissed some of their comments regarding the business and neglected to show you cared in their thoughts or interests. Whatever the case may be, you can earn back the trust you may have lost. Be realistic with the time and sensitivity that this may take, but don’t ignore the opportunity. One way to approach the situation is the be honest and upfront with your employee/s that you want to mend the situation. Tell them what you value in their work and suggest ways that together you can improve your working relationship. Don’t forget to ask them what they are thinking or what their suggestions may be regarding the situation. Showing them that you care will begin the process of earning your trust again.

Gaining Respect

Respect isn’t given easily these days. It’s competitive out there in every way, including earning respect from your own employees. Wearing the hat of the boss doesn’t automatically equal respect from your associates. You need to earn this and you need to respect what this means, as well. Whether you are giving orders or assigning responsibilities, the delivery of your communication is the best way for you to earn, gain and keep respect. You should respect your own associates and speak to them like counterparts rather than less qualified employees. This doesn’t mean you should ignore the necessary explanations that may need to be said, but it does mean you don’t need to speak to your employees as if they are children. Speaking of children – make sure you avoid acting like a child yourself. Never gossip, never lie to and never disrespect anyone you work with – whether within your own company or outside vendors. Your employees  may observe this and make judgement on you as a result.

Finally, follow your gut. Each employee is different and likewise, your leadership in managing them may need to be different, as well. The good old fashioned lesson of kindergarten holds true here, as well, when dealing with employee relations – treat others like you would like to be treated yourself!

When You Have To Say Goodbye

Due to our country’s hard economic times, it is becoming an unfortunate yet popular scenario that small business owners are having to let go of their employees. Below are a few helpful hints gathered after many converstaions with store owners and candid conversations from those let go despite great performances that may guide you in these difficult circumstances.

Saying Goodbye When You Have To But Don’t Want To

Recently I found out that a client of mine let go of most of her retail store associates. I was sad to hear this news, as I knew it meant sales were struggling. I was also sad for my client, as I knew she had become close to most of her employees, thinking of them as friends and collegues rather than just the people that worked for her. Though this can sometimes be a challenge itself when it comes to managing your business, in her case she always seemed to have hard working associates that were polished and professional at all times. So just how did she let her employees go? Here are a few things she did that may help you in your own goodbyes.

1. Try to give fair warning to employees if you foresee a lay off in the near future. Being open and honest about this situation will offer your associates comfort in that you are looking out for their best interest as best you can, even if you can’t secure their job forever.

2. Remind your employees that their work is valuable and appreciated and that although they work hard, the economy (insert whatever your reason may be here) is the culprit and reason for their lay off. While this won’t give them great comfort, it will reassure them that their actions are not to blame.

3. When possible, give your employees fair notice as to when their last day will be so that they can prepare to find a new job. If an interview or new job should come up that conflicts with their work schedule for you, be flexible with them so that they can participate in their necesssary job search.

4. If possible, offer a small monetary package to help them move forward in their life. The reality of this for many business owners is dim, but it’s always something to consider if possible.

5. Assure your employees that they will get outstanding reccomendations if they should use you as a reference. Only mention this to them, of course, if this is in fact the case.

6. When the conversation is ready to take place, try and highlight any positives that may come from the situation. For example, if you have to let go of a working mom, suggest that she may get some unexpected but fun time with her children. If you have a student working for you, suggest that the extra time will allow him or her to participate in activities he or she may have mentioned in the past. Give hope, however, that there will be a new job in their future.

 7. Finally, stay in touch. If you really do care about your employees, let them know even after you have let them go. Follow up with an email or phone call a week or two after their last day just to let them know you are thinking of them. This support will be appreciated.

Have you had to let your employees go when you didn’t want to? What helped you and them get through this or make it easier? Let us know! Please comment below.

Motivating Retail Employees Through Sales Contests

It can often be a challenge to keep retail employees motivated. Between slow days, snow days, and Sundays, working retail can sometimes leave much to be desired. Independent retail owners can often lose their momentum from days like this, not to mention their associates can definitely lose that “go get them” sales attitude. To help motivate your store employees, consider setting sales goals with incentives.

If you don’t already, you should set sales goals for your employees based on the day they are working, special events, previous year’s numbers, and other necessary factors specific to your store. Having these goals outlined and easily available to view offer your associates a sense of responsibility and something to work towards to. By offering sales goals incentives, you are giving your employees a sometimes necessary push to work a bit harder for something other than their paycheck. It provokes friendly competition at the same time.

Sales Contests With Incentives

Rather than just tell your employees to meet a sales goal, give them a reason to meet their sales goals. In a perfect world they would want to do this simply because it is their job, but the reality is it is not always that easy. If you offer your employees a reason to work harder to make their sales goals, you will reap the rewards in your sales numbers while also giving your employees something to get motivated about.

Wheel of Fortune – Rather than using the word fortune, though, insert whatever word makes sense for your business, such as footwear, jewelry, candy, etc. Once you have your contest title in place, simply cut out a cardboard circle and create pie peices on it with a marker. Each pie peice should have a prize listed, such as “additional paid 15 minutes  for lunch break”, “$10 store credit”, “local coffee shop gift card”, or “first choice of May hours”. You should list prizes that are both supportive of your store as well as rewarding to the employees individually. Be creative with what matters to your store associates and make this exciting. Use color and get creative when creating your “Wheel of Fortune”!

Fishing for Fun – Offer your employees the chance to “go fishing” by simply writing down some prizes, folding them up, and put them in a fish bowl. Make a bold, colorful, exciting sign that highlights the sales contests specifics and hang it from a branch (the goal is for it to look like a fishing pole – the real thing works too). Put your prizes in a bowl and let your employees go fishing when the meet their goals! Remember, use prizes that are both supportive to your store and individually rewarding, as well.

Schedule Sweetness – Do you have employees fighting for Sundays off and early shifts? Make your sales contest rewarding by offering some incentives towards your schedule. Be creative as to what will work best for you business. Get your employees excited so that they will work harder to get their Saturdays off! By winning your outlined sales contests, your employees can pick their hours (within guidelines, of course).

Whatever your incentives are, make sure to hype them up and get your team excited! The difference in sitting still or standing up and taking some action to help motivate your team is up to you!

If you have any contest ideas or other sales incentive ideas, let us know! Please comment on this blog. Thanks!

Hiring Emloyees – A Few Things to Consider

Hiring employees can be a very challenging process. There are many things to consider when determining who you want to represent your store, your product, and even yourself. The main reason to understand why these dynamics are so important is because consumers respond to the associates working on the sales floor, therefore influencing consumer purchases.

Think back to a time you walked into a store and were greeted with a friendly smile and an assertive yet not too pushy associate who took the time to engage you in the store product. Now recall an experience when you walked into a store and were not greeted with even a hello and left without being acknowledged at all. Both actions delivered by store employees influenced you in your shopping experience, however only one of these scenarios likely resulted in an unplanned purchase or at least an enjoyable shopping experience.

The goal of your store employees should be to demonstrate knowledge and interest in the product or service they are selling while also communicating in a professional manner. The key here is to remember that your employees are a direct reflection of your store and often, they are what consumers remember more so than the product. This said, in addition to their knowledge and interest of your store product or services, also consider their personality and style. Do they complement your store, as well? They should.

Having the experience or at least the interest in the products being sold is essential. But this will not equal the right sales approach in all employees. Make sure that your employees are aware and well trained in communicating to customers the way in which you want them to. My personal believe is that all new hires should be trained accordingly, as well as reviews / trainings / store meetings should take place on a quarterly or bi-annual basis. Without communicating your expectations of sales to your team, you cannot ensure the best customer service from your associates.

Finally, while it can be tempting to hire friends, family, or just someone who you get along with, make sure their passion towards your store purpose is on track with your own. This will reflect in their sales performance and customer service and ultimately, in your store sales.

Communicating Bad News To Your Employees

Retail morale can be difficult when sales are down, store traffic is slow, and budgets are tight. For some small retail and wholesale business owners, they are being forced to let go of employees they trust and enjoy, but simply can’t afford anymore. For other businesses, they are dealing with stress that is weighing so heavily on them that it is often falling onto the laps of their associates, as well. Whatever your particular bad news scenario is, remember that it is important to communicate these details professionally, reasonably, and nicely to your working team.

How to Communicate Bad News

Have you ever had a friend – or worse, a boss – that gets so heated when discussing bad news that it actually makes the scenario worse than it really is? Often, people abrubtly react to situations without understanding all the details at hand, therefore not sharing the most accurate details possible. Instead, they jump to conclusions, react prematurely, and deliver unnecessary bad news. Others, on the other hand, wait for all the details to be laid out on the table before reacting at all. They take in the details as straight shooters and deliver the bad news just the same.

While both scenarios are common, it’s important to remember a few things when communicating with your employees. If you practice these habits now, it will be easier for you when times are both tough and great.

1. Avoid swear words when communicating professionally. Although this may seem like a no brainer to some of you, I am always surprised at how often I hear “F” this and “S” that when working with professionals. I even hear this in front of their employees. Even if their employees don’t seem to care, it still sets an unprofessional tone.

2. Present important information to your associates at designated times that will not be interrupted by customers or any other distractions. This allows the news to be communicated with complete attention, as well as with respect.

3. When pointing out the bad in something or someone, including work performance or tough retail conditions, always point out a positive to balance the bad news. For example, if you need to tell someone their individual sales are down, you could begin by telling them that they are a great merchandiser/designer/whatever it is they are great at and then tell them that despite this, they need to focus on their weak sales, as well.  Let them hear the positive too, even if brief. If you are telling your associates about poor store sales, for example, you could remind them that although they work hard, it’s not reflective of them (if this is in fact the case). The idea is not to have someone only hear the negative.

4. End all conversations that include bad news with encouragement. Even when firing someone, you should offer hope in that they will find a job they prefer more. It’s as simple as doing one to others as you would do to yourself. Simply put, be nice and be hopeful.

5. Remember the other side of this conversation. Be willing and patient in listening to your employees. It’s important that they can communicate with you as their manager and it’s also important that you give them this respect.

While it’s never easy to deliver bad news, it’s a little easier when considering the steps above. If you have any advice on how to communicate in tough times, please share your thoughts with Retail Minded at nicole@retailminded.com.