The Profitable Retailer: 56 surprisingly simple and effective lessons to boost your sales and profits - Softcover

Doug Fleener

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1933631260 ISBN 13: 9781933631264

Publisher: Acanthus Publishing, 2005

Synopsis

Earn more. Learn More. It’s that Easy. Attention retailers: Are you feeling a bit overworked and thinking you’re not nearly as profitable compared to the effort you’re putting in? While this book won’t get the carpet vacuumed or your orders put away, it will show you how to generate a higher cash return and help you achieve the success you do deserve. This is not another how-to retail book; there are plenty of those. There are no fancy theories or case studies here. Who running a store has time for that? Instead, this is a collection of fun and practical lessons written for retailers - by a retailer. They cover the crucial aspects of your business – strategy, marketing, customer service, operations, and employee relations. From them, you’ll learn how to: ·Instantly drive more traffic, more business, and more loyal customers through your door. ·Create a better ROI for your marketing and advertising dollars. ·Attract and retain the best staff possible. ·Get more cha-ching for your hard work. Learn more. Earn more. It’s that easy.

About this title

About the Author

Doug Fleener is the former director of retail for Bose Corporation and today works with retailers around the world through his company Dynamic Experiences Group, LLC. He is the author of numerous articles on the topics of retail, employee motivation, and customer service. As the Director of Retail for Bose Corporation, Doug grew the Retail Direct Group from four to one hundred stores. Under his leadership, the Bose retail stores became one of the preeminent specialty retailers in consumer electronics, known for their highly customer-focused approach and multimedia Bose Music Theater Show. Doug’s expertise has been cited in The Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and Shopping Centers Today. His articles on the retail experience have appeared in The Boston Business Journal, North American Retail Dealers Association, Photo Marketing Association Magazine, and Cape Cod Business.

From the Back Cover

The Profitable Retailer is filled with ideas and concepts to keep my creative juices flowing and help me keep my ninety stores going and growing. Whether you have, one hundred, or one thousand stores, this book will help you improve your business/ - JERRY KOHL, CEO, Brighton

I have both enjoyed and profited from Doug's musings for some time now and not just because of his eagle eye and experience with retail, but also because of the warmth and good humor with which he delivers his messages. - MARK AUSTEN, CEO Office Club U.K.

Doug Fleener is a veteran retailer with over twenty-five years of hands-on retail experience with world-class retailers including Bose Corporation and The Sharper Image. His expertise has been citied in The Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and Business 2.0.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1. The Path to Profitability

You might have the best looking store or the busiest. You might have the best location or the best employees. You might have the store with the most inventory or the best customer service. Even better, you might have the store with the best customer experiences. When all is said and done, there are as many ways to be successful in retail as there are retail concepts.

But there s only one way to be a Profitable Retailer, and that s by selling enough product or services to cover the cost of your goods and expenses and have money left over.

Now I m sure you re thinking, "Duh, of course that s the only way to be profitable." You would be amazed, though, at the number of retailers I meet who don t know if they are profitable or not. I actually once heard someone say that they were "successful," but that they didn t "make any money."

Call me crazy, but I believe that the only way to measure success is to measure profits.

We retailers work incredibly hard. Like it or not, we often come home late at night, we leave early in the morning, and we often miss family events, all in the name of running our stores. We deserve a return on that hard work. We work hard to create profits. We risk family savings to go into business. We risk losing investments from family and friends. We mortgage our homes and our futures to open our stores. We deserve a return on that risk. We take that risk to create profits.

Many retailers I meet have opened a store because of a hobby or interest of theirs. Maybe they enjoy a certain craft and feel their community is underserved in that hobby. Maybe they enjoy cooking and want to share that interest with others. If you re one of these retailers, then consider yourself blessed. You re more likely to be successful if you re knowledgeable and passionate about what you sell.

Then again, you may be more likely to fail if it s your hobby as well. Too many people run their store as a hobby rather than as a retailer. If it s a hobby, then call it a hobby. But if you re going to have a store, then you re a retailer, and you should run it as such. It s a hobby when you do it at home it s a profession when you do it in a store. As a professional, the goal is to be profitable and grow your business.

Becoming a Profitable Retailer allows us to do many of the things we ve dreamed about. We can be self-employed and not have to have a boss or do the corporate "rah rah" thing. We can travel more often, own a bigger home, or eventually, have the opportunity to spend more time with family and friends. Most important, building a profitable store or chain can give us financial security and piece of mind.

But it all starts with one simple idea: that you have to bring in more money than you spend. Simply said, not simply done. It begins with the mindset that you deserve and will achieve profitability. As a client of mine always says, "Our businesses don t fail us, but rather we fail our business." The rest of this book is about you becoming a Profitable Retailer, creating the profits and success you deserve and can achieve.

The Question: Are you ready to be a more Profitable Retailer?

Edition details

• Publisher: Acanthus Publishing
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1933631260
• ISBN 13: 9781933631264
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 228