WHAT’s productive when?
That’s a tricky question in our industry. After all, we have a minute-to-minute balancing act between incoming goods and shoppers… so which is more productive to ongoing success and profit
right this very minute?
Working with consignment, resale, and thrift shopkeepers I remind them that their merchandise is worth zero until someone buys it… so there is a priority which is always true.
I like to teach the mantra PQRST to help them decide focus on what to do moment to moment:
PQRST
= People and Quality (of interaction) first… Resale Stuff Thereafter!
What do you think? Would this be a valid part of not just your staff training, but your shop’s “corporate culture”? Agree or disagree? Let’s hear it, in the comments…
Illustration based on an original here.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
This is an interesting topic and one many may not agree with my stance on. I believe there is a fine line between offering quality customer service and continuing to be productive throughout the day. I always greet every customer, however, there are many who have all the time in the world to chat, while I unfortunately do not. I also find that there are many who like to fly under the radar and don’t want to be chatted up or hovered over. I do my very best by sending the message that my staff and I are there if assistance is needed. However, I am in the business to offer amazing inventory at fantastic prices, not carry on lengthy conversations, and at the end of the day,THAT is what keeps my customer loyalty high:)
Thanks, Joe… but of course, customers first has never meant having lengthy conversations in a retail setting! (Although we all run across members of the public who are not in your shop to shop, but rather to dispel loneliness…) Nor does it mean hovering… and customer service, in a consignment setting, means getting incoming out on the sales floor is half of customer service, too!
Glad to hear your viewpoint, and I think we can all agree with you that we’re “in the business to offer amazing inventory at fantastic prices”!
[…] After all, we have a minute-to-minute balancing act between incoming goods and shoppers… so which is more productive to ongoing success and […]
There was no acronym – I was just singing the alphabet song – lmno then comes pqrst……. have a great evening
I am adding this to the employee manual. It says it all.
Thank you
You are welcome, Pat. Hope your staff, present and future, find this an easy reminder when stress builds!
Thanks Kate – I’m already lmno P Q R S T – have a great day,
Had to look up that acronym!
Great reminder for our employees , but also for us owners trying to do everything during prime selling time! Thanks!
Tina, you are so right! I used to have a little note to myself in my shop: “Effectiveness, NOT Efficiency” because I was (and am!) prone to think that GETTING IT DONE is more important than the RESULTS. I strove to remember that chatting with a consignor or customer, building the relationship so that it not only continued but spread to other areas of the business and to a good reputation for the business, was effective. While rushing them through the transaction was efficient in that it got the “job” done… the task, but not the ultimate goal of making business better. And what good is completing a task, if it doesn’t lead to the end result you want?!
Thanks for the reminder. My business partner and I just conducted an employee review and really stressed this topic. It can’t be stressed enough! I’m going to add it to our daily notes to associates!!
This is a great illustration that we can use for our employees. For years I have tried to emphasize the importance of attending to the customers in the store before all other tasks. Some employees get it, some do not. This will definitely be a visual aid at my staff meeting next week. Thanks Kate!
Glad to help, Julie… but as with Marianne, I long to envision you belting it out like a jazz singer! (Good excuse for you to wear a sequined dress and lie on top of a piano too. How often does a chance like that come around?
)
Kate, you always amaze….timely and dead on! PQRST….love it! Will be incorporating that in Carousel Kids culture!
(I can just see you saying to a staffer, quietly…”remember the alphabet song”)… smiles!
Agreed Kate! May I use in my next staff meeting? With all the merchandise coming in (tons and tons), without our customers, we would have no one to sell to. We treat all our customers as ‘best friends’ but sometimes so stressed over the incoming, we neglect those ‘friends’. Thanks for the reminder!
Of course, Marianne, but you have to promise to sing it out like a diva! I’m glad you found it helpful.