Some of my consignment, thrift, resale buddies are looking forward to a long weekend… or at least as long as a weekend can be, having chosen retail as a career. Enjoy!
If you take the “Labor” (more…)
Archive for the ‘Shopkeeping talk’ Category
Facebook Do’s and Don’ts
Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Shopkeeping talk, tagged web on August 30, 2013| 2 Comments »
Tell me WHY.
Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged consignors, resale shopkeeping, Thrift, web on August 29, 2013|
Telling someone to do something, without giving a reason why, only works for toddlers. And not very well at that.
So if you want your shoppers, your donors, your sellers or your consignors to DO SOMETHING, anything, for goodness’ sake, take a few moments to
tell them WHY.
Sure, they should think of you. But remind them why it’s so important. Keep a list of reasons to donate to your nonprofit, or sell to your buy-outright, or consign with your consignment shop, and use them in rotation. Bonus: watching your stats, you might even figure out which message means the most to your audience, and which means more traffic through your shop.
For example, just adding on a few words to the above message would “paint a picture” that would remain top-of-mind in your FB fans’ minds when they’re thinking of donating. Now, the NFP that posted this status update was a consultee of mine, so I know a little about what good donations to their stores do. So I’d suggest a few more words along the lines of:
- Your gently-used dining room set could help finance a wheelchair for a sick grandparent.
- The things your kids have outgrown could go back to third grade with a child who has nothing that fits.
- Loved that cocktail dress 3 years ago? Let us turn it into tuition at business school for an eager-to-learn teen.
Do your staffers “share”?
Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged employees, Twitter, web, word of mouth on August 28, 2013| 3 Comments »
I’ve shared this with you before… share it with your employees and volunteers.
If your consignment, resale or thrift shop uses Facebook to gain attention for the business, do your staffers share these posts with their FB friends?
Why not?
Of course, you can’t “make” them intermingle their professional life with their personal life… and no doubt there are staffers in some shops whose Facebook “personality” would fry your brains…
but if you expect them to recommend your shop to their friends and to speak well of the place they work, wouldn’t you expect them to boost the business once in a while on their social media?
Why not suggest it, next time you’re doling out those bonuses for beating the sales figures you’ve set as a goal for the day, week, month?
“Gosh, look at what we’ve profited from increased business this week. Bet it was those shares you guys gave the shop on your Facebook pages… well-done!
Or, of course, the alternative. “Gee, we didn’t make our projections last month. I’m just wondering if we’ve all been sharing the social media about the shop that [I / we/ Sam over there] works so hard on… what do you think? A “share” here and there? Could that be your social media motto to keep your job rewarding?”
BTW, click through on the graphic above to louisem.com. I think you’ll find her entire blog most helpful, if you’re spending a lot of time making social media pay off in your shop.
So what do you think? Is asking those who work with you to help promote the shop online, just as you expect them to speak well and often about the shop in real life, a reasonable thing for a boss to do? Or are there reasons you don’t want to ask this of them? Comment below, if you have an opinion you’d like to… well…
share.
Getting all your perks.
Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged advertising, HowToConsign.com, profit, web on August 27, 2013|
I’m as guilty as you are. I let my coupons expire and even my “rewards check” (AKA store credit) from Staples molder in the bottom of my purse.
And I’ve grown accustomed to less than 10% of those purchasing my manual actually redeeming the free Product coupon for The 15-Step Approach to PROFIT tucked inside.
So when I sent out the email to (more…)
How to tell when you NEED a staffer
Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged employees, resale shopkeeping, small business, success on August 26, 2013| 3 Comments »
One of the causes of slow growth in consignment, resale and thrift shops is easy to diagnose:
Not enough hours in the day.
If you feel like you’re continually spending non-open hours in your shop playing catch-up, or if you find yourself getting impatient with shoppers or suppliers because your to-do list is getting longer by the day, it’s time to hire some help.
But hiring is scary. How can you justify adding payroll to your business overhead when you’re still not making a living yourself?
Some advice from Team Work: Staffing your Store
How to tell when you NEED a staffer
There are always warning signs that you need a staffer, or another staffer. The trick, of course, is recognizing these signs and acting on them before you start damaging your business, your income, or the morale of the other people involved in your shop.
Molly wrote:
We have been open for 6 months. The shop has been very well received. We’re still not making a profit. However, with the increase in customers we can no longer process much consignment during the day. I’m absolutely scrambling to keep up with processing. I often come in at 11pm when my kids are in bed and work until 3 or 4am. As a last resort I reverted to being closed on Mondays to catch up. I am trying to convince my husband that hiring a person will pay off in increased sales. He says my problem is that I’m not being firm enough in saying “No” to new consignment. I really disagree. Each consignment is a potential goldmine. I say my problem is not getting too much, but just figuring out how to process it quickly and sell enough of it. My husband is very reluctant to spend money on an employee. What do you think?
Marriette answered:
Do you do everything yourself, from checking the merchandise in to putting the
merchandise out? Plus take care of customers? When I started getting
overwhelmed with merchandise, I hired someone. Their responsibilities are to
wait on customers and put out merchandise. I do the sorting and processing.
They do the hanging and putting it out.
This is a great start to figuring out not only that you need help, but that it’s costing you. Working four or five hours past normal store hours? Closing a day a week? Both of those options are costing you way more money than any staffer could possibly cost you. Marriette suggests the next most important step: determining just what areas of your business you need help in. After all, how can you find someone to help the shop prosper, if you can’t define what it is you need a helper to do?
But can I AFFORD paid help?
Read more in Team Work: Staffing your Store
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