Posts Tagged ‘employee vacations’
Getting Ready for the Ups and Downs of Summer
Thursday, March 13th, 2008
When it comes to planning a retail strategy, you should always be one season ahead. While others are spring cleaning, you should be doing a fair amount of summer planning.
Planning is not just about making sure you have the right inventory on the shelves; it has to do with boosting morale and creating sales as well.
Employee Morale
If yours is one of the many small businesses that experience a summer lull, you may notice that your staff mood follows suit. While your employees stand in the store day after day, you may notice a little bit of a melancholy mood - especially when they are not getting the sales they have been accustomed to.
As a business owner, you have to come up with ways to keep the morale high, even through low sales times. Here are a few ideas:
* Lighten Up - One great way to get your staff in a better mood is to make their workplace a more fun environment. You may want to institute special days at work for the staff, such as “Bagel Fridays” where you bring in a bag of bagels and cream cheese for everyone to enjoy in the morning.
It may seem like something small, but it will be appreciated and make them happier to be at work. Happy workers make your customers happy as well.
* Time Off - In the summer, most people have plans to take at least one vacation. Talk to your employees about when they plan to take time off, and work those days out in the schedule to the best of your ability.
If you really want to boost morale, offer them an extra day of free vacation in addition to their scheduled time off. Employers who offer such incentives often get much more productivity and loyalty from their staff.
Creating Sales
Just because the beginning of summer is a traditionally quieter time of year does not mean you should hang up your hat and expect to not make any money.
Instead, you should be using this time to create a sense of urgency in the minds of shoppers to get them in your store, or plan for upcoming sales opportunities.
* Promotions - This is a great time to plan to bring in new business. Try to come up with new promotions that will get people’s attention. While they may not be planning to shop this time of year, a knockout promotion that piques their interest will get them into the store.
Initially, customers may come in “just to look”, but you can always help them decide to buy once you have them inside. Additionally, plan for upcoming holidays beyond the summer.
This slow time will give you more time to plan for over-the-top fall and winter holiday promotions.
* Major markdowns - There are always a few shelves of items you would love to move out of your store. These are the target items for a major markdown sale. Create large and catchy signage to let people know there is a big sale coming up.
If they think it’s a deal too good to pass up, they may just come in to see what’s on sale, giving your cash registers another sale.
While summer may be a usually slower time of the year for retail sales, it is how you use this time that will decide if you are maximizing your business potential. Even down time can be used strategically to craft plans for future profits.
Tags: advice, employee morale, employee time off, employee vacations, Hiring and Human Resources, Leeia Ladipoh, tips
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »