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H E L L O I got back from New York on Wednesday night. Thursday morning, I got a phone call that my fridge had broken and all my food had gone bad. Oh yeah, I’m in an Airbnb, by the way, while my house is getting some repairs. The last 48 hours have been a doozy. But a new fridge will be delivered on Saturday, and hopefully, our house will be ready for us to move back in. What does this have to do with leadership? Well, crisis reveals who you are. I don’t get upset about too much. All we can do is gather the facts and act. So, that’s what I did. I’m exhausted and may go to bed at 6:00 pm today, but the fridge fiasco has been taken care of. Now, on with RR. Welcome to Retail Renegades. In every issue, I tear into 1 of the 10 biggest problems all retail leaders face:
(If you want to smash all 10 of these AND master the fundamentals of running a kick-ass store, I’d love to have you in The Break Room.) Speaking Up You can do it. It’s about how you say it. This week, I want to help you speak up. It can be scary telling your boss something isn’t working. I’ll show you how to say it tactfully so you get the help you need and your boss won’t think you’re a whiner. Let’s get into it. 1. A new process isn’t working I’ve been a part of many test stores. Trying new tech or a new process requires the entire team’s buy-in. Once everyone has learned the new thing and given it some time, you can let your boss know what isn’t working. “Hey boss, can I give you some feedback about the new tech? Great! Every time we do _____ the computer crashes. Has anyone else had this issue?” Now, you can insert whatever scenario you want here, but there are a few parts to this you must get right. The team learned it. Everyone understands how it works and has tried it. You’ve tried to troubleshoot and are still running into issues. If you’ve done all these steps, go ahead and speak up. What you don’t want to do is complain about a new process before you’ve tried it. 2. Your bonus goal is bananas Every new month, I’d race to the computer to see what our goal was to make bonus. Sometimes, the number was so high I knew we’d never make it. I’d go back and review our trends. I’d get my numbers straight and then ask my boss if those numbers were correct. “I saw the bonus number for this month. Those look pretty high and not in line with our trend the last few months. Any way to renegotiate that?” I don’t remember a time when our goals were reduced, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. It will also show your boss you’re really paying attention to the business. 3. A maintenance issue is not getting fixed This happens all the time. Something breaks, you put in a work order, and it takes forever to get fixed. I know you’re busy, and the last thing you want to do is follow up on this, but you must. Broken equipment or furniture in stores is a morale killer. No one wants to work at a job where stuff is always broken. Keep all the info about the work order, and then you can email it to your boss. “Hi. I put this work order in ten days ago. Our fitting room bench is broken. The ticket # is 012345. Can you follow up for us? Thanks so much.” So many problems can be solved by using these three examples. Have all your facts straight, be organized, be clear, and ask for what you need. Follow up, politely, until someone helps you out. MailboxI got this DM recently – “Can you help me get a new position?” Actually, I’ve gotten a few of these lately. The honest answer is “Probably not.” I let people know I’ll keep my eye out for them – and I will – but I’m not a recruiter. I’m a writer. Yes, I have a lot of connections, but most of them are probably not a good fit. I wish I could do more, but being a recruiter is not a skill set I possess on a large scale. I could build teams in stores, absolutely. But pairing people up online is not my specialty. I will happily introduce you if I know any recruiters that may be a fit. Level-Up Since we’re talking about speaking up – check in with your team and ensure you’re being transparent as much as possible.
Teams that get left in the dark start to become less committed. If they don’t understand you’re doing everything you can to make things work better and more smoothly, they may think you don’t care, or you don’t trust them. When teams are in the loop, they thrive. Thanks for being here! Hit reply and let me know what you think of this newsletter. Good? Bad? Helpful? Do you have questions you want answered? See you next time, Kit Looking for more ways to save time and run an awesome store? Let’s go! If you want to learn how to write an excellent schedule in 60 minutes, go here. This ten-minute read will save you time and make your store more money, even if you are new to leadership. Got a store visit coming up? Want to know how to prepare? Go here. Score 20% off right now. ⭐️ Want ALL the how-to nitty, gritty info? Order my book today! The Retail Leader’s Field Guide: How to Run a Kick-Ass Store Where Everyone Wants to Work will help leaders at all levels, even if they are new to leadership. See you next time! PS – You’re a badass and you can do hard things. PPS – Stay rad. |