Never Ever Give Up!

If you’ve given up…if you’ve already decided that you’re not going to participate in any further personal or professional development, then don’t bother reading the rest.

It’s all about success, personal and professional growth, and betterment.

It’s about overcoming common problems…finding solutions and applying them to help you do better and better.

It’s about improving your lot in life…in business and, by extension, your personal life also.

If you are still growing and not dying, still trying and not ready to throw in the towel, then you’ll definitely want to read on.

Today, we share a story about a manager whose scheduling left a lot to be desired. See if any of it sounds familiar.

Now, clearly, the company in this story did NOT make high-yield schedules.

The operation seemed OK, generally speaking…but why was this poor guy soaked with sweat?

The point to the story, below, is that scheduling (productive scheduling, in particular) is an integral part of running any operation – any business unit – that is serving the public in some way.

In fact, the schedule is considered to be the backbone of the business and there is only one person who should be in control of it and held accountable for it.

That person is the Manager.

Here’s the story:

When the couple arrived at a local restaurant to have a late lunch before a movie, they were greeted politely and seated quickly.

Unfortunately, that is where the efficiency ended.

The server showed up quite a few minutes later and here is how the couple described him:

A pleasant young guy with messy hair and a totally sweat soaked brown shirt.

Ok, so this sweaty server asked if they wanted drinks and they did…so off he went to get them.

About 15 minutes later – no exaggeration – he came back with the drinks and took their food order.

Another 10 minutes passed, and the appetizer showed up.

Another 10 and the meal showed up.

The couple had a lot of time to look around; to observe what was going on.

Clearly, there weren’t enough servers.

Perhaps they were also short on bartenders, cooks and bussers.

The ‘why’ doesn’t really matter, does it? You decide. People are different.

The place was reasonably busy – not crazy busy – and if they had optimum staffing they could have taken time to upsell and add on to increase the average check for the day.

As it was, in the rather large section that our couple was seated in, this poor sweaty server guy was running around trying to look after everyone and although he did as well as could be expected, it was very obvious that he was working at a frenzied clip that couldn’t be maintained for long.

To his credit, he didn’t whine and complain or huff and puff… he just took care of business like the solid, committed server he was.

The establishment was lucky to have him.

Unfortunately, there’s only so much one guy can do.

When one person is doing the job of several, some things are going to fall through the cracks.

The schedule was either badly produced in the first place or management failed to revisit it appropriately.

Maybe both.

Whatever the reason, the coverage was no good and if the coverage is no good…no one wins.

When you think about all that has to be considered when making schedules, such as:

• Budgeted Sales
• Allowable Hours
• Allowable Wage $ and Wage Cost %
• Last Year’s Actual Sales, Actual Hours Used, Wage $ Used and Actual Wage Cost %
• Full Time, Part Time and Full Time Equivalents
• Events – both public and company sponsored
• Open Hours
• Set-up Hours and Recovery Hours
• Online Shopping Changes TY from LY
• Average % of Business per Day
• Associate Stats like Sales Per Hour and Conversion Rate
• Heavy Task Days and more…

Oh, and let’s not forget that not insignificant factor which is that albatross we all deal with…Staff Availability.

No, no, no…scheduling is no easy task.

But, then, nothing is ever as easy as it sounds, right?

Scheduling fewer people and using fewer hours is not the way to more success in your business.

There are times when it may seem like a good idea to skimp here and there…save a little without really harming customer service levels.

Don’t be tempted! It’s a trick… and one that will come back to bite you.

A high-yield schedule gets you more to work with, not less!

But, high yield scheduling isn’t what this is about.

It’s about doing better and knowing how to accomplish all that you want to.

It’s about learning what works and what doesn’t.

And about getting advice and practical solutions to every day problems such as scheduling…and much more complex ones, as well.

Those who want to continue to do better and better usually make the decision to seek more knowledge.

• If standing still is not an option for you.
• If maintaining the status quo is not an option.
• If you want to get ahead.
• If you’re inspired to learn and continuously move forward, then you have to go about finding the very best way to do that.

Ask yourself…

Who are you going to find to help you get a better understanding of how great your retail business can be when you apply a few simple but critical concepts?

Who are you going to turn to when you want to learn how to manage people and performance to get more than a 30% bump in sales?

Where are you going to get all of the knowledge, tips and advice you need to drive your business – every single day – in the competitive field of retail?

The answer is clear.

You’re going to look for people who have done really well in your field; people who have not only been highly successful but who are also passionate about the business and about sharing their unique insights with you.

At every chance you get, you should pick their brains. They don’t mind!

Here is your golden opportunity to do just that. DMSRetail expert consultants can be with you 24/7…with answers in the Retail Business Academy or via email.

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Before you make your final decision about becoming a Platinum Member, we understand that you may have questions, such as …

“Why Should You Listen to Us?”

It’s a fair question…and here’s the answer:

Because we have been there and we’ve done it, very successfully, many times.

Our successes have not been one-of-a-kind successes; they haven’t been flukes; they haven’t been ‘right place at the right time’ successes.

We weren’t just lucky, no sir! And we didn’t get any breaks or special deals!

We’re talking 30% comp increases in three consecutive years.

We’re talking about complete turnarounds – taking stores and regions from bottom place to top place in under a year.

We’re talking about developing strong people to make incredibly resilient succession plans.

We are experts in retail operations, and we know what we’re talking about. Just take a look at the testimonials all over our website.

We know a lot and we want to share what we know with you.

That’s our business.

That’s what we do at DMSRetail and the Retail Business Academy.

We share knowledge…we share intellectual property so that you, too, can succeed in a big way!!

We have a 99.8% favourable review rate and we’re very proud of that.

All of our workshops, webinars, Success Guides, Development Courses, Distance Education Programs, etc. have been well received and praised by 99.8% of our customers.

Our workshops and other products are all developed by retail executive who, in addition to formal education, have got many years of successful business experience in retail management and other related business pursuits as we mentioned above.

The sky truly is the limit when you decide to act on the information we provide you with; when you decide to put all of your newly acquired knowledge and how-to’s into play in your organization.

And, we support you…whenever you need it.

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