Beauty Store Business

AUG 2016

Beauty Store Business provides solutions for better retailing! New products, industry news, savvy business moves and important trends affecting both brick-and-mortar and online retailers are included in each issue.

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70 August 2016 | beautystorebusiness.com of customer contact information, keeping this up-to-date is critical for marketing. Whether you do email blasts, mailers, mobile updates or social media market- ing, ensuring that all recent customers are included will grow future sales. 17 Have a team meeting. There are always things to talk about with your team. When you see them idle, gather them around for a short meeting. Discuss sales, new arrivals, marketing strategies and so on. An impromptu meeting can help fill the void of an empty store and get associates motivated to tackle other tasks. 18 Clean equipment. Do you have a salon within your store? Or, do you have a demonstration area? If so, this equipment is probably in need of a good scrubbing and sanitizing. Make sure employees get into all the crevices and even the base of chairs and legs of tables. 19 Identify ways to save the store money. Because employ- ees are on the front line, they see and experience many things that you sim- ply don't. So ask them their thoughts. They may have excellent ideas to share concerning where your store is wast- ing money. Ask them for 10 ways you can start cutting costs immediately—no matter how much or little it saves. Any amount saved will add up over time. 20 Create a new-hire training module. Your experienced employ- ees can be your best trainers. Have them assemble a training module for your next new hire. What would these veterans want to share with the newbie? How can they help the new associate hit the ground running? Have them do more than just create a bullet-point list of topics— get them to also make handouts or practice sessions on the POS. 21 Scrub the bottom of the shelves. Like the baseboards around the store, the very bottom bases of the shelves are usually forgotten. The mop or vacuum might get close every now and then, but it doesn't come close to getting on one's hands and knees and deep cleaning this part of the shelving units. 22 Conduct a safety audit. Pro- vide associates with a brief list of items to check in the store (uncov- ered wall receptacles; sharp edges on shelves; trip hazards, such as electrical cords; and so forth). Have them walk around the store—every corner—and identify any safety issues they observe. 23 Clean trash cans. So, the trash gets emptied every day, but when was the last time the actual can itself was cleaned and sanitized? 24 Break down boxes. As new shipments arrive, boxes can begin to pile up quickly. Have employees break down boxes and throw them away or in the recycle bin. 25 Do a mystery shop of the store. Encourage associates to put on their "customer hat" and walk around the store. Have them see the store from the customer's eye. What would they do differently? How do they view the store? Is it inviting? Are all the products easy to reach? How would someone in a wheel- chair fair negotiating the aisles? A task like this can help associates see the big picture when it comes to the customer experience with your store. 26 Identify new products. Have your team locate the five newest products in the store. Then, have them identify five features and benefits of these products. In other words, they should be able to articulate why custom- ers would want to purchase these. As the manager, pretend you're a customer and say, "Tell me about this product." 27 Make a list of maintenance and repair projects. Every store has those nagging little projects that need attention. They're not hurtful to the operations, but they are something everyone has just grown accustomed to—blown lightbulbs, dings in the wall, hinges on the bathroom door needing tightening, a wobbly table in the break- room and similar annoying issues. Have associates make a list of these, and if they are simple and easy to fix, have them tackle the project and cross it off the list. Continued on page 130 VISIT US AT COSMOPROF NORTH AMERICA BOOTH #26087

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