Retail Leadership Training
In Retail, Technology May Be Cool, But So is Competence
Every new technology announcement in the world of retail is guaranteed to generate a lot of buzz. Take Amazon’s Dash Button, for example. Press a button, and you’ve instantly placed an order for those common, high-volume commodity items. Convenience for the consumer, more valuable data on customer buying habits for Amazon, more talk of robots taking…
Read MoreThe Evolution of Retail Multiunit Management
Back in 2004 when we launched our original Retail Multiunit Management (RMM) program, the retail environment was a little different, to say the least. Shopping malls still ruled. Amazon wasn’t yet the juggernaut it is today. The idea of shopping as a “customer experience” was still fairly new. And by and large, salespeople had more…
Read MoreFocus and Adaptability Keep Retailers Ahead of the Curve
It seems like every time you turn around there’s another gloomy story of “retail’s apocalypse.” While it’s true that brick and mortar retail is facing an array of challenges right now, change isn’t a new thing in retail. In fact, retail is one of the most adaptable industries, which is why it’s had so many…
Read More5 Things Great Retail Multiunit Managers Do
One of the exciting and sometimes frustrating challenges of retail management is that you have a number of different priorities to deal with all at the same time. District managers, regional managers, and other retail leaders who are responsible for leading multiple stores and locations have more things going on than is possible to accomplish…
Read MoreOnline vs. Instructor-Led Training: What Retailers Need to Consider
E-learning is an attractive option in retail, especially when you’re making the tough call about whether or not to take people off the floor and put them into a classroom for a training workshop. But depending on what kind of training you’re doing—and what kind of outcomes you need to achieve—the choice isn’t always so…
Read MoreHow Coaching in Real Time Raises Your Store’s Game
Today’s shoppers are more demanding and more educated about what they’re looking for than ever before. To keep up, retailers are constantly on the lookout for innovative ways to take the customer experience to a new level. But it takes more than data and technology to meet the demands of today’s customers. When shoppers are…
Read MoreRetail Store Support Leaders Face Unique Challenges
All leaders face a number of challenges that are simply common to the role of being a leader. But there are always some unique wrinkles faced by different leadership functions. The leaders and managers in the home office and distribution centers, for example, deal with some very different situations and issues than those who responsible for what’s happening…
Read MoreDefining Retail Leadership Presence
Just what is “leadership presence”? In their book, Leadership Presence, The Ariel Group’s founders Belle Linda Halpern and Kathy Lubar use real client stories from the company’s experience in working with leaders across industries to help define leadership presence. They put real meat on the bones of the elusive idea. One element that contributes to…
Read MorePreparing Store Leaders for the Retail Fall/Holiday Season
At the store level, execution during the fall/holiday season is everything. This means your store leaders have to be able to communicate the specifics and importance of what to focus on. They have to coach and reinforce sales and service behaviors. They have to be prepared to address their teams as soon as they see…
Read More4 Factors That Separate Great Retail Leaders from the Rest
The headline—15 Traits of a “Terrible” Retail Leader—is bound to get your attention. SUCCESS magazine recently surveyed members of the Young Entrepreneurs Council to find out what qualities terrible leaders seem to have in common. From dismissing ideas other than your own to having a poor communication strategy, the list runs the gamut of issues we…
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