Posts by Michael Patrick
The Pitfalls of Leaving Retail Training to the “Buddy System”
When you begin a new job or get a promotion, it’s always helpful to have a role model to emulate. You can pick up a lot of insight by following the lead of those who’ve “been there and done that.” And certainly, being a role model is a critical part of leadership. Through their behavior,…
Read MoreHow to Maximize Retail Training’s Impact
When you send a district manager or retail store leader through a training program, it’s an investment—of time, money, and effort, not to mention the fact that they’re going to be away from their daily responsibilities. But it’s also an investment in the future of the business. It’s a down payment on the results and…
Read MoreIn 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 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 MoreHow Multiunit Managers Can Get the Most Out of Store Visits
We all know the feeling. You’re sitting there with someone, face to face. They may even be looking you right in the eye. You’ve gotten together so you can share some important information or updates. Maybe you haven’t seen them in a while, so you want to fill them in on everything that’s happened since…
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 MoreNew Retail Research on Best Practices for Leading Multiple Stores
Many retailers assume that if a manager has been successful in leading a store team, then he or she can effectively lead a group of stores. It’s an assumption that has been proven wrong too many times to count. Moving from single-store leadership to leading a region or district group of stores is the single…
Read MoreThe Future of Store Associate Training
Every year retailers spend billions training store associates. On average, a store associate spends 53.8 hours every year training. So why do 71% of shoppers feel that retail associates aren’t knowledgeable or helpful? Something doesn’t add up. MOHR Retail has been working with our partners at Axonify to solve this problem, and we’re excited to…
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