Retail Pulse
Focus 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 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 MoreNational Retail Research: Leading From a Distance
Be part of our new research on the challenges and best practices of leading at a distance, and receive “first view” access to the report of findings, including implications for retail multiunit management skills and strategy development. More than 7,000 retail DMs have participated in our retail multiunit management training programs. This new research will delve…
Read MoreBeing there…
Whether you’re trying to negotiate or influence another person or just motivate them to do something more or differently, at some point you’re going to need to stop talking and hear their side of the issue. You can’t learn if you’re talking. And it’s next to impossible to force new behavior or agreement without engaging…
Read MoreDiSC Style Group Reports provide a key insight
Our personal style influences many if not all of our decisions and many interactions with others. When a retailer is able to pull group reports of intact teams at the Support Center or of the field management team—e.g., DMs, regions, store groups—they gain incredibly valuable insight about not only the group style but what motivates this…
Read MoreTrend Alert: Digging deep on leader development
Over the past year, we have had a significant increase in client requests for retail leadership. However, it’s not focused solely on the DM, Store, or even Assistant Store Managers. There is a clear trend to provide more leadership development for leads and supervisors who are being asked to motivate, delegate, and maximize productivity with…
Read MoreWe love your 2-day program…can we do it in 2 hours?!
Every retailer has constraints; budget, timing, agenda topics, etc. Our learning design guarantees behavior change. If we don’t think we can deliver on that promise we don’t agree to the slicing and dicing that is requested sometimes. All of our programs whether leadership, negotiation, sales, or service begin with foundational insights, best practices, and skills. …
Read MoreAll participants hate practicing…not!
First let’s clarify that ‘role play’ is not the same as ‘skill practice’. Semantics you say? We think not. There is a huge difference between being handed a sheet of paper with some made-up scenario with a role you don’t recognize and now have to pretend to play and a scenario that is work-specific, you…
Read MoreMSL Wins 2013 Communicator Award!
All winners for The Communicator Awards are hand-selected by the IAVA (International Academy of Visual Arts), an invitation-only group consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creative and marketing firms. IAVA members include executives from organizations such as Airtype Studio, Big Spaceship, Conde Nast, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, Fry…
Read MoreLogistics! Supply Chain! Support!
Ever since information transformed from a trickle to drinking from a firehose people in support operations who use this information have dreamed of it all making leadership more efficient and effective. From our research with retail support department managers, they got it about half right. There’s no question that better, more accessible data has transformed…
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