Have you ever wondered why your retail store isn’t attracting and keeping as many customers as you’d like? The answer has a lot to do with your retail manager.

In my years in the retail industry I have come across some outstanding men and women in retail management. Unfortunately, they have been very few, and as such, the retail businesses they represented suffered much lower profits than would otherwise be possible.

So what were some of the characteristics and qualities of these outstanding retail managers that were able to attract significantly more customers to spend money in their stores?

• First of all, they cared deeply about their staff. They cared for them like people. They became interested in their lives outside of work. They asked questions about hobbies, pets, soccer teams, couples, kids, what they did last night, what they planned to do over the weekend.
• They accepted mistakes as part of learning.
• They respected the opinion of their staff and often solicited their opinion.
• They expanded their people by sharing the management work.
• They were very well organized.
• They had a great sense of humor.
• They were calm in a crisis.
• They were creative thinkers.
• They took pride in the appearance of their store.
• They were very focused on details.
• They had excellent sales skills.
• They achieved budgets and set records.
• They were very good teachers.
• They formed excellent relationships with their clients.
• They were interested in the art of retailing and did a lot of reading on the subject.
• They dressed professionally.

These retail managers had acquired the skills on how to get more customers and build highly profitable retail stores over a long period of time. by themselves. The business they worked for had very little to do with their professional development. I’ve made it my mission to collect the best retail ideas so you can apply them to your business.

The sad thing is that many retail companies regularly appoint retail managers to million dollar, even multi-million dollar stores and expect great results BUT, they offer very little training in areas like customer acquisition, selling skills, soft skills and marketing skills.

Management and business owners should not expect excellence when they do not teach excellence. That’s about as silly as giving someone a fishing rod and expecting them to be excellent at fly fishing.

Excellence must be constant throughout the retail business; not just in the occasional shop.

How about this for a retail competitive advantage that will ensure you get more store traffic and more profitable sales? “We pride ourselves on having the best retail managers in the industry.”

Imagine how inspiring it would be to be known as “the company with the best retail managers.”

Imagine the difference having happy, motivated and inspired staff all the time would make.

Just think of the energy, sense of pride, respect, and attention to detail that your customers would experience as soon as they walked into any of your stores.

All this is possible, but you have to decide to do it.

There is no genie in a bottle or magic wand to get more customers and miraculously increase your profits overnight. It requires a commitment of time and money and a clear focus on the bottom line.

Striving to have the best retail managers is a competitive advantage that will make your cash registers sing!

To your abundant success,

Leon Skaliotis – Founder, Retail Fundamentals.