August 25, 2024 • 22 mins
Bob Phibbs hosts April Sabral to discuss key retail challenges. Topics include: overcoming the stigma of retail careers, motivating employees, managing accountability, acquiring new customers, and balancing manager-employee relationships. The experts share practical tips for small business owners and retail managers on leadership, customer service, and driving sales. Includes Q&A addressing common retail management issues.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Good morning, everybody. It's Bob Vibbs, the Retail Doc. Today is Sunday, August the 25th, 2024.
Thanks for joining me this morning. I have a special guest, and I'll talk to her in just a minute.
But wherever you're joining me from in the world today, please do me a favor
and in comments, just tell me where you're joining me from.
And on a scale of one to five, one being I'm not feeling great today,
(00:24):
five being I feel fawesome, put that in the comments as well.
Well, that's why we know you're here.
And more importantly, if you're ever doing lives, you always want to keep the
audience engaged and get them to take action because otherwise you're just sitting
there and the algorithm goes, no one's interested in what you have to say.
And even if you're watching this on the replay, I always go through and answer comments.
(00:45):
So wherever you're watching this on LinkedIn Live or YouTube or Facebook,
do me a favor and just type in where you're joining me from and what you're
feeling today. day, one being not so great and five being awesome.
Before I get too far along, I want to make sure that you all know about my brand
new program, the Retail Refresh.
(01:06):
It's coming out on September the 18th. Right now, you'll be able to join for $79.
And I just have a question for you. Have you ever looked around your store in
January and seen all that merchandise and thought, wow, I wish I'd done something
different? Well, this is a new program that I'm offering.
So, So, you know, some of the things that people tend to happen and that kill
(01:28):
their holidays is, one, you have poor planning.
You forget what you should be doing. You get caught up in tasks instead of the big picture.
You forget what's really important. It's not just sales.
And you maybe don't let your store look at its best.
And so competitors are able to eat your lunch. So I encourage you for eight
weeks, we're going to go through and talk about a different topic each week.
(01:49):
I'll go through and I'll explain what the concept is, give you some new ideas.
And then you'll have an activity to do and there'll be prizes and it's gonna
be fun, but you're not gonna know unless you register.
And so I will put that registration link in the comments here.
And there you go. And so I encourage you again, give me where you are joining
(02:10):
us from and your level of...
Energy today, whether it is low or high. Again, $79 early registration.
And we're going to have fun with that. And you'll have a chance to be able to
sign up all the way until the 18th, except there are limited spaces.
So if you get in early, you find out how the fun is all going to work and you
(02:30):
get to plan and you get to rave about it in November that you were the smart
one that was all ready to go.
Hey, Lewis, I'm glad you're here on your way to Northwest Buyers Group.
And All right. So now I have to stop sharing. So I have to go to here and then
I have to have a special guest is April Sabral. She is the creator of RetailU.
(02:52):
Joining us live from Chico, California. Good morning, April.
Good morning, Bob. I'm a five today.
I was just listening. Yeah, I love that. Well, introduce yourself because my
audience may not know who you are or what you do.
Yeah, my name is April Sobral. I founded RetailU, which is a management training
for retailers, like, you know, how to manage people, how to have those difficult
(03:15):
conversations, all of that good stuff. That's stuff that nobody really likes to do.
I love that. Well, you had some thoughts on people who say that retail is not a real career.
I know, you know. Let's get into it. Let's get into it. How can people say that
retail is not a real career?
Like, Think about what a retail manager does in a day, right?
(03:37):
And I remember just growing up and telling people I worked in retail because
that's what I did for many years before I started RetailU.
And I always felt embarrassed, like, oh, I'm not doing, I don't have the real
job, you know, because people just think it's uneducated. I don't know. What do you think?
That's a great point. I mean, I got my degree in conducting and people would
(03:58):
say, like, why are you in retail?
It's like, well, I bought my first house when I was 22. Retail has been good for me.
But that story isn't out there. It's like, well, you're a loser.
And that imposter syndrome, like, well, what would you really want to be doing?
And it's like, well, I want to be working with people,
And figuring it out does take skill. But I guess the difference,
April, is it's a different skill set, right?
(04:19):
You can't check a box and say, oh, you took this class.
Right. No, retail is a real career, people. It's not a mystical career.
You're managing millions of dollars and people every day.
I say that all the time. One manager could be managing a million-dollar business,
right? Store owner, $2 million business.
So yeah, it takes skill. It takes a lot of effort. And it takes a certain kind
(04:41):
of person. I mean, but I think once you're in it and you love it.
Well, that's interesting because I think owners have that same thing.
Are you a salesperson? No, I'm the owner. Like, oh, God forbid you would say I'm a salesperson.
Like, you're the biggest salesperson there should be in your store, right?
You're the one that has to make sure that the bank gets paid and you take money
(05:03):
home out of it, not just putting money into it.
Well, we have a few questions here today. day.
And if you are joining us live, you can jump in here and add as well.
Top fan Michael says, is it too much to believe employees should be self-motivated
instead of asking them to do every last thing?
Well, that is a loaded question, April. How would you answer that?
(05:24):
How would I answer that? Yeah.
Employees should be self-motivated instead of asking them to do every last thing.
Well, I would say, I hear a lot of managers say that to me, and that is a loaded question.
But But the thing is, I'd ask yourself, Michael, right? That's who asked this question.
I'd ask yourself, Michael, you know, what are you doing to really motivate your employees?
(05:45):
Like, yes, employees can be self-motivated. But you know what?
It really requires you as a leader, as a boss, to make sure that you're doing
everything in your power to motivate them.
And if your employees are not motivated, you better start looking at yourself. Because I'm not.
You can get 10% effort out of every single person when they want to work for you.
You know, gone are the days of like, oh, everybody's going to do everything themselves.
(06:06):
And like, you know, I don't need, I just need to hire people that do everything.
No, you need to train, develop them, coach them. You need to motivate them.
You need to ignite those positive emotions and build the skill.
And that's going to require you, Michael, to actually do the work to take that on.
Once you do that, then they are going to be motivated. But I don't believe that
(06:27):
you can hire a whole team of self-motivated people.
I think they are self-motivated when they join.
But if you watch their motivation go down, you better check yourself and see
what you're doing to make sure you get that motivation back.
Nobody wants to go to work when the energy is sucked out of you or you're not
rewarded for your brain power.
(06:47):
I think that's one of the things. This is the most educated,
hopeful group of individuals we've ever seen coming into retail.
And then they come into your technology, which is from the 60s.
And you're like, well, we work around it this way. We do this.
And they're like, really? How do you do anything? And then just wait for customers.
And of course- I mean, I was working with a small business owner that said something like that to me.
(07:11):
And then when I went and talked to her whole team, they were all like,
well, yeah, no, she's doing everything herself.
She's not asking us to do anything. She's not sharing how to do it and what she wants.
And it was just a really quick solve, Set clear expectations,
recognize people when they're doing good work, and then follow up.
It's not that hard, and yet it is. Yeah, it is. It's both sides.
(07:32):
Alice has a little bit longer question and not as loaded, I think.
So here we go. Alice, if you're watching, you can jump in as well.
We've been hammered by a major infrastructure road work construction project
for weeks, and that's reduced our traffic significantly.
Our regular customers ask us how we're doing with it.
My question to you, do we tell the truth? Ruth, business is down 50% overall,
(07:52):
or do we smile and say, oh, we are okay.
La-di-da, it will be over soon. Nobody likes Debbie Downer, but this situation
has been a real ass kicker, and it's hard not to be honest when people ask.
Don't be honest. Sorry. I'm just going to say it like it is.
Be positive. You're not there to share all your personal drama and stories with your customers.
(08:13):
They're not going to appreciate that. I am the queen of positivity.
I believe wholeheartedly to keep it together and be positive.
I'm not saying don't go talk to the people that are doing all the roadworks
and to your local whoever you need to scream at, but your customers just don't need to hear that.
They don't want to. And the other thing I was thinking about when I read this
this morning is maybe they're looking at your store and they're asking, are you okay?
(08:40):
Like the same merch I've seen for the last eight months. Like,
are you okay? That's a good point.
Find a way to move everything around and keep it interesting.
But, you know, it is what it is. And, you know, if you think about it,
people look, people are dealing with all kinds of things.
Their mom is Alzheimer's. Their dad is struggling for cancer. They have a kid in rehab.
(09:04):
Their friend is being foreclosed. There's a million things.
We don't just say, oh, well, this is how it sucks to be me because,
you know, nobody wants to hear it. We're all we already have that message.
Yeah, we do. We're pumped with that all day. I mean, I remember when I was a
store manager back in the day at Starbucks and I'd moved here from England and
people used to walk in and be like, how are you? And I'd tell them everything.
(09:25):
And my staff would be like, what are you doing?
Just say you're good. And I was like, well, why? If I'm not good,
they're like, but this this is customer service in America.
And I was like, OK, because, you know, England, you Brits want to tell us all
you want to tell you everything.
But no, it's not not a good look. So I would keep it good.
Good. We have another one here that's kind of long. So stay with me.
(09:47):
Amber asks, our managers take on a lot of responsibilities.
How can we better support them by giving our hourly employees more responsibilities?
Point of view, we have a great staff of wonderful people and a lot of part-time people.
The issue is that a lot of them have retired from their careers and want a job
where they enjoy their work and do not have the stress of managing certain responsibilities.
They enjoy coming in and working with people.
(10:09):
Also, this is our sales team who's on the floor. How do we give...
All right, this is a two-part question, Amber. How do we give them the tasks
and responsibilities and allow them to work on that role while effectively selling
on the floor and helping customers?
I want to support my managers and help take some of the load off their hands
by having another employee responsible for certain departments,
monthly responsibilities, etc.
So it sounds like your manager overworked and you're afraid to ask your older
(10:34):
part-time people to help.
Does that sound what you hear? Is that what you hear, April, out of that?
I don't hear that at all. Why do you hear things like that? It's so funny.
I should have said.
Yeah, no, you're so cynical. I love it. It's funny.
That's what I hear. What do you hear? Yeah, no, because I'm a leadership coach.
(10:55):
So what I hear is a younger person that doesn't know how to coach an older person
to actually take on responsibility.
And that's, you know, pretty evident in what she's saying, because she's she
said a few things that didn't she, she said, like, they're older,
they just want to come in and talk to people, and things like that.
But I would say learn the skill to like, literally have a coaching conversation
(11:16):
and like learn how to delegate and, and again, set the clear expectations and
know what you want to do and, and, and just go for it.
Like, I don't know, you know, it's, it can be intimidating, right?
When you're younger and you're trying to manage older people,
you know, you're managing your mom.
I don't know, you know, like your grandmother, you could be.
So I think it's more about, that's what I hear when I hear that statement.
(11:38):
I know what you heard, but I don't know how you heard that, but like.
Well, I would also hear who are you hiring all the time because you can't have
the same personality all the way around.
And it sounds like you're afraid to ask them to do things. Yeah, that's my idea.
And I think when people are afraid, when managers are afraid to ask if it's
the manager, I think she's the manager. Yes.
(11:59):
And I think you can't remember his name, so I love that.
But yeah, if you're afraid to ask, I just hear lack of skill.
That's what I hear. Because I think when you get the skill, you get the
confidence then you're okay you'll do it but you know
that's so i shouldn't just say fire them all and start again well
yeah well you would maybe i'm just saying there's always possibly for everything
(12:22):
good and bad there you go yeah we hang in there we still have four more to go
and if you're just joining us make sure that you type in where you're joining
in from and what's your energy level today from one to five i just realized
i let myself get out of a four there What the hell?
All right. So, Ava asks, with HR being the hardest part of business,
where do you draw the line with accountability and just having enough people to cover the floor?
(12:44):
Ooh, that's a 2024 question. Well, how would you answer that question?
I'm interested now. No, I, I, I think we have a, I wanted to say generation.
That's not quite right. We have a group of managers who are so shell shocked
after the pandemic and that tell me I can't get good people.
We've heard that for eons. So when I was a child in the fifties,
(13:08):
I'm sure they said that we can't get good people as well.
I think you make good people, but more importantly, any business you've got
has to hold people accountable.
Level someone somewhere is held accountable and when
we just say i need enough people to cover the floor we
end up deteriorating the whole retail environment
because i can't tell you how many stores i've gone into and no one gives a damn
(13:32):
on any level the stores are filthy look at starbucks they're big troubles right
now your old brand there yeah and i walked into a store the other day and i
was shocked it was like there was crap you could see stuff underneath the.
Counters. That would never have happened. And while you could rail on the employees
and say, damn it, employees, someone's not holding somebody accountable and
(13:52):
they're paying great wages. They have amazing benefits.
So it's not that, but it's that desire to say, we can be better.
And I think any manager, if you're watching this, if you don't start every day
by saying, how can we be better?
I think you're really in trouble. And if you just, and once that,
we just got to have people on the the floor april well
yeah that's an excuse back door isn't
(14:13):
it you're gonna product out the back door go ahead yeah that's an excuse that's
just an excuse to me because like you know we've all
ran stores i ran stores with two people coverage and i had people say that to
me all the time and it's all about performance and productivity batching tasks
and scheduling things right and like setting again setting expectations and
i think accountability is a big word to unpack pack because people get fearful
(14:37):
of the word accountability.
They literally think it's just a hard conversation and it's not.
It's accounting for people's abilities.
Like I break it into two pieces. And if you can account for people's abilities,
then you'll start looking at what they are capable of.
And then that reflects on you because you're not actually trusting and believing
that they could do three things. You're thinking that, oh, they can only do this.
(15:01):
And you I think that's a big excuse. There's not enough people on the floor.
I've managed retailers for years with two people coverage.
Had to unpack spot one days, had to clean, had to, you know,
the last one was a tea company. We had 150 teas. We had to like.
You know do all the expirations on them and all that kind of stuff
and you know one manager could do it another manager couldn't
(15:21):
and it was literally the way that they exactly what that
question was oh we only have enough people on the floor no you have people on
the floor you get to work with these people on the floor you get to ask them
to do things you get to follow up and I think it's again it goes back to fear
of like too scared to ask them to do it because I don't want to stress them
out well that's on that's not on them you don't know that that's how they feel
(15:41):
it's a great Great point.
And I think it starts when we allow people to come in 10 minutes late or with
a wrinkled shirt or to take too long of a break or to constantly be saying,
can I go home? Can I go home? Go home.
That wears on you at some point. Why are you there?
There are people out there, right? April, we have seen it.
(16:03):
I have met some of the greatest people in the last eight months who are working
retail and enjoying it. They are out there.
It is not a matter of how much they're paid, but it does come to what are your standards?
And if you don't have them, I think you're pretty much left with either let's
make a deal where they're just selling by, I'll give you 20% off this week.
Here's a coupon, go online and put it in your cart and come back and get 20%.
(16:24):
Then you come in, I get another, right? It's either that kind of thing or it's the wild, wild west.
Like what's it going to be? Is anyone going to help me? So yeah.
I'd like embrace accountability.
I love accountability. I love
that. That could be a toaster cozy for your little gift for Christmas.
Tony has a question. My daughter and my manager don't get along.
(16:45):
My manager recently told me after I'd counseled both of them to get along,
he wouldn't work when she did. Holy crap.
I'm not in my store as much as I used to be, and I can't imagine trying to schedule
them opposite. We're a small but busy store.
He used to be really good, but I feel this is an indication of something bigger.
What do you think? You have to answer this first.
(17:05):
I have to answer this. Oh my God. Well, are you using, I'm always going to go
back to management skills, right? Because you're going to be like,
just get rid of one of them.
I'm going to be like, did you use your conflict management skills?
Have you had a conversation with them? Oh my God.
But I think that's a difficult situation, right? But yeah, it's a difficult one.
(17:28):
I mean, you've got, what are they not getting on about?
They just don't like each other. Like what's happening? The manager said he's
not going to work with his daughter.
So at that point, when you throw down the gauntlet, you can watch the roots go through my feet.
I don't want to talk to you. I'm out.
Like, that's not a person I think that's reasonable.
(17:52):
If you say you've counseled both of them to get along and you're only going
to work when she doesn't, I get it.
I've had this. Yeah, that's not reasonable. That is, that's not reasonable.
Like, if you're a manager, you've got to get along with all different types
of personalities and work through that so.
Yeah whatever's going on a manager and it's themselves saying
that they're not going to work with somebody that's not really a manager is it
(18:13):
that's a hard one i think more of the
situation but i think if you've sat down you've got
to set some clear expectations and some guidelines you can't put them on opposite
shifts it's just not going to work so it probably to your point we're at the
end of the life cycle of this you might have you You probably could have saved
this earlier on if things must have really gotten painful for that other person
(18:35):
to say, I won't ever do it.
And I think you got to look at your daughter. Sorry. Well, maybe that's the
learning. Maybe that's the learning, though.
Maybe he said that he hasn't been in the store as often as he was.
So maybe when he stepped away, and this happens to a lot of small business owners,
when they step out of the business and they put a manager in,
they don't know how to train that manager to actually do what they did or be a manager.
(18:55):
Right. So maybe that's a big learning that you need to go back and be like,
if I did hire a new manager, what would I do differently?
I love that. I love that. And if you're watching this, I know several of you still watch this.
You got to give me some thumbs up or some love or your little applause on LinkedIn
or whatever, because April has joined us at 6 a.m. her time,
folks, to be here with me today.
So if you like what she's saying, put in the comments, yes, she's cool.
(19:18):
We should have her back or hell no.
She's much too nice. And I'd rather have Bob just say, you know, fireball.
Trish says, I don't have employees, but the thing I'm struggling with is acquiring,
this is my last one, apparently, I don't have employees, but the thing I'm struggling
with is acquiring new customers and just letting people know I'm here.
(19:39):
Okay. There you go, April. That's retail 101, but go ahead. It's retail 101.
I mean, there's so many things you can let known people know you hear.
Social media being what it is today, I just watched the whole,
it's a terrible show, but I mean, it was a good education show,
but the one about Brandy Melville, right?
I just watched it on the plane the other day. Have you watched that yet?
(20:01):
Oh, you got to watch it. It's one of those
uncover cover the hood stories of a retailer that's really bad in
terms of culture but it's really amazing
what they did with their social media they built their whole brand
off their social media and just their clients their
customers so okay that's a really good education in
social media but social media being what it is what are you doing are you
(20:22):
posting do you have an instagram do you have facebook i bet
20 off coupon if they come in today yeah walk
around like trying to like the the local community
like are you going out there are you talking i mean we used to go
and hustle and give tea to everybody in our communities to get them to
come and drink our tea so like there's so many things you can do
right you just have to get out there you can't just be in your four walls waiting
(20:43):
for people to come it doesn't work like that no it's a
great point a shoe leather is so undervalued in
this day and age that old school is you know
what is your trade area oh we sell all over don't give me
that crap you know where do most of your customers come from i don't
know you better have a mailing list if they bought something you should have something physical.
That you could do and if nothing else if you did
(21:04):
that your mail chimp or hubspot or
somebody could tell you the location that their ip is
whatever it is uh you have to say
how do i try better and pick one thing yeah
don't say oh i'm gonna do everything yeah and
i had a spa owner tell me oh i don't have any customers coming in
i said well show me how many customers are in your database she had like 800 people
(21:24):
i was like have you called them all and invited them back and give them a coupon on
and she was like no and i was like okay give me the list
like we're going to start calling now we're calling every single customer
we're going to every building we're dropping everything she's like oh i was
like it's not that complicated get out of your head that's a great point i love
that april well it looks like people like you oh thanks what a surprise no one
(21:46):
said we should have more bob thanks for that you could have like yes bob anyway
it's all good uh so again i don't want you Don't you forget about the Retail
Refresh. Starts about three weeks.
You can get it with early words special by following that link. I put it in comments.
You'll be seeing it in a relentless promotion that'll be coming up.
And also don't forget SalesRx, my online retail sales training program.
Because if you don't train them, you can't hold them to results.
(22:09):
And I appreciate April Sabral. How can they find out more about you?
You can find out more about me by going to retailu.ca and aprilsabral.com.
There you go. And don't forget, we're about as happy as we make ourselves up to be.
So make sure you have a great day. Thanks for joining us today. Bye, everybody.
Good morning, everybody. It's Bob Vibbs, the Retail Doc. Today is Sunday, August the 25th, 2024.
Thanks for joining me this morning. I have a special guest, and I'll talk to her in just a minute.
But wherever you're joining me from in the world today, please do me a favor
and in comments, just tell me where you're joining me from.
And on a scale of one to five, one being I'm not feeling great today,
(00:24):
five being I feel fawesome, put that in the comments as well.
Well, that's why we know you're here.
And more importantly, if you're ever doing lives, you always want to keep the
audience engaged and get them to take action because otherwise you're just sitting
there and the algorithm goes, no one's interested in what you have to say.
And even if you're watching this on the replay, I always go through and answer comments.
(00:45):
So wherever you're watching this on LinkedIn Live or YouTube or Facebook,
do me a favor and just type in where you're joining me from and what you're
feeling today. day, one being not so great and five being awesome.
Before I get too far along, I want to make sure that you all know about my brand
new program, the Retail Refresh.
(01:06):
It's coming out on September the 18th. Right now, you'll be able to join for $79.
And I just have a question for you. Have you ever looked around your store in
January and seen all that merchandise and thought, wow, I wish I'd done something
different? Well, this is a new program that I'm offering.
So, So, you know, some of the things that people tend to happen and that kill
(01:28):
their holidays is, one, you have poor planning.
You forget what you should be doing. You get caught up in tasks instead of the big picture.
You forget what's really important. It's not just sales.
And you maybe don't let your store look at its best.
And so competitors are able to eat your lunch. So I encourage you for eight
weeks, we're going to go through and talk about a different topic each week.
(01:49):
I'll go through and I'll explain what the concept is, give you some new ideas.
And then you'll have an activity to do and there'll be prizes and it's gonna
be fun, but you're not gonna know unless you register.
And so I will put that registration link in the comments here.
And there you go. And so I encourage you again, give me where you are joining
(02:10):
us from and your level of...
Energy today, whether it is low or high. Again, $79 early registration.
And we're going to have fun with that. And you'll have a chance to be able to
sign up all the way until the 18th, except there are limited spaces.
So if you get in early, you find out how the fun is all going to work and you
(02:30):
get to plan and you get to rave about it in November that you were the smart
one that was all ready to go.
Hey, Lewis, I'm glad you're here on your way to Northwest Buyers Group.
And All right. So now I have to stop sharing. So I have to go to here and then
I have to have a special guest is April Sabral. She is the creator of RetailU.
(02:52):
Joining us live from Chico, California. Good morning, April.
Good morning, Bob. I'm a five today.
I was just listening. Yeah, I love that. Well, introduce yourself because my
audience may not know who you are or what you do.
Yeah, my name is April Sobral. I founded RetailU, which is a management training
for retailers, like, you know, how to manage people, how to have those difficult
(03:15):
conversations, all of that good stuff. That's stuff that nobody really likes to do.
I love that. Well, you had some thoughts on people who say that retail is not a real career.
I know, you know. Let's get into it. Let's get into it. How can people say that
retail is not a real career?
Like, Think about what a retail manager does in a day, right?
(03:37):
And I remember just growing up and telling people I worked in retail because
that's what I did for many years before I started RetailU.
And I always felt embarrassed, like, oh, I'm not doing, I don't have the real
job, you know, because people just think it's uneducated. I don't know. What do you think?
That's a great point. I mean, I got my degree in conducting and people would
(03:58):
say, like, why are you in retail?
It's like, well, I bought my first house when I was 22. Retail has been good for me.
But that story isn't out there. It's like, well, you're a loser.
And that imposter syndrome, like, well, what would you really want to be doing?
And it's like, well, I want to be working with people,
And figuring it out does take skill. But I guess the difference,
April, is it's a different skill set, right?
(04:19):
You can't check a box and say, oh, you took this class.
Right. No, retail is a real career, people. It's not a mystical career.
You're managing millions of dollars and people every day.
I say that all the time. One manager could be managing a million-dollar business,
right? Store owner, $2 million business.
So yeah, it takes skill. It takes a lot of effort. And it takes a certain kind
(04:41):
of person. I mean, but I think once you're in it and you love it.
Well, that's interesting because I think owners have that same thing.
Are you a salesperson? No, I'm the owner. Like, oh, God forbid you would say I'm a salesperson.
Like, you're the biggest salesperson there should be in your store, right?
You're the one that has to make sure that the bank gets paid and you take money
(05:03):
home out of it, not just putting money into it.
Well, we have a few questions here today. day.
And if you are joining us live, you can jump in here and add as well.
Top fan Michael says, is it too much to believe employees should be self-motivated
instead of asking them to do every last thing?
Well, that is a loaded question, April. How would you answer that?
(05:24):
How would I answer that? Yeah.
Employees should be self-motivated instead of asking them to do every last thing.
Well, I would say, I hear a lot of managers say that to me, and that is a loaded question.
But But the thing is, I'd ask yourself, Michael, right? That's who asked this question.
I'd ask yourself, Michael, you know, what are you doing to really motivate your employees?
(05:45):
Like, yes, employees can be self-motivated. But you know what?
It really requires you as a leader, as a boss, to make sure that you're doing
everything in your power to motivate them.
And if your employees are not motivated, you better start looking at yourself. Because I'm not.
You can get 10% effort out of every single person when they want to work for you.
You know, gone are the days of like, oh, everybody's going to do everything themselves.
(06:06):
And like, you know, I don't need, I just need to hire people that do everything.
No, you need to train, develop them, coach them. You need to motivate them.
You need to ignite those positive emotions and build the skill.
And that's going to require you, Michael, to actually do the work to take that on.
Once you do that, then they are going to be motivated. But I don't believe that
(06:27):
you can hire a whole team of self-motivated people.
I think they are self-motivated when they join.
But if you watch their motivation go down, you better check yourself and see
what you're doing to make sure you get that motivation back.
Nobody wants to go to work when the energy is sucked out of you or you're not
rewarded for your brain power.
(06:47):
I think that's one of the things. This is the most educated,
hopeful group of individuals we've ever seen coming into retail.
And then they come into your technology, which is from the 60s.
And you're like, well, we work around it this way. We do this.
And they're like, really? How do you do anything? And then just wait for customers.
And of course- I mean, I was working with a small business owner that said something like that to me.
(07:11):
And then when I went and talked to her whole team, they were all like,
well, yeah, no, she's doing everything herself.
She's not asking us to do anything. She's not sharing how to do it and what she wants.
And it was just a really quick solve, Set clear expectations,
recognize people when they're doing good work, and then follow up.
It's not that hard, and yet it is. Yeah, it is. It's both sides.
(07:32):
Alice has a little bit longer question and not as loaded, I think.
So here we go. Alice, if you're watching, you can jump in as well.
We've been hammered by a major infrastructure road work construction project
for weeks, and that's reduced our traffic significantly.
Our regular customers ask us how we're doing with it.
My question to you, do we tell the truth? Ruth, business is down 50% overall,
(07:52):
or do we smile and say, oh, we are okay.
La-di-da, it will be over soon. Nobody likes Debbie Downer, but this situation
has been a real ass kicker, and it's hard not to be honest when people ask.
Don't be honest. Sorry. I'm just going to say it like it is.
Be positive. You're not there to share all your personal drama and stories with your customers.
(08:13):
They're not going to appreciate that. I am the queen of positivity.
I believe wholeheartedly to keep it together and be positive.
I'm not saying don't go talk to the people that are doing all the roadworks
and to your local whoever you need to scream at, but your customers just don't need to hear that.
They don't want to. And the other thing I was thinking about when I read this
this morning is maybe they're looking at your store and they're asking, are you okay?
(08:40):
Like the same merch I've seen for the last eight months. Like,
are you okay? That's a good point.
Find a way to move everything around and keep it interesting.
But, you know, it is what it is. And, you know, if you think about it,
people look, people are dealing with all kinds of things.
Their mom is Alzheimer's. Their dad is struggling for cancer. They have a kid in rehab.
(09:04):
Their friend is being foreclosed. There's a million things.
We don't just say, oh, well, this is how it sucks to be me because,
you know, nobody wants to hear it. We're all we already have that message.
Yeah, we do. We're pumped with that all day. I mean, I remember when I was a
store manager back in the day at Starbucks and I'd moved here from England and
people used to walk in and be like, how are you? And I'd tell them everything.
(09:25):
And my staff would be like, what are you doing?
Just say you're good. And I was like, well, why? If I'm not good,
they're like, but this this is customer service in America.
And I was like, OK, because, you know, England, you Brits want to tell us all
you want to tell you everything.
But no, it's not not a good look. So I would keep it good.
Good. We have another one here that's kind of long. So stay with me.
(09:47):
Amber asks, our managers take on a lot of responsibilities.
How can we better support them by giving our hourly employees more responsibilities?
Point of view, we have a great staff of wonderful people and a lot of part-time people.
The issue is that a lot of them have retired from their careers and want a job
where they enjoy their work and do not have the stress of managing certain responsibilities.
They enjoy coming in and working with people.
(10:09):
Also, this is our sales team who's on the floor. How do we give...
All right, this is a two-part question, Amber. How do we give them the tasks
and responsibilities and allow them to work on that role while effectively selling
on the floor and helping customers?
I want to support my managers and help take some of the load off their hands
by having another employee responsible for certain departments,
monthly responsibilities, etc.
So it sounds like your manager overworked and you're afraid to ask your older
(10:34):
part-time people to help.
Does that sound what you hear? Is that what you hear, April, out of that?
I don't hear that at all. Why do you hear things like that? It's so funny.
I should have said.
Yeah, no, you're so cynical. I love it. It's funny.
That's what I hear. What do you hear? Yeah, no, because I'm a leadership coach.
(10:55):
So what I hear is a younger person that doesn't know how to coach an older person
to actually take on responsibility.
And that's, you know, pretty evident in what she's saying, because she's she
said a few things that didn't she, she said, like, they're older,
they just want to come in and talk to people, and things like that.
But I would say learn the skill to like, literally have a coaching conversation
(11:16):
and like learn how to delegate and, and again, set the clear expectations and
know what you want to do and, and, and just go for it.
Like, I don't know, you know, it's, it can be intimidating, right?
When you're younger and you're trying to manage older people,
you know, you're managing your mom.
I don't know, you know, like your grandmother, you could be.
So I think it's more about, that's what I hear when I hear that statement.
(11:38):
I know what you heard, but I don't know how you heard that, but like.
Well, I would also hear who are you hiring all the time because you can't have
the same personality all the way around.
And it sounds like you're afraid to ask them to do things. Yeah, that's my idea.
And I think when people are afraid, when managers are afraid to ask if it's
the manager, I think she's the manager. Yes.
(11:59):
And I think you can't remember his name, so I love that.
But yeah, if you're afraid to ask, I just hear lack of skill.
That's what I hear. Because I think when you get the skill, you get the
confidence then you're okay you'll do it but you know
that's so i shouldn't just say fire them all and start again well
yeah well you would maybe i'm just saying there's always possibly for everything
(12:22):
good and bad there you go yeah we hang in there we still have four more to go
and if you're just joining us make sure that you type in where you're joining
in from and what's your energy level today from one to five i just realized
i let myself get out of a four there What the hell?
All right. So, Ava asks, with HR being the hardest part of business,
where do you draw the line with accountability and just having enough people to cover the floor?
(12:44):
Ooh, that's a 2024 question. Well, how would you answer that question?
I'm interested now. No, I, I, I think we have a, I wanted to say generation.
That's not quite right. We have a group of managers who are so shell shocked
after the pandemic and that tell me I can't get good people.
We've heard that for eons. So when I was a child in the fifties,
(13:08):
I'm sure they said that we can't get good people as well.
I think you make good people, but more importantly, any business you've got
has to hold people accountable.
Level someone somewhere is held accountable and when
we just say i need enough people to cover the floor we
end up deteriorating the whole retail environment
because i can't tell you how many stores i've gone into and no one gives a damn
(13:32):
on any level the stores are filthy look at starbucks they're big troubles right
now your old brand there yeah and i walked into a store the other day and i
was shocked it was like there was crap you could see stuff underneath the.
Counters. That would never have happened. And while you could rail on the employees
and say, damn it, employees, someone's not holding somebody accountable and
(13:52):
they're paying great wages. They have amazing benefits.
So it's not that, but it's that desire to say, we can be better.
And I think any manager, if you're watching this, if you don't start every day
by saying, how can we be better?
I think you're really in trouble. And if you just, and once that,
we just got to have people on the the floor april well
yeah that's an excuse back door isn't
(14:13):
it you're gonna product out the back door go ahead yeah that's an excuse that's
just an excuse to me because like you know we've all
ran stores i ran stores with two people coverage and i had people say that to
me all the time and it's all about performance and productivity batching tasks
and scheduling things right and like setting again setting expectations and
i think accountability is a big word to unpack pack because people get fearful
(14:37):
of the word accountability.
They literally think it's just a hard conversation and it's not.
It's accounting for people's abilities.
Like I break it into two pieces. And if you can account for people's abilities,
then you'll start looking at what they are capable of.
And then that reflects on you because you're not actually trusting and believing
that they could do three things. You're thinking that, oh, they can only do this.
(15:01):
And you I think that's a big excuse. There's not enough people on the floor.
I've managed retailers for years with two people coverage.
Had to unpack spot one days, had to clean, had to, you know,
the last one was a tea company. We had 150 teas. We had to like.
You know do all the expirations on them and all that kind of stuff
and you know one manager could do it another manager couldn't
(15:21):
and it was literally the way that they exactly what that
question was oh we only have enough people on the floor no you have people on
the floor you get to work with these people on the floor you get to ask them
to do things you get to follow up and I think it's again it goes back to fear
of like too scared to ask them to do it because I don't want to stress them
out well that's on that's not on them you don't know that that's how they feel
(15:41):
it's a great Great point.
And I think it starts when we allow people to come in 10 minutes late or with
a wrinkled shirt or to take too long of a break or to constantly be saying,
can I go home? Can I go home? Go home.
That wears on you at some point. Why are you there?
There are people out there, right? April, we have seen it.
(16:03):
I have met some of the greatest people in the last eight months who are working
retail and enjoying it. They are out there.
It is not a matter of how much they're paid, but it does come to what are your standards?
And if you don't have them, I think you're pretty much left with either let's
make a deal where they're just selling by, I'll give you 20% off this week.
Here's a coupon, go online and put it in your cart and come back and get 20%.
(16:24):
Then you come in, I get another, right? It's either that kind of thing or it's the wild, wild west.
Like what's it going to be? Is anyone going to help me? So yeah.
I'd like embrace accountability.
I love accountability. I love
that. That could be a toaster cozy for your little gift for Christmas.
Tony has a question. My daughter and my manager don't get along.
(16:45):
My manager recently told me after I'd counseled both of them to get along,
he wouldn't work when she did. Holy crap.
I'm not in my store as much as I used to be, and I can't imagine trying to schedule
them opposite. We're a small but busy store.
He used to be really good, but I feel this is an indication of something bigger.
What do you think? You have to answer this first.
(17:05):
I have to answer this. Oh my God. Well, are you using, I'm always going to go
back to management skills, right? Because you're going to be like,
just get rid of one of them.
I'm going to be like, did you use your conflict management skills?
Have you had a conversation with them? Oh my God.
But I think that's a difficult situation, right? But yeah, it's a difficult one.
(17:28):
I mean, you've got, what are they not getting on about?
They just don't like each other. Like what's happening? The manager said he's
not going to work with his daughter.
So at that point, when you throw down the gauntlet, you can watch the roots go through my feet.
I don't want to talk to you. I'm out.
Like, that's not a person I think that's reasonable.
(17:52):
If you say you've counseled both of them to get along and you're only going
to work when she doesn't, I get it.
I've had this. Yeah, that's not reasonable. That is, that's not reasonable.
Like, if you're a manager, you've got to get along with all different types
of personalities and work through that so.
Yeah whatever's going on a manager and it's themselves saying
that they're not going to work with somebody that's not really a manager is it
(18:13):
that's a hard one i think more of the
situation but i think if you've sat down you've got
to set some clear expectations and some guidelines you can't put them on opposite
shifts it's just not going to work so it probably to your point we're at the
end of the life cycle of this you might have you You probably could have saved
this earlier on if things must have really gotten painful for that other person
(18:35):
to say, I won't ever do it.
And I think you got to look at your daughter. Sorry. Well, maybe that's the
learning. Maybe that's the learning, though.
Maybe he said that he hasn't been in the store as often as he was.
So maybe when he stepped away, and this happens to a lot of small business owners,
when they step out of the business and they put a manager in,
they don't know how to train that manager to actually do what they did or be a manager.
(18:55):
Right. So maybe that's a big learning that you need to go back and be like,
if I did hire a new manager, what would I do differently?
I love that. I love that. And if you're watching this, I know several of you still watch this.
You got to give me some thumbs up or some love or your little applause on LinkedIn
or whatever, because April has joined us at 6 a.m. her time,
folks, to be here with me today.
So if you like what she's saying, put in the comments, yes, she's cool.
(19:18):
We should have her back or hell no.
She's much too nice. And I'd rather have Bob just say, you know, fireball.
Trish says, I don't have employees, but the thing I'm struggling with is acquiring,
this is my last one, apparently, I don't have employees, but the thing I'm struggling
with is acquiring new customers and just letting people know I'm here.
(19:39):
Okay. There you go, April. That's retail 101, but go ahead. It's retail 101.
I mean, there's so many things you can let known people know you hear.
Social media being what it is today, I just watched the whole,
it's a terrible show, but I mean, it was a good education show,
but the one about Brandy Melville, right?
I just watched it on the plane the other day. Have you watched that yet?
(20:01):
Oh, you got to watch it. It's one of those
uncover cover the hood stories of a retailer that's really bad in
terms of culture but it's really amazing
what they did with their social media they built their whole brand
off their social media and just their clients their
customers so okay that's a really good education in
social media but social media being what it is what are you doing are you
(20:22):
posting do you have an instagram do you have facebook i bet
20 off coupon if they come in today yeah walk
around like trying to like the the local community
like are you going out there are you talking i mean we used to go
and hustle and give tea to everybody in our communities to get them to
come and drink our tea so like there's so many things you can do
right you just have to get out there you can't just be in your four walls waiting
(20:43):
for people to come it doesn't work like that no it's a
great point a shoe leather is so undervalued in
this day and age that old school is you know
what is your trade area oh we sell all over don't give me
that crap you know where do most of your customers come from i don't
know you better have a mailing list if they bought something you should have something physical.
That you could do and if nothing else if you did
(21:04):
that your mail chimp or hubspot or
somebody could tell you the location that their ip is
whatever it is uh you have to say
how do i try better and pick one thing yeah
don't say oh i'm gonna do everything yeah and
i had a spa owner tell me oh i don't have any customers coming in
i said well show me how many customers are in your database she had like 800 people
(21:24):
i was like have you called them all and invited them back and give them a coupon on
and she was like no and i was like okay give me the list
like we're going to start calling now we're calling every single customer
we're going to every building we're dropping everything she's like oh i was
like it's not that complicated get out of your head that's a great point i love
that april well it looks like people like you oh thanks what a surprise no one
(21:46):
said we should have more bob thanks for that you could have like yes bob anyway
it's all good uh so again i don't want you Don't you forget about the Retail
Refresh. Starts about three weeks.
You can get it with early words special by following that link. I put it in comments.
You'll be seeing it in a relentless promotion that'll be coming up.
And also don't forget SalesRx, my online retail sales training program.
Because if you don't train them, you can't hold them to results.
(22:09):
And I appreciate April Sabral. How can they find out more about you?
You can find out more about me by going to retailu.ca and aprilsabral.com.
There you go. And don't forget, we're about as happy as we make ourselves up to be.
So make sure you have a great day. Thanks for joining us today. Bye, everybody.
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