The story of the Valet – a true story

Ms. Kalpana is a busy Senior Manager in a large Bangalore based company.  One Saturday evening,  she drove her Swift car along with her mother, to a store in Jayanagar , Bangalore to buy some jewellery for herself .

She gave the car to the Valet for parking and went up to do her shopping.  After a few hours of jewellery shopping, ( who ever finishes jewellery shopping in a few minutes ?) she came back to collect the car at about 8.40 Pm in the night ! only to find that her car had a punctured tyre ! She was at her wits end, as to what to do ?  At this time, all puncture shops would be closed and she will have to take a taxi back home and come back the next day to get it fixed !

It was then, she was surprised to hear the Valet, that if she doesn’t mind, he would change the punctured tyre with the stepney in the boot !

She was extremely relieved and thanked the valet !

Moral :- It was the customer orientation of the team at the brand, which the valet too had heard about and made the effort to help out a customer in need of help !

Result :- She had become a loyal fan of the brand and the store, she has gone around the whole of her friend and colleagues circle sharing this incident and wows to go back to the store for all her future purchases !

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Do you have the time to sharpen your saw ?

Who has the time ? – Every body’s confession ?

The popular story, as given in the picture is very descriptive of the life of many of  us and certainly of many owner - retailers.

We believe that we have so many things to do at the store, that we have no time, to go out and learn new things. Additionally, most of these seminars are full day or even 2 or 3 day events in Mumbai or Bangalore, it takes away another full day for travelling to and fro.

Besides, what is it there to learn, when we have been doing this business for 10,, 20 or even 30 years?

Learnings :-

Recently, I did attended a seminar . It really opened my eyes to the many things are being introduced in the industry for problems that are plaguing us for many years now.

Problem : One of the biggest problems that retailers are facing is the understanding of what sells and what does not sell and why ? Answer :- There are Business Analytics solutions

Problem :- What is the future likely to hold ? Solution :- No need to do detailed regressive analysis of BIG DATA. Predictive analysis takes small amounts of data and converts into potential trends.

Problem :- .Customer’s today know more about the product , than the Retail Staff, simply because , for the Retail Staff it is a job, while the customer is spending his hard earned money. Solution:- New solutions to keep the RSA updated on the “fly” with new content being downloaded from the net and a hand held to show to the customer.

Problem :- . Don’t know how to sell things on the net, except that you have products ? There is a company, which will do all the “dirty work’ about photography, content writing, putting up the product on websites and all you do is down load orders and replenish the stocks.

But the biggest revelation, ( even though we might know earlier) is the customer is checking out on physical stores and actually shopping  on the net . And how physical retailers have begun to fight back at this “showrooming” phenomenon.

Check out more on such ideas on New Age Retailing at this daily blog :-

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Train the "last man standing"

Mrs. Kumar had seen a special offer in the morning newspaper for a buy 2 Get 1 free from the large departmental store, where she always wanted to buy from. A Sale was on and she wanted to get the best items before the were all "sold" out.

So, she was at the store as soon as the store opened for business. But to her surprise, after she had selected the 2plus 1 offer, when she went to the Retail Sales Associate for a clarification, she found out that the RSA had not even heard about the offer !

We have all experienced service of this kind before, but it has become more and more often these days, especially in large branded stores, often run by employees only...


Why is Customer Experience in retail stores so poor ? 

As more International brands find the "last big market" is really India, they are coming in and opening new stores in every city possible. Indian Brands are also trying to get the wallet share of the same consumer and are also expanding existing stores, adding new stores at feverish pace to be ready for the real onslaught once the FDI in multi brand retail opens up in the next couple of years.

While Product, Price, Promotion, Place are all possible to be controlled by the Corporate or the Regional office teams, the one challenge that all brands are facing is the acute shortage of "Retail Staff" to man the counters at these stores.

Consumers are experiencing poor service levels, inadequate knowledge of the product, price, latest schemes etc. The problem gets even more complicated with the store staff not necessarily fluent in Hindi or English or even the local language, the brands want them to speak the "brand language" which is typically English and the consumer speaking in his own language, which could be English,, Hindi or even the local language.

With salaries and incentives generally being low, week ends being the busiest days of the week, more and more staff are migrating to Call Centre duties, even if it means night shifts. Atleast the money in call centers are double the typical salary levels in retail stores in India.

What is the solution :-

In fact, I hear, apparel brands had stopped training 3 years ago, all because of the 100% attrition rate ! Ie, in one year, the whole store staff have changed .

Like the way online retailers are getting the better of physical retailers on price, the only solution for physical retailers is to offer such an "extra ordinary service", the customer is willing to shop at physical stores !

But for such service to be offered, the staff has to be trained. However,  a recent example I am aware of shows, that retail sales managers dont have the "inclination" for training.

But, one brand which had stopped training has now begun to train its staff, not only in the store operations, but also exclusive English speaking classes.

The commitment of the staff if training is made available can be seen from the fact, that after working for 6 days at the store, they are going to class on their weekly off day ( 7th day ) for 4 hours to just learn English !

Wish more and  more brands wake up to this reality of the poor service levels at the stores and their impact on the Brand, on which crores of rupees are often spent on Brand Ambassadors, Merchandise etc.

Afterall the Brand Ambassadors can bring the customer to the store, but for making the sales,  a Retail Sales Associate is required.

Share your experiences in retail shopping with us :-

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Customer is smarter than the Retailer

Time was when, during the Licence Raj era, the Retailer had all the aces up his sleeves. He knew the price. the supply sources, when there would a short supply, the customer knew very little, was happy with what he got etc etc.

How times have changed, the customer knows when the international product was released, what is the USD price, when is it likely to be officially released in India, how to even get it even before its official release here . Similarly, even for an Indian product, he will know, what is the price of it in a physical retail store, in an online store, in a "factory outlet " store, what discount he can get in a franchisee run store, what he cannot get in a company run store etc etc.

What it all means, is the CUSTOMER is now in Control. The "Control" has shifted from the Retailer to the Customer.

Learnings :-

Each Retailer has to work to get the "Control" back to him, and this is only possible through building "relationships" and giving a suitable "experience". Price is neither a "relationship" or an "experience" in itself as some of the "price warriors" will soon find out, that a low price is not a very sustainable offer for too long. The party will have to end some time.

One of the "relationship" the retailer of any kind can build with the customer is his "PEOPLE" at the front end customer facing side of the business. For too long, these "last mile connectivity" people have got the short end of the stick .

Training is a very good starting point and from the basics of selling to more detailed knowledge of products, to complex behaviour training, can help significantly. A small percentage improvement in the conversion of the walkins will more than compensate for the price paid for training, with a substantial ROI .

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Necessity is the mother of innovation...

Retail is really "mundane" business. A retailer needs to do the same thing again and again, to gain "operational efficiencies" and make profit.

It is like driving a bike again and again, after some time, you begin to do it like you are breathing, without giving it too much thought.

Unless, you decide, bike riding has to be better than riding in a hot sun ! And look at what this guy has done to his riding !

Let us look at one of the most "mundane" activities a retailer does on a daily basis, and after some thought, does not even bother to do himself. !

Initially, when the store opened, the retailer would have opened the lock of the store himself,with all the pride. Ex. A store ribbon cutting ceremony for example is a symbolic "lock opening". 

After a few months or an year, the lock opening is now a necessary mundane activity to be done and completed as soon as possible to get the store open for business.  or .....

Every retail employee would like to be a owner of his own business some day and opening a "lock" of the store can be a simple motivational reward for a job well done ! He, the Chief Guest of the day, can be made to"open " the lock of the store .

Learnings :-

To convert a "mundane" activity into a "motivational" activity is what make a Good Store Manager into a "Star Store Manager".

Share what did you "innovate" in  your store today ?

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If a project succeds, who gets the credit, and if it fails, who will take the responsibility ?

Of all the stories Dr. Kalam, ex-President of India,  relates as the most inspiring. Dr. Kalam highlighted an important quality of leadership by giving the example of his ex-boss, Dr. Satish Dhawan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Back then, Dr. Kalam was the project director for SLV-3, India’s satellite launch program.

In August 1979, when the first SLV-3 launch was a failure, Dr. Dhawan called a press conference to accept responsibility for it.

The following year, the satellite launch was successful; this time, he asked Dr. Kalam to address the press conference, rather than seeking the limelight himself.

A good leader, Dr. Kalam noted, takes responsibility for failure and passes the credit for success to his team.

As managers, we often do exactly the opposite. A leader must inspire his team to loyalty and commitment.

What have we done in the past  in a successful situation and when we faced a failure ?


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Security Guards..How to "Really"use them to reduce thefts !

In earlier days, the owner would typically sit near the entry/ exit door of a retail store, and would literally know every one of his customers and would know what came in and what went out. He was personally involved in every action .

But as the number of modern retail stores increases across the country, the need to protect the merchandise and other valuables increases significantly. The owner is no longer running the day to day operations, which is left to a employee and his team.

Scenario :-
Unlike in the past, the complexity of the modern retail store, the huge sizes of 1000s of square feet, multiple floors. ( any Relaince or a More Hyper mart ), the chances of theft and pilferage only increases.

The responsibility of detecting this is now a more complex operation as well. Apart from the now common CC TV which is centrally monitored, what is more important is the role of the Security Guards.

Challenges:-

The typical Security Guard in any retail store is often an outsourced resource, and most of them are too young, and  not educated to really find a more paying job, even inside the same super market. At the other end are very old security guards, who cannot do any manual work,and hence, the only job they can get is that of a security guard.
A formality at most stores...

How to convert a formality into an asset :-

Frankly, none of the employees care  about them. In fact, most employees dont even know the name of the security guard, probably because the guard changes almost every other day. The contract with the security agency is for so many guards and at the lowest rate per person...

Yet, the fact that theft, pilferage continuous and probably increased over a period is often "lost", mainly because they are not personally held accountable. See the wastage on the floor of any super market and you will understand the size of the problem...

Instead, if the Security Agency, the guards are all taken into confidence and made to be part of the store team, the commitment of these simple folk( often from far off villages) will surprise even the most hard nosed store manager.

In fact, in my earlier role as a Regional Manager, I was surprised, one day, that the security guard, Mr. Mishraji came with a mosquito repellent purchased out of his own funds, because he saw mosquitoes were entering the store when ever the door opened. And he suggested that we use this to control mosquitoes. All we had done, was to include the Security Guards as part of the morning meetings so that they knew the store operations, targets and challenges...

Incentive scheme ?
An incentive scheme which is a share of the theft / pilferage detected will make them feel a part of the store, apart from the including them in a theft preventiion program . Try it, you have nothing to lose Right ?

Share your insights !

Shivaram
www.retailgurukul.com
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Ph. 90360 365 24.

Pl forward to any of your business friends in the retail industry...

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Did you thank your Mother !

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and celebrating motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, yet most commonly in March, April, or May. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honoring fathers.

While many of us in India, dont really celebrate the day as Mother's day, the importance of the mother in our own living can never be fully understood.

Even though, Sunday was the official Mother's Day, we all need to go back to our homes, or call up our mothers or our children's mother ( our wife ) and thank them for being what they are .

It is only because of them, that we are able to actually spend days and many a times even nights working in  our jobs, including week ends .

I know of a few friends and colleaques, who because their spouses did not like the exciting world of retail, have left them and gone to join boring office jobs !!!

So, if  you are reading this, take the mobile or the phone after your shift , and call her and thank them .

I bet she will be very surprised. Why not get her a gift too. Need not be expensive, it is the thought that counts in these things.

Warm Regards,

From your RetailGurukul.com
Cell 90 360 365 24.

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Are your Air Conditioning your city, with your A/C unit .

This is the picture of a window that is open in a "up market air conditioned gymnasium" in an upmarket locality in Bangalore.This particular chain has over 30 gys all over South India . Can you imagine the air conditioning bill when the gym is running from 6.30 am till 10.30 Pm every day, 7 days a week and windows are kept open because the A/cs are not efficient and the gym feels stuffy inside. And this must be the practice in other branches also...

As organisations become bigger and bigger, more and more offices, retail stores, malls etc are increasingly run by employees and the "Owner" of the business is not in the picture at all.

While there are electricity shortages in the country due to high summer demand, "professional" businesses, offices, malls depend on diesel run generators to make up for the extra demand, when there is a power cut.

Who is responsible anyway ?

While the functional responsibility is for example, in the case of this gym, is with the Gym Manager, the habit that the wastage is impacting every one, must be felt by every employee and customer too. Because, wastage impacts every one, and especially in a item like electricity which is facing a country wide shortage and diesel generated electricity is about 3 times more  expensive.

Solution ?

The maintainence people are the best ones to take care of the building, but control of costs on power and diesel bills are never in their KRAs. It should be and portion of the cost cutting benefits come back to employees as better pay, customers as lower price increases and national benefits due to less air and noise pollution due to diesel generators .

Different temperatures for summer and winter !

Again, in large companies, standard operating procedures even specifiy that the temperature must be at 23 Deg Centigrade. Most places can actually do with two levels of standardisation a. one for summer and b. one for winter, when the ambient temp can be lower.

Guess, who has two types of temp settings as a standard procedure ?

Ever checked a 2nd class A/c compartment "setting board " in the Indian Railways near the door. The two standard temperatures are mentioned one each for the summer and winter seasons. We often blame the government for inefficiencies. but in this case atleast, they are way ahead of private entreprises.

One more idea for saving electricity :-

In one instance, in a factory the ambient temperature was increased from 23 to 24 degrees without much discomfort and lakhs and lakhs of rupees was saved, because the maintainence manager thought it would be a good way to cut costs, especially when the savings were so huge.

Do share photos of any such instances of "wastage" when the industry growth is seeing challenges and remember to tell any store or mall owners if you see any wastage, and also ask them to log on to this blog for more such cost reduction ideas..

Pl forward this to your friends in the retail business , they will be thankfull to you ! Save this website name in your contact list for any reference !

shivaram

http://www.retailgurukul.com

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Welcoming customers with a store signage

Mr. Akbar was the newly appointed store manager for Tanishq, the jewellery store from Titan,  which had just opened in Koramangala, Bangalore. He and his team had gone around the predominently residential area personally inviting customers to the opening of the store.

Soon after the store opened, new customers started coming but what surprised Akbar and his team was, customers were walking into the store for the first time, even after one year, even though they were living in the neighbourhood and must be passing the store frequently.

When asked, why they did not come earlier, the typcial answer was, they knew the store was there, but they had no requirement to buy jewellery at that time, and when they found the need, they had come in now. Customers keep watching the store, before a need arises.!

Truth be told...
The first "Welcome" sign for a customer to come into the store is really the "SIGNAGE". Let us look at the "signages " of two stores on the same building in Koramangala, Bangalore.

Top one for Cure and Care, looks like it needs some cure and care itself. The lighting is fused in many places, the signage does not attract adequate attention to itself. But the signage for Nike is beautiful, attracts attention and says welcome !. That is the way.

Similarly, look at another example, across the road from a newly opened store.

"P" is missing in the Hush Puppies signage. This is one of the only 4 high end Hush Puppies stores from the Bata stable in the country .

Solution :-

It is all part of a simple SOP for the store staff. Even the security guard can be made for follow the SOP. Every evening, the light is switched on at a fixed time say 6 PM by the security guard, so that the signage becomes visible at night. After switching on, the guard has to walk across the road and observe all the lights are working and nothing has got fused. And inform the store manager.

The manager should take a 5 minute break from his daily routine inside the store and come out , walk across the road, and observe, what potential customers are doing while crossing the store. Are they looking at the store, is a car parked in front of the porch obstructing the view to the store, what are the store staff doing when not attending customers, etc etc. All this information gives a good "5 minute health check" for the store.

Additional benefits :-
Any deviations can easily be rectified. Unlike during the day, when the workings inside the store is not visible from across the road, it is important that "store gives a professional welcome look "not just from the signage but also customer service inside. 

After investing close to a crore of rupees or more in advance, rentals, interiors, inventory, staff, the responsibility of the store upkeep is important.  Even in corporate setups, where it might take a few more days to get repairs done, the damage done by a faulty signage is too high to be left ignored for too long.

Let us hope the store repairs the signage, after reading this blog atleast.:)


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Happy and Prosperous New Year !!

Whether you are an entrepreneur, employee or even a government "servant", you are about a start a new financial year, ie 2012-13.

Looking forward, the top 5 things, you may consider doing.

1. Goal. Set yourself a "Goal" and announce it to your team, friends and relatives (TFR) who wish you well. This can range from achieving a sales turnover, a bottom line target, setting up new stores, training and even rewarding your staff.
2. Ask for suggestions, criticisms and way forward from your team above (TFR ) on how they would like to achieve the goal. They will initially say all the nice things , but on seeing your genuine interest, are likely to come up with really beautiful and workable ideas.You will need to be genuinely interested in that, but you will be surprised at their feedback.
3. Plan of Action. Once you have enough ideas that you think you can handle, all of you, should detail out a plan of action.  It will be a brief business plan . Where ever possible, set out due dates, responsibilities etc.
4. Summarize  the action plan into a few major points. Once this is done, get adequate posters, stickers, etc printed. An easy way would be even outsource some of these to a 3rd party like http://www.jademagnet.com , who can develop them for you.
5. Rewards Set a reward which makes all the effort worth it. This also needs to be announced, and dont forget to celebrate even a small milestone.


Simple way to remember this is GAPS filled are Rewarded. These are Goals, Ask for suggestions, Plan action, Summarize and Rewards.


Best of luck and a happy new year again..

RetailGurukul@gmail.com

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Morning Meetings @ Stores

Store Meetings for Retailers

It is one of the better management practices that we have begun to see in the more successful stores. Increasingly, if you were to ask the Store managers, if they had been doing this in the past, when they were young and in junior positions like most of us, then they will say no.

What is this “new thing”, that we are discussing now ?

What is a “meeting in the store” ?

Typically, a store meeting is a place where all the relevant employees of the store get together to discuss various opportunities and problems that are faced by the store .

Prayer, For a country that has so much of religion, it is quite normal for staff to start the day with a silent prayer.

In some stores, it is normal to end the meeting with a prayer. The choice is that of the staff and a silent prayer , a huddle in the style of the Indian Cricket team at the centre of the pitch or holding hands together are all different forms of team building.  As the staff at the store often come from different faiths and a silent prayer allows each person to pray to his faith.

What is the time when the store meeting should be done ?

Ideally, the store meeting should be done, before the store opens for the its customers .

In fact for a restaurant that is opening for dinner, then a meeting at 6.30 PM is perfectly the right time.  For such a meeting, who all should attend. ? From the door man, the waiters, the steward, the Chef and the restaurant manager.

For a Mens Section in a large department store? Surely the sales staff of the mens section should attend and the meeting can be conducted by the Section Head. In fact, it is a good idea to get one person from another section say the Ladies section to attend this meeting in turns, so that the customers who are done with their shopping their can then be directed to the mens section for some additional shopping. Similarly, the new things in the ladies section whether merchandise or ideas can also be shared, which can be used in creating new opportunities for sales.

Who conducts the meeting ?

Ideally, a person like the store manager should conduct the meeting, and one who has the authority and responsibility to take decisions.

Who all should attend the meeting ?

All the store staff, responsible for the day to day operations of the store should attend the meeting. In large stores, multiple meetings can be conducted , one each for each Category or section of the store, for example, separately for Ladies Section, Gents section , Kids Section etc.

Then, the section managers, can then attend a section managers meeting with the Senior Store Manager.

What are the kind of topics that should be discussed in the meeting ?

Topics such as the sales target, ways of achieving it are obviously on the top of the list. Among the other best practices are reviewing the customer feedback forms , discussions on customer complaints and how they have been solved and specifically, if there are customer complaints that are still not resolved. Yet another area of keeping the relevant people informed are any special deliveries that are due for the day, etc . Some topics to start this off …

·         Customer Service

·         Loss Prevention

·         Policies & Procedures

·         Business Goals

Sales Training :-

It would also be a good opportunity to also demonstrate any good practices of the store and also reward the staff for their good work. In fact, the value of the reward is much less important than the fact that the staff have been rewarded in front of their peers.

Additional Motivational opportunities and team building.

In large stores, a number of support staff whether from House Keeping, Security, Cashiering are common resources to the entire store. Hence, it would be a good initiative to invite the people and ask them to share some of their challenges and good things about our department. For example, we might find that many of the products that go for billing might not be having price tags. In situations where the customer is in a hurry, they often ask the product to be dropped from billing. This is a big loss of sales to the team.

A wonderful example :-

In a jewellery store on a High Street, that I know, the security staff was also invited to attend the meeting. Initially, such an invitation itself was a big thing for the “slightly old security man” who hardly any body cared about, whether it was the staff or the customers, except to leave their belongings when they entered or pick them up on their way out.

Since the meetings were held in English, the man could not understand much, But over a period of time, he began to ask questions and understood the business better and the impact of the customers on the business. Since the store was located in an area with a lot of mosquitoes, a lot of them used to enter when ever the door was opened.

Imagine the surprise of the staff, one day, the Security Man, brought a mosquito repellent liquid like Good Knight, saying that he had seen the mosquitoes coming in and disturbing the customers and he had gone and bought this repellent to be kept in the store. The rest of the staff were speechless at his gesture.

Your next step:-

After having learnt about the benefits, will you start a meeting to discuss the benefits ? Let us know too…

Best of luck from Retail Gurukul

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Will you volunteer to have a BOSS :) :(

Yes, The question is correct. If you had a choice between having a Boss and not having a Boss, will you still have one?

It is said, that in life, you cannot choose your parents, and in your company::_-  your Boss, your subordinates, your peers etc . At home too, after  you have had some choice in choosing your spouse, what are the other spaces where you can get yourself a "BOSS" if you want.?

There are still a few things in this world,  that you would have started to do something on your own for your own sake. Not for the sake of your parents, company, spouse, kids, friends etc.
For example, stock market investment , Gyming as part of your new year resolution , even a small time business on your own.

Now is the choice for you to either learn and do it on your own with all the trial and errors and costs associated with it.. After all, you want to do it and no body pushed you. Right ?

But then, is it the right thing ? Finally, what does a Boss typically do ? Help you set a target, monitor your progress, push you when you are sticking to the mutually agreed target , be a shoulder to sometimes at least go and cry / crib/ complain etc. And, kick your  @#$% sometimes if you failed ...

Now compare all these benefits of not having a BOSS . Ex. A Gym. The coach there is there to help you, yet if you skip your schedule, he at best can ask you couple of times. At best, he might send you some messages etc. But ultimately, it is you who has to decide whether to go to the gym or not. All this after having paid the full 3/6 /12 months fees in advance, running in thousands of hard earned rupees. Yet, finally, you give up half way through, saying you dont have time !

Now let us see if you had instead got a BOSS at the same gym. He would ensure that, ( you have paid up the 1000's of Rs ), that he will sit with you and set a target of say loosing 10 kgs in 12 months. He will then ask and get you to come to the gym every second day, and an average of 4 days in a week, including week ends. Then he will set up a schedule of workouts , monitor your workouts, your diet,  sit with you with your performance report, about the attendance, target vs achievement ( why have you been missing the classes, why and what have you been eating, you are short of your target by 300 gms for the month etc etc ).

At the end of the quarter, he would have applauded you in front of your other colleaques for the achievements, given you a gift , and pushed you to the next higher target of say 1.25 kgs next month.

So, net , net would you like to have a Boss ? or not ?

I certainly would, considering that it was my money, my target . All I need is sometimes , a kick in my @#$% so that the target is achieved and it is all for my benefit.

What say ? 

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Retail Sales Professional - It's all in the mind :)

Chapter 1. Let us start with the mind…

"When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. – Buddhist proverb

Did you know, that selling is the world’s oldest profession ?

Did you know, that in India, it Retail industry is the second largest employer, that means that  plenty  of jobs or opportunities in sales are going to be available now and in the future for a long long time.

Want to become a Sales Professional, not just a sales man in a unknown neighbourhood store ?  

But then, whether we call ourselves Sales Professionals or not, every one is in the field of selling.

1 .Five important benefits of becoming a Sales Professional ?

1.    You get to  meet people and solve their problems

2.    You can almost decide your income, because most sales jobs come with a combination of salaries and incentives.( reduce the hyperbole )

3.    You get to learn new things every day

4.    You will become a very good communicator.

5.    You can move up in life.

2 Characteristics of a Sales Professional ?

The best description of the characteristics of a Sales Professional is given below

THE SALESMAN*

Salesmen are big problems to their bosses, customers and wives, to credit managers, hotels, and sometimes to each other.  Individually and collectively they are cussed and discussed in sales meetings, conventions, behind closed doors, in bathrooms, bar rooms, and under one's breath from many angles, and with much fervor.

They make more noise and more mistakes, create more cheer, correct more errors, adjust more differences, spread more gossip, explain more discrepancies, hear more grievances, pacify more belligerence, and waste more time under pressure, all without losing their temper, than any class we know—including ministers. They live in hotels, cabs and tents on trains, buses, and park benches, eat all kinds of food, drink all kinds of liquids—good and bad—sleep before, during and after business with no more schedule than the weather bureau, and with no sympathy from the office.

Yet salesmen are a power in society and in the public economy. In many ways they are tribute unto themselves. They draw and spend more money with less effort, and less return, than any other group in business. They come at the most inopportune time, under the slightest pretext, stay longer under more opposition, ask more personal questions, make more comments, put up with more inconveniences and take more for granted under greater resistance than any group or body, including the U.S. Army. They introduce more new goods, dispose of more old goods, load or move more freight cars, unload more ships, build more factories, start more new businesses, and write more debits and credits in our ledgers than all the other people in America. With all their faults, they keep wheels of commerce turning, and the currents of human emotions running. More cannot be said of any man. Be careful whom you call a salesman, lest you flatter him.

*From Zig Ziglar’s, Ziglar on Selling, p. 14 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003), originally sent to him by Donald Benenson of Levittown, New York.

3 In a country where there is so much emphasis on education, I am not so well educated. How are my chances ?

Sure, a formal education is a great starting point for any career, but even an MBA from IIM can at best get an interview for a position that you may not get , if you did not have an MBA.

But, after that , it is only the performance that counts on a day to day basis.

History has shown that people who have succeded or failed, are of all kinds, college educated, college dropouts  or did not even attend college.

But ultimately, what matters is a willingness to succeed, the desire to learn the trade, and the tenacity to keep learning as you go along.

That is more important, than a college education.

4 How is life as a sales person?

Let us face the reality , upfront. There are those who make things happen and then there are those who wonder what happened ? . Any job or profession today, is more difficult than it ever was before. It will be tougher in the future also. But, ups and downs are part and parcel of any life today. Unless, you are willing to go and live in the Himalayas, tough days are part of daily living . It is better to be ready for them mentally so that you can face it when a tough or bad day happens than be not prepared for it.

The “mantra” is to say, this can happen to any one and take learnings out of it.

5 When the going gets tough, will you still be there ?

Ex. To show who in a group can do something difficult and which people cannot This month’s target achievement should separate the men from the boys! Because the market is poor, there is new competition and target achievement seems so difficult.

Difficult days are when the committed Sales Professional will still find ways to do the work, while the “chalta hai” sales representative will find reasons to explain why he could not do the job assigned to him.

6 Personal time for going to the movies, spending family time.

Weekends may no longer be Saturdays or Sundays . Weekly off is typically a “working day of the week ie Monday to Friday. But the advantage is , you will be able to enjoy a much more “quality time” either with your family

Or at the movies. In fact, many things like movies, food are now a days cheaper on week days compared to week ends. So you have an additional advantage of having a holiday on a week day.

7.Being ethical

Being is no longer an extra advantage in this age of white lies, half truths and outright lies. Being ethical is not only the right way to live , it is also most practical way to live. There are any number of examples of individuals, companies and large diversified groups who have lived by the law and spirit of running an ethical business. Ultimately, they have prospered compared with those who took short cuts to success.

Being ethical is no longer an advantage, in this age of white lies, half truths and outright lies. There are any number of examples of individuals, companies, and even large diversified companies who have succeded, without compromising on values.

8 Can mindset and training be related ?

How can training and mindset complement each other? Simply put, training is like your vehicle and the mind is the driver. Even if the vehicle is powerful; it will only perform at its level best when the driver also performs.
9 The Sales Professional For the 21^st Century Malls and Hi Street Brands.

With literally thousands of brands being retailed in the country and many to come in the years ahead, all Sales Professionals may or may not have college education or an MBA to their names, but they are educated enough to want to do a college education but they are educated enough to want to do a college education.

10 Now and into the future

With the number of things that are being discarded and the number of things that are being introduced every day, there will no dearth of new sales job opportunities now and into the future.

So, being in sales is the best profession in the world. If you do not want to be in sales, then get out now and find a job that works with what you want out of life.

But remember, you can take the man out of selling, but you cannot take selling out of the man.

How did you like this article ? Did it help you become a better Retail Sales Professional ?

Do send your feedback to shivaraaam@gmail.com or 90360 365 24. You can also follow me on twitter @shivaraaam or blog at http://www.retailgurukul.blogspot.com

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