If I only knew then what I know now
By Rich Lindblom, AVB Marketing
Aside from buying Bitcoin along with shares of Apple, Google and Amazon, there are a whole lot of things I would do differently if I could go back in time.
Like many of you, I grew up in a family business and I looked up to my father for running a successful operation. Interestingly enough, around the shop my dad was called “The Boss” and that described him quite well, as he had the final say on everything and his word was law. And like many people who started a business in the 1950s, my father was old school, believing that you don’t mess with success — and that meant change was a dirty word.
Because of that, I too was change averse, but eventually I saw the error of my ways and learned to embrace it.
Below I’ve listed what I think are some of the most important things I would do differently if I were starting a business today:
Take Every Deal
Sadly, I can’t tell you how many times we sent a customer out the door because we refused to match a price from one of our competitors. This too was a throwback to the way my father did business. It took me a long time to grasp the concept of taking every deal. But folks, if you walk a customer out the door because of price, they are never coming back.
Inventory turns and cash flow are two of the keys to running a successful business today. These are two topics I’ve written and spoken about quite a few times in the last few years. Taking a short deal typically leads to future sales down the road and inventory in the warehouse doesn’t pay the bills — you need cash to do that. So keep turning your inventory regardless of profit. If your competition can sell it for that price, so can you!
Technology
It was like pulling teeth to get my dad to fork over $600 to buy a TRS80 computer from RadioShack in the late 1980s. But I’ll be the first to admit that we really didn’t fully grasp all available technology until the late 2010s. Yes, we had a website, but beyond that we were still living in the ’90s.
Folks, there is so much technology available today that can make life easier for you and your employees. Yes, it costs money, but the efficiencies gained will typically pay you back many times over.
What kind of technology am I talking about? Here’s a quick list of things you should be using today:
- A fully transactional AVB website
- A modern. connected point-of-sale system from one of our Gold Partners
- Digital price tags
- An endless aisle/silent salesperson device such as KIOSQ
- AVB TV to entertain and inform your customers as they browse your store
- An up-to-date phone system with voicemail and music-on-hold
- An up-to-date computer system
- Quality accounting software, like QuickBooks Online
- Modern payment collection options with tab/swipe/insert devices
- New tablets for your service techs and sales staff
Employees
My father used to view employees as easily replaceable assets, no different than a company vehicle. Unfortunately, it took me far longer than it should have to realize that he couldn’t have been more wrong. (Sorry, Dad.) I can’t begin to count the number of employees we paid to train and who, for a variety of reasons, ended up going to one of our competitors.
I would go as far as to say that good employees are the single most valuable asset your company has. You need to take good care of your good employees because they are critical to your success or failure. Pay them well, show them respect and treat them like a member of the family rather than a replaceable asset. And most importantly, never give them a reason to even consider seeking employment elsewhere, especially at one of your competitors.
Floor Space is Valuable
When I first got into the business, we only sold one brand and we pretty much displayed every product they offered. But at the very first AVB Convention I attended, I heard something that stuck with me forever: If you aren’t getting at least six turns a year out of a particular product, get it off your floor. Your floor space is far too valuable to have it taken up by a dog product. Replace that product with something that will actually sell.
And if your current vendors don’t have anything different to offer, bring in a new vendor or a new product line, because as I mentioned earlier in this piece, inventory turns are one of the single most important keys to success.
Next Week: If I only knew then what I know now about financials, high-margin categories and the power of learning.
Rich Lindblom is a past principal of Advanced Maytag Home Appliance in Schaumburg, Ill., and now shares his 40-plus years of retail experience with BrandSource members as a YSN columnist and AVB Marketing asset. You can reach Rich at rich.lindblom@avb.net.
