David

David McIntyre

KVI Consulting

The summer is almost over and likewise so is our break here at KVI. We have new content in the work that we know is goig to help you greatly. Keep your eyes here as we will begin adding articles, videos and other content in the upcoming weeks!

David

David

In this second addition to our Guerilla Tactics articles let me start with this thought; the guerilla manager is a seeker. We seek out information, those who can help us and the resources needed to do what we do and do it well. We may not have access to Dale Carnegie training, leadership seminars or, for that matter, a leadership team any more adept at leading than you are; but we seek. We find answers because we must do a good job. The guerilla manager is always out to do his/her best. That said, this article is starting place not a finishing point. Never tire of acquiring the information necessary to succeed. Now let’s talk about 3 things every GM knows their volunteers need.

1.  Every volunteer needs Structure & Consistency

What are your processes and systems? Are they written down? Do people know what to do when you’re not there? Do you see that look of frustration in your volunteer’s eyes? More than likely it’s because things seem to be different, inconsistent and/or undependable from week to week. One week we do things this way and then next week it’s that way. When you are gone no one is quite sure how things are to be done. They say “David said we do it that way” and someone else says “Well last week he told me to do it this way!” No one quite knows when the shift starts (that’s why you consistently open late each week) and accountability as a whole is lacking. These are just a few signs that structure and consistency are missing. I can’t fully express to you the value of setting standards and then writing them down so people can see them and ultimately follow them. Here’s what the bible says

“And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by…” Habakkuk 2:2 (Amplified Bible)

We owe it to our volunteers who we are asking to “run” with the vision to be organized and ready when they come. I think there are a few things every store should have to help them in this area:

1.      A schedule- a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly schedule should be provided to each volunteer serving and be posted in your store where your team can review it.

2.      A position description- so people have an understanding of what is you are asking them to do.

3.      A communication portal- there needs to be a consistent means that you use to communicate with your volunteers either via phone, e-mail, Google Groups or some other communications base. The goal is to always keep your team in the loop so that they can serve with ease.

4.      An operations manual- your operations manual is a written document that says this is how we do what we do, this is what our policies are and this is what to do in certain basic situations. It must be maintained or it loses its’ effectiveness.

The second part of this piece is consistency. This is where trust is born between you and your volunteers. The more consistent you remain in the application and execution of your processes the more likely your volunteers are to partner with you as you work to move things forward. You will find yourself with more help than ever before just by providing some structure and consistency.

2.  Every volunteer needs Training

Ok, let’s face it most stores get so desperate for volunteers that when they come that just get thrown in and have to sink or swim. In the corporate world, it is a well known that the quality of training that you provide the longer the life span of the employee. I believe the same is true with volunteers. Have a plan for how you will use your volunteers then invest the necessary time to train them so that they can be a blessing to you. One of my own errors was withholding knowledge. I knew what I wanted but didn’t take the time to train others to do it so I ended up unnecessarily doing many things myself. Consequently, spending far too many hours and ultimately leading to burn out. Here is a challenge for you.

Plan a two-hour training for your volunteers

• Cover two to three key areas where you see there is a need for improvement or an opportunity for new or advanced training.
• Plan out the time including breaks, what will happen first, second etc., who will lead the training(s) and so on.
• Put it in writing and create a short hand-out for attendees.
• Then execute your training.
• Track the progress. How and where are you seeing improvements as a result of your training?

If you will take these basic steps I believe you can see long lasting, positive impact in your team.

3.  Every volunteer needs Appreciation

This is HUGE! I have learned the power and distance of a “thank you”. A simple thank you says I appreciate you. It communicates recognition of effort extended for your common cause or goal. That same thank you is also the fuel for future help. Who would you rather spend your freely given time and effort to? The guy who sees you on the floor getting dirty as you dust the bottom book shelf or going out of your way to give special attention to a customer and says “time’s a wastin’ can we move any quicker here?” or the guy who says “I saw what you did and I wanted you to know how grateful we are for your help.”? You and I both know which we would choose but the real question is have we become the former person instead of the latter? We have to purposely appreciate our volunteers. Schedule it if you have to. Do whatever it takes to remember to appreciate your volunteers. ‘Cause when things aren’t perfectly structured and the training may have been lacking, appreciation will buy you the time you need to get it together.

David McIntyre

Land of a Thousand Hills is a coffee company on a mission….literally. They are using coffee as an open door to minister to people in one of the worlds largest and finest coffee growing regions. You can be involved in missions without leaving your store or cafe. Visit their site to learn more about how you can drink coffee and do good.

Espresso Southeast is one of the regions finest espresso and coffee service and equipment providers who I have had the privilege of recommending to clients around the region for years . Visit their site to learn more.

1.       Be planned

2.       Be coordinated with your inventory efforts and buying strategies

3.       Help to put the stamp on who you are and what your store is about

The objective of display merchandising is to promote, increase awareness and/or educate the customer about certain products, special offerings or services in your store by providing them high visibility in various areas of your store. This is often accomplished through the hanging of signs, setting of displays and display tables or allotting of feature space by your cash register(s) or on certain shelves. No matter where you display, there are some best practices I have collected from experience and from the web that you should abide by in order to build successful displays.

1.       Keep your displays neat and clean.

2.       Make sure you have the product in stock. You would be surprised how often this rule is broken.

3.       Track what works and what doesn’t and then repeat what works

4.       Set-up a merchandising calendar. Dayspring offers a great merchandising calendar that highlights key seasons and holidays. You can stick with that or add events like church conferences or concerts to your merchandise mix.

5.       Change the displays regularly. If a display stays up to long, people start ignoring it. To avoid this, change your displays every 4 to 6 weeks. This is also a way to keep your store fresh to customers.

6.       Allocate merchandise display space and expenditures appropriately in recognition of customer demographics. If the bulk of your business’s customers are males between the ages of 20 and 40, the bulk of your displays should probably be shaped to catch their interest.

7.      Be careful of pursuing merchandise display designs that sacrifice effectiveness for the sake of originality.

8.      Do not overcrowd a display. Customers tend to pass over messy, busy-looking displays. Instead, Trudy Ralston and Eric Foster, authors of How to Display It: A Practical Guide to Professional Merchandise Display affirm that “a display should feature a single item or point of interest…. Every primary article [in a display] must interact with every other so that they all come together as a group. If they don’t it will look as if there is not one design, but several.

9.      Combine products that are used together in displays. For example, pairing bibles with other bible related resources (covers, hi-liters and notebooks) is likely to be more effective than placing it alone or with some other product that is only slightly related to bibles.

10.   Pay attention to details when constructing and arranging display backgrounds. For example, avoid dark backgrounds when customers will be looking through a window, since this makes the glass behave as a giant mirror.”

11.    Since merchandise displays can be utilized to educate customers. A well-conceived display could, for example, illustrate a product use that may not have occurred to most customers. “In addition to selling actual merchandise, display can be used to introduce a new product, a trend, and a new ‘look’ or idea,” explained Martin Pegler in Visual Merchandising and Display. “Display can be used to educate the consumer concerning what the new item is, how it can be worn or used, and how it can be accessorized. The display may also supply pertinent information, the price, and other special features.”

Ultimately, through trial and error you will learn what works well for your store and that is what you want to do repeatedly. The true measure of whether a display works or not is sales.

Happy Merching!

David McIntyre

KVI Consulting

Many of the big-box stores make us feel like we have to try to carry as much “stuff” as possible in order to please our customers. So we try to fit everything we can into our 1000, 2000, 3000 or more (or less) square feet and hope for the best. The fallacy in this is that many stores that do well do so because they know who they are and tend to focus on that. Some examples are Bed, Bath & Beyond and Williams-Sonoma who, despite their competition from big-box retailers, hold their own by maintaining their identity. Their specialized product assortments and the look and feel of their stores reflect who they are and appeal to their customer base. The church bookstore is also unique and we sometimes forget that. Well, it’s time for your store to have an identity makeover.

It is very difficult and quite frankly expensive to be all things to all people in your store, so I want to give you a few tips to help you fine tune your store to reflect who you are.

1. Determine Who You Are

In the church bookstore, knowing who you are is a little easier and a little harder than determining the same for an independent store. Most church bookstores are extensions of their church and tend to reflect the vision, mission and heartbeat of that church. Independents can shape their store however they like with little external influence. However, church stores have a built-in audience that is already in-line with the beliefs of that church while independents will have to adapt and adjust as they get a feel for the market around them. So knowing who you are as a church bookstore can be as simple as looking at your churches vision and mission statement. If your church is family focused then it would make sense that your store reflects that calling in its product mix, communications and its look and feel. The same would be the case if your church was missions, seeker or worship focused. Knowing who you are is the lynch pin to establishing other key areas of your store such as product philosophy.

2. Shape your inventory to reflect who you are

The next step is to shape the inventory to reflect who you are. For many stores their inventory mix is extremely random or a best-sellers list hodge-podge.  The challenge in trying to always stock the top twenty from a best sellers list is that we can overlook and/or miss the opportunity to create church-wide best sellers that have long lasting impact on members and visitors as well as our sales. My church store placed a heavy emphasis on teaching with simplicity and understanding and the practical application of biblical principles to everyday life. So their product philosophy was to carry products that were long on substance, easy to read and understand and that offered guidance for daily life application at home, at school and in the workplace.  A great example of this was when we purchased bibles. We would select bibles that were indexed for ease in finding various books of the bible, had a robust reference section, offered journals for those who took notes in service and we even selected bible covers that were fashionably relevant or really practical with extra pockets and high-lighters. These decisions reflected, complemented and reinforced the churches vision and mission.

3. Look and Feel Like Yourself

Your lighting, displays, signage and merchandising all play a role in communicating your message and extending the vision and mission of the church. Since teaching was a big part of this churches vision we placed bibles and reference materials in the center of the store. We used placement to make a statement (though subliminal) that communicated our emphasis on the bible and we enhanced this area with track lighting to give extra emphasis on the section. By using some key words or phrases in signage from your vision and mission you can create really neat, yet simple slogans to enhance a display. Be creative, try things out see what you come up with. If you are a church bookstore that services a seeker heavy church you may want to make sure that you have user-friendly, less churchy sounding signage that appeals to an audience which may be less familiar with what may be considered religious terms. Be wise and as always seek guidance from your Pastor or leadership team when you are unsure.  Create a warm, comfortable, inviting environment for whoever your core customers may be. This may mean adding greenery to your store, a kid’s area (if you can fit one!) or artwork done by the children’s ministry. The options are endless.

4. Buy-in

Finally, get your team on board with you. All will be in vain if every member of your team isn’t aware of what your store is all about. You have got to make who you are a part of every meeting. It’s not a one-time thing it’s an all the time thing.

If you will follow the steps outlined above you will be on your way to establishing a successful ID for your store and your customers.

David McIntyre

KVI Consulting

Taking Inventory is a key function of your overall store operation. It allows you to take an up close and personal view of many aspects of your store including your product, dollars invested and potential trends. Unfortunately, many stores do not take inventory outside of receiving inventory and the occasional search for the product that you know should still be on the shelf…or elsewhere.

The reasons for taking a complete inventory and the benefits are numerous. Here are just a few:

1.      You gain a clearer picture of what is in your store which leads to better decisions about what you buy for your store in the future.

2.      You have better understanding of what you have financially invested in your product.

3.      It provides you with a good baseline to measure your success and identify particular trends.

4.      For tax purposes.

5.      Should there be an emergency or disaster of any kind an inventory will provide you with a basis to work from for any insurance or other claims.

6.      You are better able to manage your store through increased knowledge of its operations.

What other reasons and benefits have you found for taking inventory in your store?  Now let’s answer a few questions I hear about taking inventory.

How often should I take inventory?

You should take inventory at least once year. However, I recommend that you take inventory in your store at least twice a year; at the end of each year and again in or around June. Taking inventory at the end of the year on or around the last day or so of the year will make your accounting team very happy (especially if you deal with auditors) as they prepare taxes and other end of the year reports. Inventory in June is beneficial as it will aid you in your preparation for the second half of the year, including the holiday season. Larger stores, or those operating under certain accounting processes, may need to count as many as four times a year, coinciding with the end of each fiscal quarter.

I haven’t taken inventory in a long time (or ever). Where do I start?

Well, you start at the beginning. Your objective is to get a complete count of every product in your store. Each item should be counted and that count should be translated onto a spreadsheet or into a computerized point-of-sale system.  For those stores using a POS system like Bookstore Manager you can check with your provider for access to additional counting tools (such as PDA’s) and help with best practices and processes for taking inventory using their systems.

If you are taking inventory manually it is very important for your inventory sheet to include columns to record proper cost information (suggested retail price, sale price, and cost of goods). This will help you to determine what your inventory dollars are.

How long will it take?

Depending on your store size you can plan to set aside one day for taking the inventory, resolving variances and recording your final numbers in your spreadsheet or POS system.  In addition, if you have never taken the time to do an inventory of your equipment and fixtures, this is a good time to do so. I recommend you inventory each piece of equipment and then take a picture of each item for your records. As things are changed and/or added, change your equipment list to properly reflect it (see the example equipment inventory list at the end of this article).

What about our café?

If you are operating a café or food service establishment you need to be taking inventory weekly or bi-weekly depending on your volume. Since coffee and some foods are short on shelf life, you have to be extremely vigilant in this area. Each week you should be measuring your stock and supplies so that you can accurately order for the next weeks business needs.

Once you get on the inventory bandwagon be sure to stay on it. It’s hard tedious work with a great payoff at the end.

Happy counting!
David

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