5 Tips on Managing Retail Staff: It's Your Retail Business

I recently attended a woman's business luncheon and at my table I met a couple of shop owners. The conversation eventually turned to how to best manage employees.


It was agreed that a level of leadership was needed to develop engagement as well as reduce staff turn-over. Leadership traits that everyone agreed where the following:

1. Be positive for all not just for your bottom line.
2. Lead by example, people do respect leaders when they live by their word.
3. Build rapport. Everyone likes to feel connected so take the time and build relationships with your staff.
4. Don't stress out. It does nothing but alienate your staff.
5. You don't know everything and that's okay.

This is part of our The Retailer Services.

Enjoy!
Lyndsy
@aromaliving
Connect with us on Facebook

5 Tips on Staying Motivated With Your Blog

a natural perspective

Hi Gang,

I've gotten several emails lately asking how I stay motivated with blogging and while I did reply to all the emails, I thought it would be a good topic for the blog.  Here are my top 5 tips on how I stay motivated with blogging.

1. Be open to finding topic inspiration from anywhere, like the emails I received!
2. Don't limit your topics.  Yes, you do need to stay focused and true to your brand but the benefit of social media is that it gives us more freedom to express our interest in a wide number of topics.
3. Blog what you like.  This can be a challenge especially if you are a business and look to social media to promote your store or your service.  Review Tip #2 and consider discussing your industry trends or look for other industry experts in your industry to add content for your blog.
4. Go with the flow.  Stop stressing.  Just accept that some days are great blogging days and while other days you just need a break and go shopping!
5. Have a yearly goal:  As much as I go with the flow, I do create a yearly marketing plan with goals and expectations.  This does make life more interesting and blogging with a greater purpose.

Enjoy!
Lyndsy

Eight Leadership Steps For Today's Shops

It's Your Business

When I was preparing this post, I discovered that the content and images regarding leadership are still fairly skewed towards men.  Images for women leadership still evolves around pink, swirly ribbons and women figures dancing, not sure what that is all about.

I also found content that still claim that leadership includes height, along with these other 3 indicators.

• Height
• Intelligence
• Extroversion
• Fluency 

Height....?  Height....?  It sound like an out-dated attribute?  Even, artificial.  Ahh, who am I kidding when we have the Kardashian women who pout, walk the red carpet and make millions.
     
...back to topic.

Given today's environment I think it is important that we have a quick list to help remind ourselves that happy employees are productive employees.  There may be not that many jobs out there today but once the economy starts to move and if your staff has been unhappy with you, you will probably see an exodus of staff leaving you for the competition. 

Here are your top eight leadership tips.

1. Honesty:  Be as honest as you can be about where the company is going.  Even though you are the boss, you can't do everything and you are probably not good at everything either.  That's why you hire people who are experts in their field. This also means that your staff looks to you for strength of character and integrity.
2. Trust:  Reward fairly.  Let the experts do what you hired them to do.  Ensure that they know you have a plan that will lead them out of this economy, whatever that may mean.    
3. Effective Communication:  This should be number 1, if you are not a fluid communicator - get training.  Not being shy is not the same thing as being an effective communicator.  Being an effective communicator includes across all the different mediums.  Also, share information, keep them informed.  In the end, to be an effective communicator means to be an active listener, fluid thinker, and know when to push and back-off.
4. Know your stuff:  The company, the players, culture, industry, know all of that. 
5. Motivate:  Difficult to do but motivating your staff should be according to their needs inline with your company's goal.  This one is difficult, more so if you have a small company.  Remember, one size leadership style does not fit all.
6. Direct:  Give clear directions.  Everyone should understand what is expected of them.
7. Responsibility:  Give your employees a sense of responsibility.  Not all employees want this and this is what makes a good leader, understand what motivates your employees.  
8. Focus:  So many shops just open their doors and then fail within the first 5 years.  Did you have a business plan?  This would have helped you in your focus.

Best
@aromaliving