The 7 Steps of Quality Retail Training Before I worked in specialty retail, I was a classroom educator. Straight out of the military I took a job as a non-credentialed physical education teacher. I lined kids up like they were in basic training and had them shout a call-and-response while I guided them through stretches and calisthenics. They loved it, I loved it, but the … Continue reading Train Like a Classroom Teacher
What an Atlanta Airport Bathroom Visit Taught Me About Customer Service On Monday I had a layover in the Atlanta airport. I don’t usually fly through ATL—mostly because I am a Southwest loyalist—but when I do I am repeatedly impressed by the airport’s amenities. If I’m passing through in the evening, I’ll head over to terminal E and visit One Flew South—a classy joint for … Continue reading We Aim to Please
Using Whole-Team Collaboration to Take Your Team to the Next Level Recently I spoke to a room filled with some of the best retailers in the running industry. We did a brainstorming breakout during which small groups of folks bounced from one idea table to the next while jotting down thoughts on a particular topic. I encouraged everyone to refrain from self-editing. Which is to … Continue reading The Game-Changer
If retail’s your thing, like engineering’s an engineer’s thing or fixing cars is a mechanic’s thing, then most days your nine-to-five is pretty easy. There may be aspects of your job that make people see what you do as tricky or adventurous, but to you, for the most part, it’s a cake walk. Various reasons make you the right person for the job. To try … Continue reading YOU Are the Action Plan
6 Ways to Make Your Story Matter (Help Folks Adore You) Tesla believes their intrinsic value far exceeds the value of their inventory. This basically means that why and how they exist towers above what they do. This isn’t some esoteric, soft fact, either. And proof is in the numbers. Just take a look at their stock value—it’s much higher than would be expected based on actual … Continue reading 6 Ways to Make Your Story Matter
i. I don’t run much anymore. This isn’t by choice. I’d still be out there pounding wicked long miles in scorching humidity if it weren’t for a knee injury I sustained while doing, of all things, karaoke. But I shrug it off. Because even if I had a chance to redo my off-key performance, I’d still go through with it. I’d say yes to the DJ as … Continue reading Discovery
AUDIO OF THIS BLOG POST: What do you want to do every day until you die? Do you want to write books? Teach kindergarten? Hike the Mongolian steppe? Do you want to lead bike tours? Collect Care Bears? Make short films in México City? Photograph steaming cups of espresso in the American midwest? Seriously, what’s your thing? That one thing that, if you did it, would … Continue reading Your Thing
