It’s Busy Season

By The Mann Group

It’s springtime, and most of the country has been swept with idyllic temperatures and sunshine since the outset of May. It’s a season that brings to mind a slew of sweet adjectives—balmy, sunlit, lush—but for outdoor retailers, the primary adjective this time of year is a different one: busy.

When the temperatures rise, so do our sales numbers, which is often a welcome balm on the temporary wounds inflicted by the slow slog of retail in the months between the holidays and spring. And in a season as perfectly mild as this one, customers are more eager than ever to get back in our stores and outside, toppling sales predictions and records with ease.

Though this is good news for the industry and your business, it does come with a downside. In the heat (both literally and figuratively) of a beautiful spring and summer, most outdoor retailers tend to lose sight of big-picture goals and company-wide intentions. We know how easy it is to get swept up in the day-to-day tasks necessitated by this busy season, but it’s just as important to recenter on your objectives regularly in order to keep the business on track. Here are our top five areas to focus on—especially when times are good.

1. 1. Regularly Revisit Your Strategic Plan.
      Strategic plans always seem to fall by the wayside when sales are up, but just because profits are good doesn’t mean the plan is null. In fact, it’s more important than ever that you keep your big picture goals in sight in order to ensure all those new customers and big sales have long term, positive effects on your business. Hold regular (we suggest weekly) meetings with your management team to check in on your strategic plan and right any issues that have gone awry. We know it doesn’t seem like a priority now, but you’ll be thanking us (and yourself) later.
   2. Maintain Training for New (and Old) Hires.
      In a season this busy, it’s likely that you’ll need to hire more folks to keep up with the sudden onslaught of customers. We know you want to get them out on the floor asap, but don’t let that drive prevent you from training them properly. A poorly trained employee could actually lose more sales than they make, so invest the time now to make them productive and engaging members of your sales team. And don’t lose sight of your existing team members, too; it’s easy to slip into old habits when it’s busy, so hold them accountable with regular training and coaching from organizations like The Mann Group or your own management team.
   3. Gather Valuable Metrics.
      You’re riding high, and if you’d like to feel this way again next year, it’s important to track the why’s behind your top line increase. Be sure to gather sales metrics that can be applied to next season’s retail planning cycle, and pay attention to what’s working and what’s not in order to learn from both your achievements and mistakes. You’re also seeing a lot of new faces this season; don’t let those transactions be a one-and-done. Make the most of the rush of new customers by gathering their email address so you can stay on their mind long after this season passes.
   4. Don’t Forget the Basics.
      With this many people in your store, it’s more important than ever to master the basics of an effective and memorable retailer. That means keeping the fitting room tidy and the bathrooms clean no matter what the rush looks like. It means keeping hangers straight and clothes folded, maintaining your cash wrap standards and IPT goals, and coaching your sales folk every step of the way.
   5. Prioritize Customer Service.
      As always, the most important aspect of your business is offering an engaging, memorable, and top-notch customer experience. Not doing so could lose repeat business from those new customers, as well as compromise the existing relationships you have with regulars. If instead you can continue to offer a consistent and truly great customer experience, you’ll turn those newbies into regulars and your regulars into fans.

About The Mann Group: We are The Mann Group, a charmingly incongruous and blatantly genuine group of big thinkers and list makers. Get us together, and our ideas bloom into vibrant, sky-high projects; take us apart, and we work methodically and assiduously to accomplish the goals we created together. We create and implement practical courses and curriculum to help businesses and individuals grow.