COVID-19 has permanently changed the retail landscape. Being average, boring or unremarkable won’t cut it any more. Just look at the number of retail bankruptcies that occurred in the last year and that are expected to occur this year. They include stalwarts such as J.C. Penny, Nieman Marcus, Men’s Warehouse, Ann Taylor, J. Crew, GNC, Brooks Brothers and others.
Changing someone’s mind is one of the most difficult task any owner, manager or sales professional faces. Imagine that you want to convince your team to change cabinet lines. This is never an easy decision. Your team may resist because they are familiar with the line. They like the rep. They don’t want to venture into the unknown of a new supplier. The reasons for resistance are many. How do you obtain buy-in?
How can you hold a prospect’s attention during a virtual sales call? First, recognize that you are potentially competing against multiple distractions such as your prospects multitasking, checking emails and instant messages and perform work while on the call.
Many BKBG Shareholders are passionate about design and creating dream kitchens for their clients. Imagine your showroom's performance if every team member possessed the same passion? The Deloitte Center for the Edge has identified three attributes of passionate people. The first is the passion of an explorer who is constantly looking to improve his or her performance.
We all know our limitations. You may feel uncomfortable confronting conflict or criticizing a coworker or client. Almost everyone has habits that limit performance. The challenge we face is first to confront our weaknesses and then figure out how to overcome them. Change is hard. That's why it is not surprising that a recent survey found fewer than 10% of employees change habits or performance when advised to do so following a performance review.
Deloitte Insights recently published Global Marketing Trends 2021 that identified top trends that will distinguish leading brands from two surveys of consumers and senior executives.
When you put off something until tomorrow or the next day or the day after that, your decision comes at a cost. Procrastination is present daily in your showroom and most likely in your home. How can you avoid having to pay the piper? University of Pennsylvania professor and best-selling author Adam Grant offers guidance.
Those who remember high school English and writing classes will recall teachers' admonitions to write in the active voice, use strong verbs and show don't tell, recalls author Bill Birchard in a recent HBR article. He challenges those rules and believes there is a better way to communicate and capture your audiences’ undivided attention. Write or speak in a way that causes your audience to release pleasing chemicals such as dopamine.
One of the secrets J. Willard Marriott cited to his success as a CEO and leader was his commitment not to perform any task that someone else in the organization could do. His ability to effectively delegate freed up his time to create one of the world’s most successful corporations.
One of the many challenges of responding to COVID-19 has been keeping team members, customers, subcontractors and others upbeat when there are few answers and an apparent no end to the challenges created by the global pandemic. On top of numerous uncertainties, we seem to be living in a time of toxicity. Just look at the recent presidential election and other political campaigns.
