BKBG Blog

Regardless of your location in North American, now is the time that you should start planning to reopen your showroom when sheltering in place requirements are lifted. Most certainly, the showroom that you return to will not operate the same way as the showroom you left. There is no precedence for reopening, but you may be able to learn from the experiences of retailers that have remained open during the pandemic, e.g., grocery stores.

Chances are if you see someone on the street talking to themselves, you are likely to believe that the person is not playing with a full deck. Talking to oneself in public may not be a good idea; however, if you want to improve your learning skills, doing so in private may not be a bad idea.

Hope typically is not what you want to depend on to determine your destiny. You can't rely on hope to turn your business around, collect receivables or ensure the success of a new product launch. However, hope is the right strategy to make it through the current coronavirus crisis, writes the 2018 BKBG Conference Workshops Leader, the Retail Doctor Bob Phibbs in a recent blog post.

It's challenging to capture the attention of your team in a face-to-face meeting. It's even more challenging when team members are forced to call in. Creating voluntary engagement is key to effective virtual meetings, writes, Justin Hale, in a recent HBR blog. Hale offers these strategies that lead to better virtual meeting results.

Comedian Jimmy Fallon recently joked, after being confined at home, that he really likes his wife. With many states shuttering all nonessential business as a means to stop the spread of COVID-19, and numerous BKBG Shareholders closing their showrooms, there’s a strong possibility that you are spending more time at home than you ever have. How do you remain sane when your kids may be bouncing off the wall, and most of your usual activities have ground to a halt. Without being able to go to the gym, watch March Madness, grab a beer at your favorite watering hole or go to the movies, we find ourselves in limbo.

In these uncertain and challenging times, it may not be prudent, advisable or even legal to work from your showroom. If your showroom or office has to transition to team members working from home, what are the most successful practices? Author and frequent blogger Austin Kleon offered the following guidance from his book, Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad.

I am a huge fan of Del Poling. I had the great pleasure of learning from Del at a leadership workshop. Del coined the term four-year-old behavior. At the time, my daughter was two years old, but she demonstrated Del's four-year-old behavior. 

My two-year-old daughter was at a neighbor's house and wet her pants. When asked if she had an accident, she said, "no." When asked about the puddle on the floor next to her, she said, "Cody did it." Cody was a golden retriever. 

Do you know anyone who claims they don’t receive enough emails? Stop laughing. Email is the most prevalent business communication tool in use today. Everyone gets too many, and most are not wanted. How can your email get noticed and read?

First, understand your audience. Chances are those in the trades, customer service representatives and order processors do not have the same literary skills/education as your clients who depend on you to design their new kitchen or bath.