Back to the future

Too often after hearing that sales are slow in a particular shop, I’ll get a curious answer when I ask what new tactics the shop owner plans to employ: "None." Um, excuse me. Let me get this straight, the result of conducting business as usual has been declining sales and the plan is to… wait it out? Well, maybe these retailers are finding it difficult to come up with new ideas for driving traffic and sales. But what about some old ideas? Recently I conducted a phone consultation for a retailer who has seen her traffic dwindle and was looking for some help. After speaking to her for a few minutes, I noticed a curious pattern. After several of my suggestions, she indicated that she used to do those things. She didn’t dismiss them though; instead she decided to reinstitute them so clearly they weren’t bad ideas. They had somehow just fallen by the wayside. Is this your story? DId you start off strong when the store was new and you were filled with energy, you know, before allowing other tasks to get you off track? How are your e-communications? Your consumer loyalty programs? Your registry? Your in-store events? I bet you’ve done all of these, but do you still employ these tactics? If they didn’t work, don’t look back. But if you found that putting a little effort into these services boosted biz, maybe it’s time to go back to the future.