Exasperating Retail Experience

This past weekend, my wife and I went into one of the major national retail stores that line the boulevard in our community. I won't give you the name, but suffice to say it's one of the nation's leading suppliers of clothing.

Coincidentally, it's also the retail operation in which I got a great deal of my early experience in the industry. I have noted the continued downward trend of customer service and other aspects of a pleasant shopping experience over the years, but I gobsmacked at how bad it had become.

I'm a clearance shopper. My wife says I'm cheap. I prefer "cautious!" I was rifling through the clearance items and came across a pair of underwear just my size -- for a dollar. A DOLLAR! Too good to pass up. I didn't notice at the time I tossed it into our cart that there was no UPC code on the item.

Several minutes later, we were standing in line to check out. Another sign of the decline here is that if there are two people in the store, there's a line at the checkout. When it was our turn, the sales associated dutifully rang up all our purchases and then came to bargain-priced underwear.

She noted the $1 price tag but couldn't find a UPC code. No problem, she said, I'll call men's. So she paged. We waited. She paged again. We waited. The line behind us is murmuring now.
She paged again. We waited. Finally I said no big deal, just leave it off and we'll get out of the way. She apologized profusely and as we were leaving asked if I'd like to talk to the manager. My wife headed off to the next store and I stayed around to have a chat with the store manager.
I started my conversation with her by telling her that 10 years ago when I was working for this chain, what happened to me today would have never happened. At that time, the POS stations all had a key on the computer that said "BIC." It stood for "because I can." If someone appeared in your line and had an item with a price but no UPC code, you simply selected BIC, entered $1 and moved on. The store was very proud of the fact it had empowered those of us on the floor to be able to do SOMETHING to please our customers and make sure they return.
Sales associates can no longer do that, I was informed.

Why didn't anyone answer the sales associate's page? Turns out there was no one in the store who could have responded because their complement of hours has been cut back to skeleton crew level. (This was a busy Saturday afternoon.)

Why wasn't the POS supervisor handy to help out? When I worked for this store, the POS supervisor was right up there at the right hand of God. Turns out there are no more POS supervisors. Position has been eliminated.

Why was there such a mess in the changing rooms in the men's department? In the time I worked with this chain, we prided ourselves on keeping those rooms tidied up and orderly. It was also the first time I encountered "used" underwear and empty packages of new underwear. Not enough staffing to worry about changing rooms now.

Why were the few sales associates on the floor wearing jeans and eating and drinking -- all totally verboten when I worked there. Guys showed up in neckties and sports coats, dress shoes and a smile. "Well, today we're lucky if they show up at all, so we don't worry to much about what they're wearing," the store manager informed me.

To her credit, she had been with the company for about 10 years and shared my exasperation with what had happened to this particularly chain.

We worked like fools, but we always felt appreciated. If we got behind, the store manager himself (one of the top five in the chain) would come on the floor and help fold sweaters or stock shirts or whatever needed doing. We had a strong team feeling. If you paged, someone either appeared at your arm or called to help. On the odd occasions no one responded, you simply took matters into your own hands. And we were always praised for doing so because, we were told, that's what builds customer loyalty.

I hate to be one of those who waxes nostalgic about the world, but in this instance, it was just too much of a slap in the face to ignore.

Retailers, take a close look at what's going on in your store. Are your customers getting stellar customer service? If not, why not? Do your employees have the power to make customers happy or are they forced to follow policies that often don't make sense to shoppers?
It could be a matter of life or death.

National Day of the Cowboy

Did you know that the cowboy now has a national day in his honor, much like Father's Day or Mother's Day? It's true. Bill and Sandy Bales, the force behind American Cowboy magazine, worked National Day of the Cowboy for quite a long time. The President signed the proclaimation last July, so last year was actually the first commemoration. This July 23, we will be marking the second National Day of the Cowboy.

You can read more about their efforts and some of the activities planned at their Web site http://cowboyday.cowboy.com/.

The goal of those of us who are promoting National Day of the Cowboy is to get everyone on board and committed to doing something to celebrate. If you have any involvement in any way in the Western lifestyle (heck, even if you don't), you might want to start thinking right now about what you might want to do.

Maybe it's organizing a parade in your community. Maybe you own a Western store and you're going to have an open house. If you're a boarding stable, an open house might be a good idea for you, too.

Anything that helps keep alive the cowboy spirit in America would be appropriate for this celebration.

July seems like a long way off, but it will arrive before you know it. Now is a good time to start planning.

Brokeback Mountain and the Western Boom

If you’re involved in any way in the Western sector of our industry, you’ve probably been asked about the movie "Brokeback Mountain." It’s often referred to as the "gay cowboy movie," and it’s caused a lot of division.
With all the buzz over its recent awards and the possibility of academy awards, the subject probably isn’t going to go away. For those who manufacturer, distribute or sell Western apparel, you no doubt view it as a mixed blessing.
While a number of people in our industry have waited for years for the next "Urban Cowboy" movie to come along and rescue them, most didn’t have this particularly theme in mind.
The movie is about two down on their luck cowboys who discover their attraction for each other while herding sheep in Wyoming. Yes, they were so down on their luck, they even agreed to tend sheep – probably the last thing a true cowboy would ever do!
The story plays out over two decades as the two get together for occasional trysts, thinly disguised as fishing trips.
Director Ang Lee has said publicly on several occasions this is not a Western, which is good because beyond the scenery and the horses, a lot of the remainder of the usual trappings of the genre aren’t there. Both "cowboys" have difficulty keeping their heels down when they ride, and neither of them wears spurs.
While I’m not a huge fan of spurs, if I were going to be tending sheep in the mountains of Wyoming, given all the potential hazards particular to that endeavor, I’d sure as heck want to be able to get a quick response out of my horse if needed.
Some care was taken to assure the clothing was true to the period and context, but in some scenes, the apparel is clearly misplaced. Rockmount shirts played a starring role in this movie, as did a number of other industry stalwarts, such as Wrangler and Carhartt.
No doubt those watching the movie will be drawn toward Western clothing. An exchange that took place during a discussion of the movie at the Denver Market recently went something like this:
"I don’t think it will do much boost the sale of Western apparel … well maybe to the gay community."
"Hey, their money is as green as anyone’s."
A number of retailers, particularly those who carry high end items, already have large numbers of gay customers and value them highly.
Certainly, the movie and its theme aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it is and will continue to generate questions, comments, observations … and sales.
Western is riding high right now and most people in the know believe the movie has had at least a small role to play in that resurgence.

Everything I Know About People Management I Learned From Horses

I speak with a lot of retailers in my role as editor of Tack 'n Togs Magazine. I enjoy this part of my job immensely. Retailers are a unique breed of folks who have that real-world approach to things I admire.

I often ask retailers about challenges they face in their businesses. A number of common answer usually follow. Shipping costs. Taxes. Advertising. Technology. But one answer trumps all of those -- employee headaches.

It hardly seems likely that equine retailers would face more challenges than other retailers in this area. Sometimes the problem is that the retailer simply isn't equipped with the people management skills to get the best out of an employee. They're great entrepreneurs, but that doesn't make them great leaders.

Leadership was a huge gap in my education and experience when I took my first management position and suddenly realized there were 60 people all looking to me to be their fearless leader. What did I know about being a leader?

Then I began taking a serious interest in training horses and suddenly I discovered a parallel world. Horses were a lot like people and if I could find a way to transmutate the techniques I was using to train horses, I might do better with people. Well, I'm pleased to say it worked. Here's part of what I learned.

Concept: Horses learn at different speeds. Some can pick up a training technique in one session, some require 100 sessions to learn the same simple thing.

Application: People learn at different speeds. Because one employee is slower at comprehending an idea or direction doesn't mean they're stupid or purposefully trying to ruin your day. They simply need time. Most of the time in people management, we're rushing people to learn a task and the result is usually negative.

Concept: Horses look for a leader and once they give you their respect, will follow you anywhere. In training situations, we often talk about the two-person herd and the importance of being the leader in that herd. Most horses don't make great leaders.

Application: Employees also look toward their leaders to provide leadership. It's important for supervisors to model the kind of behavior they would like to see in their employees. For instance, if you walk through your store and find things that have fallen on the floor, and keep right on walking, you can expect your employees to do the same. Employees don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Concept: Horses don't respond well to punishment but appreciate and readily accept direction.

Application: People react negatively to punishment and thrive in a situation where they are corrected and helped to keep from repeating the same mistakes. "What have you learned from this?" That's the question I ask when the train leaves the tracks. Most employees feel bad enough about having made a mistake without you piling on.

Concept: Horses can walk, trot and canter while pooping. It's truly amazing to watch. Talk about your ultimate multi-tasker!

Application: Most people are not naturally born multi-taskers. Keep your directions clear and simple, at least at first, and gear your expectations more toward reality than the idea. Some employees can work from a written list; for others, a list becomes a ball and chain. They spend most of their time fretting about the length the list.

There's probably a whole lot more I'll be learning from training my quarter horse, Jack, over the next few months. As they become apparent, I'll share them with you. Meanwhile, if you've learned a life-applicable lesson from training a horse, please share it.

In the beginning ...

I've been writing my thoughts since I was in the eighth grade (and I won't say how many years that's been -- suffice to say it's a lot!) so I almost feel like I was one of the original bloggers. Of course, back in the day, we did this kind of thing with pen and pencil or on a beat up old manual typewriter.

As long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a writer. I remember offering that thought to a classroom teacher and school counselor early in my high school years. I was set straight rather quickly. "There are only one in 100,000 people who can make a living writing ... and you're not one of them." At least that was the gist of it.

During college I took their advice to heart and detoured through secondary education, music, political science and other majors, but when it was all over and done, I landed a job as a reporter with a small group of weekly newspapers in North Dakota.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Just about five years ago now, I found my dream job. As the editor of Tack' n Togs Magazine, an international trade magazine serving the equine trade industry, I have been able to combine my love for horses and riding with my love for researching and writing.

I intend to use this blog to further discuss the topics that we touch on briefly in the published edition of the magazine and at our Web site.

A hallmark of my journalism career has been interaction with readers. I was doing interactive stuff long before online endeavors picked up the phrase and ran with it. Back then, interactive meant someone had to pick up a telephone or get in a car and come see you.

Early in my career, a very wise mentor told me: "Always write for your readers." In other words, don't write for your sources, your boss, yourself. I've tried to live by that admonition and have found it to be a successful approach to a career in journalism.

Given that and the strong belief in interaction, those of you who read this blog will be expected to take part, to chime in and respond to what's written. I seriously want this to be a converation and not a monologue.

Thanks for stopping by and come back often!