There’s a huge difference. Although the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably to mean gross margin, that mistake can result in a major difference on your bottom line. Mark-up and profit margin are not the same!

Understanding and applying the two measurements within a pricing model can mean a dramatic difference on your bottom line

No matter how much time and energy you put into your hiring regime there are still times when the person you thought you hired isn’t the same person who shows up to work. Unfortunately many employers put themselves into the position of physically not being able to do anything about this or are unwilling to […]

Business is booming and you’re approaching your busiest time of year; things couldn’t look better. Then you get a phone call from your most trusted and reliable employee; she tells you that she needs to leave town for two months to care for her mother in Florida, whose fallen and broken her hip. And your part-time stock clerk has been grounded by his parents because his grades slipped. Suddenly your golden scenario has turned very ugly. You don’t have the time nor the resources to begin searching, interviewing and checking references for replacement help.

Two weeks ago I introduced the topic that I will be spending the next few weeks on. A topic that probably addresses one of the most important aspects of retail management. One that not only can generate revenue but also one that could potentially loose hundreds of dollars for your business. The topic that I am speaking of, is that of “Staffing”. Having a good staffing strategy will not only save you money, but will create an atmosphere that your customers will appreciate.

Almost every day we hear of a new incident of security breaches. National and larger regional retail chains are the usual targets of these attacks because of the size of the databases that they manage. While this might seem comforting to a single-store convenience store owner, it’s a mistake to get lulled into a false sense of security, according to Gray Taylor, executive director of the NACS-affiliated Petroleum and Convenience Alliance for Technical Standards (PCATS).

Having great employees starts with the hiring the right employees. As one friend, who specializes in human resources, very accurately put it – It is better to hire someone with the right mindset and great work ethic and then train them to do their job, than it is to hire someone who knows how to do the job but has a poor mindset and work ethic. In both cases a type training has to take place, but it is easier to train a skill, than it is to un-train a personality. Unfortunately, because of the busy nature of owners and managers, when it comes time to hire someone for your company you need someone ASAP and don’t have time to perform an extensive search and often time need to settle on the first qualified candidate to apply for the job. This ends up hurting your company in the long run because you end up with sub-par employees who may “work” but do not “Excel”. Instead of sending an inviting message to your customers you send a message that you don’t care for their valuable business.

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV or CLV) is a marketing concept used to calculate how much money should be spent to maintain customers and acquire new ones. For example, if the average new customer costs $100 to acquire and their lifetime value is $200, the customer can be considered profitable and additional similar customers would be worth acquiring for your business.

Two weeks ago I wrote about how gaining customer loyalty should be the primary goal of every retailer. In addition I highlighted several ways to boost your own customer loyalty for the purpose of increasing business revenue. Notably missing from that list of strategies was the execution of a customer “loyalty program”. One of the reasons that I did not include this option is because “Loyalty programs” are based less on customer loyalty and more on giving customers incentives to continue doing business with your store. These incentives can be either monetary, in the form of store credit and discounts, or giving away physical product, such as coffee and sandwiches. Customers participate in these programs not because they feel loyal toward your store, but instead because they will gain something by spending money with your store. Because these programs do not foster true customer loyalty I believe that a better description, or rather title, for these types of programs should instead be “Customer Rewards Programs”.

In my last post I wrote about businesses becoming commodities and how to prevent this by creating a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) for your store. Many small stores have suffered trying to compete with larger chains. Even though it’s difficult, a smaller store can coexist with, or even outperform a chain. The trick is to shift your focus from trying to excel at everything to excelling primarily on one important point: customer service. There is no way that you can hope to offer lower prices than these businesses; you simply can’t buy at the same cost or in the same quantities. To set yourself apart and run a truly profitable and successful business, you have to set your store apart by excelling in customer service.

Customer Loyalty is the holy grail of running and marketing any business. In this article we talk about building customer loyalty and customer base.