Topics: back to college, retail management, bookstore events
Just because things slow down once school begins doesn't mean you have to accept slower sales! By taking a proactive approach and scheduling a mix of fun events throughout the semester, you can expand your customers' perception of your store from "just" the place to pick up their course materials to a year-round staple. Here are some easy ways to get started:
Topics: retail management, management, meeting agendas
Why are meeting agendas important? I volunteer on the board of a local nonprofit organization and recently attended their agenda-free meeting. The meeting started at 7 p.m. and lingered on well past 9 p.m. Little was accomplished, a couple people were especially vocal and kept the meeting squarely off topic, and by the end of it, I couldn’t wait until my term on the board was over. Unfortunately, meetings like this aren’t rare in the business or educational world. However, an effective agenda can turn a meeting that feels like a waste of time into a productive collaboration.
Every business will eventually receive a complaint. Despite best intentions, a customer will walk away unhappy at one point or another. The customer might reach out to the business itself for a resolution to the problem, but with increasing odds, they are going to take their complaint to social media. Once the negative words are out on the internet, they are there forever. Managers and business owners have two choices: they can ignore the complaint or demonstrate their great customer service for the world to see.
Whether you are speaking to faculty, students or alumni, email can increase engagement and drive your desired outcome. However, you need an effective strategy to ensure your emails are opened. The time of day, the day of the week, length of your subject line, whether the message is rich or plain text, all contribute to the likelihood of your message being opened. Today, we’re going to go over the best practices you can easily implement to boost your email engagement.
We communicate all day, every day, in various ways: through speaking, email, text message, social media or simple gestures. However, all communication is not the same. Emails can often be read with an unintended tone. A sentence that seem clear to the writer might confuse the reader. These miscommunications can negatively impact your store’s intended message. That’s why developing a strong communication strategy is important.
Topics: retail management, student employees, management
It’s the time of year where goals start creeping into consciousness. We are evaluating the goals we fell short on this past year and establishing new benchmarks for next year. It is also around this time that the onslaught of articles come out about whether or not goal setting is even worthwhile. On one hand, goals can inspire employees to reach higher, but on the other, they can also become a hinderance and waste precious time.
How important are a store’s mission and vision statements? This question can garner a fair amount of debate. Some will adamantly support the practice, stating that when everyone is on the same page and have shared expectations, they work toward a common goal. But, there are also the people who have been in education for a long time and have witnessed many hours go into the creation of a mission or vision statement, only to then see the words collect dust and get ignored.
Finding ways to improve your store’s customer service is a matter of survival. Customer experience is a trendy buzzword in retail: it is a critical shift in perspective. Young consumers are abandoning brand loyalty, letting their individual experiences direct where they will spend their time and money. That decision comes down to their experience with your store, whether in-person or online.
Today you will know how to make at least $800 more than you did yesterday and more than $300 every day thereafter — by doing less. The social media black hole is costing you money each day.
You hear rumblings about a new website or service advertising itself on campus as the latest, best and only student-oriented, free marketplace for selling books, apparel and other items directly to other students.
Contact our editorial team to set up an interview or to contribute a guest post.
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