Fall 2021Hardlines Strategies

ASK THE EXPERT

• Energy efficiency. Look for ways to decrease your utility bills by upgrading to more efficient lighting and ensuring the building is well insulated. You can also hire an auditor to check your utility statements and look for ways to save. Setting Goals for Your Business Once you understand your company’s financials, it’s time to make a plan for your business. What are your annual financial goals? Where do you want to focus your resources? How do you plan to increase sales? If you create a plan to increase sales through incremental steps, you will have more money to allocate to larger investments that benefit your business, such as higher wages for your staff to help with employee retention, diversifying your inventory or making improvements to your building. Here are some ideas to help drive your top-line sales. A robust loyalty program will help you build business with current customers and learn your customers’ shopping preferences so you can create customized advertising to lure them back. Talk to your Blish-Mize representative about getting started with a rewards program. Store Traffic Loyalty programs

product questions. Include training on individual products and guiding customers through projects. Answer objections Train employees on how to answer a customer’s objections to a sale and then ask for the purchase. When a customer does not make a purchase, train employees to ask why. The feedback will help you improve your conversion rate. Employees helping a customer with a project should be trained to suggest add-on items and upsell to a better product, when appropriate. Tracking Progress and Making Adjustments Perhaps the most important part of creating a budget and planning for profit comes down to tracking your progress and adjusting for change. Sometimes outside factors can influence your plan and you need to take those into account. Other times, you may want to stop selling a product or offering a service if it doesn’t add value to your business. Or you may want to press forward when you see success. Finally, don’t lose sight of your non-financial goals as you track your dollars and cents. They provide a check and balance for your business against focusing too much on the bottom line. How you grow and evolve as a business can be every bit as important as meeting your financial goals. Transaction Size Suggestive selling

Conversion Rate Product knowledge

To close a sale, employees must be properly trained to answer shoppers’

Attend the Seminar

In his position as chief operating officer of NHPA, Dan Tratensek has the opportunity to visit with

5 Budgeting Best Practices

independent retailer operations of all types and sizes and use these visits to shape the direction of the association to meet the needs of the independent hardware retail market. He has worked in the industry for nearly 25 years.

Dan Tratensek, NHPA Friday, August 27, 2021 10 a.m.

6 Fall 2021 • Hardlines Strategies