Win a free retail makeover - deadline: Sept. 30th

Retail expert and consultant Barbara Crowhurst is giving away a free makeover to one of our readers. Barbara first appeared in our pages in July, when editor Jenny Heinzen York wrote about her presentation and retail exercise at May’s ART conference in Naples, Florida. (If you missed it, you can read Jenny’s article here.)

"Retailers need help," Barbara (photo) told me during a recent phone chat. "I go into the client’s office, and I see so many business books that have never been cracked open." Not that the information isn’t important, she said, but Barbara offers a shortcut by getting right to the heart of the matter. "I know how to digest it for you and tell you what you need to know."

Barbara’s company offers business coaching, consulting and training to retailers, in group sessions or one-on-one, by phone or in person. At barbaracrowhurst.com, time-strapped retailers can select from a menu of products ranging from downloadable e-docs to the Retail Makeover Business Planning Program, an in-depth overhaul that begins with several hours of consultation, looks at past performance, strategizes for going forward, and follows up with monthly meetings.

If your store could use a little rejuvenating, or if you’re just looking for some sound advice from an experienced retail professional, you have until September 30th to email Barbara about your retail dilemmas. In the subject line, reference "Home Accents Today Power Hour makeover," include a photo or two of your store, and send it to retailmakeover@sympatico.ca. The winner will receive a Power Hour makeover, a program that begins with a one-hour phone consultation, is followed by some more info-gathering and consulting, and ends with a customized action plan.

"On a day-to-day basis, most retailers are totally reactive; to survive and thrive, they have to be proactive," Barbara said. "One of the main reasons retailers fail is they don’t take the time to review what’s taken place in their business in the past year and then make an effective plan for the next. Many times when asked about their marketing initiatives, for example, they’ll respond, ‘What marketing initiatives? You must think I’m a big company.’ They do little to no planning."

In that case, Barbara’s planning process would start with a review of marketing activities in the prior year, a discussion about what worked and what didn’t. The goal is to come up with a workable marketing plan, perhaps two to three promotions (in-store events, sales, demos, etc.) a month, broken out in a spreadsheet that details such things as how each promotion will impact sales, how it will be communicated and the anticipated result.

A makeover can also help put some new financial controls in place with budgeting, inventory management and product planning.

"The first thing I do is put them on a buying budget — we have to right-size the business," she said. A review of the retailer’s profit and loss statement and last year’s sales totals are studied in order to determine operating costs and set targets for the coming year, month by month.

Inventory management improvement areas extend to the physical space as well as purchasing. "Most retailers don’t inventory correctly; they keep product more than a year so there’s no positive cash flow, or they’ll pack up product after a season, so they’re packing up money," she said. "Then there are those who buy and buy and buy and plug up these stores. They have a real misunderstanding on what customers see and don’t see."

Product planning involves looking at category sales performance for the prior year, and applying a short list of considerations to decide if the category is worth keeping. A mathematical formula is applied to determine a workable buying budget for the retailer which, if followed, should get things under control and improve cash flow.

At www.barbaracrowhurst.com, you’ll find everything more information about Barbara’s programs, as well as an overview of her latest CD and e-book, a collection of some of the top questions, challenges and concerns she’s come across in her work with retailers over the past year.