As I see it...
 
As a manager of a city's liquor operation one of the hardest parts of our job is managing our employees. I think most of us would agree with that statement.
 
What might be even harder as a manager is managing change.
 
Many of us have been in our positions for many years and we have seen many changes in the liquor business. How have you handled these changes?
 
Do you embrace change, or do you shy away from change? 
 
Have you done a reset lately in the wine, beer or liquor section?
 
Have you cut down on White Zinfandel and made more room for Malbec? 
 
Have you gotten rid of the dead items in the beer cooler and expanded the craft beer segment?
 
Do you need to think about remodeling your store?
 
What is your mission as a store for the city you represent?
 
In these tougher economic times do you need to look at cutting expenses... everything from inventory to personnel... to do we need to be open from 8 to 10pm?
 
These are some of the changes you should be thinking about, because none of us are that secure in our positions.
 
Hopefully you all embrace change and work to make your operation better each and every year.

 

Steve Grausam

Edina Liquor Manager

MMBA Director

by Tom Shay 

Do you remember your days in kindergarten or elementary school? 

 

You probably had a part of your school week that contained a music lesson. 

 

In this class, many children learned the song about Johnny Appleseed.

According to the song, Johnny went about the countryside spreading seeds to start apple orchards. He carried a bag of seeds and sang a song about how he was thankful for having the necessary ingredients to grow a successful tree.

I don't remember the song having a second verse. Without a second verse, I suppose we will never know if Johnny Appleseed ever went back to fertilize the trees he had planted.

 

Doesn't this make you wonder how successful each of the apple tree orchards was? After all, as with any plant, just putting the seed in the ground and leaving the rest to nature does not guarantee results.

Small business is a lot like that: the seed, or invitation to do business with you, is spread through traditional advertising methods.

 

Sometimes it works, and sometimes it does not; but the business continues to spread seeds hoping to see its sales grow.

 

An old adage states that the cost of gaining a new customer is $20.
The reason for this high price is the amount of advertising that is sent out to people who have absolutely no intention of, or interest in, doing business with your company. After all, if you advertise in a newspaper, by direct mail, or on a radio or television station, you are sending your message to the masses.

If they have no interest in purchasing what you sell, your advertising goes to waste. We all know this is true for the vast majority of the people being exposed to the advertising of any business.

For example, the local newspaper may have a daily circulation of 50,000. If you place an ad in the newspaper, and are hoping for even a mere 3-percent response, then some 1,500 people would come into your store or call to ask about the product or service you mentioned in the ad. As you can see, most businesses would be happy if even one-tenth of the 3 percent would respond, for that would mean 150 people came to do business with them.

So, when 25 people actually do respond to the ad, and the cost of the ad was several hundred dollars, you can see that it would easily cost $20 to get each of these customers into your business.

The second half of the above-mentioned adage states that it costs only $4 to keep a customer. The logic and economics of this equation say that when a customer has walked into your business or done business with you over the phone, you have identified a prime suspect.

While we are not suggesting you stop looking for customers, what we are suggesting is that you spend more time looking for the customer who has done business with you previously. 
 
Think about the person who buys something from you. Most likely this will not be the one and only time they will do so.  If they have made even one purchase, you need to find a way to stay in contact with this person. As compared to the rest of the public reading your newspaper ads, you know this individual has an interest in the products you sell.

 

One way of contacting customers is to create a monthly newsletter to simply say hello and tell your customers what products are new and what is going on with your business.

With this idea, or any other idea for customer contact, you are far ahead of any competitor when it comes to customer retention.

 

When it comes to growing a business, we all know the critical ingredients-just like Johnny Appleseed knew what he needed.

Perhaps now it's time to write the second verse and spend time cultivating and fertilizing these customers. 
 

 

 

 

On Tuesday, September 15th, Bacardi is partnering with Shecky's (an online and event destination for what's cool and undiscovered in FASHION, BEAUTY and FUN with the girls) to present a Girls Night Out event in Minneapolis. 

 

This event is open to one and all (girls, of course).  

 

 

 Prepare your profit and loss statement so you can share it with your staff.

 

Employees will make better decisions when they understand the finances of your operation