News from Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association

Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association Newsletter

(August 26, 2012 - September 1, 2012)

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As I See It...

Autumn

As fall rapidly approaches; so do our regional meetings and annual food drive.

I can remember making phone calls last year to several stores with regards to participation in the MMBA / Coors Light Food Drive and attendance at the regional meetings.

I was surprised at how many managers were not participating in the food drive and were too busy to attend the regional meeting in their area.

Paul does such a great job putting value into these meetings for the stores and the message I get when people tell me that they are "too busy" to attend these meetings is that they are not doing their job; which is to increase profit for their community.

For as many years as I have been working at this job (almost 20 years); I have always come back from my regional meeting with something that made it worth going to.

So this is my "pep talk"!!!

Make the time to go to a meeting in your area. Maybe even find a couple stores to stop at on your way to or from the meeting and check out how someone else manages their store/bar.

Call another manager in your area to car pool with; you can share ideas and fuel at the same time.

Step outside of your comfort zone and try something different or new.

Nancy Drumsta

Delano Wine and Spirits

Men & Women Solve Problems Differently. Therefore, They Shop & Buy Differently

Women have larger areas of their frontal lobe, responsible for problem-solving and decision-making. They are planning ahead, visualizing multiple solutions and using that female brain processing to put more time and effort into a decision or problem solving process. (aka, taking a long time)

The limbic cortex, responsible for regulating emotion, is also larger in women. Women have more connections to the emotional centers of their brain. They tap into that emotional center when making decisions (aka, leading with their emotions).

Understanding a woman's buying process is crucial when you are in a sales situation.

Give her enough time - if a woman says "she needs to think about it," she is not saying no. Women complain that men move in too soon for the close. If she's not ready to buy, ask her "do you have any questions or concerns I haven't addressed?" to see if she is missing crucial information, then let her go do her processing and set up another appointment. She will appreciate this!

Make an emotional connection- Ask her questions, find out everything you can about her situation, her concerns, the people her decision will affect. By asking questions and really listening to her answers, you are building trust - the most important emotion in a sale to a woman.

By understanding the differences between how men and women make buying decisions you can accommodate each gender's preferences - aka, sell more stuff.

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Key Factors of Minnesota's Top Workplaces

Recently, the StarTribune published their annual survey on the top Minnesota workplaces.

Click Here to See the Survey Results

When it comes to identifying top workplaces, it helps to think of two basic types of factors:

"Me factors" -- my career, my pay, my manager -- that speak to the employee's need to make a living.

The "We factors" -- where are we headed, how are we are getting there, and are we making a difference -- that speak to their higher aspirations.

Doug Claffey, CEO of WorkplaceDynamics, the survey firm that has conducted the Star Tribune's Top Workplaces research for the past three years, calls the "me factors'' table stakes -- necessary but not sufficient conditions for a top workplace.

It's the "we factors" that make the difference between a top workplace and a mediocre one.

"You cannot pay more money to get someone to remain engaged in a bad workplace," Claffey said. "Fundamentally, most people are not going to get excited about making more money. They get excited about doing something meaningful with people they believe in and enjoy working with."

What's most important at these high-performance workplaces? According to employees, they value feeling "genuinely appreciated," feeling "confident about my future with the company" and believing that their organization is "going in the right direction."

New Pelican Rapids Liquor Store Revenue Compensates for Reduced Tax Collections

Money Bags

From Fergus Falls Journal

Pelican Rapids received its annual audit report recently, and with a fund balance of $1.7 million, the city has nearly doubled the state's suggested general fund balance of $900,000, the Pelican Rapids Press reported.

Although the report is up this year, total tax collections were actually down in 2011. The balance is likely up because of a positive year from the city's water and sewer services, as well as an outstanding year from the new municipal liquor store, which ended the year up almost $130,000 after it broke the $1 million sales mark.

Joe Figured Out a Way...