It's Thursday night and I'm watching the Gopher hockey game. Score is 0-0 after two periods and as we all know, one team is going to lose. We have all worked hard to get where we are in this business, just like Minnesota and North Dakota.
I bring this up because we have to keep working hard even though we may think the game is over or we don't have a chance to win.
As I look at our business, the most important thing I can keep telling my staff is that we just have to worry about what WE do and how WE do it and NOT what others do or plan to do.
Here are some things we are doing to make sure we are relevant in our city and market:
* Rebranding our stores. We are working on new signage so when a customer goes to any of our three stores they know they are at Edina Liquor.
* We recreated our community message- "Edina Liquor, Where Profits Get Poured Back Into the Community". We also have signs in our stores letting customers know that every purchase they make helps keep our parks clean, roads smooth and taxes low.
*We will be expanding our hours of operation starting in May to take advantage of increased housing being built near our stores.
* Customer service- We have been working hard to make sure our staff greets all customers coming into the store, ask them if they need assistance, make recommendations, help them to the counter with their products, cashiers greeting at the counter, asking if they found everything, and most important, thanking them for supporting the community and shopping at Edina Liquor.
* Customer service is the single most important aspect of our job. If we can provide a great customer experience we know more than 80% of these customers will return. Without loyal and repeat customers, we cannot expect to be in business long.
* Small remodel project- We enhanced one of our stores by changing the size of our tasting area (actually made it smaller) to increase traffic flow. We also expanded our warm beer section and redid our cash wraps to make them more functional for staff and even customers.
* We conduct a monthly staff product training done by our sales reps or others in the industry.
* We are involved in the community. We work with our chamber of commerce, senior center, rotary groups and others, helping with wine or beer tastings. Community paper shredding event, the annual MMBA food drive, coat drive and collecting money for the animals.
The liquor business has changed dramatically over the last 5 years or so and it will continue to change whether we want it to or not. Sunday sales, wine in grocery, craft distilleries, tap rooms, growlers, Total Wine and other retail competition.
We will keep working on getting better at what we do and how we do it. That is what we can control.
Oh, by the way, the Gophers kept working hard, stuck to their game plan and won the game with less than 1 second left in the game.
Keep working hard, stick to your game plan and good things will happen.
MMBA is here to help. Just send Paul or a board member an email and we can help with your game plan.
Steve Grausam
Edina Liquor
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