One of my first store managers taught me an incredibly easy way to improve a store. When you walked in the store for the day he wanted you find at least one thing that could be improved on the floor. Not only was he teaching his managers how to look at the small details on the floor, but also how to quickly assess the store at the start of a shift.
I eventually turned that into a fun way for the staff to be involved in contributing to making incremental improvements in the store. I called it the Find Three Things.
To “play” Find Three Things, challenge every employee working today to find three things in the store that they can improve. It could be anything from replacing a worn sign to increasing visibility of a new product. A staff of four would quickly make twelve improvements.
What’s even better is to play Find Three Things all week. The first day or two are pretty easy. Over the next couple of days it gets a lot tougher, and by the end of week it seems impossible. And that is when your staff comes up with some of the best ideas to improve the store.
Specialty stores with an engaging sales process can play Find Three Things a little differently. Those employees also need to find three things to improve in the store, but only one should be about the merchandising.
The second improvement needs to be something they can personally do to increase their sales. They might try showing a particular product for the day, or be better at using the customer’s name, etc.
The third improvement needs to be what someone else can do better to improve sales. This means they need to observe their colleagues and then give them constructive feedback about what they can do better. Because everyone is coming up with an idea for another person, people usually don’t take this as a personal affront.
So let me ask, do you think your team can find Three Things that will make your store even better? I bet they can, and you might be pleasantly surprised on what they come up with.
