Doug Fleener
Doug Fleener
As the former director of retail for Bose Corporation and an independent retailer himself, Doug has the unique experience and ability to help companies of all sizes. Doug is a retail and customer experience consultant, keynote speaker and a recognized expert worldwide.
Entitled people
Entitled people drive me crazy. It happens a lot when I'm traveling. It seems there are invariably one or two people who keep checking...
An incredibly easy way to improve your store
One of my first store managers taught me an incredibly easy way to improve a store. When you walked in the store for the...
Keep it fresh
A while back my friend and client Donny said something quite interesting. Actually, Donny is usually saying something interesting, but this one in particular...
Showing your appreciation or not
As leaders we sometimes do things that, entirely unbeknownst to us, have a negative impact on our staff. One example of that is how...
Don’t quit before the payoff
A few years ago a woman told me that she wasn't very impressed with the quotes I sent in the Daily Retail Quote. Then...
Who’s watching whom?
A while back I spent some time on the phone with a woman who was launching a new retail chain. Overall, I think her...
“What else?” your way to an even better and more productive experience
The difference between a bad, an okay, and a great store experience lies in whether or not a company falls short, meets, or exceeds...
Father’s Day outlook and ideas
According to the National Retail Federation's 2013 Father's Day survey, shoppers will spend more than ever this Father's Day. The average gift giver will...
The leader’s tone
I learn so much while teaching my Extraordinary Coach and Developing a Winning Team program. One thing I've learned is how leaders use different...
Six ways to rock your Memorial Day weekend
A couple of things before we get into today's article. First, our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Moore, Oklahoma. Second, I...
Addressing behavior and performance issues
I believe that almost all employees want to do a good job. And for the most part, they do. Even so, we do...
Mom’s advice for your management team
In honor of Mother's Day, here's some advice my mother might give if she was part of your management team. "We get what we expect...
Myth busting
We achieve what we believe. Sometimes that serves us well, and sometimes that holds us back. Here are some of the myths that create...
Retail sales tip: Redirect for success
Redirecting a conversation is an extremely effective technique used by highly effective salespeople. Let me give you a good example. Let me tell about...
Lessons from the JC Penney fiasco
You've probably read that former Apple retail executive Ron Johnson is out as JC Penney's CEO after 17 tumultuous months. You can't say he...
A Facebook disaster
Social media is a great way for retailers to engage their customers. When done well, customers even engage one another. But believe...
Seven answers to improve your results
A friend of mine likes to say that he has all of the answers, but unfortunately they are to the wrong questions. Which...
The boss from hell
Last week I received an anonymous email from a store staff. They said that their owner/manager, a regular reader of my newsletters is...
Ringing the bell and the customer experience
One of our clients owns a successful bread store. I noticed on a recent visit that there is a bell next to the...
Let the customer prove you wrong
Almost everyone has what I call subconscious assumptions. We go into most situations or interactions with a subconscious assumption of what we believe will...