Shopping Center Merchants
Success in Structured Settings
1.0 Marketing
An important reason for locating your business in a shopping center or mall is the walk-in trade. Another value is the possibility of joint promotions with neighboring businesses to promote your center or mall for additional daily, special event or holiday traffic. Your group needs a written plan and budget to be effective. Regardless of how successful the group is, each individual business needs it's own written plan and budget. You must create and maintain steady, dependable clients coming to your specific business as a destination. Do you have a written marketing plan and budget. Is it up to date? Are you following it comparing the actual with planned and calculating the variance? Are you learning from these variances making changes to your next periods?
1.1 Promotion
1.11 Customer Rewards
1.12 In-Store Merchandising
1.121 Displays - Windows and Product Presentations
1.122 Demonstrations
1.2 Advertising
1.21 Identifing Your Market
1.211 Potential Customers
1.212 Current Customers
1.3 Public Relations
2.0 Human Resources
2.1 Staffing
Unlike most businesses which determine their hours of operation, mall and some shopping centers dictate hours of operation in the lease. Malls, in particular, require operations seven days a week, normally 70 or more hours per week. This makes it impossible for an owner to be there at all times. This requires employees being entrusted with stock and cash, being productive while providing customer service that generates sales.
Do you have written job descriptions and duties? Are they current? Do you have a written description of the ideal characteristics for each job position? Are you using a service to pre-screen your applicants?
2.2 Training
Do you train new employees from written procedures inviting and requiring them to suggest refinements? Do you capture frequently asked questions to reduce the time you take answering the same questions over and over?
2.3 Supervision
Does your employees know what is expected of them in writing? When was the last employee evaluations conducted?
2.4 Communications
How do you communicate schedules, industry and product news and the direction of your firm towards improved customer satisfaction?
2.5 Staff Meetings
Periodic employee meetings for staff development, new initiatives, products and sales are important ways to monitor and enhance morale. You are entrusting your customers in their hands. Are you sure, all your staff are doing their best?
3.0 Finance
3.1 Financial Statements
3.11 Profit and Loss
3.12 Balance Sheet
3.2 Cash Flow
3.3 Forecasting
3.4 Determining Your Break-Even
3.5 Budgeting
3.6 Profit Engineering
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