Take control to win in retail

No surprises to see that the metaphors between elite sport and elite business continue to be insightful and relevant.

Many years ago a prospective employer of mine, said that a defining qualification for him of an employee’s CV was whether or not they had played in a competitive team sport at a high level.

I recently read Andre Agassi’s autobiography, Open. Agassi, as one of the great tennis players of our modern era, shows us that there are some simple lessons for competitors in both business and sport. Hence, the doctrine of “control what you can control” is the theme of this week’s Doctor’s diagnosis.

As Agassi sees it, the way your opponent plays, their level of intensity and even their game plan and tactics are simply not within your control. The game you play is really all you can control. The ‘fittest’ players focus on their game and its execution.

Through training together, learning together and playing together, team players are striving to achieve a common goal, which is ultimately to win the grand final.

What does this mean for the world of retail fitness? Well the lessons are the same.

As retailers, ask yourself the following;

• Can you control external factors such as the new entrants, marketplace structure, pricing strategy of competitors, and their operating strategy? I think not. While it may be possible to influence some of their decisions through your actions, that’s just about it.
• Can you control customer trends, tastes, preferences and motivations? Again, we can influence but we cannot control how people feel and behave.
• What is our ‘business fitness’ game plan?

As retailers, what can we control to give us possession of the ball and control what we can control to win the game?

We can control:

• Our image, branding, impact and consistency of our visual appearance.
• Our positioning, advertising and marketing campaigns.
• Our customer touch points through an effective “inline” multi channel distribution model.
• Our product ranging and profile depth.
• The supply chain efficiency – speed to market.
• Product quality and design.
• The use of technology to derive ‘fitter’ business decisions.
• Our in store experience - design, layout, efficiency and customer experience.
• The culture of our business - “the way we do things around here.”
• The leadership of our people - creating a motivating goals-driven sales environment.
• The selling performance of our people.
• Our measurement of the vital ‘health signs’ of our business (KPIs).
• Our expense ratios.
• Our retail economics/cash flow and planning.

How many of us concern ourselves in business, with issues that we have little or no control over, speculating and 'second guessing' matters that exist outside our realm of control? Overly concerning ourselves with topics such as perceived competitor activity when in reality we can’t do an awful lot about it, other than be the best we can be.

Are the sales too low or the rent is too high? Which can you control more easily?

The hallmark of a ‘fit’ elite business is their ability to control what they can control and set themselves up for success by being the best they can be. ‘Fit’ retailers concentrate and focus on what they can do, not what they can’t, they differentiate themselves and prove their worthiness in the industry by controlling all the aspects of their business that they have control over.

What do you think? Are our retailers ‘Fit for Business?’

Happy ‘Fit’ Retailing

The Retail Doctor

Download (87Kb)