Did you just shudder at the thought of mixing your Social Media and work OR at the extra workload it might create? That’s good. Social Media can be scary mixed with your work peeps; however, can we find a way to leverage these communication vehicles for our retail teams and actually reduce our workload while [Continue]

So you want to be a District Manager!? Really? Are you sure? The first step is to understand the position and what it really entails. Spend some time discussing the job with your District Manager. I know you think you get it but… you only see a small portion of what the District Manager actually [Continue]

Did you just shudder at the thought of mixing your Social Media and work? That’s good. Social Media can be scary mixed with your work peeps; however, can we find a way to leverage these communication vehicles for our retail teams? I think we can all agree that this is the now and the future. [Continue]

You are well on your way to building a special store. We have discussed a lot in the previous three articles. Here’s a summary of how to take a good store to great: Finally the processes! Let’s put all these great resources to work in the store. There are five key areas that must be [Continue]

So, we have talked about seeing potential in a store that could be developed to take it from a good store to a great store and all the partnerships you will need to leverage to make it happen. It’s time to take a deep dive into the store to create your action blueprint, so it’s [Continue]

The blueprint for taking a good store to great is not much different from how you normally review a store —-people, product, presentation, process. With this potential opportunity however, you will think BIGGER and more critically than you might normally act. This will require you to take partners in the vision. Here are the partners [Continue]

Seeing potential and working the vision is a hallmark of great leadership. Last week I wrote about “Really, Where Are You Going?” It spoke about having goals and stating them out loud before lining up the tasks and objectives to achieve it. The article concluded with speaking about vision. The vision is the big picture [Continue]

NO…. not there! I mean your stamp on the store. Your time in stores as District Managers should be very obvious. It should be consistent from store to store. When I go to Joe’s district, I know I will see XXXX in all of his stores. Always leave your footprint. The footprint should be something [Continue]

No, seriously! Are you productive in the shower? Really, isn’t that the only time you have left uninterrupted. Some of my best ideas originate from the shower. In this crazy world of laptops, iPads, iPhones, Droids, net books, and Blackberrys, we are always connected which is great but unplug me please. When do you think? [Continue]

Whatever you call them – pop visits, blitzing your stores, multiple stores in a day – one hour store visits can be very powerful. Effective district managers leverage these visits very well. When should you use this tactic? How should you go about it? The typical district manager has to put this tactic in play [Continue]

This week we are focusing on you – the District Manager. Many think you are the most important people in the organization. You are certainly the most powerful executives with that proximity to the customer. You move mountains every day. Are you using your power to its full potential? This week we will explore topics [Continue]