Log How You're Handling the Bad Economy

Old habits. Superstitions. Hand-me-downs. Do those three drive your retailing practices?
     Hand-me-downs happen most often in family-run businesses. The adult kids take over the reins, having grown up doing things in certain ways because that's how their parents said things were to be done. Hand-me-downs also happen when inexperienced retailers buy a business.

     Superstitions are a driver when the owners/operators try out something, it fails miserably, and the retailer vows never to try it again, not really analyzing why it failed. If you don't try it again, you can't discover if it'll work.

     And old habits are always a driver because retailers are so busy that they find it hard to carve out the time to build new habits.
     Old habits, superstitions, and hand-me-downs aren't all bad. But to maximize your profitability, also...

• Learn about what works for other businesses like yours
• Apply findings from consumer psychology research
• Keep a computer log of notes about your experiences in trying out tactics

     Making notes for future reference is especially important because retailing is now in unusual circumstances. The width and depth of the upset in today's broader economy is something many retailers have never experienced before. What was successful in the past should serve as a bedrock for what you do now, but learning just from what worked five years ago in retailing has dangerous limitations. Respected experts are saying that the shopping mindsets of your potential customers will stay much the same for a while, even as the economy recovers.
     What should the notes in your computer log contain?

• The tactics you try out to build profitability
• How well each tactic works
• Your analysis of whether to continue the tactic and, if you continue, how to make the tactic work even better