Louise Lally Podcast

Retail Relevancy with Ted Rubin and John Andrews growing your Retail Brand to the future

Louise will be discussing the future of Retail with two John Andrews a Retail strategist and thought leader and Ted Rubin a bestselling author and leading Marketing expert. They just released a book called "Retail Relevancy" that is filled with strategies and techniques around growing your Retail business.

We discussed:

• How Retailers can drive omnichannel and customer first experiences both online and instore.
• The supply chain challenges that emerged during Covid and how retailers can navigate around this through locally sourced suppliers and keeping the touch point for customers consistent when there are challenges.
• Use a customer first model that starts with your internal customers first your staff how do you support them in becoming brand advocates and ambassadors for your brand.
• Convenience is key for Retailers moving forward so how can retailers be more convenient and what does that even mean we will discuss this as it is a strategy we see being used by Amazon, Walmart and lots more. 
• CRM and Coupons the role they will play in the future of retail currency, how they can drive brand loyalty when used in the right way.
• How does Retailers communicate with their customers are they listening to them in the way they wish to be communicated to.

Get ready to learn and gain knowledge and inspiration on this power packed conversation.

What is Relationship Building in Retail and how to be authentic when selling on the shopfloor

In this episode I will be chatting to Sales Relationship Coach Jason Cooper. We discuss the power of relationship building with customers.

Some of the topics we discussed were:

• Selling and focusing on the Customer first and Sale second Relationship approach when building trust and rapport with customers.
• We also delve into attaining new customers and retaining the ones we have.
• Dealing with rejection in sales and strategies to use in order to overcome this.
• Training your sales team in building relationships with customers.

We discussed these and lots more in the episode.

How Retailers can Feng Shui their stores to deliver exceptional Customer Experiences

In this episode of the Retail Growth series I will be speaking to Claire Boscq Scott. Claire is a bestselling author and creator of the BizShui Method whereby Feng Shui principals are applied to organisations to improve and grow customer and employee experiences.

I will be discussing:

• How Retailers can implement Feng Shui methods to drive a better experience that drives growth in a business.
• Using the sensory experience by touching on one of the 5 senses when a customer is visiting your store and how you can leverage this to increase dwell time and conversion in your store.
• Often underestimated such as smell some stores have perfume scented around the store to draw customers in or to peak their interests. We will discuss examples of brands that are doing this and getting phenomenal results. 

We will discuss how Retailers can implement these strategies in their business that will make a great impression on customers visiting their stores but will also increase revenue and growth for those businesses.

 

Why Training does not work in organisations and what is needed to solve it

In this episode I will be delving into the role coaching, mentoring and training plays in Retail and how to best implement this in organizations in order to retain and engage staff in the workplace. I will be speaking to Robb Marr Coach and author of "The Lost 90%" we chat about his book and the role it has played in his own journey.

In the discussion we delved into some of the following;

• Both Louise and Robb will share their own experiences both as coaches, trainers and managers in businesses.
• The missing part of coaching and mentoring in organisations that implement training and how to apply long lasting results for teams in supporting training and development of staff.
• The areas that most leaders struggle with in coaching teams and finding the balance with training and coaching.

This episode is focused on training and development within the workplace and the role of coaching and mentoring within this space.

The role Shopfloor Staff have in Stock Purchasing and Managment and why it isn’t just the Buying Departments job

In this episode I am speaking to Tim Radley on Retail Buying and Stock Management.

We discussed the following:

• How Retail has evolved over time and the new bottom-up structure businesses are now moving into.
• We share insights into how Retailers can structure better processes to drive a more collaborative approach to their buying and ranging of stock in stores.
• How staff can play a key role in stock purchasing and management in your store.
• The move to less is more with stock by having automated replenishment systems to having stock that no longer needs receipts as barcodes have traceability to store, date and time purchased.

These and lots more areas are covered in the episodes.

Retail Leadership and Coaching

In this episode I spoke with Jim Frawley on leadership and coaching in the workplace and how management teams can cultivate this more. We discussed some challenges and opportunities that leadership teams have when coaching teams in the workplace.

• The challenges facing leaders in the workplace currently.
• The current trends in the workplace and how this is impacting succession planning and staff retention.
• Culture and change within teams that can bring about growth and innovation.
• The power of conversation and asking questions and investing in individuals in the team.

These and lots more areas were covered in this episode on people strategies.

What is Sustainable Retailing and where do we begin

In this episode I spoke with sustainability consultant Linda Warde founder of Green Zebra a company that looks to support and educate Retailers on having a more sustainable approach to how they operate their stores.

We will discuss the following:

• Understanding the complexities of sustainability practices in Retailers.
• How SME Retailers can start the process and what steps are needed in order to implement sustainability in their businesses.
• How Retailers can design and start to look at their own stores needs and wants in order to be sustainable.
• What do you have at present that you can use in building your own Retail toolkit for sustainability in your store.

In this episode we aim to demystify what being sustainable is for Retailers and where to start if you are an SME Business owner.

Winning in Retailing through HR People First Strategies

In this episode I spoke with David Nally HR for the DIY Retailer Woodies DIY.

We delved into the challenges that Retailers have currently with retention, recruitment and cultivating a winning culture in a business.

Discussing some of the following araes:

• The key role in having brand values, ethos and a mission statement has in your business and how to integrate this into your people strategy.
• How Woodies DIY grew as a business during Covid-19 and took on a large number of additional staff to cope with the growth in the business.
• How Woodies implemented a winning people first strategy that has seen them ranked as the employer of choice and winning numerous Employer of the year categories.
• Communication through apps, newsletters and lots more tools ensure the head office team are contactable by the frontline teams this flat line structure enables the team at Woodies to take action on real time feedback and support the teams.

This episode was a great insight into a Retailer that has such a strong emphasis on team culture and people first ethos.

 

 

How Retailers can Create winning Customer Experiences

In this episode I speak with Shep Hyken on all things CX and EX in Retail bringing it back to basics when it comes to creating a winning formula with building and connecting customers internally and externally.

A story of true Entrepreneurship where passion meets perseverance and drive

In this episode I spoke with Oonagh O Hagan entrepreneur and owner of Meaghers pharmacy. We discussed her journey into setting up her first business and the strategies she used to grow her team and extend her store portfolio. 

Some of the areas we discussed were;

• Having a clear vision of your business who you serve, and the ethos and mission embedded into that business.
• Having values that support your business purpose and people in it.
• Building a community around your business that serves your customers not just to sell products but to educate and support them