Retail Consulting
Did we hear someone say culture change?
Some say those who can’t do, teach.We say those people shouldn’t be allowed to teach either.
The Friedman Group specializes in retail, exclusively. Every instructional designer, every consultant and every trainer have extensive backgrounds in retail. We know what it’s like to work on a retail floor and that’s why every Friedman Group training program contains valuable information and techniques that are the result of working in the field every day, solving problems and generating sales for stores regardless of category or channel. Our staff of experts relies on their years of practical on- the-floor retail experience to devise systems that make running a retail store easier and more profitable. The system we deliver is based on sharing what really works in the real world.
“I was finally able to take my first vacation in 5 years!”
“The first of many thanks to you guys”
Not Your Typical Consultants
Typical consultants assess problems then scramble and outsource to deliver solutions. We don’t. We are the perfect marriage between proprietary information and your business’ unique circumstances. We celebrate the differences in companies; we realize everyone is at a different level in terms of service or accountability or has varying operational burdens, etc. We take you from whatever level you are at now to the next. We’ve seen and done it all.
We don’t tell you to “just trust us” and we’ll magically make everything better. We give you a step-by-step detailed outline of our process, reasons for each step of the process, and the results to expect at every point along the way.
After 35 Years, Not Much Surprises Us
- The challenges in making it happen for Nieman Marcus and a rural farm supply store were vastly different, but the goal was still the same; enhance the customer experience and thereby increase sales
- The challenges in instilling sales and management systems at Bata Shoes with their 4,600 locations spread across 29 countries and many cultural differences
- Turning high school aged salespeople working at Godiva Chocolate into sales animals
- Trying to separate the responsibilities of co-owners or partners with opposing viewpoints so they are no longer working against each other
- Helping new franchise owners who have never been in retail before figure out how to gain control of their store and enjoy life more
The point is that every situation is different. You know a lot about your company. We know a lot about retailing. Together the sum is greater than the individual parts. We become your partner. And we welcome your calls and questions long after we’ve departed.
We’ve Got You Covered
Every client is unique, yet most have common constraints or challenges in achieving service and revenue objectives. This is especially true of smaller clients that may suffer from an obvious lack of codified policies, best practices, comprehensive training and coaching. Yet while many, larger, more sophisticated and successful organizations may have resolved such basic issues long ago, they often still tend to share gaps and deficiencies that can prevent performance optimization. Regardless of the number of locations or industry, the most common issues tend to stem from a lack of balance, leadership…
- Forgetting they are a SALES organization that requires every individual and team to maximize both service and revenue opportunities
- Missing buy-in from employees who do not see their importance in achieving goals
- Developing a “have-to” rather than a “want-to” sales and service environment
- Breaking or weakening links in the organization’s service-profit chain
- Establishing silos/segmentation that hinders collaborative service among teams
- Falling into complacency; not constantly raising the bar on the customer experience
- Relying too heavily on metrics and ignoring the importance of adding passion
