Blog
How to Prepare for a Global Pandemic (and beyond)
Business owners spend countless hours preparing for every possible scenario. They hire and train people, select store sites, carefully choose products and set prices, and continually take the temperature of the market. Now they're scanning shopper's foreheads before...
Online Meetings During Coronavirus (and beyond)
Having led and participated in hundreds of online meetings in the course of my career, I have had to remind myself that this digital experience is very new to some people. Here are some tips I’ve learned (some the hard way) about meeting online that may help us all in...
Digital Strategies during COVID-19 (and beyond)
We are all adjusting to a new normal under COVID-19 restrictions. Life on the street and in our stores has changed dramatically as customers and employees practice social distancing, self-quarantines, and shelter-in-place guidelines. Coronavirus has sparked...
Servant Leadership
Here in America, organizational success is defined by winning—often without regard to how it affects people. Employees are often described as capital. Human capital. Servant Leadership, a model that has been studied for over two centuries, defines success very...
Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.
Without a doubt it is the hardworking American family business that fuels the engine that drives the economy. Whether you are a family member working in the business, or a non family hired gun, understanding the special dynamics of family business is the key to...
You’ve got to be kidding me!?!?
Let me tell you, conflict is ugly and messy. I personally witnessed this last week because of a major breakdown in communication with a close family friend. The older I get, the more I come to hate conflict. But nonetheless, conflict is a part of life. There is truly...
Email Etiquette
This article by Jeff Bennett was taken from an upcoming issue of Western Retailer, a publication of the Western Home Furnishings Association. You’re doing everything right to market and brand your business. Radio and TV ads? Check. Direct mail? Yes. A Web site?...
How To Make Your Website Sell More Stuff
"If you build it, they will come." This famous line from Field of Dreams might apply to baseball diamonds, but it doesn’t necessarily translate to websites. At Grey Suit Retail, our online marketing and web development company, we design websites with many built-in...
Silence isn’t golden when your customer’s on the phone
The door opens, and in walks the customer you were working with last week…what was it they were looking at? Oh yes, the dining room suite. And you were hoping they were going to add the sideboard as well. (ring-ring) But right as they walk in, the phone rings. And...