The Retail Challenge: Answering Your Questions on Customer Acquisition, Events, and Staff Management

Good morning, everybody. It is Sunday, March 2nd. You are live with The Retail Doc, and I'm glad you're here today.

So do me a favor and type in the comments. Let me know where you are joining me from. I know we broadcast across several social media streams at once. That's to get scale. We have, I don't know, 350,000 people on LinkedIn and 19,000 on both Facebook and Instagram. So with that in mind, today we have a lot of questions, but I wanted to show you my latest thing that I'm finding joy in, and that is I'm going birdwatching. That's kind of what I'm doing.

And this last week, I was excited enough to see that I had these common yellow eyes, golden eye, excuse me, which were only here in the river for about two days. And that's what I like about birdwatching is because it takes me out of being the retail doc. It puts me in another place to say, wow, isn't that interesting? Isn't that different? The natural world is much more exciting than the news.

So if you are trying to keep your sanity and you're trying to figure out how to navigate an awful lot of change that is going on all the time, then I encourage you to find something that gave you joy a while ago. Or pick up a new hobby and put down your phone more and more. I think you have to go looking to be outraged and people seem to be enjoying that. And we have totally rewired our brains to think that is normal. And I'm here to tell you it's not normal.

And 99% of the people in the world that you meet are nice and loving and caring and want to get along and make the world a better place. But what we're being seen over and over is horrible and one-off and all kinds of things that makes you want to just cocoon and get out of it. And I'm saying get out into the world in a different way. So find something else that I want you to do today. And I just think birdwatching is great. Nancy, I'm glad you're here today.

It's almost not winter anymore. We had this morning, speaking of my birdwatching, I looked out my back window and the first flocks of grackles, which are almost the size of crows, but they have this iridescent head and the red-winged blackbirds were back.

And to us, that is the sure sign spring is here. So even though we might get some snow, No, I don't care. I have one little thing I'm going to read to you because I think it's important. And then I'm going to continue on. There's a lot of questions today.

I'm going to give you two examples. I asked you people, you viewers, for questions all week, which led to an awful lot of them. And I'm going to stay until everyone is answered. But also, I asked you about if you're having any events in March. And I came up with a couple that I think I can give you some ideas that would be different because I think we get caught up in doing the same thing over and over again. And I don't really want that. So good morning, Margo.

Alex, I'm answering your two questions. Cindy, I'm glad you're here today. So here we go. So every week I receive dozens of retail questions that follow the same patterns. How do I attract more customers? How do I manage with just difficult customer interactions? How do I adapt to market changes? How do I boost my sales in a competitive environment? How do I expand online? How do I motivate my underperforming teams? And they're all critical questions

to ask about your business. And we're going to answer a lot of those today. But one thing I realized is these are only treating symptoms. The root issue seems to be a systematic approach. And that's why I created my online training program, SalesRx. It's not just an expense, it's a framework, for what thousands of successful retailers are using around the world to stop doing promotions and discounts and wasting your money in different ways.

But I want you to think about what's the real cost of continuing to struggle with these same questions month after month. I mean, what's the value of having a proven system?

Because today, as I answer your questions, let's be honest with each other. Yeah, I am asking you to buy from me. And that presents another interesting question. If you're looking for others to buy from you, what stops you from buying from me? because you trust my advice, right? You value my expertise enough to watch me, but when it comes to actually investing in your own success, it's kind of stop. And is it because you think that it's going to take work and you're hesitant to commit?

I mean, do you just think easy answers are going to make the difference? I mean, is that, are you going to TikTok to find out how to do your business better? Or are you reading my blogs and spending time with me? So I want you to think about your own customers. Don't you want them to value your expertise, to trust your products and services are worth paying for, to commit to solutions rather than just browsing.

So if you believe your customer should invest in quality products and expertise, which I know you do, then apply that same standard to your own business decisions because SalesRx isn't just a program, it's a transformation and a transformation requires commitment.

So let's get to your questions because there's lots of them. Lynn's asking, thinking about sending out mailers to new customers in the area, in your experience, have you seen and found these to be successful or what would be a better way to reach to new people? Well, first off, don't go doing ads in the local movie studios, movie studios. Yeah, theaters, because a lot of people try anything to get the word out. I think it's one of the smartest things you can do, which is to hire those companies.

You know, I always believe in sending out a half sheet. So it's a six by nine and make sure it's got a compelling picture on the front. And just one simple thing about why they need it. They turn it over the back and, you know, they could bring it in for something special, but it doesn't matter.

The important thing is you're getting to new homeowners and they're looking for your services make sure that you're not too niched down in you know we have vegan plant soil or something like that which is a is something you have to really think about think of something broad you know looking for gifts for the home we have everything and you can you know get your friends who are going to bring you new home gifts to come to us or something there's a million ways you could do

it but they're not cheap because you have to pay for the piece and the postage but it gets right to the customer. And even if it's over the trash bin, you are there. And I have used that successfully for a lot of retailers. The other thing people forget about if you're looking to get business is shoe leather. You know, it's walk your mile around your store. Oh, Bob, it sounds like work. It is work.

It's kind of what I started with today. It is work. You know, I had a, when I was in the coffee franchise and this woman was telling me like, oh, no one's coming in with coming. I go, well, go to those big office towers next to you and go to the top floor and knock on every door and introduce yourself, that would be a lot of time. Yeah, it would be a lot of time. So after the third month, she was saying this to me. I said, come with me.

And we walked over there. We went to the top and opened the door and introduced ourselves. And she found that it was easy, but I had to be there with her for the first one so that she could say, oh, I can do this. Well, the same thing. We forget that it's all about you have to go out and push to your comfort level, to be able to get it to the other side. So I hope that helps.

Let me know in comments what you think. And I'm not looking at comments right now because I've got all my questions right here. I will look at any of your questions though as I go through the program.

Muldines, menswear and custom shop. What will tariffs do to business? Exclamation point. I buy Hart, Schaffner, Marks and Jack Victor from Canada. Lower price Stetson hats are made in Mexico. Many things made in China, but that's only 10%. Everybody wants to know this. And I think of that line from Wrath of Khan that Spock said, sauce for the goose, Mr. Savick, which is all things are even.

Yes, things are going to cost more. And the more that I see everything is about AI or tariffs, the more I'm like, pay attention to the person that walked in your front doors. Because yeah, maybe your prices are all going to go up 30%. I don't know. And our customers are all going to pay for it. I get it. But it's going to be the same for everybody.

So instead of sticking around and thinking, oh my gosh, when I get this, I would say, find a way to get your sales staff to be able to sell the most expensive things and not worry so much about what could happen because any effects of tariffs are not probably going to be felt at the retail level until the holidays. Yes, that's a big deal. Yes, I get it. Probably could do it all sorts of things to the GDP.

But in the end of the day, it is what it is. So instead of staying in your trade groups and trying to, oh, we'll buy a bunch of stuff now, maybe that's the answer. Maybe you're going to buy all the wrong stuff.

So there you go. Alex says, I'm a garden center owner, has two customer service issues. So his first is, I run into clients who have unrealistic expectations about trees or shrubs. How do I sway or educate them in a way that doesn't. That what they want doesn't exist, but here are some things that are close without making them feel stupid, spending a lot of time on this or driving me mad in the process.

All right. So Alex, I hear you. What I would say is, you know, I understand you're looking for whatever that's going to be. You want to be to hide the street from your living room window. You want to have something that works in a wet environment with shade. Many customers come in asking for that exact same request. And then you've got to pivot to what you know, which is, well, the thing is, in our climate and soil conditions, specific plants, like you mentioned, won't thrive.

You can buy them, but they'll die. And so can I show you three alternatives that will give you similar results and actually give you and flourish what you want, will actually give you what you want and flourish in your yard? And if you could show them on a, you know, if you had them on your phone,

iPad, that'd be great. But maybe you make out a simple, if you get this request over and over, maybe you're going to have a handout that says, you know, looking for shade or looking for these plants and maybe they only grow in Southern California. They won't do well, but here are ones that do. But remember, they're not plant experts. They only know what they saw on HGTV.

And the more you can get them to acknowledge that what they're really looking for is something general, then I think you have a way to pivot. So if that works for you, let me know. it just seems, it seems like I think you're there. It's just a way of framing it. Second one was, I help people with plant problems, part of customer service, and I put a lot of time and effort to it.

Most are grateful, but a few will assign blame to me, insult me, imply that I'm stupid or that I intentionally sold them crappy products to starts. And it hurts. How can I let go of this hurt and not bring it into customers? Well, I think that's true for all of us, my friend.

I mean, you know, I've had speeches where it was amazing. Everybody loved me. And then that one person on a review said, I didn't like him very much. And then you obsess like, what could I have done better? Oh my gosh, my gosh. And then you have to realize like in a room of a hundred people, you're lucky a 51% like you and move on. So I do say toughen up. Frustration control is in your court. You know, know that you're doing the right thing. You're doing it.

Not everybody will like you. Some will, some won't. So what next? But I would start off just in those is to say something like, you know, plant success depends on many factors beyond our control. The watering, the light, the soil. And when they leave here, we, I don't know if you have a guarantee of 30 days or whatever it is. We know that they're healthy and everything, but that's part of the learning curve. We, in a garden, we have to learn some that work and some that don't.

But that idea of pivoting, plant success depends on many factors out of our control. You start off from the beginning by letting them acknowledge that, you know, Hey, once they leave us, there's not much we can do about it. I'm going to go over and see if you guys are commenting. Let's see. Nancy, I love that you mentioned that SalesRex is a framework. I heard your recent podcast on frameworks and it changed my whole mindset. Everyone should listen to it. Well, there you go, Nancy. Thank you.

And Shane, good morning from Nebraska. Good morning, dude. I think it's almost your birthday here pretty soon. Marketing Debra. Oh, she was just talking to Alex Lynn. After nine years, and by the way, if you like what I am talking about here today, you could do me a favor and give me some thumbs up because the algorithm is going to look at how long people stay on this and whether you're interacting with me or not. You know that? I know that.

Lynn says, after nine years in a small brick and mortar, I'm exploring the online option as well. Pros and cons, please. Do you add an off-site warehouse? How does it affect your employees? What's your rate of return? So Lynn, make no mistake. The reason why you have an online store is so your own customers can go through and buy your products. You're not going to go up against Amazon and Walmart. Those two alone represent 55% of online.

Yeah. And then you add in like Costco and Target, and I think everybody else running after that last 38%. So, you know, worrying about all those little things, I would say you're putting in your top 10 items to start, see if they work, use some simple interface. If you can make money at it, great. But the reality is returns of doing clothing are over 50% and your own employees, that's a great question.

I don't have time to go through all of it, but I would say any store should have an online component at this point. It's silly not to because your own customers are going to be exploring. They're going to look to you first. They find nothing. Their chance is they're going to go buy it from Amazon and go, oh, they've got all the stuff that that person had, and it's cheaper and I can get it tomorrow. So there you go.

Top fan, Elizabeth, excuse me. Yeah. Susan says, how do I restore extraordinary customer service in a world of technology? Well, I think I answered that at the beginning, Susan, is SalesRx. And I'm not going to keep beating the bush. If you're serious and you're not just asking me a question, go to SalesRx.com, take a demo, buy it. Starts at $5.90 for our most advanced a month. You can cancel at any time and see if it works.

Because if you're dedicated to change the way you're working, I guarantee you it'll do it. We've doubled sales for incredible numbers of businesses who only sold hundreds of thousands a month, all the way to people who sold two or three million, they did seven million. So at the end of the day, I know it works. I know it's vetted. But what is it in you that's keeping you from doing it? You don't have to answer to me.

But, you know, something that's just a question like that means you're not really up for thinking about it's going to take a lot. It's going to take a lot. Porik says, by the way, I hope you heard your podcast cut last week, my friend. When I host an organized play event or tournament, most of my play space is taken up for hours by the event. So in effect, my store is only full of players that are not actively shopping. Interestingly, our revenue for the day shoots up almost 200%.

And my theory, what I'd love to hear what you think happens. So I just said, are there other people there? I would imagine they get up and stretch and they see things. You know, if it was me, I would snipe in a commercial. Thanks for showing up for the tournament. We're only here for you. And you can be here with us by stopping and looking at, you know, whatever your product is or get their attention. But your goal is to get them to understand that you buy, that,

yeah, you're not just a church. you're a place that you're a business. That's kind of my thing. Nancy says, what's a past retail trend that's made it come about? How can small businesses capitalize on it? I think what I'm starting to see people like, whether it's on Instagram or YouTube, the power of a handwritten thank you. And it makes me laugh because I, my goodness, I started 30, well, more than I'm willing to say here.

Over 30 years ago, that's how I built being the manager of the year with one little store because I wrote a handwritten thank you to everybody who spent over 250 bucks. And now people are saying like, look at what I just found. Like, it's not a new idea. Unfortunately, as I've gotten older and the lack of my own handwriting, I look down when I write things and I'm like, dear God, I don't think I even know what I said. So I have to really concentrate.

So maybe I'll move to block letters. Maybe that'll help. By the way, if you're still watching this, give me a favor, give me some thumbs up and you should be watching it because that's the answer is to figure out how can we do better in doing retail. Rachel says, how do you recommend motivating a team that has had a down year in down sales? Rachel, the whole idea is you have to give them something else to think on. I would look at what has gone down, number of items in an average sale,

average ticket, conversion rate, number of people walking in. What can they win at? Well, how many people did they sign up for your loyalty program or your newsletter? How many extra items went out in a sale in a week? Those are the things you have to do. And again, that's a one-line question you asked me. I would say sales or X is your answer. And it's not because I sell it. It's as much as you need this because otherwise you're trying to manage by tips.

It's kind of like there's no foundation in the house and we're talking about the ceiling around the windows. It's like, wait a minute, this isn't important.

Oh, but what color should the drapes be? like, wait, you have no foundation, you have no concrete under it, to hold it up so that whether they're. In a good season, an off-season, a quiet season, they are actively thinking about how to sell more and playing the game of retail, which is a game of hustle. It's a game of wanting to make that sale. It's a game of wanting to go through and add on. It's a game of making sure that I can get those people every, you know, Zig Ziglar said it 75 years ago.

You can get everything you want in life by helping other people get what they want first. It's that simple. People who understand that are successful in retail. They're successful in life. They're successful in their business. So people that don't think that the answer is going to be some simple little, you know, oh, I found some pithy quote. No, you have to work on it. Like every day, I'm in my office every day at 8 a.m.

All the way till 5 o'clock, maybe a half hour lunch, and I'm doing everything I can to get this brand moving. I think of my brand as a startup every single day. And if you're on my site, how am I doing to add value? How am I making sure that we support the world of retail? How do we get the word out that brick and mortar retail is vital to the economy and that we can change the world by the people shopping and working retail? That's the subject of tonight's newsletter you'll see as well.

So I hope that gives you some answers. I am passionate about retail.

Otherwise, you wouldn't be following me because I have seen enough other people with gimmicks and they try all sorts of strange, odd little promotions. And I'm like, what the hell is all of this? I'm the guy that big brands and small brands come to maximize their sales in a brick and mortar store. If that's important to you, I'm the guy. If that's not important to you, then admit it and say, oh, I just rather give discounts. I'd rather buy what I like. I'd rather, you know, take weekends off.

But retail's hard. You look at it. And if you want to be great at it, It's like a college course. And how do I engage with people who may have nothing in common with me at first? And that's the fun for me. That's what makes it all great. I'm glad you liked it, Alex. What's your question here, Daniel?

Do you have a preference for POS system for home before gifts up? I think there's many of them you can do, Daniel. I mean, as you know, Lightspeed has been a sponsor. I've been an influencer for Lightspeed before. I think they've got a great system. I think the idea that they can tie in your credit card system into purchases gives you a look into your customers that's much deeper than most others.

I know that people are happy with going to Costco and have a 12-category register that's happy that they have a cash drawer. Information is where it's at in 2025. The more information you have about your customers, the better it is. You know what changed for Walmart and Target was getting grocery.

Once they knew what was in the basket, they could connect that to, well, we can infer that, oh, they've got a sick child, they've got an elderly person, they've got a new baby, and then connect that to purchases and hone in even more with those algorithms. So why so many smaller businesses don't do that and at least get the basics of knowing who your customer is, drilling down into it, being able to get a zip code, being able to understand buying habits?

I don't know. So I would suggest you check out Lightspeed. If you do, get on a call with them. Tell them you talked to me, and they'll give you a discount, and they'll give you, I think, a terminal as well. But don't hold me to that. So there you go. I forget what the exact one is. All right. Is this good for you? Is this helping? Give me a yes. I got to get some water. So is this good? Give me a thumbs up or give me a why in comments. Go.

Or you got to give at least one why. I mean, come on, come on, come on.

All right. So while you're doing that, one of the things, thank you, Daniel. All right. So one thing that I asked a lot of people was about events. Several of you have events coming up in March. And I just said, tell me what it is. Tell me what you're doing. What do you sell? And what's the leave behind? And one very honest person said, what's the leave behind? Great question. A leave behind is something that they can take with them and not leave behind because they had a great time.

Oh, we had a great time. Where were you? Oh, down on Main Street. What's the takeaway? What's something that they can take back that will hold that memory, anchor that memory for them? And that's what a leave behind is. So Donna had a beautiful arrangement here. She says, workshop, we have houseplants and these cute little teacup bouquets. We have hot tea samples and a lavender shortbread cookie as they design. That's great, but those are things that they're eating. Those aren't the takeaway.

And if they take, I should, I don't know if I could show this picture. I might be able to. Give me one sec. You guys talk amongst yourselves for a second. Show window. Can you show window? Can you show my notes? Can you show? Nope. Nope. doesn't show Microsoft oh there it is I think I can do this. There we go. Awesome. So there's Donna. So there's her event. That's what they're going to be making. Lovely. Looks very cute. I'm assuming that you provide the china and the flowers and it's gorgeous.

And that's wonderful. I think that's don't need any more of that. But the problem is what's the take behind? So they have this beautiful little thing. So what could you do with that? Well, I'm not going to answer all of these because a lot of you had a lot of questions answered. I just think you have to think about what goes with it to ID that as yours.

And in your case, maybe it's going to be, could be a sticker. Please don't give them a discount coupon for $5 off if you come in next week. That's not a leave behind. That's nothing memorable. And I'll give you some examples here in a minute. Vacuum Cleaner Hospital Chapel Hill was starting, celebrating 39 years in business all through March. Huge sale and inventory clear out customer appreciation day on Saturday the 15th. So Saturday the 15th would be your issue. What is the leave behind?

What's happened over the last 30 years? You could come up with a timeline. Well, I'll get into this in a minute with Bob Querion's question, but what's happened in the last 39 years? What happened in the area? What's something you could do with photographs? What's something you could do with something specific to Chapel Hill? It's changed an awful lot, right?

Jennifer says she's having a state crawl, Girl Scout cookie sales, paint classes, spring breaks, staycation events. That's a lot to wrap up in one event. So what are you going to do for that leave behind?

Margo is doing a frame shop art gallery a mini history lesson you pick up you print up your three miniature copies of one of canada's iconic folk artists in may i think that's great lunch included from a neighboring cafe and we'll have frames available to show special for them to take home yeah again that's a special with the frames what else can they do just keep thinking what else can they do that anchors into you what is a qr code that they could

use to register for your next one What is something that says, I'm going to get these people back? That's what matters. So this is what I kind of went crazy on, Bob. Bob. He has two people's name on the name. So it's Bob Tracy Jackish Curia. And I hope I got that without murdering it too bad. 25th year celebration. We're an Agway store, lawn, garden, pet, power, and nursery. So think of an outdoor space that you could have as your silver garden to memorate your 25th anniversary.

So you're going to have an opening ceremony, inviting community members to plant symbolic plants or flowers and shades of silver and gray. That'd be great to have kids participate as well. Maybe signage detailing the meaning behind the garden and your 25-year history. Encourage customers to place small stones or marks of appreciation. Maybe it's a personalized rock with their name or a tag or something.

Maybe it's going to be branded seed packets that are silver labeled, pollinator-friendly, commemorating the 25th anniversary. Maybe it's going to be mini plant markers with your anniversary logo customers can use in their own gardens. Or maybe it's going to be a timeline. This is what I was alluding to for your 39th anniversary. Maybe it's going to be chronicling what at the last, I got it wrong. I thought your anniversary was 50. So just go with me. I was writing this out late last night.

But instead of just focusing on local heritage, what was going on when you started? You know, I started developing this as if it was 50 years old, so I would start with the 70s, and maybe it was, you know, we all about emphasis on fertilizers and chemicals and pesticides and all of that. Then the 80s was all quick fix lawn solutions. The 90s was growing interest in indoor plants, and organic was a buzzword. 2000s was all about greater heirloom seeds and those kind of things.

2010, pollinator-friendly plants and beekeeping. 2020s smart irrigation, climate resistant plant systems, organic zero chemical gardening. That would be an interesting story to tell, don't you think? And then I would try to get your, Alex, this would probably be good for you too. I would try to get your vendors to be able to showcase some of their products in that as well.

It's something that they can get into it or, you know, have before and after photo like popular garden layout was in the seventies versus what we do now or older types of fertilizers or tools and now show them the differences or did you know and show the difference between sustainable and backwards but beyond that qr codes for deeper dives right so if they like that picture they like that display qr code which takes them to a place and get more information if they

give you their email maybe you're going to have a 70 a a. 2000s vintage garden bench or a modern eco garden that people could take pictures of or an interactive quiz or a scavenger hunt the thing is we get so caught up in having the event to give away product and sales that we don't think about how do you make it memorable is to anchor it with a leave behind with something special with something that gets your local community go like

wow that was amazing that was really fun i really had a good time i know chelly i don't know if chelly's on today. Chelly is with Black Horse Farms are up here in Athens, New York. And she did a how to start your indoor cannabis garden. And the entry was like 125 bucks. It was a lot. But what was great is she demystified it and just acknowledged that people are doing this in your own home. It's legal here in New York. And that worked really well for her.

Whatever it's going to be, you have to start with, OK, that's what we're doing. But then you've got to go back and say, but how does this fit into their world that they're going to remember me? And it's not going to be in a discount. It's kind of the same thing when we talk, what should I pay my employees? How do I reward them? What do I give them? And it's like, oh, they only want cash. Well, yeah, but cash is spent. They will never remember.

Yeah, I'll help pay my mortgage. So if you give away like, hey, you know, person who wins the sales contest gets a Lazy Boy rocker or a dinner at a fine restaurant, You know, just two. Don't need three. They'll remember that rocker. I had that promotion, actually, and I won that one year. And I got the, and I loved that chair because I remember I was the one that got it.

I've also done dinners. People always remember the event. So think about how do you anchor that? And then they take it back. I hope that's helpful. If it is, again, you can give me another why, because there you go. Erica is asking, I have a dedicated young employee who I gave quite a substantial raise to in agreement that she would leave her other job and work for me full time.

However, she doesn't want to work on Saturdays, my busiest day, and it's causing me to have to work nearly every Saturday, fill the void. Okay, anybody has been there? If you've been there, give me a why. Anybody had that where you thought somebody was going to do X and instead they did something else? Anybody been there? Put it in the type. Let me know you're there. Come on, come on, come on. This works better because I'm working alone without a net up here.

You realize that, right? I'm a speaker. I'm used to applause. So I have to have your interactions so that I know you're still with me. So if you've been there, you understand what that's like, what that feels like. You've thought that they were going to be wonderful. And now, of course, Erica is saying, it's just not working out. And I don't know how to approach this subject without losing her. It's just so hard to find reliable, trustworthy employees these days. And I'm at odds with what to do.

Well, I think you know what you have to do, Erica. First off, I want to go all the way back to you thought giving her more money would make her would would get her from that other job great did you specify she had to work saturdays if not shame on you because you expected she would understand that but she may not that's number one for the rest of you the days of what i had to work in retail which was nights and every saturday and all holidays are gone people

want a life balance So that's why all my coaching clients, I say, have two schedules, an A and a B. And you just mark them up like, you know, Susie has the weekend off here. She works a Saturday the next week. She works both Saturday and Sunday the next. And she has another one off, whatever it's going to be. And then you just interchange those on whatever the month is. And it makes it easy because you're not working around an employee's schedule.

You're working on your schedule, which kudos, Erica, that's the most important thing. You work on yours and you're frustrated. The difficult conversation quite simply is, hey, Jane, you know, I brought you here and there seems to be some challenge because you don't want to work Saturdays and I'm having to work them. So what do you think we can do about that?

So if she says, well, I don't want to work. I have my kid and I'm doing this and this. Yeah, I understand that. But realistically, I didn't hire you for me to be working Saturdays. And the way it's going to go forward is I need you to work Saturdays. How can we come to that agreement? I won't give you all of them, but let's say three out of four, I have to be able to know I can plan on that. You're not going to call out on me on something like that.

Erica, that's all you have to do. There's no pussyfooting around it. I'd love people, you know, people say, oh, you have to be really mindful. You know, Jen, X, they're really tender. Look, the reality is you may not have set the expectation right. So she doesn't know what success looks like. If you haven't had this conversation before, then you've built all this stuff up in you and you've put it on yourself and you're already working Saturdays.

So if you do lose her, if you do lose her, well, you're going to find somebody else. I know it. So don't get so caught up in the drama of it. Just go through and do what you need to do because you're going to sleep better. You're going to be a better boss. And more importantly, you're going to feel better about yourself because right now you feel used and a fool and we've all been there and we've all had that experience and move on. It's not you, it's her.

It's that simple. She hates you, let her. She rails on you, let her. But the reality is, it's your business. So I hope that helps. We're coming to the end of our fun little time here. I only have one more to go.

So if you have any questions, you can put them in the type, type them in now, and I'll be able to answer them live. Orisa says, we're having a Mario party. Wowzers, okay. We sell Japanese animation and pop culture. The Mario Party will be a celebration of the titular character from the Super Mario Brothers video game. I don't know who uses titular character. That's very advanced. My husband will be dressing up as Mario to take pictures with the kids.

We'll have a bunch of different Mario games to play, and we stocked about Mario merchandise to sell. All right, so I thought about this because this is this morning. I thought, all right, give me more ideas on an event. What could you do? So think, and if you want, that's right, Roberta. One door closes, exactly.

You could have a small little passport booklet, right, that they stamp at different locations, Mario cart racing or coin collecting or whatever, and they complete it to earn exclusive merchandise or small Mario theme prize or a memory photo card. So it's great. You're taking pictures with your husband. Phenomenal. But maybe it's going to be with a digital camera and you're going to print it and then attach to a Mario type of card with trivia on the back.

That might be it, or a power-up token. So a special token that looks like Mario, like Mushroom Stars or something that makes us a prize. And it's going to be a refrigerator mag that you give them. The whole idea, it's a, what do we call it? It's a leave behind. All of those are to get them to take something home about the experience they had with you. So there you go. If you found value in this, give me a number rating from one to five, five being best, five being best.

Give me your opinion of this morning, five being best, Put it in the comments below, please. And by the way, if you are watching the replay of this, I look at all your questions and comments. So if you have questions after the broadcast, I can answer those as well. Thanks, Margo. I got one five. All right. What did your did your keyboards break a six? So, Roberta, see, there you go. Now you know how to apply. Now how you work with a speaker. That's exactly it. I appreciate I appreciate that.

Look, all of us are trying to do a five job. It's that simple. I believe that we could change the world by people working and shopping in retail, but it's up to us to put in the hard work. It's hard work working with the public. It's hard work connecting the dots, ending up getting people from disparate areas, right? Retail is the one place that connects the business person with the school teacher, with the immigrant, with the student, with the homemaker, with the power broker, you name it.

They all come together in retail, and it's our job to find a way to open our hearts enough that we can experience the joy of them buying something with us and adding on to that so that they get a complete picture, they have a warm feeling of us, and we become the store of choice. If you're looking to do that, obviously, I've only said it, I don't know, four or five times. Go to salesrx.com. Check out the demo. You can just start with that. Take the demo and see how it works.

I explained it all really quick. And there's a lot of people who are on SalesRx right here, and they go through and they're still, you know, find something new. Alex is like my very first guy. Alex, I think we've been together for, my goodness, like 14 years, my friend. And there's a reason, because ultimately it isn't that we went through training once, it's that we always are trying to continuously learn. And I appreciate you continuously learning with me.

I'm Bob Phibbs, the retail doc. Have a great day and good selling.