By Diane Crosby

Conventional wisdom would tell us that experience should be the best teacher when working in a retail setting. On the surface, it appears obvious that years of learning are invaluable. Malcolm Gladwell (in the book Outliers) said it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at any given endeavor. That comes to about five years of solid work weeks. Further studies say true mastery may take double that.

Imagine the expertise held in hand by those who have worked in retail most of their adult lives! Those of us who have been in this field awhile have seen trends come and go. We have watched vendors come to life, thrive, wane, then suddenly disappear. We have heard all the latest and greatest philosophies on how to encourage and maintain top sales. We have survived economic downturns, weather woes and even a pandemic. Hopefully, the years have taught us how to learn from the mistakes we have made. Most of us have made our share! Experience is our middle name.

However, there are pitfalls that accompany experience. Feeling like an expert often causes a retail owner to go about “business as usual.” When new ideas are suggested, he or she may simply evaluate and see only the pitfalls rather than the possibilities. If something similar has been tried in the past, a long-timer may write it off, noting that it failed before. Once bitten, twice shy is our motto. We veterans can get set in our ways, hesitant to try new things, wondering if such ideas are worth the effort.

Those ideas often come in the form of younger employees or more recent hires. Their bright, cheery faces beam as they spout the notions they just had! The enthusiasm is overwhelming to us retail veterans. “Ah, yes,” we think. “I remember when we did that back in the nineties.” 

Still, it behooves us all to consider innovations that may come our way. An idea from a new employee may work now, even if we tried it before. Times change. Technology certainly evolves. A new person heading a project can be effective. Unless an idea was a true disaster in a previous life, it may be worth another attempt. At the very least, listening to an employee and letting him or her run with an idea is great for morale.

Not only do employees have great ideas, but they also have the energy to follow through. Let them! They may not always do things perfectly and may require gentle nudges and adjustments. Still, their radar may be better tuned to those in another generation. You want your customer base to grow and be relevant to the younger people in the field you serve.

Innovative ideas may come from vendor representatives. While the rep’s main goal is to sell more products, there are still pearls of wisdom in some sales pitches. Vendors see all types of displays, sales strategies and marketing tools as they visit stores in their territories. Some will share those with you. You can learn a lot about new products and how to use them from reps who walk through your door. 

It may require some effort, but getting out of the store and attending trade shows is an excellent way to see innovations come to life. Again, a booth at a show is there to sell products to you, but the ideas are there for the taking to bring home. Whether you learn more about display, new tech or discover a new product, a trade show can push you to try something new.

My spouse/work partner is an avid fan of watching various videos on YouTube. He is not into cutesy videos like grumpy cats. Rather, he enjoys learning new things, often garnering information and inspiration about our retail life. He gets multiple ideas a day. Some are fleeting, but he does discover a nugget of gold every now and then. One must filter through all that is available online, but glimpses of greatness are out there! One way to see what others in your field are doing is by checking out ST Magazine’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@surplustoday), which showcases stores across the country and reviews products in our industry!

Some innovations are forced upon us. When a computer program or piece of hardware becomes outdated, we must start anew. If the methods of filing taxes or other reports change, we flounder through the new protocol. Banking systems flourish on the Internet. Some of us from the dark ages were accustomed to doing many things by hand or on paper only. Now most of our communication with government or even in-house is accomplished online. I knew a man who once said, “I had hoped I would retire before everything went to computers.” If you are still in the workforce, that time is long past.

Truth be told, experience without innovation is dull and outdated. You have been in those stores that never change. While it may be nostalgic to see the same old things on the dusty shelves, complacency is a death knoll to a store. We must avoid that fate!

On the other hand, innovation without experience can be a directionless frenzy, like bumper cars at the fair. Let’s try this! Let’s try that! The experienced are there to help guide, though not discourage, those proposing new concepts. You can teach without shutting down enthusiasm. 

So, the best formula for success is not experience vs. innovation. These are not opposing forces. Experience plus innovation makes business sing with excitement supported by stability. Our store recently celebrated twenty-five years as a local mom-and-pop business. At times, Mom and Pop have strong opinions, but the ideas that emanate from all the employees are key to our growth and success.

 

Diane and Wiley Crosby own Red Dog Outfitters in Forsyth, Georgia. Their store is a healthy blend of long-time experience and innovations from youthful employees!