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CREATIVE INSIGHTS INC. |
Downloads
Excerpts from Start and Run a Retail Business
Media interviews on Start and Run a Retail Business
Retail articles by Ted Topping
Retail Advice for independents
Music downloads... just for fun
Excerpts from Start and Run a Retail Business
Click to open or download as an Adobe Acrobat PDF
Organizing into departments, classifications will teach you a lot about your customers
Special excerpt on Job Descriptions: First step to finding good sales associates is a written job description
Special excerpt on Interviewing: Follow established guidelines to interview sales associates
You can coach your people to motivated performance with guidance, additional training
One great way to compete with big-box retailers is to avoid selling your customers landfill
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Ted Topping on CH News at Noon with anchor Meribeth Burton. Hear clips from the interview and call-in segment here. |
Media interviews on Start and Run a Retail Business
Click to open or download as a Windows Media WMA file
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Ted Topping in the CKNW studio to appear on The David Berner Show. Hear clips from the interview and call-in segment here. |
Retail articles by Ted Topping
Multi-part series on the growing new opportunity to hire older workers
Click to open or download as an Adobe Acrobat PDF
Harnessing the Wave of Experience
The time is right to balance your team with older workers
Bakers Journal, March 2005
How to build a team with older workers
Bakers Journal, May 2005
Laying the Foundation for Success
Long-term success with older workers starts with extensive initial training
Bakers Journal, July 2005
Older Workers Bring Challenges, Skills
Understanding motivation will make your job as a coach easier
Bakers Journal, August/September 2005
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Ted Topping with Jane Ayer, editor of Bakers Journal, at a session promoting the Older Workers series. |
Retail Advice for independents
Articles that will be of special interest to owner-operated retailers
Click to open or download as an Adobe Acrobat PDF
Delegate to manage, motivate a superstar
Of the various types of employees, many retail owners and managers feel that a “superstar” is the most challenging to manage and motivate. This can lead to some frustrating and disappointing employment relationships, because “superstar” is also the type of employee that most retail businesses need.
Gross Profit: the most basic formula in retail
Understanding how one thing compares to something else is always easier if we express them both as numbers and state them as percentages.
New-style leader has five characteristics
There is a serious, even desperate, need for leaders in the retail business at every level. But most management experts agree that we need a new style of leader.
Productive use of space takes planning
Because inventory costs money, and because the goal is to sell it as quickly as possible, experienced retailers base the configuration and layout of their stores directly on that inventory.
Show recognition to help people succeed
Showing recognition is an important part of your job as a retail store owner or manager. This can be any outward display or demonstration of appreciation for good performance, and it can be done in public or in private. Beyond this, it can be tangible, such as a bonus cheque, or less tangible, such as a verbal compliment.
Stock turns show the health of a business
The stock turn ratio, also known as the inventory turnover, of a retail business is one of the most important measures of the health of that business. By examining this ratio, an owner or manager can tell if the business is operating efficiently or if there are problems.
The things employees want from their boss
Have you ever wondered what your employees really think of you? Whether they would put you on their “best boss” list or their “worst boss” list?
To build traffic, make your store tell a story
One good way to get more customers into your store is to present the merchandise as if you were telling a story. You need to give the store a beginning, a middle and an end, in that order.
Music downloads... just for fun
Click to open or download as either a Windows Media Player WMA file or an MP3.
Working as a consultant, Ted Topping wrote the script and supervised the taping of an orientation and training video for the new hires of a petroleum retailer. An accomplished musician, he also created, performed and recorded theme music for the opening sequence.
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A New Pioneer by Ted Topping (1:02) Copyright © 2006 by Ted Topping. All rights reserved. |
While preparing a keynote presentation for the Christmas luncheon of a direct marketing association, Ted Topping was inspired by the contrast between Christmas bells and the technology of Internet shopping to create, perform and record a theme song that reflects the two.
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Techno-Christmas Medley by Ted Topping (1:03) Copyright © 2006 by Ted Topping. All rights reserved. |
Ted Topping on adding value through the in-store experience on CFAX AM1070 |
Ted Topping’s series on the emerging opportunity to hire older workers |
Ted Topping offers advice on the best way to manage and motivate a “superstar” |
Ted Topping has created, performed and recorded music for various projects |
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TedTopping.com is copyright © 2007 by Creative Insights Inc.
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