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Harold and I hope you were able to take time over Thanksgiving to tell your loved ones how grateful you are for their effect on your life. In 2007, in each issue of The Gourmet Retailer, we were given a forum to discuss our passions — namely, shopper’s psychology/insights, exciting retail/merchandising tips, and helpful promotional activities to enhance your sales. We hope you have adopted many of our suggestions to create the in-store experience for which your customers are yearning.

As we wrap up our first year of monthly columns in The Gourmet Retailer, we thought we would conclude with what we feel is most important if you want our suggestions to be executed well. In short, give to your associates if you expect them to give back by implementing exactly what you feel will make your store a shopping experience.

Harold and I believe you must properly orient your associates and build trust before you can expect greatness from them. We feel that thorough preparation involves four activities — a solid orientation, communication, performance reviews, and recognition for outstanding achievement.

Employees initially arrive at your store not as a life-long store employee with a vested interest in its performance, but as an individual looking to begin a relationship with your company. We feel it is your job and obligation to provide a welcoming orientation that sets clear expectations and norms. There should be no gray area between what they think you expect and what you actually want from them each day.

You must also communicate with employees easily and openly so that your instructions are not only easily understood, but also your associates are confident and apt to ask as many questions as it takes to feel comfortable. Use bulletin boards, monthly lunches with small groups of employees (in a nice break room — this is the place where your employees will spend time together daily; show them you care by making certain that the break room is clean, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing) and place a suggestion box outside the store manager’s door to encourage open communication. Performance reviews are also a must. Theoretically, informal performance reviews should be done daily. Formal evaluations, however, should occur at least annually. List weaknesses, strengths and, more importantly, teach them how to get from where they are to where you want them to be. Pointing out weaknesses does not teach them as effectively as demonstrating how they can change the current behavior to meet or exceed expectations. Recognition of responsible, timely and effective performance is also vital to your company’s success and to promoting a team atmosphere. In your weekly advertisement in the newspaper and on each in-store flyer, include the name of the employee of the week with a flattering headshot and the name of the associate’s home department within the store. Also, make the recognition very public both inside the walls of your store and in the community. Make sure that your pride is noted by other associates and inform the community that you care deeply about associates who treat customers superbly.

In the end, our tips can only be executed by a staff of associates who are on your side. You want employees who have your best interests in mind at all times. If you put our sampling, shopping list, cross-merchandising and other retail merchandising suggestions to the test, please make sure to do so with employees who care about your store’s long-term welfare. You have to give to get, and an intensive focus on employee relationships is but one way to make sure that your top line merits a party this holiday season.

Our shopper traffic research will unveil some quick and manageable tactics which could have a profound impact on your top line as well as customer satisfaction and loyalty. For more information on how we can cater our research to meet your specific needs, please e-mail me at Kenny.Herbst@mba.wfu.edu. Alternatively, feel free to visit my Wake Forest University profile page at www.mba.wfu.edu/herbst (on this site, click “website” under my photo to visit my personal Webspace). I can also be reached via phone at 336-758-4215.

Dr. Kenneth C. Herbst is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. He earned a Masters and Ph.D. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition, Dr. Herbst earned a B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Dr. Herbst has been interviewed about his food research and industry expertise by, among others, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Ottawa Citizen, the Montreal Gazette, the San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, and Woman’s Day. In July, he gave a keynote presentation on his in-store food shopper research at Shopper Insights in Action.

Harold Lloyd was the President and CEO of a 14-unit retail organization for 10 years. His practical, exciting ideas and dynamic presentation style have combined to earn him a highly regarded reputation reflected in his top ratings at numerous appearances at such prestigious events as the annual FMI and IDDBA conventions.

For almost two decades, Harold has worked very closely with small and large businesses to provide a “powerful push in the right direction!” His mission is to provide qualified, executive-level assistance to companies on a “temporary basis,” eliminating the need to add permanent top management overhead. To further assist his clients, Harold authored the book It’s About Time, focusing on time management.