Merchant Method Merchant Method

Consumer holiday spending spans occasions from early November through well after the New Year. You can make selling easier and more profitable by responding to the full breadth of consumer spending during the entire holiday season.
Show Notes:
The full, detailed chronological timeline of the holiday season A consumer’s varying spending considerations along the holiday timeline Examples of effective inspirational and aspirational fourth quarter marketing and merchandising Effective real-time messaging that aligns seller retailing with shopper reality Three steps to market and merchandise across the full breadth of consumer spending For related resources visit merchantmethod.com

Interviewing is a two-way street. Candidates are selling themselves and you, as the hiring manager, are selling the role, your leadership capacity, the company culture, and the value of the brand. Interviewers are being interviewed by candidates. They study your words and your actions. How you make them feel is an important part of the recruiting and hiring process.
 
In this week’s episode I share how to sell the job while you’re interviewing potential employees! Have a listen as I speak to the seller inside you.
 
Summary of Field Notes:
Offering employee perks as a small business owner The parallels between what candidates want from their interview experience and what customers want from their shopping experience Simple oversights and misconceptions about interviews being a one-sided process Selling the job to another retail seller Creating a narrative about what it’s like to work for you and your company Selling the job during your next round of interviews  
For more information on this and related retail insights visit MerchantMethod.com.

My forte is working on experimental retail projects. I love using my skills in innovative ways, stretching and growing along the way. Most of these projects have gone well, but not all of them. Looking back, in the projects that fizzled, I was trying to do too many things that were out of my wheelhouse. By focusing a bit more on my strengths and getting a little complementary help, those ventures could have accelerated faster.
 
In this week’s episode I share how to make your most important hire as the leader of an entrepreneurial venture—yourself! Have a listen as I speak the recruiter and hiring manager inside you.
 
Summary of Field Notes:
Organizing personal employment paperwork Rejoining the workforce after a year and a half as a stay at home mom Self-assessing if you’re a good fit for the role you have Frequency of performance self-assessments  
For more information on this and related retail insights visit MerchantMethod.com.

When I graduated high school I was voted Most Likely to Become a Teacher. Back then it seemed like a bad prediction. I was bound for business school and focused on becoming an entrepreneur and a retailer. It took me years to realize that the most beloved retailers (of all sizes) are just that—teachers.
 
In this week’s episode I share how my skills as a teacher and as a retailer are interdependent. Have a listen as I speak to the teacher inside you.
 
Summary of Field Notes:
Early leadership roles that shaped my critical thinking, public speaking, and advocacy skills Teaching microentrepreneurship as a college student and returning to classroom teaching 20 years later Retailers, Makers, and Merchants impart knowledge and shape behavior, even when they don’t realize it Valuable teacher tips for your own team, to help you with hiring, training, and retaining top retail talent  
For more information on this and related retail insights visit MerchantMethod.com.

Securing my first professional role in corporate retail was no easy task. After one, two, three failed attempts I came to learn that there are multiple ways to get what you want. In this week’s episode I share my first job-seeking process and what I learned about going after what you want.
 
Summary of Field Notes:
Being dedicated to creating your dream business and dream job Remaining focused on achieving what others said you couldn’t do Finding multiple ways to reach your goal Committing to the long game, rather than dwelling on the immediate grind.  
For more information on this and related retail trends visit MerchantMethod.com.

This week I’m excited to launch Retail Shift: Field Notes of Retail Success.
 
This new weekly podcast series complements our retail trend reports with qualitative notes about success in the retail industry. In each installment, I’ll share professional lessons I’ve learned, milestone career moments, meaningful customer connections, and more. I’ll also be answering listener questions, so please reach out and join the conversation!
 
Summary of Field Notes:
Retail Shift is the companion field guide to our retail trend reports Field notes are qualitative notes recorded in the course of practical experience Some early influences that shaped my understanding of entrepreneurship My early retail experience, from microentreprise to global fashion What you can expect from this series and how to submit questions The events that inspired me to share more about my professional experiences  
For more information on this and related retail trends visit MerchantMethod.com.