5 Tricks for Having a Great Day in Retail

There is no doubt that retail is a challenging business.  From irate customers to late suppliers to tardy co-workers and competitive pressures we need to overcome plenty of obstacles we deal with plenty of challenges.  But there are actions we can take to help us to mentally and emotionally overcome these obstacles.  In fact, it often takes more effort to be miserable than it does to have a positive outlook, so why not read on and think about how you might be able to improve your outlook!

 

5 Tips For Maintaining a Positive Outlook

 

1. Start Each Day Focusing On Your Goals – Invest 5 or 10 minutes every day thinking about why you are working and what your work will help you to achieve.  Do you want a new car… Maybe you want to invest in your children’s education… Or to buy a new home.  Whatever your underlying goal is, thinking about it can help you to stay focused on how every act as a retailer gets you closer to achieving it.

2. Use Your Commute Wisely – Your commute time is the perfect time to get yourself pumped up for the day.  A great way to do this is to listen to upbeat music that inspires you and gets your blood pumping.  If that doesn’t work for you, you can listen to audio books which will help you to build your skills and knowledge.

3. Smile and Act in a Positive Way – Even if you are encountering difficulties, you should never let others see you sweat.  Instead, put on a smile and move forward.  Research has shown that even a forced smile will help you to reduce you level of stress and put you in a better mood… And that will translate into better results in your customer and team member interactions.

4. Stay Focused On What Is Important – These days it seems like everyone has too much to do and with smartphones, tablets, social networking, email and texting it seems like we can be interrupted at any time.  The solution is to stay focused and remember the 80/20 rule.  You will get 80% of your results form 20% of your effort.  So before you let the 80% of your activity that is unproductive get in the way get focused on what is important – supporting customers and employees.  You will get more done, you will get better results and you will feel better about it.

5. Turn Off At the End of The Day – Once you have completed your workday you should fill in the remainder of your day activities that help you to relax and recharge.  Play with your kids… Work on your favourite hobby… Or read a good book.  The result will be that you not only shift your mind out of “work mode” but that you will sleep better, eat better and recharge your batteries so you are ready for the next day in retail.