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People are tired of the words "crisis" and "anti-crisis", too much information flow is associated with these hashtags. But the point is not in the name or phrase, but in the fact that every manager or business owner is looking for an answer to the question of what to do in this new reality.

Should we rely on the government? The government is rather concerned about its image and is engaged in repairing the state budget by raising taxes for the service sector. In Moscow, the program of additional retail sales tax has been implemented, there are only a few months left before its implementation in St. Petersburg. Which city is next? Maybe yours? There are a lot of items in the country's budget for expenses, but support for small businesses is not included in it. Let's hope that this is just a temporary phenomenon. But you still need to count on yourself and your partners.

In the current situation, in this new reality, it is necessary to pay great attention to the little things, more than ever before. Only those who know how to work will remain afloat. The competition is great. Today, the buyer values his time, the main struggle is unfolding for the consumer. Over the past year, Russians have become more rational in their acquisitions, are less likely to succumb to emotions and spend their own funds rather than borrowed ones.

It would seem that simple, fundamental things – customer orientation, category management and increased loyalty to staff – come to the fore.

It is necessary to identify control points, delve into business processes, procedures and understand what you have not reached before, what you could close your eyes to, ignore, in view of small losses or a low level of profitability. These little things will make up a program to support your business in difficult times, and perhaps they will become an outlet for a new round of development.

What should I pay attention to? First of all, this is working with the staff. How much does it cost today to search, train and adapt one employee of your company? How much does a man-hour cost and what is the efficiency of each position? How many employees are required for servicing in each separate period of customer activity? I would pay special attention to the ratio of standardization of procedures for employees and the level of comfort for staff, as tools to increase employee loyalty. Mentoring and staff motivation come to the fore in the struggle for the location of employees. Why employees and not customers? Because satisfied employees make your customers happy, this projection rarely works in the opposite direction.

Is the staff not smiling? A problem that is quite common in the service sector. But let's face it: why should employees smile? What have you done for this? Most often, the staff is unsmiling because of the large amount of routine in their work. Repeating the same work day after day, the team ceases to see the positive in their work. But the way out is simple. It is necessary to make life at work more different. Let's remember the good old pioneer camp. It's not that the children go there with joy, but they just don't want to return from the camp. What's the trick? It would seem that with a clear execution of the regime (early rising, charging, cleaning, duty in the dining room, quiet hour, etc.), the teaching staff constantly strives to come up with entertainment for the guys. These are games, and fun starts, and KVN, and disco, and competitions. Children do not have time to get bogged down in routine, every new day brings surprises. Believe me, adult employees also need this. But, fortunately, they need to be entertained much less often, and, most importantly, they are happy to entertain themselves, it is only necessary to set the direction. For example, I often make holidays of countries for my guys, say, days of Spain: sellers can come up with costumes for this weekend, we decorate the trading floor with the symbols of the country, select a musical series, thank customers in Spanish, invite them to our holiday, treat them to Spanish dishes and wine, make pleasant suggestions for goods. And how many more interesting countries there are on the map! Or sometimes we play hide-and-seek with the sellers. I hide a chocolate bar in the pocket of a certain thing, the guys, cleaning the trading floor in the morning, also check the pockets, one of them has a surprise. Ask employees riddles, invite them to share their culinary delights, encourage creative finds in the design. Create a relaxed atmosphere in the trading floor (not to be confused with a loose one!). Believe me, your sellers and cashiers will smile more willingly when they get the opportunity not to be bored in the workplace.

Author: Alexey Plyasheshnikov

Photo: shutterstock.com