WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.960 All right, I want you to close your eyes and 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:05.459 picture a very specific moment in time. OK, I'm 00:00:05.459 --> 00:00:09.259 with you. It's January 20th, 2026. You're a retail 00:00:09.259 --> 00:00:12.259 executive, maybe a regional director, and you're 00:00:12.259 --> 00:00:14.220 walking onto the sales floor of one of your stores. 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:17.399 What's the first thing you notice? It's not what 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:21.230 you see usually. It's what you hear or. Maybe 00:00:21.230 --> 00:00:24.230 what you don't hear. Exactly. That loop of all 00:00:24.230 --> 00:00:27.429 I want for Christmas is you that have been drilling 00:00:27.429 --> 00:00:29.769 into everyone's brain for the last eight weeks. 00:00:29.910 --> 00:00:33.369 Gone. Thank goodness. Gone. Finally, the constant 00:00:33.369 --> 00:00:36.429 ringing from the registers. Right. Silent. The, 00:00:36.429 --> 00:00:38.689 you know, chaotic energy of shoppers fighting 00:00:38.689 --> 00:00:41.750 over the last sweater vanished. It creates a 00:00:41.750 --> 00:00:45.170 very specific, almost Heavy atmosphere doesn't 00:00:45.170 --> 00:00:47.329 it does the decorations are packed away The floor 00:00:47.329 --> 00:00:49.390 looks a little too big all of a sudden and the 00:00:49.390 --> 00:00:51.590 only things that actually full are those return 00:00:51.590 --> 00:00:55.149 bins behind the counter ah Yes, the post -holiday 00:00:55.149 --> 00:00:57.990 hangover that is the perfect term for it and 00:00:57.990 --> 00:00:59.969 look for the leaders listening to this deep dive 00:00:59.969 --> 00:01:03.829 You know this moment is Well, it's dangerous. 00:01:04.269 --> 00:01:06.569 We just came off the Super Bowl of retail December 00:01:06.569 --> 00:01:10.480 was all High energy, high adrenaline, just survival 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:12.299 mode. You're running on cortisol and caffeine? 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:15.680 Totally, and now the pace just... collapses. 00:01:16.019 --> 00:01:18.719 It's a profound physiological shift. And I think 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:20.700 that is where we need to start. We often talk 00:01:20.700 --> 00:01:23.879 about the January slump as a financial thing, 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:27.280 sales are down, traffic is down. But we rarely 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:29.840 talk about the psychological impact on the associates. 00:01:29.980 --> 00:01:31.760 That's so true. I mean, your teams have been 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:35.719 operating at 110%. When that pressure valve releases, 00:01:36.019 --> 00:01:38.159 it doesn't just feel like rest, it can actually 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:40.599 feel like a crash. Right. The source material 00:01:40.599 --> 00:01:42.439 we're looking at today, a piece by multimedia 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:44.819 class called Love is in the Air, describes it 00:01:44.819 --> 00:01:48.359 as a shift from buzz to repetition. And that 00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:51.260 repetition can be absolutely deadly for morale. 00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:53.340 When you're busy, you don't have time to be bored. 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:55.760 But when it's January 20th and nobody has walked 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:58.819 in for 45 minutes, that vacuum creates so much 00:01:58.819 --> 00:02:02.019 space for disengagement. Precisely. And that's 00:02:02.019 --> 00:02:04.159 the mission for this deep dive. We aren't just 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:06.900 talking about how to survive the slow season, 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:09.419 we're talking about how to use this specific 00:02:09.419 --> 00:02:12.520 downtime to engineer a reset. Because if you 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:15.460 let the team just wallow in that slump, you are 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:18.020 going to be fighting attrition by Mars. You are. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:20.360 So let's get into the mechanics of this reset. 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:23.800 The source outlines a few strategic pillars, 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:25.939 and I want to really challenge some of these. 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:29.479 Because on paper, they can sound a bit, well, 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:31.800 corporate. Fair enough. Let's stress test them. 00:02:31.909 --> 00:02:35.009 The first strategy is about reconnecting to purpose. 00:02:35.610 --> 00:02:37.849 Now, I'm gonna play devil's advocate here. Go 00:02:37.849 --> 00:02:40.409 for it. If I'm a store manager, I'm exhausted, 00:02:40.810 --> 00:02:43.509 my feet still hurt, and my sales targets look 00:02:43.509 --> 00:02:46.500 abysmal. If corporate sends me a memo about purpose, 00:02:46.819 --> 00:02:48.780 I might just roll my eyes. It feels fluffy. It 00:02:48.780 --> 00:02:50.840 does sound soft. I'll grant you that. But here 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:52.680 is the hard reality the text points out, and 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:54.819 it's actually an economic argument. Oh, interesting. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:57.039 When the store is packed in December, purpose 00:02:57.039 --> 00:02:59.479 is automatic. The line's out the door. The goal 00:02:59.479 --> 00:03:02.460 is clear the line. You don't question your existence. 00:03:02.620 --> 00:03:05.240 You just execute. You're a transaction machine. 00:03:05.639 --> 00:03:08.860 Right. Your utility is obvious. Ring people up. 00:03:09.300 --> 00:03:13.280 But when the store is empty... That is when the 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:15.860 existential dread sets in. Does my job even matter? 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:18.240 I'm just standing here folding the same pile 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:21.060 of jeans for three hours. I've been there. So 00:03:21.060 --> 00:03:23.259 the source argues that this is the moment leadership 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:25.699 has to intervene and reframe the whole narrative. 00:03:26.340 --> 00:03:29.060 The associates value can't be tied to volume. 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:31.240 Because if they think they only matter when they're 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:33.460 ringing up sales... They're going to feel worthless 00:03:33.460 --> 00:03:36.199 in January. Exactly. So how do you reframe that 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:38.319 without it sounding like a cheesy poster in the 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:41.719 break room? Yeah. You shift the metric from speed 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:45.580 to connection. The text uses the term brand ambassador. 00:03:45.860 --> 00:03:48.159 In December, you didn't have time to be an ambassador. 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:51.479 You were barely surviving. Now, you have the 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:54.060 luxury of time. You can actually help a customer 00:03:54.060 --> 00:03:56.919 find a meaningful gift. You can walk them through 00:03:56.919 --> 00:03:58.659 the specs of a product. You can actually have 00:03:58.659 --> 00:04:01.280 a conversation. Right. So the message isn't work 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:03.389 harder. Because there's no traffic for that. 00:04:03.569 --> 00:04:06.370 The message is work deeper. I like that. Work 00:04:06.370 --> 00:04:09.949 deeper. It changes the energy, doesn't it? It 00:04:09.949 --> 00:04:12.689 goes from waiting for customers to preparing 00:04:12.689 --> 00:04:15.349 for guests. It gives the associate agency again. 00:04:15.490 --> 00:04:17.889 And it doesn't require a massive marketing campaign. 00:04:18.250 --> 00:04:20.610 The source is very clear about this. Please don't 00:04:20.610 --> 00:04:23.230 launch a January purpose initiative with banners 00:04:23.230 --> 00:04:25.850 and slogans. I would feel so tone deaf when everyone 00:04:25.850 --> 00:04:28.620 is tired. It's about the human touch. It's a 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:30.480 manager mentioning it in the morning huddle. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:33.500 It's a message from a DM acknowledging the shift 00:04:33.500 --> 00:04:37.019 in pace. It's subtle. It's behavior, not slogans. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:39.079 OK, but let's move to the second strategy, because 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:41.339 this is where I think a lot of executives struggle. 00:04:41.899 --> 00:04:45.240 The strategy is make learning a habit. Or, as 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:47.500 the text calls it, the don't pause strategy. 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:50.220 Which, again, feels counterintuitive. My instinct 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:52.819 as a leader is to say, look. The team crushed 00:04:52.819 --> 00:04:55.040 it in Q4. Let them breathe. Let's put training 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:58.060 on pause. And that is the trap. It's a very compassionate 00:04:58.060 --> 00:05:00.459 trap, but it's still a trap. The don't pause 00:05:00.459 --> 00:05:03.360 strategy argues that taking a breather in retail 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:05.759 usually just looks like leaning on a fixture 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:07.379 and scrolling through your phone. Yeah, that 00:05:07.379 --> 00:05:10.579 isn't restorative. It's just boredom. And boredom 00:05:10.579 --> 00:05:12.860 is actually more tiring than work. I mean, think 00:05:12.860 --> 00:05:15.699 about it. Doing nothing for eight hours is exhausting. 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:18.279 It really is. So the idea is we need to fill 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:21.680 that void with something productive. But surely 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:25.040 we aren't suggesting we dump hour -long compliance 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:27.120 seminars on them, right? That feels like punishment. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:30.300 No, absolutely not. That would be cruel. And 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:32.259 frankly, it would fail. They wouldn't retain 00:05:32.259 --> 00:05:35.980 any of it. The source emphasizes micro -learning. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:40.069 So... Small, focused touch points. Yeah, we are 00:05:40.069 --> 00:05:42.589 talking two minutes here, three minutes there. 00:05:43.149 --> 00:05:45.529 Snackable content. And the key is relevance, 00:05:45.529 --> 00:05:48.949 I assume. It has to be. If you assign a generic 00:05:48.949 --> 00:05:51.709 customer service 101 module, they'll just resent 00:05:51.709 --> 00:05:54.069 it. But if you push a short video about a new 00:05:54.069 --> 00:05:56.689 trend that's coming for spring, or a refresher 00:05:56.689 --> 00:05:58.709 on a product that's being promoted for Valentine's 00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:00.930 Day, that feels like a tool. It feels like you're 00:06:00.930 --> 00:06:02.910 arming them. not lecturing them. And think about 00:06:02.910 --> 00:06:04.870 the neurology of it. We want to keep those, you 00:06:04.870 --> 00:06:07.970 know, synaptic pathways firing. If you let the 00:06:07.970 --> 00:06:10.689 brain go dormant for four weeks, ramping back 00:06:10.689 --> 00:06:13.610 up in February is painful. But if you keep the 00:06:13.610 --> 00:06:15.930 learning muscle active with just light reps, 00:06:16.670 --> 00:06:19.370 they stay sharp. I like that light reps analogy. 00:06:19.370 --> 00:06:21.970 It's like active recovery. You don't sit on the 00:06:21.970 --> 00:06:24.110 couch for a month after a marathon. You go for 00:06:24.110 --> 00:06:26.730 light walks. You keep moving. Exactly. And you 00:06:26.730 --> 00:06:28.370 tie it to what's happening on the floor right 00:06:28.370 --> 00:06:31.019 now. But you mentioned something earlier. Before 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:33.860 we get to the tools, we have to address the elephant 00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:36.639 in the room. Or rather, the sore feet in the 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:39.139 room. The physical toll, the emotional toll, 00:06:39.660 --> 00:06:42.779 the difficult customers, the missed dinners. 00:06:42.980 --> 00:06:46.639 Which brings us to the third strategy. Recognize 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:50.649 effort and contribution. And honestly, I feel 00:06:50.649 --> 00:06:53.170 like this is where so many leaders miss the mark 00:06:53.170 --> 00:06:55.810 in January. They do. And they miss it because 00:06:55.810 --> 00:06:57.930 they are looking at this spreadsheet. They pull 00:06:57.930 --> 00:07:00.389 the January sales report. They see red numbers. 00:07:00.709 --> 00:07:02.850 Because of course they do. And they think, what 00:07:02.850 --> 00:07:05.449 is there to celebrate? Right. The mindset is, 00:07:05.589 --> 00:07:07.810 why should I praise you when we are running flat? 00:07:07.970 --> 00:07:10.310 But the source highlights a critical nuance here. 00:07:10.370 --> 00:07:13.050 You have to stop recognizing results for a moment 00:07:13.050 --> 00:07:15.930 and start recognizing behaviors. That thank you 00:07:15.930 --> 00:07:19.000 matters more now than it did in December. In 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:21.879 December, the sales numbers were the validation. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:25.220 The ringing register was the dopamine hit. Yes. 00:07:25.540 --> 00:07:28.379 And that dopamine is gone now. So the leader 00:07:28.379 --> 00:07:32.240 has to provide it. The text lists specific values 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:36.939 to look for. Teamwork, leadership, positivity, 00:07:37.740 --> 00:07:41.100 care. Give me a concrete example. What does that 00:07:41.100 --> 00:07:43.660 look like on a Tuesday morning with zero foot 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:46.129 traffic? It looks like noticing the associate 00:07:46.129 --> 00:07:48.370 who reorganized the stockroom without being asked. 00:07:48.529 --> 00:07:50.569 It looks like shouting out the team member who 00:07:50.569 --> 00:07:52.810 handled a really difficult return. And we know 00:07:52.810 --> 00:07:56.089 January is return season with absolute grace. 00:07:56.189 --> 00:07:58.850 Oh, the returns. That is a huge pain point. It's 00:07:58.850 --> 00:08:01.310 negative revenue. It's usually an unhappy customer. 00:08:01.670 --> 00:08:04.269 It's just demoralizing. It is. But if a manager 00:08:04.269 --> 00:08:06.930 says, hey, I saw how you handled that angry customer, 00:08:07.290 --> 00:08:09.209 you turn a negative into a positive. That is 00:08:09.209 --> 00:08:11.870 what our brand is about. that hits home. It validates 00:08:11.870 --> 00:08:14.230 their skill, not just their utility. And it proves 00:08:14.230 --> 00:08:16.329 that the culture wasn't just a poster you put 00:08:16.329 --> 00:08:18.310 up for the holidays. It proves you value them 00:08:18.310 --> 00:08:20.490 as people. Which leads right into the next strategy. 00:08:20.529 --> 00:08:22.470 And I think this one is maybe the most radical 00:08:22.470 --> 00:08:24.709 for retail. You're talking about the human connection, 00:08:25.089 --> 00:08:28.370 specifically the start of your check in. Yes, 00:08:28.730 --> 00:08:31.170 the unreview. I absolutely love that branding, 00:08:31.810 --> 00:08:33.710 because let's be honest, as soon as you say the 00:08:33.710 --> 00:08:36.960 word review, the walls go up. Oh, yeah. Defense 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:39.519 mechanisms engaged. Am I in trouble? Did I miss 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:42.659 a target? Exactly. The UnReview is designed to 00:08:42.659 --> 00:08:45.179 disarm all of that. It's not a performance review. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.019 There are no rating scales, no needs improvement 00:08:48.019 --> 00:08:50.720 check boxes. What is it? It's a conversation. 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:54.480 A short, one -on -one human connection. The agenda 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:56.440 is so simple. How are you doing? What are you 00:08:56.440 --> 00:08:58.379 looking forward to? What support do you need 00:08:58.379 --> 00:09:01.039 from me? In an industry run by metrics, that 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:04.379 question, what do you need, is incredibly powerful. 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:06.779 It builds psychological safety. And once you 00:09:06.779 --> 00:09:08.720 have that safety, you can pivot to the second 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:11.600 part, inviting associates into the year ahead. 00:09:11.940 --> 00:09:14.200 So this is goal setting, but not the usual top 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:16.440 -down way, not here is your quota, go get them. 00:09:16.580 --> 00:09:19.419 Right. This strategy is about co -creation. You 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:21.759 ask the associate, what do you want to learn 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:24.259 this year? What skills do you want to develop? 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:26.340 You're putting the ball in their court. It demands 00:09:26.340 --> 00:09:28.879 ownership. So what does that look like for, say, 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:32.019 a part -time sales associate? Well, the source 00:09:32.019 --> 00:09:34.039 has some great examples. Maybe someone says, 00:09:34.590 --> 00:09:37.169 I want to get better at visual merchandising 00:09:37.169 --> 00:09:40.590 or I want to be the go -to expert for our denim 00:09:40.590 --> 00:09:43.509 line or I want to mentor the new hires because 00:09:43.509 --> 00:09:47.289 I enjoy teaching. I see the shift. If I say I 00:09:47.289 --> 00:09:49.669 want to be the denim expert, now I have a personal 00:09:49.669 --> 00:09:52.350 project for January. I'm not just folding jeans 00:09:52.350 --> 00:09:54.570 because I have to. I'm studying the fits, the 00:09:54.570 --> 00:09:57.070 washes, the fabric because I want to. Exactly. 00:09:57.149 --> 00:09:59.870 You've turned a chore into a career development 00:09:59.870 --> 00:10:02.370 opportunity. You've given them a reason to engage 00:10:02.370 --> 00:10:04.830 that benefits them, not just the company. That's 00:10:04.830 --> 00:10:07.549 the retention piece. But I'm going to put my 00:10:07.549 --> 00:10:09.789 executive hat back on for a second. This all 00:10:09.789 --> 00:10:12.809 sounds beautiful, truly. But I have 500 stores. 00:10:13.149 --> 00:10:16.129 I have 5 ,000 associates. It sounds like a logistical 00:10:16.129 --> 00:10:17.889 nightmare. It sounds like a game of telephone 00:10:17.889 --> 00:10:20.210 where the message gets completely garbled by 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:22.549 the time it hits the store in Omaha. And that 00:10:22.549 --> 00:10:25.230 is a valid fear. If you try to do this manually 00:10:25.230 --> 00:10:28.570 with email chains and PDFs, it will fail, which 00:10:28.570 --> 00:10:30.669 is why the final piece of the puzzle is, let 00:10:30.669 --> 00:10:32.929 tools do the heavy lifting. We're back to the 00:10:32.929 --> 00:10:36.250 tech. We have to be. You simply cannot scale 00:10:36.250 --> 00:10:39.429 culture without infrastructure. The source explicitly 00:10:39.429 --> 00:10:42.350 mentions centralized platforms like INCITE as 00:10:42.350 --> 00:10:45.110 the backbone of the strategy. You need a way 00:10:45.110 --> 00:10:48.110 to push this content out consistently. So every 00:10:48.110 --> 00:10:50.889 associate, whether they are in New York or Omaha, 00:10:51.330 --> 00:10:53.289 gets the same quality of training? Correct. The 00:10:53.289 --> 00:10:55.929 same video, the same message. But it's more than 00:10:55.929 --> 00:10:59.230 just delivery. It's about visibility. As an executive, 00:10:59.529 --> 00:11:02.149 you can't manage what you can't see. A platform 00:11:02.149 --> 00:11:04.820 gives you a kind of heat map. Meaning, you can 00:11:04.820 --> 00:11:07.379 see who is actually engaging with this whole 00:11:07.379 --> 00:11:09.600 re -engagement plan. You can see that Store A 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:12.419 has 90 % completion on the new micro -learning, 00:11:12.519 --> 00:11:15.980 but Store B is at 10%. Now you know where to 00:11:15.980 --> 00:11:17.679 focus your energy. You aren't just guessing. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:20.059 You know exactly which manager needs a call. 00:11:20.179 --> 00:11:22.220 And I'm guessing it facilitates the recognition 00:11:22.220 --> 00:11:24.740 piece too. It does. You can broadcast those shout 00:11:24.740 --> 00:11:26.559 -outs we talked about. You can share success 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:28.919 stories across the fleet. It makes the culture 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:31.419 visible and tangible. There's a phrase in the 00:11:31.419 --> 00:11:33.740 source that really stuck out to me. streamlined 00:11:33.740 --> 00:11:35.820 and scalable without losing the human touch. 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:38.419 That's the balance, right? And I think this is 00:11:38.419 --> 00:11:40.360 where some leaders get confused. They think tech 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:42.759 replaces the human connection. It's the opposite. 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:45.100 The tool handles the distribution, the heavy 00:11:45.100 --> 00:11:48.179 lifting. So the manager has the time to actually 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:50.700 look and associate in the eye and have that conversation. 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:54.190 That's a critical distinction. We aren't automating 00:11:54.190 --> 00:11:56.809 leadership. We're automating the admin so leadership 00:11:56.809 --> 00:11:59.610 can happen. Perfectly said. If a manager spends 00:11:59.610 --> 00:12:02.009 two hours a week tracking who watched what on 00:12:02.009 --> 00:12:03.769 a clipboard, that's two hours they aren't spending 00:12:03.769 --> 00:12:06.850 on the floor. Okay, so let's bring this all together. 00:12:06.990 --> 00:12:09.129 We started with the, you know, silence of January 00:12:09.129 --> 00:12:12.690 20th. The slump. The feeling that the party is 00:12:12.690 --> 00:12:14.830 over. And we've walked through a roadmap to get 00:12:14.830 --> 00:12:18.820 out of it. First, purpose. Remind them they're 00:12:18.820 --> 00:12:21.679 ambassadors, not just cashiers. The quiet is 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:24.440 an opportunity for depth. Then learning. Keep 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:26.940 the brain active with relevant micro learning. 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:29.899 Don't let them rust. Third, recognition. You 00:12:29.899 --> 00:12:31.840 have to validate the behaviors and the effort 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:34.120 because the sales numbers won't be there to do 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:37.700 it for you. Fourth, connection. The unreview. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:40.120 Co -create goals so they have some skin in the 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:43.820 game. And finally, scalability. Use the right 00:12:43.820 --> 00:12:45.720 platforms to make sure this happens everywhere, 00:12:45.960 --> 00:12:48.120 not just in your A Plus stores. It's really a 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:51.559 choice then between viewing January as a dead 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:55.460 zone or a development zone. The source puts it 00:12:55.460 --> 00:12:58.500 bluntly. The momentum you build now shapes how 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:00.740 your team performs in the weeks and months ahead. 00:13:01.379 --> 00:13:04.360 If you check out, your team checks out. And getting 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:06.460 them back in March is going to be twice as hard. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:09.519 That's the reality check. But before we sign 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:11.500 off, I want to leave our listeners with one final 00:13:11.500 --> 00:13:13.659 thought. I was looking through the source material, 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:16.639 and one title just jumped out at me. It was two 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:20.360 words, clicking versus selling. Oh, that's powerful. 00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:23.080 That's a heavy distinction. It hit me hard. And 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:25.580 I think it sums up this entire deep dive. As 00:13:25.580 --> 00:13:27.379 you look at your staff this January, you have 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:29.740 to ask yourself, Are you managing them to be 00:13:29.740 --> 00:13:32.620 clerks? You know, people who just tidy up, process 00:13:32.620 --> 00:13:34.980 returns, fill the bins, and wait for work to 00:13:34.980 --> 00:13:36.700 find them. Or are you inspiring them to be sellers? 00:13:36.740 --> 00:13:38.860 And let's be clear, a seller isn't just someone 00:13:38.860 --> 00:13:41.539 who pushes product. A seller creates the work. 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:44.059 A seller builds the basket because they understand 00:13:44.059 --> 00:13:46.360 the customer. A seller builds a relationship. 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:51.480 Exactly. A clerk waits. A seller initiates. And 00:13:51.480 --> 00:13:53.460 the difference between a team of clerks and a 00:13:53.460 --> 00:13:56.059 team of sellers isn't just who you hire. It's 00:13:56.059 --> 00:13:58.299 how you treat them when the store is quiet. If 00:13:58.299 --> 00:14:00.659 you treat them like cogs in the slow times, they 00:14:00.659 --> 00:14:03.399 will act like clerks. If you invest in them and 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:05.379 treat them like partners, they will become sellers. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:07.960 That is the challenge for January. Don't let 00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:10.240 the silence of the store silence your leadership. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:13.080 Thanks for listening to this deep dive. Go check 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:14.860 in on your teams and we'll see you next time.