I started work at a new wine and cheese shop yesterday. The good news
is that the store is, as promised, really devoted to delivering an
excellent product to the customers, helping them find the right wine to
go with the right food, using the best cheeses in dips and other items.


The bad news is that the owner is disorganized with the employees and
some of the mechanics about running the store. I wanted to start
learning the stock in an organized way and asked a few questions about
what I thought the customers would be looking for and how I might best
help them. The owner started blasting me with too much information at
once, none of it in any semblance of order. Even when I was taking
notes and purposely slowing him down so I could get a complete answer to
one question before moving on to the next, he was just hitting me with
information as it occurred to him.


He has way too many employees in there at once so we spent time standing
around though we were begging for jobs to do. After we closed, and when
the owner had time to instruct us, I got to price and put some bottles
on the shelf. If he'd been more organized about his time and ours, he
could have had us busy during a lot of the standing around time.


And he's not organized about the way the shop looks. He's got clutter
in the form of plastic plants, empty boxes that look garbagey in an
otherwise beautiful, fresh, clean, store. It was funny seeing the 2
part time employees getting more upset about wanting the place neat and
orderly than the boss.


I'm worried that he's paying so much attention to playing with
developing products that he's ignoring costs. Here's an example. He
got a recipe card for brie sliced in half with almonds and honey inside.
It sounded great, was sure to taste fabulous and be a winner with the
customers. The only honey in the store is the stuff in fancy little
bottles for $10 for a few ounces. The only almonds are similarly
roasted and in a cute little package for a lot of money. Still, he
wanted to try the recipe, and we have the Brie so he told me and the
other part timer to make it. We did so. When asked how much to charge
for the Brie stuffed with almonds and honey, he only raised the price a
dollar/ pound over the cost of a regular Brie. I haven't priced it out
exactly, but I don't think that's enough to cover the cost of the
ingredients!


I want the store to do well. I really like the place. It isn't just
that I want to keep my job; I want it to stay in business so I can shop
there too. I'm unsure if I should point out things like the price of
the Brie, and if I should point it out, how do I word it? It is
possible, nay likely, that he knows more about the costs than I do so
maybe he knows what he's doing, and I should just shut up.


Thanks for letting me think out loud here.


Here's the next question. He's asked me to think of things to make with
cheese that can made in the store. Other than dips, I can't think of a
thing. We have no way to heat anything, not even a microwave. We will
have a small cuisinart or a blender. Any ideas?


I made up a small batch of a curry dip that everyone liked (sour cream,
mayonnaise and Penzey's vindaloo spice mix). They said it was hot so I
might make it the next time with a milder spice mix. That was just a
sample. He'll have to order from Penzey's himself before I make more.
Today I'm walking in with the recipe for Feta-walnut dip from the
Moosewood Cookbook.


--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message

<snipped for brevity>

> I want the store to do well. I really like the place. It isn't just
> that I want to keep my job; I want it to stay in business so I can shop
> there too. I'm unsure if I should point out things like the price of
> the Brie, and if I should point it out, how do I word it? It is
> possible, nay likely, that he knows more about the costs than I do so
> maybe he knows what he's doing, and I should just shut up.
>
>
> Thanks for letting me think out loud here.

If you have just started to work there, Lia, it might be a bit premature to
offer suggestions. Study what's happening there and make a list. In a
short time, the owner will trust your judgment and you have plenty) and
listen to you.

> Here's the next question. He's asked me to think of things to make with
> cheese that can made in the store. Other than dips, I can't think of a
> thing. We have no way to heat anything, not even a microwave. We will
> have a small cuisinart or a blender. Any ideas?

Lia

Can you request a small microwave? They're not very expensive these days.

Sounds like a fun to place to work. You can be another expert in rfc on
which wine goes with what!

Good luck.

Dora

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message

<snipped for brevity>

> I want the store to do well. I really like the place. It isn't just
> that I want to keep my job; I want it to stay in business so I can shop
> there too. I'm unsure if I should point out things like the price of
> the Brie, and if I should point it out, how do I word it? It is
> possible, nay likely, that he knows more about the costs than I do so
> maybe he knows what he's doing, and I should just shut up.
>
>
> Thanks for letting me think out loud here.

If you have just started to work there, Lia, it might be a bit premature to
offer suggestions. Study what's happening there and make a list. In a
short time, the owner will trust your judgment and you have plenty) and
listen to you.

> Here's the next question. He's asked me to think of things to make with
> cheese that can made in the store. Other than dips, I can't think of a
> thing. We have no way to heat anything, not even a microwave. We will
> have a small cuisinart or a blender. Any ideas?

Lia

Can you request a small microwave? They're not very expensive these days.

Sounds like a fun to place to work. You can be another expert in rfc on
which wine goes with what!

Good luck.

Dora

In message <9SA4d.141390$3l3.36503@attbi_s03>, Julia Altshuler
> writes
>I started work at a new wine and cheese shop yesterday. The good news
>is that the store is, as promised, really devoted to delivering an
>excellent product to the customers, helping them find the right wine to
>go with the right food, using the best cheeses in dips and other items.
>
>
>The bad news is that the owner is disorganized with the employees and
>some of the mechanics about running the store. I wanted to start
>learning the stock in an organized way and asked a few questions about
>what I thought the customers would be looking for and how I might best
>help them. The owner started blasting me with too much information at
>once, none of it in any semblance of order. Even when I was taking
>notes and purposely slowing him down so I could get a complete answer to
>one question before moving on to the next, he was just hitting me with
>information as it occurred to him.
>
>
>He has way too many employees in there at once so we spent time standing
>around though we were begging for jobs to do. After we closed, and when
>the owner had time to instruct us, I got to price and put some bottles
>on the shelf. If he'd been more organized about his time and ours, he
>could have had us busy during a lot of the standing around time.
>
>
>And he's not organized about the way the shop looks. He's got clutter
>in the form of plastic plants, empty boxes that look garbagey in an
>otherwise beautiful, fresh, clean, store. It was funny seeing the 2 part
>time employees getting more upset about wanting the place neat and
>orderly than the boss.
>
>
>I'm worried that he's paying so much attention to playing with developing
>products that he's ignoring costs. Here's an example. He got a recipe
>card for brie sliced in half with almonds and honey inside. It sounded
>great, was sure to taste fabulous and be a winner with the customers.
>The only honey in the store is the stuff in fancy little bottles for $10 for a
>few ounces. The only almonds are similarly roasted and in a cute little
>package for a lot of money. Still, he wanted to try the recipe, and we
>have the Brie so he told me and the other part timer to make it. We did
>so. When asked how much to charge for the Brie stuffed with almonds
>and honey, he only raised the price a dollar/ pound over the cost of a
>regular Brie. I haven't priced it out exactly, but I don't think that's enough
>to cover the cost of the ingredients!
>
>
>I want the store to do well. I really like the place. It isn't just that I want
>to keep my job; I want it to stay in business so I can shop there too. I'm
>unsure if I should point out things like the price of the Brie, and if I should
>point it out, how do I word it? It is possible, nay likely, that he knows
>more about the costs than I do so maybe he knows what he's doing, and
>I should just shut up.
>
>
>Thanks for letting me think out loud here.
>
The place sounds nice and it is good that someone is trying to offer
quality products to customers, but, and I hate to say it, the place
sounds as if it is being run as a hobby and not a business and that
means it won't be in business for long.

Is the owner micro-managing people? How much experience in managing a
shop has he had? Did he start the business entirely with his own
capital?

If the owner isn't the micro-managing type, there are things you and the
other employees can do. You can clean up the clutter when he's busy,
for instance. Don't beg for tasks, set them yourselves and see how the
owner reacts; he might be grateful that you have taken the initiative,
especially if he is busy.

You sound really committed to making this business work and if the other
employees are as committed as you, perhaps you can meet after work and
compare notes about learning the stock and customer preferences, say.
Just meet at your local and chat about how to improve things. If all of
you work together, you might be able to bring round the owner.

Another thing you can do is try to source some cheaper ingredients for
things like the brie with almonds and honey. When you present the owner
with the substitute ingredients, tell him that it will be easier to make
the recipe if you can use ingredients in bulk instead of the honey in
the little jars and the almonds in the little packages. Try to
concentrate talking about the practical mechanics of making the recipes
instead of the cost, but have an eye to the cost in your mind. Staying
quiet and assuming that the owner knows what he is doing wouldn't be a
good thing, but if you handle the situation tactfully, you might be able
to learn the reasoning behind his actions and, if he is turning a blind
eye to the costs, you might also be able to turn it around.

If you can, volunteer to help the owner with the books so you can help
to keep him organised and can keep an eye on the state of the business.

If you and the other employees get together, then you just might save
the owner from his own disorganisation and keep the shop running, for a
time, anyway. If the owner keeps ignoring the basics of business,
however, at some point, the shop will fail, so you should keep a look
out for the signs - if you have access to the books, it should be easy
if he doesn't forget to give you all the information, otherwise look for
things like the owner not re-ordering stock, the owner going off to
meetings with his bank or other creditors, the owner looking depressed,
etc.

If the shop has lots of regular customers and the owner remains
disorganised and appears to be about to lose the business, then you and
the others *might* consider an employee buy-out. But think hard about
it and remember, you can lose everything.

--
Céline

'The Director of Operational Requirements wrote "... it is clear that no
modification will make this bomb entirely satisfactory." Unfortunately,
by then some 660,000 bombs had been manufactured.'
- Bombs gone: the development and use of British air-dropped weapons
from 1912 to the present day by Wing Commander John A MacBean and Major
Arthur S Hogben

In message <9SA4d.141390$3l3.36503@attbi_s03>, Julia Altshuler
> writes
>I started work at a new wine and cheese shop yesterday. The good news
>is that the store is, as promised, really devoted to delivering an
>excellent product to the customers, helping them find the right wine to
>go with the right food, using the best cheeses in dips and other items.
>
>
>The bad news is that the owner is disorganized with the employees and
>some of the mechanics about running the store. I wanted to start
>learning the stock in an organized way and asked a few questions about
>what I thought the customers would be looking for and how I might best
>help them. The owner started blasting me with too much information at
>once, none of it in any semblance of order. Even when I was taking
>notes and purposely slowing him down so I could get a complete answer to
>one question before moving on to the next, he was just hitting me with
>information as it occurred to him.
>
>
>He has way too many employees in there at once so we spent time standing
>around though we were begging for jobs to do. After we closed, and when
>the owner had time to instruct us, I got to price and put some bottles
>on the shelf. If he'd been more organized about his time and ours, he
>could have had us busy during a lot of the standing around time.
>
>
>And he's not organized about the way the shop looks. He's got clutter
>in the form of plastic plants, empty boxes that look garbagey in an
>otherwise beautiful, fresh, clean, store. It was funny seeing the 2 part
>time employees getting more upset about wanting the place neat and
>orderly than the boss.
>
>
>I'm worried that he's paying so much attention to playing with developing
>products that he's ignoring costs. Here's an example. He got a recipe
>card for brie sliced in half with almonds and honey inside. It sounded
>great, was sure to taste fabulous and be a winner with the customers.
>The only honey in the store is the stuff in fancy little bottles for $10 for a
>few ounces. The only almonds are similarly roasted and in a cute little
>package for a lot of money. Still, he wanted to try the recipe, and we
>have the Brie so he told me and the other part timer to make it. We did
>so. When asked how much to charge for the Brie stuffed with almonds
>and honey, he only raised the price a dollar/ pound over the cost of a
>regular Brie. I haven't priced it out exactly, but I don't think that's enough
>to cover the cost of the ingredients!
>
>
>I want the store to do well. I really like the place. It isn't just that I want
>to keep my job; I want it to stay in business so I can shop there too. I'm
>unsure if I should point out things like the price of the Brie, and if I should
>point it out, how do I word it? It is possible, nay likely, that he knows
>more about the costs than I do so maybe he knows what he's doing, and
>I should just shut up.
>
>
>Thanks for letting me think out loud here.
>
The place sounds nice and it is good that someone is trying to offer
quality products to customers, but, and I hate to say it, the place
sounds as if it is being run as a hobby and not a business and that
means it won't be in business for long.

Is the owner micro-managing people? How much experience in managing a
shop has he had? Did he start the business entirely with his own
capital?

If the owner isn't the micro-managing type, there are things you and the
other employees can do. You can clean up the clutter when he's busy,
for instance. Don't beg for tasks, set them yourselves and see how the
owner reacts; he might be grateful that you have taken the initiative,
especially if he is busy.

You sound really committed to making this business work and if the other
employees are as committed as you, perhaps you can meet after work and
compare notes about learning the stock and customer preferences, say.
Just meet at your local and chat about how to improve things. If all of
you work together, you might be able to bring round the owner.

Another thing you can do is try to source some cheaper ingredients for
things like the brie with almonds and honey. When you present the owner
with the substitute ingredients, tell him that it will be easier to make
the recipe if you can use ingredients in bulk instead of the honey in
the little jars and the almonds in the little packages. Try to
concentrate talking about the practical mechanics of making the recipes
instead of the cost, but have an eye to the cost in your mind. Staying
quiet and assuming that the owner knows what he is doing wouldn't be a
good thing, but if you handle the situation tactfully, you might be able
to learn the reasoning behind his actions and, if he is turning a blind
eye to the costs, you might also be able to turn it around.

If you can, volunteer to help the owner with the books so you can help
to keep him organised and can keep an eye on the state of the business.

If you and the other employees get together, then you just might save
the owner from his own disorganisation and keep the shop running, for a
time, anyway. If the owner keeps ignoring the basics of business,
however, at some point, the shop will fail, so you should keep a look
out for the signs - if you have access to the books, it should be easy
if he doesn't forget to give you all the information, otherwise look for
things like the owner not re-ordering stock, the owner going off to
meetings with his bank or other creditors, the owner looking depressed,
etc.

If the shop has lots of regular customers and the owner remains
disorganised and appears to be about to lose the business, then you and
the others *might* consider an employee buy-out. But think hard about
it and remember, you can lose everything.

--
Céline

'The Director of Operational Requirements wrote "... it is clear that no
modification will make this bomb entirely satisfactory." Unfortunately,
by then some 660,000 bombs had been manufactured.'
- Bombs gone: the development and use of British air-dropped weapons
from 1912 to the present day by Wing Commander John A MacBean and Major
Arthur S Hogben

Dog3 wrote:

> Sounds like a great place to work. I'd weigh 1000 pounds. Now, about that
> Feta-walnut dip. Recipe? Sounds terrific and fallish. Thanks.


Straight from the Moosewood Cookbook (the first one, the Mollie Katzen one):

1 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped walnuts
dash of cayenne (I'm leaving it out.)
1 teaspoon paprika


Blend all together or put in food processor. The original recipe is
called a pate. For a dip, be prepared to adjust the consistency with
more milk.


(I'll get to responding to everyone else's good advice on how to handle
the store dynamics later.)


--Lia

Dog3 wrote:

> Sounds like a great place to work. I'd weigh 1000 pounds. Now, about that
> Feta-walnut dip. Recipe? Sounds terrific and fallish. Thanks.


Straight from the Moosewood Cookbook (the first one, the Mollie Katzen one):

1 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped walnuts
dash of cayenne (I'm leaving it out.)
1 teaspoon paprika


Blend all together or put in food processor. The original recipe is
called a pate. For a dip, be prepared to adjust the consistency with
more milk.


(I'll get to responding to everyone else's good advice on how to handle
the store dynamics later.)


--Lia

Julia Altshuler wrote:

> I'm worried that he's paying so much attention to playing with
> developing products that he's ignoring costs. Here's an example. He
> got a recipe card for brie sliced in half with almonds and honey inside.
> It sounded great, was sure to taste fabulous and be a winner with the
> customers. The only honey in the store is the stuff in fancy little
> bottles for $10 for a few ounces. The only almonds are similarly
> roasted and in a cute little package for a lot of money. Still, he
> wanted to try the recipe, and we have the Brie so he told me and the
> other part timer to make it. We did so. When asked how much to charge
> for the Brie stuffed with almonds and honey, he only raised the price a
> dollar/ pound over the cost of a regular Brie. I haven't priced it out
> exactly, but I don't think that's enough to cover the cost of the
> ingredients!

Make up a small batch at home with ingredients from your pantry. If YOU
can't tell a difference then maybe he won't either. Then present him
with your findings, including cost per Brie of each type.

~john

Julia Altshuler wrote:

> I'm worried that he's paying so much attention to playing with
> developing products that he's ignoring costs. Here's an example. He
> got a recipe card for brie sliced in half with almonds and honey inside.
> It sounded great, was sure to taste fabulous and be a winner with the
> customers. The only honey in the store is the stuff in fancy little
> bottles for $10 for a few ounces. The only almonds are similarly
> roasted and in a cute little package for a lot of money. Still, he
> wanted to try the recipe, and we have the Brie so he told me and the
> other part timer to make it. We did so. When asked how much to charge
> for the Brie stuffed with almonds and honey, he only raised the price a
> dollar/ pound over the cost of a regular Brie. I haven't priced it out
> exactly, but I don't think that's enough to cover the cost of the
> ingredients!

Make up a small batch at home with ingredients from your pantry. If YOU
can't tell a difference then maybe he won't either. Then present him
with your findings, including cost per Brie of each type.

~john

Today was my 2nd day. It went better because I had a better idea of
what I could do to busy myself and because I was the only employee in
there for several hours instead of having 2 employees wondering what to
do and if it would look like they were shirking if they chatted up
customers.


It turns out that the owner has experience as the editor of a small
newspaper, has worked in a shop in preparation for opening this one, but
has never managed a shop before.


He's not micro-managing people, the opposite, in fact. He's not
complaining about anything we do. That's what worries me. He's so easy
going that I wonder if he's thinking something I'm not aware of. I
don't know about the capital. No one has mentioned investers, but that
doesn't mean there aren't any.


Today I attacked clutter where I found it. I couldn't very well go
around throwing away plastic potted plants without permission, but I did
get rid of empty boxes, and I acted like a box of priced bottles that
weren't on the shelf was a fire-able offense. No one told me that; I
decided on my own that they didn't look right and had to go.


I do intend to ask about doing the books in time. That's because I'm
good at repetitive tasks like that and don't mind them for the most
part. I wouldn't want to spend the whole day in a cubicle just doing
bookkeeping, but an hour at the end of each day would suit me.


I did follow the advice to learn about the cheeses and wines on my own.
I'm good at organizing lesson plans, and there are books there so I
give myself the assignment to cut into a cheese to make samples for the
customers, look it up in the books, then teach myself by repeating what
I've learned to the customers. Today's example was raclette. Good
melted as in fondue but traditionally served with potatoes rather bread
as the starch.


I've decided that the owner isn't terminally disorganized, just
overwhelmed with so much to do that he can't get to the employees. He's
done a fabulous job with construction, ordering, pricing and stocking.
If he's fallen a little behind with scheduling and employee education,
that's not the end of the world. He may be thinking that he'll get a
sense for when the busy periods are and schedule around them, but for
the first few weeks, he'd rather have too many people than too few.


Maybe I should have waited, but I couldn't resist saying something I
noticed yesterday. The worst of the clutter is right up near the cash
register. There is a useful cup of pens and pencils, a stack of
business cards, cardboard cards with information about vintages on them,
etc. There was a beautiful display box of fine cigars there, and
yesterday the cigar salesman came in to replace it with an even bigger
box. I thought he was pushy about it, but the owner complimented the
box, said he liked it. Then with the clip board for the mailing list,
there's scarcely any space for customers to place their purchases next
to the register to be rung up.


In fact, all over the store, there's no place for a customer to put
anything down. I thought the end result was customers with a strong
subconscious incentive to buy no more than one bottle of wine. They
come in to browse, pick up a bottle have their package from another
store in the other hand (or a cracker with dip, or a cheese sample we've
given them), and then they look around and don't buy a 2nd bottle. They
have no more hands to hold it in. If there were space at the register
or a flat surface they could use, they'd think of choosing a few
bottles, maybe pick up some extras then put some back, but they wouldn't
limit themselves to only one. As it is, there's even a comfortable
chair with a large hassock in front of it. If that were a coffee table
instead, people could place wine bottles on it without them rolling off.


So today I pointed out my observation about the customers only buying
one bottle because that was all it was comfortable for them to hold. I
didn't complain about the pushy cigar salesman. I just said that we
needed the space where the display box is. I did say that that space
near the register is the prime selling spot in the store and might be
best spent on chocolate, not cigars which are an item that 98% of the
customers would never buy no matter how well they were displayed and how
much they cost thus wasting prime real estate. No wonder the salesman
was interested in bringing in a bigger and fancier box. Great for him.
(And in all fairness, these are probably great cigars, but I can't
very well spend a lot of time suggestive selling them when most of our
customers don't smoke anything, much less cigars.)


The owner said that he would be making some changes but didn't applaud
me for my astute observation and marketing techniques. Later I brought
it up with his wife. She said they were waiting for the delivery of
some new racks which would allow them to move things around. She said
the cigars wouldn't be staying where they were. I'm satisfied.


Here's one more story, then I'll stop this long letter. A woman came in
all interested in everything. I wanted to suggest a bottle of wine for
her and asked her what was for dinner tonight. She said they were
eating out. So I said that they'd like a bottle of port to go with
dessert at home and came around from behind the counter to show her the
ports. I thought that was pretty good selling. The boss was there, and
I was proud of myself for saying something pleasant, helpful, not just
giving up at the news that dinner was out. Now remember, I don't know
the ins and outs of every bottle of wine. I only know broad categories.
When I got over to the ports, I didn't know exactly what to suggest so
I quickly looked at the prices and held out a bottle that was $14
because the others were considerably more expensive, and I guessed that
the woman wouldn't want to invest too much for an ordinary dinner at home.


She enthusiastically took the bottle from me. I thought I'd closed the
sale. She was holding the bottle in her hands, talking a little more,
but, I thought, clearly intending to buy it.


Then she saw a bottle of white port and asked about it. I couldn't
remember ever tasting white port. Other than knowing the essential
difference between a red and white wine, I was stuck. Not wanting to
say anything patently untrue, I asked the owner for help with the
question. He came over to help. Then he started the barage of
information. He told her that she wouldn't like white port because
that's a wine for only the rare person likes. He said something about
other ports. By the time he was done, she had put the bottle back on
the shelf and promised to come back after dinner with her boyfriend.
She was still sounding friendly and pleased, but we didn't make the
sale. I was there until closing. She didn't come back.


Now I'm all for not putting the hardsell on customers such that they
feel obligated to buy something they don't want and then never want to
come back to the store. If she really didn't want to buy that bottle of
wine, then I'm glad she didn't. But I don't think that's what happened.
I think she liked the idea of presenting her boyfriend with a nice
bottle of wine to drink at home with dessert, then decided she didn't
know enough to choose the bottle by herself, got overwhelmed, and left
feeling foolish instead of educated.


Shrug. All I can do is hope the owner noticed that the sale didn't happen.


I work around lunch time tomorrow. Then I'm off until next week. I'll
keep reporting in.


--Lia

Today was my 2nd day. It went better because I had a better idea of
what I could do to busy myself and because I was the only employee in
there for several hours instead of having 2 employees wondering what to
do and if it would look like they were shirking if they chatted up
customers.


It turns out that the owner has experience as the editor of a small
newspaper, has worked in a shop in preparation for opening this one, but
has never managed a shop before.


He's not micro-managing people, the opposite, in fact. He's not
complaining about anything we do. That's what worries me. He's so easy
going that I wonder if he's thinking something I'm not aware of. I
don't know about the capital. No one has mentioned investers, but that
doesn't mean there aren't any.


Today I attacked clutter where I found it. I couldn't very well go
around throwing away plastic potted plants without permission, but I did
get rid of empty boxes, and I acted like a box of priced bottles that
weren't on the shelf was a fire-able offense. No one told me that; I
decided on my own that they didn't look right and had to go.


I do intend to ask about doing the books in time. That's because I'm
good at repetitive tasks like that and don't mind them for the most
part. I wouldn't want to spend the whole day in a cubicle just doing
bookkeeping, but an hour at the end of each day would suit me.


I did follow the advice to learn about the cheeses and wines on my own.
I'm good at organizing lesson plans, and there are books there so I
give myself the assignment to cut into a cheese to make samples for the
customers, look it up in the books, then teach myself by repeating what
I've learned to the customers. Today's example was raclette. Good
melted as in fondue but traditionally served with potatoes rather bread
as the starch.


I've decided that the owner isn't terminally disorganized, just
overwhelmed with so much to do that he can't get to the employees. He's
done a fabulous job with construction, ordering, pricing and stocking.
If he's fallen a little behind with scheduling and employee education,
that's not the end of the world. He may be thinking that he'll get a
sense for when the busy periods are and schedule around them, but for
the first few weeks, he'd rather have too many people than too few.


Maybe I should have waited, but I couldn't resist saying something I
noticed yesterday. The worst of the clutter is right up near the cash
register. There is a useful cup of pens and pencils, a stack of
business cards, cardboard cards with information about vintages on them,
etc. There was a beautiful display box of fine cigars there, and
yesterday the cigar salesman came in to replace it with an even bigger
box. I thought he was pushy about it, but the owner complimented the
box, said he liked it. Then with the clip board for the mailing list,
there's scarcely any space for customers to place their purchases next
to the register to be rung up.


In fact, all over the store, there's no place for a customer to put
anything down. I thought the end result was customers with a strong
subconscious incentive to buy no more than one bottle of wine. They
come in to browse, pick up a bottle have their package from another
store in the other hand (or a cracker with dip, or a cheese sample we've
given them), and then they look around and don't buy a 2nd bottle. They
have no more hands to hold it in. If there were space at the register
or a flat surface they could use, they'd think of choosing a few
bottles, maybe pick up some extras then put some back, but they wouldn't
limit themselves to only one. As it is, there's even a comfortable
chair with a large hassock in front of it. If that were a coffee table
instead, people could place wine bottles on it without them rolling off.


So today I pointed out my observation about the customers only buying
one bottle because that was all it was comfortable for them to hold. I
didn't complain about the pushy cigar salesman. I just said that we
needed the space where the display box is. I did say that that space
near the register is the prime selling spot in the store and might be
best spent on chocolate, not cigars which are an item that 98% of the
customers would never buy no matter how well they were displayed and how
much they cost thus wasting prime real estate. No wonder the salesman
was interested in bringing in a bigger and fancier box. Great for him.
(And in all fairness, these are probably great cigars, but I can't
very well spend a lot of time suggestive selling them when most of our
customers don't smoke anything, much less cigars.)


The owner said that he would be making some changes but didn't applaud
me for my astute observation and marketing techniques. Later I brought
it up with his wife. She said they were waiting for the delivery of
some new racks which would allow them to move things around. She said
the cigars wouldn't be staying where they were. I'm satisfied.


Here's one more story, then I'll stop this long letter. A woman came in
all interested in everything. I wanted to suggest a bottle of wine for
her and asked her what was for dinner tonight. She said they were
eating out. So I said that they'd like a bottle of port to go with
dessert at home and came around from behind the counter to show her the
ports. I thought that was pretty good selling. The boss was there, and
I was proud of myself for saying something pleasant, helpful, not just
giving up at the news that dinner was out. Now remember, I don't know
the ins and outs of every bottle of wine. I only know broad categories.
When I got over to the ports, I didn't know exactly what to suggest so
I quickly looked at the prices and held out a bottle that was $14
because the others were considerably more expensive, and I guessed that
the woman wouldn't want to invest too much for an ordinary dinner at home.


She enthusiastically took the bottle from me. I thought I'd closed the
sale. She was holding the bottle in her hands, talking a little more,
but, I thought, clearly intending to buy it.


Then she saw a bottle of white port and asked about it. I couldn't
remember ever tasting white port. Other than knowing the essential
difference between a red and white wine, I was stuck. Not wanting to
say anything patently untrue, I asked the owner for help with the
question. He came over to help. Then he started the barage of
information. He told her that she wouldn't like white port because
that's a wine for only the rare person likes. He said something about
other ports. By the time he was done, she had put the bottle back on
the shelf and promised to come back after dinner with her boyfriend.
She was still sounding friendly and pleased, but we didn't make the
sale. I was there until closing. She didn't come back.


Now I'm all for not putting the hardsell on customers such that they
feel obligated to buy something they don't want and then never want to
come back to the store. If she really didn't want to buy that bottle of
wine, then I'm glad she didn't. But I don't think that's what happened.
I think she liked the idea of presenting her boyfriend with a nice
bottle of wine to drink at home with dessert, then decided she didn't
know enough to choose the bottle by herself, got overwhelmed, and left
feeling foolish instead of educated.


Shrug. All I can do is hope the owner noticed that the sale didn't happen.


I work around lunch time tomorrow. Then I'm off until next week. I'll
keep reporting in.


--Lia

In message <JDL4d.246615$Fg5.15174@attbi_s53>, Julia Altshuler
> writes

I would like to say first of all that you sound like a treasure of an
employee. I highly commend you.

>Today was my 2nd day. It went better because I had a better idea of
>what I could do to busy myself and because I was the only employee in
>there for several hours instead of having 2 employees wondering what to
>do and if it would look like they were shirking if they chatted up
>customers.
>
>
>It turns out that the owner has experience as the editor of a small
>newspaper, has worked in a shop in preparation for opening this one, but
>has never managed a shop before.

Well he can learn, it is possible, but the learning curve is steep.

I've worked for a couple of newspapers, by the way, and have found that
they are mainly run by employees who take the lead, and this may be what
the owner expects to happen in the retail sector. By taking the lead I
mean, that although I was only hired to work on advertising lay-outs in
one job, I ended up writing articles, sorting out the archives, writing
and designing advertisements, scanning in photographs, helping run the
competitions, and much more. I just took on what needed to be done and
that is what everyone else did, too, for if they had waited for the
managers to tell them what to do, nothing would have been done. The
managers just checked, sometimes, to see whether everything was done but
they rarely assigned any tasks to anyone.

>
>
>He's not micro-managing people, the opposite, in fact. He's not
>complaining about anything we do. That's what worries me. He's so
>easy going that I wonder if he's thinking something I'm not aware of.

From the sounds of it, he is an enthusiast and if that is the case, he
is probably just caught up in providing the quality product of his
dreams. His intent is good but it won't run the business.

It does give you the opportunity, however, to set up a system that helps
him to stay in business. By setting your own tasks, you are setting up
the structure of how your job is done. The owner will get used to
things being done this way and so will customers. Apathy on the part of
others will keep the system you set up going. How one handles apathy is
the mark of a leader, by the way. Leaders recognise apathy as
inevitable, and do the work to set up a system knowing that the
apathetic will fit themselves into it because they aren't the sort to
set up something for themselves.

What you are saying is that the owner has not shown himself to be a
leader in this regard, at least not at the moment. You've shown
yourself to be a leader, though, so carry on setting the pace.

> I don't know about the capital. No one has mentioned investers, but that
>doesn't mean there aren't any.

The reason I asked is that banks and other investors, usually are less
tolerant of badly-run businesses and will pull the plug sooner than if
the owner is the sole investor. Also, banks and sometimes other
investors, require a business to have a business plan and to work to
that plan. If you can tactfully do it, you might inquire about the
business plan. You could, perhaps, talk about in the future, the shop
expanding and asking how this fits in with the business plan.

>
>
>Today I attacked clutter where I found it. I couldn't very well go around
>throwing away plastic potted plants without permission, but I did get rid of
>empty boxes, and I acted like a box of priced bottles that weren't on the
>shelf was a fire-able offense. No one told me that; I decided on my own
>that they didn't look right and had to go.

Great!

>
>
>I do intend to ask about doing the books in time. That's because I'm
>good at repetitive tasks like that and don't mind them for the most part. I
>wouldn't want to spend the whole day in a cubicle just doing
>bookkeeping, but an hour at the end of each day would suit me.
>
By taking a leadership rôle, you are in effect making yourself an
assistant manager, and, if the owner grows used to this, which is
likely, doing the books will help you to suggest improvements for the
business in keeping with your rôle.

>
>I did follow the advice to learn about the cheeses and wines on my own.
>I'm good at organizing lesson plans, and there are books there so I give
>myself the assignment to cut into a cheese to make samples for the
>customers, look it up in the books, then teach myself by repeating what
>I've learned to the customers. Today's example was raclette. Good
>melted as in fondue but traditionally served with potatoes rather bread as
>the starch.
>
Again, great! You are very much a self-starter. You will make yourself
an invaluable resource with what you are learning.

By the way, raclette is very good in croque-monsieur de pomme de terre,
which makes a very nice meal for lunch when served with a green salad.

>
>I've decided that the owner isn't terminally disorganized, just overwhelmed
>with so much to do that he can't get to the employees. He's done a
>fabulous job with construction, ordering, pricing and stocking. If he's fallen
>a little behind with scheduling and employee education, that's not the end
>of the world. He may be thinking that he'll get a sense for when the busy
>periods are and schedule around them, but for the first few weeks, he'd
>rather have too many people than too few.

Owners of businesses are often overwhelmed by all that there is to do.
That's why the owner is lucky to have you on board. He really should
have got to grips with what to do with employees before this, but with
all the work you are doing, you are taking that load off of his back and
will make it easy for him when he can get around to it.
>
>
>Maybe I should have waited, but I couldn't resist saying something I
>noticed yesterday. The worst of the clutter is right up near the cash
>register. There is a useful cup of pens and pencils, a stack of business
>cards, cardboard cards with information about vintages on them, etc.
>There was a beautiful display box of fine cigars there, and yesterday the
>cigar salesman came in to replace it with an even bigger box. I thought
>he was pushy about it, but the owner complimented the box, said he
>liked it. Then with the clip board for the mailing list, there's scarcely any
>space for customers to place their purchases next to the register to be
>rung up.
>
Can you hang the clipboard up near the till or lean it against the till?
You could then draw a customer's attention to it as you are ringing up
their purchases, saying something like 'Would you like to sign up for
our mailing list?' It's a more friendly way of doing it then just
leaving the clipboard out for customers to sign if they wish. It could
lead into a discussion of what information will be provided which could
give you an idea of a particular customer's preferences.

>
>In fact, all over the store, there's no place for a customer to put anything
>down. I thought the end result was customers with a strong
>subconscious incentive to buy no more than one bottle of wine. They
>come in to browse, pick up a bottle have their package from another store
>in the other hand (or a cracker with dip, or a cheese sample we've given
>them), and then they look around and don't buy a 2nd bottle. They have
>no more hands to hold it in. If there were space at the register or a flat
>surface they could use, they'd think of choosing a few bottles, maybe
>pick up some extras then put some back, but they wouldn't limit
>themselves to only one. As it is, there's even a comfortable chair with a
>large hassock in front of it. If that were a coffee table instead, people
>could place wine bottles on it without them rolling off.

What about the shop providing shopping baskets for the customers? Now,
there is a language difference here, so I will explain. In US parlance,
as I recall from when I was there, a shopping basket means both
something on wheels and a hand-held basket. In British parlance, a
shopping basket is hand-held; if it has wheels, it is a trolley. I
can't think that any shops I've ever been to have had much if any place
to put anything down, but all of them have provided at least baskets if
not trolleys, which not only helps a customer to carry more items, but
encourages it as well.

If the owner isn't interested in providing baskets, you could keep a
look-out for customers who seem to be looking around for a place to set
a bottle of wine and volunteer to put it behind the counter for them
until they are finished with their shopping.
>
>
>So today I pointed out my observation about the customers only buying
>one bottle because that was all it was comfortable for them to hold. I
>didn't complain about the pushy cigar salesman. I just said that we
>needed the space where the display box is. I did say that that space
>near the register is the prime selling spot in the store and might be best
>spent on chocolate, not cigars which are an item that 98% of the
>customers would never buy no matter how well they were displayed and
>how much they cost thus wasting prime real estate. No wonder the
>salesman was interested in bringing in a bigger and fancier box. Great
>for him. (And in all fairness, these are probably great cigars, but I can't
>very well spend a lot of time suggestive selling them when most of our
>customers don't smoke anything, much less cigars.)

Are you certain that some of your customers wouldn't be interested in
the cigars? Some people don't smoke regularly but will smoke the
occasional cigar.

It is good that you made the suggestion. It shows the owner that you
are thinking about the business..

>
>
>The owner said that he would be making some changes but didn't
>applaud me for my astute observation and marketing techniques.

Don't expect to be thanked. The owner probably has a lot on his mind
and also, people usually don't thank leaders. They often only
appreciate what they do most often when the leaders stop doing it, for
whatever reason.

> Later I brought it up with his wife. She said they were waiting for the
>delivery of some new racks which would allow them to move things
>around. She said the cigars wouldn't be staying where they were. I'm
>satisfied.
>
Good. Is the owner's wife taking an active part in the business?

>
>Here's one more story, then I'll stop this long letter. A woman came in all
>interested in everything. I wanted to suggest a bottle of wine for her and
>asked her what was for dinner tonight. She said they were eating out.
>So I said that they'd like a bottle of port to go with dessert at home and
>came around from behind the counter to show her the ports. I thought
>that was pretty good selling. The boss was there, and I was proud of
>myself for saying something pleasant, helpful, not just giving up at the
>news that dinner was out. Now remember, I don't know the ins and outs
>of every bottle of wine. I only know broad categories. When I got over to
>the ports, I didn't know exactly what to suggest so I quickly looked at the
>prices and held out a bottle that was $14 because the others were
>considerably more expensive, and I guessed that the woman wouldn't
>want to invest too much for an ordinary dinner at home.
>
>
>She enthusiastically took the bottle from me. I thought I'd closed the
>sale. She was holding the bottle in her hands, talking a little more, but, I
>thought, clearly intending to buy it.
>
>
>Then she saw a bottle of white port and asked about it. I couldn't
>remember ever tasting white port. Other than knowing the essential
>difference between a red and white wine, I was stuck. Not wanting to say
>anything patently untrue, I asked the owner for help with the question.
>He came over to help. Then he started the barage of information. He told
>her that she wouldn't like white port because that's a wine for only the
>rare person likes. He said something about other ports. By the time he
>was done, she had put the bottle back on the shelf and promised to
>come back after dinner with her boyfriend. She was still sounding friendly
>and pleased, but we didn't make the sale. I was there until closing. She
>didn't come back.
>

>
>Now I'm all for not putting the hardsell on customers such that they feel
>obligated to buy something they don't want and then never want to come
>back to the store. If she really didn't want to buy that bottle of wine, then
>I'm glad she didn't. But I don't think that's what happened. I think she
>liked the idea of presenting her boyfriend with a nice bottle of wine to
>drink at home with dessert, then decided she didn't know enough to
>choose the bottle by herself, got overwhelmed, and left feeling foolish
>instead of educated.
>

The owner didn't put on a hard sell; he used the sales technique of an
enthusiast who knows his subject well, or at least thinks that he does.
It can overwhelm people, though, as you have seen.

There are many ways of handling this. One way, of course, is to become
an expert yourself, so that you don't have to rely on the owner to
explain things and you are working on that. There will be times, as
with this one, when you don't know something, so one way to handle it is
to set the scene. Find out what, precisely, the customer wants to know
about the subject, pinpointing it as much as possible. Then, when you
have exhausted your knowledge, tell the customer that you will bring
over the owner, who is a wine expert who has an overwhelming amount of
knowledge on the subject. Emphasise the owner's enthusiasm and build
the customer up so that he thinks he is getting something special here.
When the owner hits the customer with the barrage, the customer might
well be more willing to accept it. The best way to pick up this
technique is to observe how films and documentaries set up the scene for
explanations of something complicated. Listen to what the owner says
and once he has had his say, follow it up, picking out the knowledge for
the customer, saying something like 'And now you know' whatever it is
that the customer wanted to know, 'is' or 'will be', etc, whatever
information the owner gave about it. Then chat about the different
products and gently help the sale along.

>
>Shrug. All I can do is hope the owner noticed that the sale didn't happen.

No, don't give up. You can learn how to work with and around the owner,
to make more sales happen.

Have confidence in what you can accomplish. People will put up with
more than you might imagine as long as you do the work and do it well,
which from the sounds of it, you have no problems with.

I know personally what people will put up with because I have said
things to managers, even owners of companies, that should have had me
tossed out on my ear, but because I was the only one who knew how to do
the thing or at least was the only one doing it, not a word was said. I
include in this telling the owner of a company who was throwing a
tantrum about a fax machine that if he went back to his office and let
me fix it, I would give him a choccy biscuit; and telling a very senior
manageress that it would be 'pistols at dawn' if she tried to implement
her plans which were in opposition to my plans (I wasn't even a
manager). I'm not suggesting you do this, by the way; I'm just saying
that you should not worry about making perfectly reasonable suggestions.
People often worry too much.

>
>
>I work around lunch time tomorrow. Then I'm off until next week. I'll keep
>reporting in.

I hope your day goes well. I am interested in hearing more.

--
Céline

'The Director of Operational Requirements wrote "... it is clear that no
modification will make this bomb entirely satisfactory." Unfortunately,
by then some 660,000 bombs had been manufactured.'
- Bombs gone: the development and use of British air-dropped weapons
from 1912 to the present day by Wing Commander John A MacBean and Major
Arthur S Hogben

In message <JDL4d.246615$Fg5.15174@attbi_s53>, Julia Altshuler
> writes

I would like to say first of all that you sound like a treasure of an
employee. I highly commend you.

>Today was my 2nd day. It went better because I had a better idea of
>what I could do to busy myself and because I was the only employee in
>there for several hours instead of having 2 employees wondering what to
>do and if it would look like they were shirking if they chatted up
>customers.
>
>
>It turns out that the owner has experience as the editor of a small
>newspaper, has worked in a shop in preparation for opening this one, but
>has never managed a shop before.

Well he can learn, it is possible, but the learning curve is steep.

I've worked for a couple of newspapers, by the way, and have found that
they are mainly run by employees who take the lead, and this may be what
the owner expects to happen in the retail sector. By taking the lead I
mean, that although I was only hired to work on advertising lay-outs in
one job, I ended up writing articles, sorting out the archives, writing
and designing advertisements, scanning in photographs, helping run the
competitions, and much more. I just took on what needed to be done and
that is what everyone else did, too, for if they had waited for the
managers to tell them what to do, nothing would have been done. The
managers just checked, sometimes, to see whether everything was done but
they rarely assigned any tasks to anyone.

>
>
>He's not micro-managing people, the opposite, in fact. He's not
>complaining about anything we do. That's what worries me. He's so
>easy going that I wonder if he's thinking something I'm not aware of.

From the sounds of it, he is an enthusiast and if that is the case, he
is probably just caught up in providing the quality product of his
dreams. His intent is good but it won't run the business.

It does give you the opportunity, however, to set up a system that helps
him to stay in business. By setting your own tasks, you are setting up
the structure of how your job is done. The owner will get used to
things being done this way and so will customers. Apathy on the part of
others will keep the system you set up going. How one handles apathy is
the mark of a leader, by the way. Leaders recognise apathy as
inevitable, and do the work to set up a system knowing that the
apathetic will fit themselves into it because they aren't the sort to
set up something for themselves.

What you are saying is that the owner has not shown himself to be a
leader in this regard, at least not at the moment. You've shown
yourself to be a leader, though, so carry on setting the pace.

> I don't know about the capital. No one has mentioned investers, but that
>doesn't mean there aren't any.

The reason I asked is that banks and other investors, usually are less
tolerant of badly-run businesses and will pull the plug sooner than if
the owner is the sole investor. Also, banks and sometimes other
investors, require a business to have a business plan and to work to
that plan. If you can tactfully do it, you might inquire about the
business plan. You could, perhaps, talk about in the future, the shop
expanding and asking how this fits in with the business plan.

>
>
>Today I attacked clutter where I found it. I couldn't very well go around
>throwing away plastic potted plants without permission, but I did get rid of
>empty boxes, and I acted like a box of priced bottles that weren't on the
>shelf was a fire-able offense. No one told me that; I decided on my own
>that they didn't look right and had to go.

Great!

>
>
>I do intend to ask about doing the books in time. That's because I'm
>good at repetitive tasks like that and don't mind them for the most part. I
>wouldn't want to spend the whole day in a cubicle just doing
>bookkeeping, but an hour at the end of each day would suit me.
>
By taking a leadership rôle, you are in effect making yourself an
assistant manager, and, if the owner grows used to this, which is
likely, doing the books will help you to suggest improvements for the
business in keeping with your rôle.

>
>I did follow the advice to learn about the cheeses and wines on my own.
>I'm good at organizing lesson plans, and there are books there so I give
>myself the assignment to cut into a cheese to make samples for the
>customers, look it up in the books, then teach myself by repeating what
>I've learned to the customers. Today's example was raclette. Good
>melted as in fondue but traditionally served with potatoes rather bread as
>the starch.
>
Again, great! You are very much a self-starter. You will make yourself
an invaluable resource with what you are learning.

By the way, raclette is very good in croque-monsieur de pomme de terre,
which makes a very nice meal for lunch when served with a green salad.

>
>I've decided that the owner isn't terminally disorganized, just overwhelmed
>with so much to do that he can't get to the employees. He's done a
>fabulous job with construction, ordering, pricing and stocking. If he's fallen
>a little behind with scheduling and employee education, that's not the end
>of the world. He may be thinking that he'll get a sense for when the busy
>periods are and schedule around them, but for the first few weeks, he'd
>rather have too many people than too few.

Owners of businesses are often overwhelmed by all that there is to do.
That's why the owner is lucky to have you on board. He really should
have got to grips with what to do with employees before this, but with
all the work you are doing, you are taking that load off of his back and
will make it easy for him when he can get around to it.
>
>
>Maybe I should have waited, but I couldn't resist saying something I
>noticed yesterday. The worst of the clutter is right up near the cash
>register. There is a useful cup of pens and pencils, a stack of business
>cards, cardboard cards with information about vintages on them, etc.
>There was a beautiful display box of fine cigars there, and yesterday the
>cigar salesman came in to replace it with an even bigger box. I thought
>he was pushy about it, but the owner complimented the box, said he
>liked it. Then with the clip board for the mailing list, there's scarcely any
>space for customers to place their purchases next to the register to be
>rung up.
>
Can you hang the clipboard up near the till or lean it against the till?
You could then draw a customer's attention to it as you are ringing up
their purchases, saying something like 'Would you like to sign up for
our mailing list?' It's a more friendly way of doing it then just
leaving the clipboard out for customers to sign if they wish. It could
lead into a discussion of what information will be provided which could
give you an idea of a particular customer's preferences.

>
>In fact, all over the store, there's no place for a customer to put anything
>down. I thought the end result was customers with a strong
>subconscious incentive to buy no more than one bottle of wine. They
>come in to browse, pick up a bottle have their package from another store
>in the other hand (or a cracker with dip, or a cheese sample we've given
>them), and then they look around and don't buy a 2nd bottle. They have
>no more hands to hold it in. If there were space at the register or a flat
>surface they could use, they'd think of choosing a few bottles, maybe
>pick up some extras then put some back, but they wouldn't limit
>themselves to only one. As it is, there's even a comfortable chair with a
>large hassock in front of it. If that were a coffee table instead, people
>could place wine bottles on it without them rolling off.

What about the shop providing shopping baskets for the customers? Now,
there is a language difference here, so I will explain. In US parlance,
as I recall from when I was there, a shopping basket means both
something on wheels and a hand-held basket. In British parlance, a
shopping basket is hand-held; if it has wheels, it is a trolley. I
can't think that any shops I've ever been to have had much if any place
to put anything down, but all of them have provided at least baskets if
not trolleys, which not only helps a customer to carry more items, but
encourages it as well.

If the owner isn't interested in providing baskets, you could keep a
look-out for customers who seem to be looking around for a place to set
a bottle of wine and volunteer to put it behind the counter for them
until they are finished with their shopping.
>
>
>So today I pointed out my observation about the customers only buying
>one bottle because that was all it was comfortable for them to hold. I
>didn't complain about the pushy cigar salesman. I just said that we
>needed the space where the display box is. I did say that that space
>near the register is the prime selling spot in the store and might be best
>spent on chocolate, not cigars which are an item that 98% of the
>customers would never buy no matter how well they were displayed and
>how much they cost thus wasting prime real estate. No wonder the
>salesman was interested in bringing in a bigger and fancier box. Great
>for him. (And in all fairness, these are probably great cigars, but I can't
>very well spend a lot of time suggestive selling them when most of our
>customers don't smoke anything, much less cigars.)

Are you certain that some of your customers wouldn't be interested in
the cigars? Some people don't smoke regularly but will smoke the
occasional cigar.

It is good that you made the suggestion. It shows the owner that you
are thinking about the business..

>
>
>The owner said that he would be making some changes but didn't
>applaud me for my astute observation and marketing techniques.

Don't expect to be thanked. The owner probably has a lot on his mind
and also, people usually don't thank leaders. They often only
appreciate what they do most often when the leaders stop doing it, for
whatever reason.

> Later I brought it up with his wife. She said they were waiting for the
>delivery of some new racks which would allow them to move things
>around. She said the cigars wouldn't be staying where they were. I'm
>satisfied.
>
Good. Is the owner's wife taking an active part in the business?

>
>Here's one more story, then I'll stop this long letter. A woman came in all
>interested in everything. I wanted to suggest a bottle of wine for her and
>asked her what was for dinner tonight. She said they were eating out.
>So I said that they'd like a bottle of port to go with dessert at home and
>came around from behind the counter to show her the ports. I thought
>that was pretty good selling. The boss was there, and I was proud of
>myself for saying something pleasant, helpful, not just giving up at the
>news that dinner was out. Now remember, I don't know the ins and outs
>of every bottle of wine. I only know broad categories. When I got over to
>the ports, I didn't know exactly what to suggest so I quickly looked at the
>prices and held out a bottle that was $14 because the others were
>considerably more expensive, and I guessed that the woman wouldn't
>want to invest too much for an ordinary dinner at home.
>
>
>She enthusiastically took the bottle from me. I thought I'd closed the
>sale. She was holding the bottle in her hands, talking a little more, but, I
>thought, clearly intending to buy it.
>
>
>Then she saw a bottle of white port and asked about it. I couldn't
>remember ever tasting white port. Other than knowing the essential
>difference between a red and white wine, I was stuck. Not wanting to say
>anything patently untrue, I asked the owner for help with the question.
>He came over to help. Then he started the barage of information. He told
>her that she wouldn't like white port because that's a wine for only the
>rare person likes. He said something about other ports. By the time he
>was done, she had put the bottle back on the shelf and promised to
>come back after dinner with her boyfriend. She was still sounding friendly
>and pleased, but we didn't make the sale. I was there until closing. She
>didn't come back.
>

>
>Now I'm all for not putting the hardsell on customers such that they feel
>obligated to buy something they don't want and then never want to come
>back to the store. If she really didn't want to buy that bottle of wine, then
>I'm glad she didn't. But I don't think that's what happened. I think she
>liked the idea of presenting her boyfriend with a nice bottle of wine to
>drink at home with dessert, then decided she didn't know enough to
>choose the bottle by herself, got overwhelmed, and left feeling foolish
>instead of educated.
>

The owner didn't put on a hard sell; he used the sales technique of an
enthusiast who knows his subject well, or at least thinks that he does.
It can overwhelm people, though, as you have seen.

There are many ways of handling this. One way, of course, is to become
an expert yourself, so that you don't have to rely on the owner to
explain things and you are working on that. There will be times, as
with this one, when you don't know something, so one way to handle it is
to set the scene. Find out what, precisely, the customer wants to know
about the subject, pinpointing it as much as possible. Then, when you
have exhausted your knowledge, tell the customer that you will bring
over the owner, who is a wine expert who has an overwhelming amount of
knowledge on the subject. Emphasise the owner's enthusiasm and build
the customer up so that he thinks he is getting something special here.
When the owner hits the customer with the barrage, the customer might
well be more willing to accept it. The best way to pick up this
technique is to observe how films and documentaries set up the scene for
explanations of something complicated. Listen to what the owner says
and once he has had his say, follow it up, picking out the knowledge for
the customer, saying something like 'And now you know' whatever it is
that the customer wanted to know, 'is' or 'will be', etc, whatever
information the owner gave about it. Then chat about the different
products and gently help the sale along.

>
>Shrug. All I can do is hope the owner noticed that the sale didn't happen.

No, don't give up. You can learn how to work with and around the owner,
to make more sales happen.

Have confidence in what you can accomplish. People will put up with
more than you might imagine as long as you do the work and do it well,
which from the sounds of it, you have no problems with.

I know personally what people will put up with because I have said
things to managers, even owners of companies, that should have had me
tossed out on my ear, but because I was the only one who knew how to do
the thing or at least was the only one doing it, not a word was said. I
include in this telling the owner of a company who was throwing a
tantrum about a fax machine that if he went back to his office and let
me fix it, I would give him a choccy biscuit; and telling a very senior
manageress that it would be 'pistols at dawn' if she tried to implement
her plans which were in opposition to my plans (I wasn't even a
manager). I'm not suggesting you do this, by the way; I'm just saying
that you should not worry about making perfectly reasonable suggestions.
People often worry too much.

>
>
>I work around lunch time tomorrow. Then I'm off until next week. I'll keep
>reporting in.

I hope your day goes well. I am interested in hearing more.

--
Céline

'The Director of Operational Requirements wrote "... it is clear that no
modification will make this bomb entirely satisfactory." Unfortunately,
by then some 660,000 bombs had been manufactured.'
- Bombs gone: the development and use of British air-dropped weapons
from 1912 to the present day by Wing Commander John A MacBean and Major
Arthur S Hogben

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 14:13:25 GMT, Julia Altshuler
> wrote:

>Here's the next question. He's asked me to think of things to make with
>cheese that can made in the store. Other than dips, I can't think of a
>thing. We have no way to heat anything, not even a microwave. We will
>have a small cuisinart or a blender. Any ideas?

Marinaded cubes of cheese to serve with crackers and olives.

Tara

divine_austerlitz wrote:

> I would like to say first of all that you sound like a treasure of an
> employee. I highly commend you.


I'll say this. The owner hired a bunch of excellent employees. I've
met several, and we're all good. We just all need more direction. If
we don't want to do something, it is because we're unsure how, not
because we'd rather stand around than work.


> Well he can learn, it is possible, but the learning curve is steep.
>
> I've worked for a couple of newspapers, by the way, and have found that
> they are mainly run by employees who take the lead, and this may be what
> the owner expects to happen in the retail sector. By taking the lead I
> mean, that although I was only hired to work on advertising lay-outs in
> one job, I ended up writing articles, sorting out the archives, writing
> and designing advertisements, scanning in photographs, helping run the
> competitions, and much more.


That's fascinating and pertinent information about newspapers.

Too often in my early jobs in
and after college, I'd get a boss who confused bad x management with
adequate y management. They'd imagine that they were being kind by not
telling us what to do every second. They'd think that would make us
want to do a good job. The theory might have been correct, but the
goals were so unclear that the employees would start to argue amongst
ourselves. None of us knew what was expected, and if we thought we had
a good idea, we didn't have the authority to bring the other employees
on board. We NEEDED clear direction.


> What you are saying is that the owner has not shown himself to be a
> leader in this regard, at least not at the moment. You've shown
> yourself to be a leader, though, so carry on setting the pace.


Today I got busy looking up cheeses in the excellent books he has there
and began making information tags telling a little about what each one
tastes like, what recipes it could be used for, and what wines it goes
with. When I go in again on Monday (I'm only working 20 hours / week),
I'll be set up with a notebook so the tags don't keep getting separated
from the cheese they're toothpicked into. I want the other parttimers
to be able to look up each one and say something sensible to the
customers. I'm also getting a feel for the sorts of questions customers
ask. 3 people today wanted sharper cheeses, and we were lost as to what
to suggest.


> banks and other investors, usually are less
> tolerant of badly-run businesses and will pull the plug sooner than if
> the owner is the sole investor.


I'm changing my initial impressions. I think the owner was just
overwhelmed by the first week being opened. If he's a little
disorganized in some areas, he can fix that. Most things are happening
very well. So I'm not thinking about capital investment for the moment.


> By taking a leadership rôle, you are in effect making yourself an
> assistant manager, and, if the owner grows used to this, which is
> likely, doing the books will help you to suggest improvements for the
> business in keeping with your rôle.


Here's the funny thing. I was the first to interview. I knew I wanted
to work there from the moment I learned what the store was going to be.
At that time, the owner told me he was looking for a manager who run
the store along side him. He wanted someone really committed, someone
who would act like the owner but without having to invest any money. I
knew I could do that. I've owned a small business and was sure I was up
to the task. Trouble was, I didn't want to work that hard. I only
wanted part time. I told him that. I was hoping someone really good
would apply for the manager position. No one did. He decided my
cooking skills would be better for the store than my management ones.
So I got what I wanted, but I would have liked him to acknowledge that
I'm capable of managing.


> By the way, raclette is very good in croque-monsieur de pomme de terre,
> which makes a very nice meal for lunch when served with a green salad.


Yes, all the books paired raclette with potatoes.


> What about the shop providing shopping baskets for the customers? Now,
> there is a language difference here, so I will explain. In US parlance,
> as I recall from when I was there, a shopping basket means both
> something on wheels and a hand-held basket. In British parlance, a
> shopping basket is hand-held; if it has wheels, it is a trolley. I
> can't think that any shops I've ever been to have had much if any place
> to put anything down, but all of them have provided at least baskets if
> not trolleys, which not only helps a customer to carry more items, but
> encourages it as well.


Today, there were shopping baskets (handles, no wheels) and small
shopping carts (with wheels). They must have been ordered long ago and
have nothing to do with my observation that customers had nowhere to put
things down. (In the Southern U.S., the wheeled contrivances are
sometimes called "buggies" or the ubiquitous "box" for almost anything
that shape including walk-in refrigerators and wheeled racks for trays
with sternos on the bottom. The wheeled shopping basket can also be
called a "shopping cart. I grew up calling them that.) But no one was
using them so I made it a point to keep an eye on a customer until I saw
both hands full, then to get the basket, walk over and hand it to them
with a brief and quiet "to make it more convenient for you." If I were
in charge, I'd instruct the employees to do that all the time. I think
it makes a big difference.


> Are you certain that some of your customers wouldn't be interested in
> the cigars? Some people don't smoke regularly but will smoke the
> occasional cigar.


Not in the U.S. Ours is increasingly becoming a non-smoking culture.
Oh, I'm sure you can find an exception. Someone is buying cigars, and
plenty of people still smoke cigarettes, but I'm sure suggesting that
someone might like to smoke is far more likely to be seen as an affront
than a good selling technique.


> It is good that you made the suggestion. It shows the owner that you
> are thinking about the business.


Here's the news for today: The big cigar display case was moved by the
time I walked in this morning. I had mentioned it to the boss and his
wife yesterday and got a non-commital answer. I left last night before
closing. This morning when I came in, it was where it should be, on a
stool off to the side. The area next to the cash register is completely
clear. I didn't say anything. I didn't want to rub it in. For that
matter, I don't know if they moved it on my say-so or for some other
reason. All that matters to me is that the thing is gone.


> Good. Is the owner's wife taking an active part in the business?


Yes. The husband is clearly the boss, but his wife is in there a lot,
and she's a nice lady. Again, if I have a trouble, it is that everyone
is so nice, I'd rather someone acted like a boss and gave me clear
directions.


> The owner didn't put on a hard sell; he used the sales technique of an
> enthusiast who knows his subject well, or at least thinks that he does.
> It can overwhelm people, though, as you have seen.


I think I've identified the difference between my and the owner's
philosophy about wine. We can still work together; this will just
explain things like the way we handled the woman with the port. He does
know his stuff. He's convinced that there's a right wine with a
particular meal and doesn't want to sell someone the wrong stuff. I
take a far more experience based approach. I want to get the wine in
the customer's hands and send it home with them. As long as it isn't
clearly the wrong stuff, I want to let them try it and see what they think.

>
> There are many ways of handling this. One way, of course, is to become
> an expert yourself, so that you don't have to rely on the owner to
> explain things and you are working on that.


I'm learning right and left. I'm mostly learning about cheeses, but I
should be learning more about wine too. I'm impatient with myself.


> I hope your day goes well. I am interested in hearing more.


Oh, you and this group will hear more from me. I'll keep checking in.
Thanks for the good wishes.


--Lia

divine_austerlitz wrote:

> I would like to say first of all that you sound like a treasure of an
> employee. I highly commend you.


I'll say this. The owner hired a bunch of excellent employees. I've
met several, and we're all good. We just all need more direction. If
we don't want to do something, it is because we're unsure how, not
because we'd rather stand around than work.


> Well he can learn, it is possible, but the learning curve is steep.
>
> I've worked for a couple of newspapers, by the way, and have found that
> they are mainly run by employees who take the lead, and this may be what
> the owner expects to happen in the retail sector. By taking the lead I
> mean, that although I was only hired to work on advertising lay-outs in
> one job, I ended up writing articles, sorting out the archives, writing
> and designing advertisements, scanning in photographs, helping run the
> competitions, and much more.


That's fascinating and pertinent information about newspapers.

Too often in my early jobs in
and after college, I'd get a boss who confused bad x management with
adequate y management. They'd imagine that they were being kind by not
telling us what to do every second. They'd think that would make us
want to do a good job. The theory might have been correct, but the
goals were so unclear that the employees would start to argue amongst
ourselves. None of us knew what was expected, and if we thought we had
a good idea, we didn't have the authority to bring the other employees
on board. We NEEDED clear direction.


> What you are saying is that the owner has not shown himself to be a
> leader in this regard, at least not at the moment. You've shown
> yourself to be a leader, though, so carry on setting the pace.


Today I got busy looking up cheeses in the excellent books he has there
and began making information tags telling a little about what each one
tastes like, what recipes it could be used for, and what wines it goes
with. When I go in again on Monday (I'm only working 20 hours / week),
I'll be set up with a notebook so the tags don't keep getting separated
from the cheese they're toothpicked into. I want the other parttimers
to be able to look up each one and say something sensible to the
customers. I'm also getting a feel for the sorts of questions customers
ask. 3 people today wanted sharper cheeses, and we were lost as to what
to suggest.


> banks and other investors, usually are less
> tolerant of badly-run businesses and will pull the plug sooner than if
> the owner is the sole investor.


I'm changing my initial impressions. I think the owner was just
overwhelmed by the first week being opened. If he's a little
disorganized in some areas, he can fix that. Most things are happening
very well. So I'm not thinking about capital investment for the moment.


> By taking a leadership rôle, you are in effect making yourself an
> assistant manager, and, if the owner grows used to this, which is
> likely, doing the books will help you to suggest improvements for the
> business in keeping with your rôle.


Here's the funny thing. I was the first to interview. I knew I wanted
to work there from the moment I learned what the store was going to be.
At that time, the owner told me he was looking for a manager who run
the store along side him. He wanted someone really committed, someone
who would act like the owner but without having to invest any money. I
knew I could do that. I've owned a small business and was sure I was up
to the task. Trouble was, I didn't want to work that hard. I only
wanted part time. I told him that. I was hoping someone really good
would apply for the manager position. No one did. He decided my
cooking skills would be better for the store than my management ones.
So I got what I wanted, but I would have liked him to acknowledge that
I'm capable of managing.


> By the way, raclette is very good in croque-monsieur de pomme de terre,
> which makes a very nice meal for lunch when served with a green salad.


Yes, all the books paired raclette with potatoes.


> What about the shop providing shopping baskets for the customers? Now,
> there is a language difference here, so I will explain. In US parlance,
> as I recall from when I was there, a shopping basket means both
> something on wheels and a hand-held basket. In British parlance, a
> shopping basket is hand-held; if it has wheels, it is a trolley. I
> can't think that any shops I've ever been to have had much if any place
> to put anything down, but all of them have provided at least baskets if
> not trolleys, which not only helps a customer to carry more items, but
> encourages it as well.


Today, there were shopping baskets (handles, no wheels) and small
shopping carts (with wheels). They must have been ordered long ago and
have nothing to do with my observation that customers had nowhere to put
things down. (In the Southern U.S., the wheeled contrivances are
sometimes called "buggies" or the ubiquitous "box" for almost anything
that shape including walk-in refrigerators and wheeled racks for trays
with sternos on the bottom. The wheeled shopping basket can also be
called a "shopping cart. I grew up calling them that.) But no one was
using them so I made it a point to keep an eye on a customer until I saw
both hands full, then to get the basket, walk over and hand it to them
with a brief and quiet "to make it more convenient for you." If I were
in charge, I'd instruct the employees to do that all the time. I think
it makes a big difference.


> Are you certain that some of your customers wouldn't be interested in
> the cigars? Some people don't smoke regularly but will smoke the
> occasional cigar.


Not in the U.S. Ours is increasingly becoming a non-smoking culture.
Oh, I'm sure you can find an exception. Someone is buying cigars, and
plenty of people still smoke cigarettes, but I'm sure suggesting that
someone might like to smoke is far more likely to be seen as an affront
than a good selling technique.


> It is good that you made the suggestion. It shows the owner that you
> are thinking about the business.


Here's the news for today: The big cigar display case was moved by the
time I walked in this morning. I had mentioned it to the boss and his
wife yesterday and got a non-commital answer. I left last night before
closing. This morning when I came in, it was where it should be, on a
stool off to the side. The area next to the cash register is completely
clear. I didn't say anything. I didn't want to rub it in. For that
matter, I don't know if they moved it on my say-so or for some other
reason. All that matters to me is that the thing is gone.


> Good. Is the owner's wife taking an active part in the business?


Yes. The husband is clearly the boss, but his wife is in there a lot,
and she's a nice lady. Again, if I have a trouble, it is that everyone
is so nice, I'd rather someone acted like a boss and gave me clear
directions.


> The owner didn't put on a hard sell; he used the sales technique of an
> enthusiast who knows his subject well, or at least thinks that he does.
> It can overwhelm people, though, as you have seen.


I think I've identified the difference between my and the owner's
philosophy about wine. We can still work together; this will just
explain things like the way we handled the woman with the port. He does
know his stuff. He's convinced that there's a right wine with a
particular meal and doesn't want to sell someone the wrong stuff. I
take a far more experience based approach. I want to get the wine in
the customer's hands and send it home with them. As long as it isn't
clearly the wrong stuff, I want to let them try it and see what they think.

>
> There are many ways of handling this. One way, of course, is to become
> an expert yourself, so that you don't have to rely on the owner to
> explain things and you are working on that.


I'm learning right and left. I'm mostly learning about cheeses, but I
should be learning more about wine too. I'm impatient with myself.


> I hope your day goes well. I am interested in hearing more.


Oh, you and this group will hear more from me. I'll keep checking in.
Thanks for the good wishes.


--Lia