New Business Resources for Spring

Spring is a great time of the year for one huge reason—customers are starting lots of home improvement projects and keeping your store busy. To help you make this selling season even more successful, the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) and Hardware Retailing have created a library of resources to help you make small improvements this season in marketing, training and operations.

Shop-Local Marketing
Remind customers that when they shop at your store, twice as much money stays in the community than if they were to make the same purchase at a big-box store. To share your local identity, we’ve created free Mother’s and Father’s Day shop-local signage that includes posters, shelf talkers, bag stuffers and more. Download it at TheRedT.com/momdad.

 

Social Media Guide
Is it time to spruce up your store’s social media presence? Make sure your store is top of mind for customers as they shop for spring home improvement projects by engaging with them online and using social media to its full potential. Download this free toolkit, which includes best practices,
an analytics template and more, at TheRedT.com/SMkit.

 

Trainer’s Toolbox
You’re entering the busiest season of the year, so it might be hard to find time for employee training. NRHA’s Trainer’s Toolbox series includes several 3- to 5-minute lessons you can use to keep your staff sharp. Great topics for this season include: Project Sales, Taking Care of Live Plants, Keeping a Cleaner Store and more. You can find 14 free lessons at nrha.org/freetraining.

 

Project-Based Selling
When a customer comes in searching for products for a specific project, it is crucial that your employees are knowledgeable about how to complete and sell common DIY projects to increase customer service and boost average transaction size. Consider giving your staff a refresher with NRHA’s Project PRO online training course. Learn more at nrha.org.

 

Inventory Management
It’s easy to let inventory get out of hand, especially during this busy season. To help you keep things in check, Hardware Retailing created two simple, easy-to-use resources to help you improve your inventory management process: an out-of-stock inventory calculator and an inventory counting chart. They can be found at TheRedT.com/inventory.

 

Financial Videos
You may have a good handle on your business’s financials, but does your staff understand their impact on the bottom line? NRHA breaks down transaction size and payroll in two short videos that you can share with your employees to help them better understand these metrics. Check out these videos and resources at TheRedT.com/codb-payroll.