I have received several calls this week from newsagents in particularly tough situations. Each was different yet each could have benefited from earlier engagement. While not every challenge can be resolved, I think we need to be better at confronting them.
Here’s a video I shot yesterday to briefly explore this further.
Hi Mark
not sure if this is the right place for this but why don’t make a list of what the best newsagents are doing in each store deptment of the shop so if you are doing it tough you can go to the list of what the best are doing just a thought
Andy, I don’t think such a list in a public forum is appropriate as we are in a marketplace where newsagents are competing with each other and newsagent suppliers are competing with each other.
A few weeks ago I published an action plan to help newsagents avoid closure: http://www.newsagencyblog.com.au/2015/02/18/an-urgent-action-plan-to-avoid-closure-of-your-retail-newsagency/
I am finalising dates for a newsagency of the future series where I will present practical ideas along the lines of what you suggest.
I do believe some suppliers could do a better job with reps, may not be every where but my little town definitely not great service.
Phoned a company twice yesterday to place an order, still waiting for sales rep to call back.
Another company (major card) haven’t heard from rep this year.
The rep from another company I order from (online and have visited their showroom) for over 2 years phoned me for the first time ever last week to say she had a stand from gift fair I might want (the cynic in me thought obviously they have too many).
Maybe I expect too much from these companies but running a Newsagency is full on and sometimes you just don’t have the time to chase all these guys for orders.
Shouldn’t they be chasing us for business?
I had cause to ring a rep (owner actually)
of an Australian company called Aussie Imports and he not only welcomed me over the phone but he sourced the product I required and rang me back with the costs etc and after I accepted he delivered it to my shop himself.
I was so thrilled with the service that I am going to his showroom next week to look at all of his product.
His family have been in business for 40 odd years and he understood customer relations better than anyone I have seen for a very long time – he could give lessons to reps who just walk in off the road and expect us to stop and look at their stuff. I don’t accept anyone like that – if they don’t have an appointment I don’t see them.
Newsagents and reps need to respect each other and work towards a common goal but often you just feel like a number or no-one calls at all even when you ring them.
I know all you younger people will say we should buy online but that is not always satisfactory (hence why they have gift fairs).
Because of isolation I never see reps so I spend an awful lot of time on line searching. My sale have improved a lot since the introduction of gifts but cash flow is still so tight that it is hard to introduce new ranges. I move things around a lot to make people think something is new and it works to a degree but it hard work. Ian turns 70 next week and the “super” we thought we would have from our business sale is never going to happen and we just want to sell and have a rest. To keep your enthusiasm up is hard.
Carol, I am 70 soon and my husband is 78 and we are still working 6 days a week (we have Tuesday’s off) and I hear you loud and clear.
Our super has disappeared into the abyss and we are just working to survive.
Gifts are about 10-12% of our business but I need to increase it to 20% and that is my current goal.
Stationery can be lifted also but mags and cards are our mainstay and their profitability is not enough to maintain centre rents (which are too high).
I just keep thinking that it could be worse and we could be sick and we are not so we will just have to make the most of it.
It isn’t easy though and at least you know that someone out here in cyberspace understands what you are feeling.
The tyranny of distance is another thing that you have to contend with so this blog
is a good place to air your feelings.
Hopefully, we can all help each other emotionally if not physically.
Hang in there – we will turn the corner!!!
June this is where groups play a good role. The industry average GP is 28% to 32%. Group members achieve higher GP through negotiation as well as higher GP through access to products newsagents don;t usually have access to.
Jenny,
your right they should be chasing us for business but I think that the majority of the time its the suppliers to blame and not the reps.I am also in a small town and I have no staff so reps have to wait until I serve my customers as they are my priority.This does not sit well with some companies as they want their reps chasing the big buyers not small town shops. News Ltd and Fairfax are a fine example of this. I had been a newsagent for 7 years before I met anyone from news.I have now been visited 4 times in eleven years. As for Fairfax only once in eleven years. That pretty much sums up what they think of little businesses but I have come to accept it and I really do value the reps who HAVE stuck by me and they will always come first, besides I like hanging around and annoying those companies who thought I wasn,t good enough or big enough to survive
June, and others in SA/NT
I have dealt with Chris at Aussie for around a year now. He is free with advice, good to deal with and does visit us from time to time. He even goes out to remote areas, an old fashioned “traveler” as we used to call them.
A lot of his stock is bought in from Gibson, etc, BUT he doesn’t have minimum orders or big freight charges and I can often add a good bit over and above his RRP.
Highly recommended.
5 years ago I was doing 30k in gifts, Gibson was probably my biggest supplier. Last financial year I did 150k in gifts and Gibson was probably one of my smallest suppliers. newsXpress has shown me that through thinking outside the square and sharing info and ideas with fellow members that we can improve our own situations beyond our wildest dreams. The latest supplier deals I have embraced are proving to be nothing short of amazing.