One of the wonderful endorsements on the back of Go-Givers Sell More comes from Rick A. Lepley, President and CEO of the half-a-billion-dollar giant A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts, who wrote:
“In today’s economic climate, influencing the culture of a retail company is a daily challenge. In our company, The Go-Giver has helped us move the whole organization toward providing more value and better service. We had all our store General Managers read it—and Go-Givers Sell More will be the next book we give them!”
Rick is a true go-giver — and a man of his word:
We just heard from Jennifer Roelke, Director of Human Resources at A.C. Moore, that Rick is retiring at the end of next week to the quiet joys of farm life with his family — and that before he does, he has asked Jennifer to make sure to buy copies of the book for all their managers.
How many is that? we wondered. She told us:
“We have approximately 140 General Managers, 12 Regional/District leaders, 10 corporate-office field support positions, and another 100 or so Assistant General Managers. All told, we ordered 200 books — and will more than likely be ordering more as the year goes on.”
We wrote back to thank her and Rick, and here’s what Jennifer replied:
“Your book is a part of our culture. Just to share another tidbit, it is actually woven throughout our brand new General Manager-in-Training Program as a sales resource.”
And to demonstrate her point, she sent us an excerpt from the company’s winter newsletter:
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Are you a “Go-Giver”? If not, take note of what some of your peers are doing in their stores to show their associates that “the secret to success is giving.”
In Fredericksburg, Virginia (Store #102), children who pass through the checkout receive a free coloring page. The children are encouraged to return the colored page to the store for a trip to the Treasure Box, which holds small toys for the children to take home. General Manager Bob Horn shared the below story with us.
“We had our second birthday party and when I came in [to work] I found a small stack of our free coloring pages (nicely colored) on my workspace. I asked my Activities Specialist what they were for and she told me that the girls at the birthday party had enjoyed their craft, but were much more excited to get a coloring page and free trip to the Treasure Box. It made an unexpected and apparently much enjoyed addition to their party.”
Bob says, “This program practices the Law of Value by giving more to the customer than we receive in payment. On a personal level, it allows me to practice both the Law of Value (giving something extra to the company) and the Law of Authenticity (by giving my ideas).”
About a 100 miles away, in Frederick, Maryland (Store #41), another management team was also inspired by The Go-Giver. The team gave each associate a “Fourth-Quarter Survival Kit,” which included some of the following:
1 Yellow Highlighter — to highlight your accomplishments.
1 Black Sharpie — to remind you to be sharp and aware of your surroundings.
1 Rubber Band — to keep things together.
1 Smiley Face Sticker — to remember to keep smiling.
1 pack SweetTarts — to remember to be sweet to our customers.
1 $100,000 candy bar — what you are worth to your team
1 energy bar — to pick you up.
With the holidays just around the corner, the associates were delighted that their managers thought about them and put their interests first by practicing the Law of Influence. The Survival Kit showed the team how valued they are by their managers, and at the same time, it reminded them to provide Quality Customer Care.
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Thank you, Rick — and have a fabulous time on that Ohio farm!