The first Retail Champion webinar series is here - discover the 10-steps to success today

We've been out and about talking to you all about our project in collaboration with The Retail Champion - Clare Bailey - along with West Lindsey, East Lindsey, and Boston Borough District Councils, to deliver free business support to visitor economy businesses across the county.

Registrations are still open to take part in this free, funded business support working with Claire and her team, all you need to do is fill out a quick form.

Alongside Clare's 1-2-1 support through the programme, we are also offering all partners the chance to tap into Clare's expertise via multiple series of online webinars now available on Teachable.

We're kicking off with The 10-steps to Retail Success Series. Based on Clare's best-selling book of the same title, this series explores the key pillars to building a successful, scalable and saleable, if you wish, business.

This series looks at how you as a business owner can invest in your resilience against current pressures to maintain your presence, but also plan for the future to ensure you are relevant to the ever-changing demands of the consumer.

Clare's 10-steps will help you to build robust and repeatable processes and systems so you can continue to deliver a consistent standard of service, grow your business, and even take some much-earned time off. This series also looks at how businesses are adapting to the needs of post-covid consumers, especially against the current economic backdrop, with the cost of living affecting consumer confidence.

The 10-steps to Retail Success Series

Part 1 | Steps 1-3: Defining a goal and mission, determining position, and identifying your customer

In this episode, Clare will talk you through separating personal from business goals, how goals help define your direction and targets, why your values and beliefs help define your culture, and, how to develop your mission to inform your customer experience.

Part 2 | Steps 4-5: Range planning, and price and promotion

In this episode, Clare looks at speciality vs variety. Discover how product can affect your positioning, and make sure stock is working for you - it has to earn the right to be there, a particularly relevant point given energy costs. Clare also looks at range architecture - the actual, unique, number of stock items you've got, or the number of service categories you offer - the 'range' you offer your customer.

Part 3 | Step 6: Channel and location

More important than ever before in a post-pandemic world to consider your channel as well as your location. In this episode, Clare delivers bite-sized advice about getting to know your customers and their habits, where they shop, and how they shop, as well as looking at the best channels - digital and physical - for your customers.

Part 4 | Step 7: Customer engagement

The pivotal step in the 10-step program, step 7 brings together all the foundation and planning work already covered in steps 1-6, before steps 8-10 bring it to life. Customer engagement is a 4-part upward cycle moving through attraction, conversion, retention, and referrals.

Part 5 | Steps 8-10: Supply chain, planning and controlling, and back office

In the final episode of this series, Clare covers supply chain, planning and controlling, and back office all steps that she calls 'oiling the wheels', often the bit that business owners don't enjoy as much but are areas where you can actually make a profound difference to your business life and get the support you need.