Conference Reflections

The NARMS spring conference in Williamsburg proved yet again to be a great learning experience in several ways. Unfortunately, one of the lessons learned is that an exercise in gluttony may be an obstacle to participation. Although I frequently indulge in desserts; this time the idea relates to our Manufacturers’ group desire to be available for all the conference seminars. 

This desire led us to believe that by staging our Manufacturer’s meeting the day before (Saturday) the conference really began would work better for us all. Instead, we discovered the extra night out prohibited the group from having the normal turnout. A lesson learned! Our Manufacturers’ group will carve out a time to meet during the regular conference time schedule next year at The Broadmoor. 

Although the group was small in numbers, the take-away was ….large! 
The discussions were relevant. The ideas, shared and discovered, I found to have immediate impact. The fruit of this meeting is enough to warrant any Manufacturer to participate in NARMS. 

The conference’s general sessions were strong from the start. Just as the business week is an extension of Monday, conferences must begin with something that sets the desired tone. Thomas Jefferson’s welcome was patriotic and reassuring – serving as a reminder to us all the role business plays in our culture. 
Harold Lloyd’s presentation was as entertaining as it was packed with great ideas. Lloyd reminds us; great ideas have more to do with creativity and commitment than capital outlays. Have you ever noticed how conferences become so much more enjoyable once we have obtained enough good ideas to justify the costs (time, travel and $$) of attendance? Teters Floral Products’ cost of attending was met during Lloyd’s presentation. Thank you, Harold, for picking up the tab for my trip! 

Most of us in the Manufacturers’ group think of Mark Hunter as our very own facilitator or mediator. If you attended his “emerging trends” seminar, you know he is much more. Hunter’s observations ranged from Chicago to Beijing concerning our retail environment. Much like “The Babe calling his shot”, Hunter announced the Beijing factory shutdown for the Olympics 90-days in advance. He gave us ideas for lead generation as well as developing parameters to apply for staying power relating to retailers. 

Although I have mentioned only a couple of the speakers by name, please don’t reason that other speakers were less relevant. Actually, this conference possessed the best collective group of presenters ever! 

But, as strong as the conference was, the even greater strength of attending occurs between sessions. The meetings, both by chance and appointment; before and after sessions, are the “hidden” reason for being there. Visiting with other manufacturers and MSO’s often offers as much insight to the industry as anything formal. 

We have very few opportunities to float ideas and ask questions in our everyday work environment. During a NARMS conference we have the opportunity to engage in discussions with the consumer sales giants or top service providers. The words “giants” and “top” are a reference to the membership’s commitment to excellence, not necessarily volume of business. (Although the surroundings at the conference tempt us to break away; I encourage staying plugged in to reap the maximum benefit.) 

The exhibitors also play a vital role in that they help defray the cost of the conference. More importantly, our exhibitors come with products that may radically improve our efficiency. Product categories range from recruitment tools to travel services and so much more. We are currently entertaining three commitments that could significantly improve our business model. Time will tell if we are able to go forward with any of these suppliers; however the mere prospective prove that the NARMS conference offers a great opportunity to explore ideas with a wide range of suppliers and products. 

This past conference was a great success. Now is the time to be planning the success of next year’s conference. I would be interested in hearing any ideas from the Manufacturers’ group that would improve the conference. Please feel free to e-mail or call with your suggestions. 

Kelly Baker 
1-800-999-5996 
kellyb@teters.com 

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Difficult Economics Produce Efficiency

I hope you’re already looking forward to the 13th Annual NARMS Conference. It is always exciting to attend the conference, but it is especially exciting to be attending the conference in colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. It will be interesting to turn back the clock to an earlier time in our history of America. Sometimes people romanticize the colonial era as a simpler time. When I visit areas of the country dedicated to early times, my thoughts tend to go to how tough it must have been just to survive. My son understood some of these thoughts last year during an ice storm that left us without water or electricity for three days. Towards the end of the ordeal he said, “I understand why people used to get up before dawn and go to bed at sunset. You cannot do anything without electricity.” My son is beginning to learn, sometimes surviving requires effort. 

Times are not as difficult these days. With less difficult times we have become softer. Everything becomes relative. Even though things are not as difficult as they once were, things seem a little more difficult now. At the very least, business seems to be presenting more challenges today. 

Times are not great. Month end reports have retailers celebrating financials as “not as bad as they could have been” or giving weather reports. (A friend of mine once pointed out, when a financial report begins with a review of the weather the numbers will be disappointing.) As if the financial reports are not difficult enough, we have to deal with an election year. Apparently, our psyche demands we vote for candidates whose specialty is economic turnaround. This would explain why most of the presidential hopefuls delight in their need to describe an incredibly fragile economy. These things, combined with volatile fuel prices and salary pressures, make for interesting times in the merchandising industry. 

Probably the most difficult aspect to a slow economy is the challenge it presents to growth. Most, if not all, companies exist to grow. There are different measurements, top line or bottom line, but all are intended to measure growth. When manufactures meet growth obstacles, expense reductions follow. Unfortunately, even when growth opportunities develop, the ROI never seems soon enough. The need for the return can either cause companies to under commit to service or to think in-store service can be omitted. The reality is for opportunities to be both fruitful and sustainable; the company needs a differentiating factor. This differentiating factor doesn’t have to be in-store service, but when sustainable, service is an excellent advantage. 
Difficult times require efficiency. CFOs knows how to reduce expense, it’s a numbers game. Efficiency on the other hand allows a commitment to excellence, in this case in-store service, while reducing or stopping the growth of expense. Discovery of efficiencies can come from our company teams or networking. A better case scenario is to use both. 

NARMS members have an excellent opportunity at the upcoming meeting in Williamsburg, VA. We do not necessarily need an epiphany in our office if we are attentive at the seminars. We will be assembled with a number of companies experiencing similar obstacles. A willingness to dialogue might yield efficiencies or prompt the creativity to discover better ideas. 

Learning to do things better is critical in difficult times. The difference might be enough to change a quarter from slightly down to up. The difference could change a direction to reduce service to retaining the commitment to excellence at a reduced cost. 

As great as efficiencies are for tough times, they are even better for good times. It is important to remember, better times are coming. Economies are cyclical. The tough times weed out lesser business models. The better companies survive and take full advantage of better times. The ideas we implement now produce even more exciting results in better times. 

If you’re like me, you might find business more challenging today, but not nearly as difficult as it might be if we still lived in colonial times. Let’s work together at the conference in pursuit of better ideas. 

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Tis the season

Christmas is an exciting time of year. It’s a season to visit with family and friends. The season also has an incredible impact of re-directing our wondering priorities. It’s a time of year when retailers maximize their profits. The intensity of the retail season allows companies involved with in-store service to fully commit to the partnership. Most of our commitments can be divided into two groups: 
1) Activities involved in getting product to the store. 
2) Activities involved in getting the product from the receiving area to the sales floor. 

Activities involved in getting product to the store have improved radically over the last several years. 

Point of Sale Data: 
Today’s retailer knows which SKUs are selling and the necessary inventory to support the sales. Retailers also know which items prompt the purchase of other items. With the POS data comes a better understanding of customer demographics. 

Point of Sale Replenishment: 
The scanned sale of an item triggers the reorder. POS replenishment, combined with formulas and forecasts, ensures the product’s arrival for “just in time inventory”. The days of dependence on sales reps or store employees to activate an order is lessening. 

Quick Turn Around: 
These enhancements, combined with better distribution efforts, have shortened our turn-around time. Turn-around times that exceeded a month have been shortened to days. 

With these improvements, it’s easy to understand why a company could perceive the task of getting the product from the warehouse into the consumer’s hands as complete. Unfortunately, we have only decreased the interval of time between the warehouse and the store’s receiving area. We understand the battle for the consumer dollar is won or lost on the sales floor. 

Activities involved in getting the product from the receiving area to the sales floor. 

Improved Call Cycles for the Merchandiser: 
The sales velocity of the Christmas season may indicate the need for more frequent visits to the store. The velocity of sales combined with the consumer’s busy schedule may result in only one opportunity for purchase. It is disappointing to realize the “on-hand inventory” only indicates the product is in the store, not on the sales floor, resulting in a missed register ring. 

Better Merchandising Requires Touch: 
As automated as the process has become, it still requires people touching the product to merchandise. Relationships develop within the merchandising element. Relationships allow store management to become excited about the product. Relationships encourage store personnel to become involved in daily maintenance. Being known reduces complaints. Relationships go a long way in separating your product from similar products vying for the same consumer dollar. 

Better Display Location: 
The Christmas season is well known for impulse purchasing. The closer to the holiday, the greater the likelihood of an impulse shopper becoming involved with your product. This predisposition increases when your product is featured on end caps or center aisle displays. While a great deal of these locations is planned, there can always be additional placement. These additional placements tend to occur later in the season when store personnel are at the peek of their busy season. Consumer sales companies with merchandising may fill this need. If your company has positioned itself properly, you will maximize your selling season. 

Don’t be surprised if your success goes unnoticed with buyers and store personnel. The mountain of data just may be so great as to hide your success. It is important that we take the time to inform the key players of the mutual success. It is critical to share the impact of merchandising with buyers and store personnel alike. Although success is measured with numbers: success requires more than numbers. 

Christmas is an exciting time of year for many reasons. Please remember the most important reason… 
“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call Him Immanuel – which means God with us.” 
Matthew 1:23 

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Refining and Enhancing In-store Service

The NARMS Manufacturers’ Division share group recently had their semi-annual meeting. Usually this meeting occurs in late fall but due to unfinished work from the annual spring conference; the group decided to meet in July. The meeting was successful in problem solving and brainstorming elements and included one departure from the norm. We had a special presentation by Steve Donzelli, representing the MSO Division. This small agenda change may almost go unnoticed or seem insignificant until we explain further.

The immediate goal of having MSO companies represented at the meeting was to better understand what the MSOs need from manufacturers for a mutually successful business model. Steve represented the MSOs brilliantly. Achieving this goal opens the door to much larger opportunities through NARMS.

The greater goal might be to blend the varied agendas of the membership to discover the premium commonality. NARMS is primarily about in-store retail services. Although the different groups and companies employ special niches and unique channels, the commonality is supreme. As we refine, enhance, and promote this commonality our membership in NARMS will be rewarded. As we focus on in-store service the differences between the diversity of divisions of NARMS disappears. This focused effort also reveals that there is little difference between our greatest challenges and the in-store challenges of the retailer.

Refining and enhancing in-store service is to focus on three all-important topics:
• Finding employees
• Training
• Communication

You may notice, reducing turnover is absent from the list. Our spring conference discussion at the Tucson meeting suggests that success in the aforementioned topics reduces turnover.
Finding Employees
Every member at NARMS participates in this event far too frequently. Better utilization of recruitment techniques from “word of mouth” to the Job Bank pays immediate dividends. Interviewing and screening techniques must be developed. We all draw from the larger pool of candidates and finding the person who is the absolute best match for our organizations is critical. Sometimes, we may think that the quality of candidates has diminished over time. I happen to believe that the quality of candidates has remained stable. The greatest change over time has been the cost of a vacancy. The cost of an open territory has risen to the point that we sometimes accept a lesser candidate for quick availability. Although we all know the downside to this decision tree, we still find ourselves caught in the trap.

Training
Retailers pick up the tab for all in-store services. It does not matter what service you provide or who you bill. Manufacturers know the cost of service is ultimately reflected in the cost of goods. The only things a retailer will pay for are services they cannot provide for themselves. Any other service a retailer pays for detracts from their competitive position. Reducing this proposition means any services you provide out of “convenience” becomes a burden to the retailer’s balance sheet. The only exception to this rule is if the “other service” you provide can be done with less expense to the retailer than if they provide the service for themselves. The conclusion means our people must be intricately trained in specific projects for efficiency. Any advances in training provided by NARMS may become invaluable to the membership and the retailer.

Communications
The phrase is nebulous and worn but still very important. Most of us still think in terms of “top down” communications. Reality dictates communication to be circular. Although there are many technological opportunities to communicate today, nothing beats good old “face time”. Ideas provided by NARMS that engage us in better communications are vital.

Why the plea for a cooperative effort to enhance in-store service?

The idea for a cooperative effort from the membership at NARMS is rather simple.

I’m not sure any person can fully develop a strategy to reach the pinnacle of in-store service. I know I cannot. A cooperative effort allows us to utilize the break-through ideas of others. Relating to ideas, a friend of mine claims he “steals shamelessly but shares generously”. While I didn’t completely agree with the statement, I think you get the idea.

According to recent research I’ve seen, over 50% of the merchandiser’s surveyed work for more than one merchandising company. The implication here is if Teters substantially raises the bar for in-store service, over 50% of the employees will carry the advanced ideas to other companies. The opposite is also true; as other in-store service companies performing at a higher level of excellence may result in better performance in behalf of Teters.

A look at the future:
As we become wholly focused on bettering in-store service, the retailer will be more naturally attracted to NARMS; not to lead and direct, but to share in the learning experience. If this feat is attainable, everyone’s programs benefit and we’ll see winners at all levels. When this feat is accomplished, the circle of NARMS membership becomes complete.

P.S.
In an effort to help our base of manufacturer members within NARMS network, a new Manufacturer Division List Serv has been established. Yet another NARMS membership benefit, this will enable the 41-manufacturer members to have ongoing conversations throughout the year.

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Conference Appreciation

If you’re like me you may still be decompressing or decomposing from the NARMS Spring Conference. I suppose your choice of words here may be reliant more on your after hour activities then the actual conference. Either way, the conference was excellent!

Expectations for conferences are always high. After all, to attend means neglecting the responsibilities we confront and fulfill daily. Responsibilities of our professional and personal lives are put on hold while we sacrifice our time at a top tier resort (always an easy sell). At the end of the conference are the same haunting questions:

• Does the information learned at the conference directly or indirectly apply to my core set of responsibilities?
• Does this newly equipped knowledge base represent a net gain compared to the time lost at work?

Conference brochures assure us of their relevant nature, but conferences seldom deliver to the point of success. The reason for conference failure explained: Organizations are formed to serve. Once chartered, the organization’s primary mission is to perpetuate its own existence neglecting its primary responsibilities to serve.

Somehow NARMS has avoided the pitfall. The successful navigation of NARMS can be attributed to the chief steward Dan Borschke. Dan inherited a very healthy and growing organization when Gary Ebben stepped aside. Organizations during growth periods tend to abandon the service mission in favor of growth objectives (everyone loves to feed the baby bear and watch it grow until they realize a bigger bear requires more to eat. The more the bear needs to eat the greater the likelihood of aborting quality service in order to find more food). Because of Dan’s genuine interest and need to serve, he has found a way to maintain NARMS commitment to quality service and still grow the numbers.

The conference this year served Teters Floral Products’ needs exceptionally well. I confess, in the past most of my time and interest was invested in the breakout sessions, neglecting most general sessions. It has always seemed to me general session speakers were long on motivation and weak on substance. While the motivation was present this year the information was excellent. Those attending garner a better understanding of markets and behavior. There were different paradigms introduced to the audience that will help facilitate the multiple strategies our companies are going through or will be going through.

The breakout sessions were absolutely as strong as ever. The session dedicated to “seeing your company thru your reps eyes” was of particular interest. The field reps that critiqued their own employment experiences were both affirming and alarming. In the world of implementation, a top-down view simply doesn’t carry the flag. The reps helped tie down one of the general session themes:

If the reps get it, the stores are happy. If the stores are happy, everyone gets rewarded!

The Manufacturers’ breakout meetings were stronger than ever. Common concerns were discussed, sharing took place, and problem solving was offered. The break through occurred in large part due to the role Mark Hunter played as facilitator. We may have reached the critical point where a manufacturer is disadvantaged if they are absent. The group has asked for another meeting to be added this summer along with the off season meeting in the fall. This group could become the fastest growing membership segment in NARMS over the next 18-24 months.

The conference is already having an impact on Teters. The first couple of days back in the office were spent sharing new ideas with my team, peers and CEO. The new ideas will have a lasting impact if we continue to revisit, monitor and modify as necessary. Hopefully all attendees are taking the same approach with their companies. Too often new ideas have the same consequence as balloons at a picnic, released never to be seen again. If we are diligent, we have the opportunity to fulfill our objectives of attending the conference.

Finally, let me thank Steve Donzelli who served as conference chair. Meetings like this do not just happen. Meetings require planning, hard work, and the ability to shift on the go. Steve’s efforts allowed us all to have a productive and pleasant conference.

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Cashing in on the Conference: The Tucson Take Away

The Tucson Conference is fast approaching. If you are like me, there is an annual evaluation of which conference and trade shows to attend. Trips like Tucson are of particular concern due to their non-revenue producing nature. Not only is the trip non-revenue producing, it is an interruption of the “things-to-do list”; which always is namely, to produce revenue. Besides, my travel is demanding enough without conferences. However, after reviewing the pros and cons, we find the trip a necessity because the reasons not to go are eclipsed by the reasons to go.

When most people think of reasons to go to a conference, the top of the list is networking. While I enjoy meeting people, the idea of networking has never really appealed to me. What is appealing is the formula: people equal ideas. New ideas are simply new to the person receiving the idea. Most companies are starved for new ideas due to the incestuous structure of their organization. Meeting new people means meeting new ideas.

New idea’s relating to recruiting and training:

No matter your niche at NARMS, you are in the people business. Seminars and conversations relating to recruiting and training are always advantageous. We are either affirmed in our process or challenged to entertain a new model.

New ideas relating to benchmarking:

Most businesses have some component of “beat last year.” Even though we run our companies to budget; budget is usually related to last year. This “beat last year” model predisposes the company to incremented improvement at best. Service is no different. If we think our service is better, we actually may only know our service is better than last year’s metrics. Benchmarking allows our companies to be measured to industry standards. NARMS may be the only group actually involved in industry benchmarking. Please remember, benchmarking can occur formally or informally (e.g. using NARMS studies or dialog with membership).

New ideas through technology:

Some companies use proprietary software, some license software, some use a blend. There is no better place then a NARMS conference to discover new ideas relating to software. Whether your company’s needs are immediate or future, the conference is a great place to begin the process of discovery. Work the exhibitors and work the membership. Somebody has probably already been through a similar process of discovery and may be very useful.

New ideas for working the conference:

No matter what reason you’re attending, come with an agenda. Remember Stephen R. Covey’s advice, “begin with an end in mind.” Have a reason for being there. Your agenda should include who you hope to meet, seminars you want to attend, and finally what your “take away” should be. The “take away” can range from specific to general. For me, past conferences have introduced me to two or three “implement-at-once” ideas. These “implement-at-once” ideas do not come with fanfare so be on your toes to listen closely to not miss them.

At Teters, we have at least two specific targets on our agenda. We are always looking for better ways to incent our people. We are currently rethinking how people are paid to carry out our specific corporate goals. This process of discovery includes base wage and performance incentives. The groups of employees range from mid-management to part-time service personnel. Also, we are trying to better understand and manage productive vs. non-productive time. Non-productive time includes anything not directly related to generating revenue (e.g. time between stores, time spent waiting for authorizations, and time involved with reporting). All examples support but do not generate revenue.

I know I am looking forward to the conference and hope you are too. It will be great to see some friends and meet new people. If we are willing to work together and share ideas, the conference will be a success.

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Three Steps Toward Success

As we have discussed in the past, the world of retail is changing. Teters has been involved for the last couple of months in eight major projects involving over 17,000 locations with one retailer (some locations are involved with multiple projects).

Although these numbers relate to only one retailer, the same story exists with most of our customers. These projects normally co-exist within our current commitment to manage the existing modular business. On more than one occasion I have longed for the day when our programs for tomorrow would be similar to our programs of yesterday.

Needless to say, all of these projects are managed with a tighter expense budget but with hopes of an expanding return.

The projects and tests are being driven by retailers; acknowledgment of a very volatile environment and the need to be adaptable to trends. The good news is most of these projects and tests are deemed a success in both design meetings and layout or planogram rooms. The bad news is customers still do not shop in vendor meetings or layout rooms.

The opportunity is apparent: Vendors with great execution at store level win! Vendors with an inability to execute at store level will soon join the ranks of the dinosaur.

Execution will be totally dependent on our frontline teams. When you tour stores, think about the difference you witness between locations with identical planograms.

Communications within the chain are identical. The information shared from your headquarters to the field is identical, but the display may be radically different. These differences you witness will relate to the people merchandising your product. Better people ensure better execution.

If we are in agreement with the argument and the observation, then the logical question becomes: “Where can we find better people?”

It is also important to remember that meaningful communication involves listening. Everyone needs to be listening; but this is especially true of the headquarter team. Bring groups of your frontline team together and listen to their input. You will be delighted to find how your communication skills increase in effectiveness once you better understand frontline concerns and vocabulary. The three steps are not magical. They require your commitment and constant refining.

Use of the three steps will ensure we have better people representing our companies. As we addressed earlier, there seems to be more special project and test programs than ever before. With the right people representing our companies, negotiating these hoops and hurdles will help demonstrate our value again and again!

Step One:
Source good people.
Use the NARMS website: www.narms.com. NARMS has been providing a significant advantage to both the employer and candidate for quite some time now. Our experience hiring through the NARMS website has been rewarding. We still stub our toe occasionally with selection but NARMS still provides a better success rate than other labor sources.

Step Two:
Good Training.
All companies take pride in their training and orientation process. We are no different. At cursory glance, most training procedures reveal an enormous amount of “what to do”. Sadly, most new employees involved in training get very little exposure to why we do what we do. With the ever-changing retail environment, knowing “why” allows the employee to adapt and alter planograms as necessary without destroying the purpose and intent of the planogram.

Step Three:
Good Communication.
The paradox is that most companies celebrate their dedication to communication while most employees feel communication is lacking or non-existent. While visiting with a consultant specializing in corporate communication recently, I asked which form of communication works best in the modern business environment. His response was, “use every form of communication available and allow the redundancies to drive the point”. With today’s hectic pace we too often tend to see repetition as the enemy not the ally.

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BETTER PROBLEM SOLVING

So much has changed in our industry since I first met a man named Chuck Belding at the Housewares Show in the mid 90’s. Chuck was describing a need for companies offering in-store service to meet and share best practices and better ideas. This idea has grown into what we know today as NARMS.

Back in the day, manufacturers knew more about the success of different products than the retailer. Today, the retailer’s database is so sophisticated that a manufacturer is fortunate to gain access to the retailer’s program. Not all that long ago, retailers chose not to build stores near their competitors. Today we realize traffic flow is king and retail planning insists on clusters of like stores. There was a time when a company providing in-store service was thought of as unique. Today many manufacturers provide in-store service or are represented in-store by MSOs.

Unfortunately, one thing has not changed: our in-store service programs are not as good as we claim. Oddly enough, this disconnect exists with manufacturers in their own in-house programs as well as manufacturers using MSOs. We all tend to look better on paper (or should I say PowerPoint) than we execute in-store. Sadly, the business becomes invisible when all is well. Conversely, the business tends to be defined when a lack of success is experienced in the market place. The logic is simple. Success is expected; failure is a broken promise.

We built this paradigm. Although the contributing factor is over commitment, the problem is actually far more complex. Think about our model. Our business is based on relatively low wages, a challenging turnover rate, and most of the management is off-site. These three challenges combined with our predisposition to over commit, is a recipe for lower customer satisfaction. The good news is if we built this paradigm, we can strengthen this paradigm.

The first step in correcting the paradigm will involve creativity. Creativity, by definition involves risk. Specifically, risk involves a willingness to openly discuss problems, failures, and obstacles to business. In short, why do our service programs (both in-house and MSO) sound so good and yet so frequently fail to meet expectations? This openness becomes an incubator for better ideas, proven ideas, and frequently inexpensive or cost saving ideas. In the last two manufacturer’s meetings, there have been multiple “implement at once” ideas. These ideas came when the manufacturers were cloistered. Meeting with like groups is necessary but limiting. It would be naïve for any group in NARMS to believe they have a lock on discovery.
The second step in correcting the paradigm will be to destroy the apparent chasm between MSOs and manufacturers. While the divide is not as great as it has been, it still exists. There are far more similarities between MSOs and manufacturers than dissimilarities. Although the definition of “customer” might vary slightly between groups, the need to fulfill both the retailer’s and consumer’s demands are critical. Often we approach our networking and seminars as though our needs are mutually exclusive. Most manufacturers involved with NARMS have some commitment to their own service team. Some manufacturers may also operate as MSOs. The divide between manufacturers and MSOs is certainly being narrowed. As we focus more on our similarities, we may find our discussions far more fruitful.

The idea of open discussion, especially between groups will not be easy. Change never is. Open discussion will require honesty, participation, and a sincere need for problem resolution. The rewards will be fantastic. We can continue to enhance the NARMS reputation, better understand how our businesses are interdependent, and become better contributors to our companies.

By the way, this guy Chuck Belding believed if we raised the overall professionalism of the industry, the individual companies would prosper. Great idea Chuck! Let’s press the envelope!

Kelly Baker is from Teters Floral Products of Bolivar, MO.

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Get More … Stay Involved

Hopefully by now you have all made your arrangements to attend the 11th Annual NARMS Spring Conference in beautiful Amelia Island. The agenda for this year is very exciting. We have excellent general sessions and keynote speakers, a wide variety of workshops to choose from, breakfast sessions, NARMS Super Session #2 with Mark Hunter again moderating, exhibitor booths and a Florida Beach Party as the closing event.

Our Manufacturers’ Advisory Board meeting will be held on Saturday, April 1st from 6 to 8 p.m., and is open to all manufacturers in attendance at spring conference. The manufacturer session on Sunday, April 2nd from 3:45 to 6:00 p.m., has been renamed as NARMS Super Session #1. We again have Bryan Gildenberg from Management Ventures Inc., who will now be available to a much larger audience. With the popularity of last year’s session and Bryan’s wealth of information and industry insight we’ve also expanded the time slot.

We also have two breakfast sessions scheduled for networking. Monday, April 3rd will be for Manufacturers with Tuesday’s joint session including MSO’s. I recommend that everyone spend some time reviewing the agenda for this conference since there are so many excellent sessions and workshops scheduled.

On a personal note, this will be my last newsletter article since the next one will be after the Spring Conference. Having served as Chairman of the Manufacturers’ Advisory Board for two years, the time has come for me to move on. I will continue in my role through the Spring Conference and keep you updated on our upcoming meetings and sessions. We expect a new chairman to be named at the NARMS Spring Conference.

I want to thank everyone for their support over the last two years and the time, energy and contributions in making the manufacturers’ group an integral part of NARMS. Our involvement in NARMS and with each other has grown substantially during this period and this is just the beginning. I feel that our overnight Advisory Board Meetings with an afternoon meeting, group dinner and working session on the following morning has worked very well. To me the most important part was being able to socialize and interact and get to know one another better after the afternoon sessions. I’ve also heard from many on the committee of how valuable our shared group discussions are and the fact that everyone walks away from these meeting with something new to apply in their business.

I also want to be clear that I will still be actively involved with NARMS after the Spring Conference and look forward to contributing to this exciting and growing organization that has evolved to become international. I look forward to seeing you all in Amelia Island at what promises to be an outstanding Spring Conference.

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Manufacturers Plan Ahead

The NARMS Manufacturers’ Advisory Board held its meeting on October 4 - 5 in Las Vegas with a primary focus to finalize our plans for the upcoming NARMS Spring Conference and Exhibition. Dan Borschke started the meeting off with an update on NARMS, the Spring Conference and variety of other topics. Bob Stoik provided the manufacturers with a NARMS Board of Director’s update which we found very informative.

After some great discussion, we accomplished our main objective in working out all the details and sessions for the Spring Conference. We have scheduled our Advisory Board Meeting for Saturday, April 1st from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. We are also having a Manufacturer Member Session open to all Manufacturers on Sunday, April 2nd from 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. I am pleased to announce that we will again host Bryan Gildenberg from Management Ventures, Inc. as a presenter, taking what we heard last year to another level. Specifics on this presentation are being worked on.

On Monday, April 3 from 7:00 - 8:45 a.m., we will have a Manufacturer’s Breakfast Session for networking and on Tuesday, April 4th a joint breakfast session with MSO/Manufacturers. We’ll have a closing session for all NARMS Manufacturer members on Tuesday, April 4th from 4 - 5:00 p.m. These will all be outlined in the final Spring Conference agenda.

The balance of our meeting was spent on shared group discussion topics. Those attending shared their own retail organizational structure and it was agreed that we will develop a Manufacturer Profile on retail capturing some of this data. We also discussed scorecards and how we individually measure retail performance. As a very diverse group, the scorecard examples some shared proved to be extremely interesting for all.

Additionally for this meeting, everyone was asked to bring along a Success Story or a “Best Practice” to share with the group. Other topics included customer penetration at the headquarters or field operations level, customer preferred vendor programs, overall retail execution and several others. Overall, I’m sure that everyone at the meeting took away something that could benefit their own organization, making this volunteer service opportunity beneficial.

Since this will be the last newsletter in 2005, I want to take this time to thank all Manufacturers’ Advisory Board Members for their support and involvement this past year. I also want to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season. We look forward to the 2006 NARMS Annual Spring Conference at Amelia Island Plantation and hope our contributions help in making this meeting a huge success.

Happy Holidays!

Dieter Gobbelet is National Retail Manager, Bayer HealthCare, Basking Ridge, NJ.

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