Permission to republish granted by Management One  |  Written by Marc Weiss, CEO & President of Management One & Retail Orbit

How do we filter the unwanted and seemingly endless assault, on our email boxes, of products and services that improve our businesses?

Is it worth my time to investigate?

How do we select what is relevant?

I have so much to do just in the day to day affairs of running my business; this becomes both a distraction and a curiosity.

The hard reality is that retail is being reshaped... from the way we market... to the way we buy... the way we hire and train... and how we use a never-ending plethora of data and information.

No question this represents a daunting task and, sometimes, a feeling of FOMO. Marc Cuban mentioned the Fear Of Missing Out in a Shark Tank episode. It was the first time I had heard that FOMO expression. I’d describe it as fear and desire that is created to uncover that magic wand that you wave as if there is some wizardry that springs from the wand.

The responsibility you sense to embrace change - and not fight it - requires more of a process for you to control. The flip side is to feel like you are on a carnival ride of bumper cars hitting you, and you are trying to steer in the right direction.

The first step is to have a process to manage your business that allows you to filter the ideas that are presented.

There are processes out there that fit many sizes. Filtering the noise is not a reason to have a management process; it just happens to be one of the many benefits. The biggest benefit of a process is it forces focus which creates productivity, which is the essential key to profitable growth. In 2019, we will take a deeper dive into what a management system can bring to your business.

Absent a filtering mechanism, here are a few ideas:

  1. Does the product come from a company that has strong retail expertise? This is important because there are a lot of very smart people, creating lots of nifty dashboards that they think retailers need and want. The problem is they do not know retail and are developing sexy looking screens that have little decision-making value.
  2. Ask these questions: Will I get an ROI? If so, how long will it take?
  3. Speak to three users and listen to their experience and how it helped them build their business.
  4. If it sounds too good to be true, well, you know the answer to that.

Lastly, use a trusted source to help you with your filtering.