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Outsourcing Retail Strategy and Lease Administration
Outsourcing Retail Strategy and Lease Administration 1440 428 ASG

There are 10,000 Boomers retiring every day, and they are taking an enormous amount of institutional knowledge with them. This has been most noticeable in the healthcare and insurance industries, but in the next decade, we’re going to feel it in every industry. 


The Generational Divide

Because Boomers have worked longer and are retiring later, Gen X and Millennial employees, in many cases, have not had the opportunity to rise through the ranks as quickly. As Boomers now begin to disappear at an alarming rate, they are leaving behind very inexperienced replacements who have had much less time and opportunity to enter leadership positions.  Consequently, these replacements have limited high-level work experience, creating a giant skills gap. And as these succeeding generations aren’t having kids quickly enough to create future replacements, the gap and skills shortage will continue to widen.


What does this have to do with retail?

Retailers often benefit from younger generations working in their stores. Digitally native brands inherently understand what traditional brick -and-mortar brands often fail to realize: The brand is the brand, regardless of how or where the shopper engages with the brand.  While operations and other aspects are feeling the pinch on the front end of the talent pool – on the corporate side of retail – I’m seeing this painful loss of institutional knowledge on a regular basis in lease administration – and it is a costly and painful deficit. 


Lease Administration Is a Negotiation Game that Requires Expertise and Finesse

As experienced lease administrators retire and take with them their considerable understanding of leases, settlement negotiations, and relationship building, their younger replacements simply are not armed with the information and knowledge needed to properly defend contracts and protect their companies. For example, in one instance affecting a national retail brand, the lease administrator retired. When the new administrator started, he immediately invested in a new system that included a lot of promised bells and whistles. They spent a ton of money on it – and promptly missed a kickout, costing them over $300,000. When we audited the system after taking over, 82% of their expiration dates were wrong.


The Case for Outsourcing Lease Administration

It’s not just the constant back and forth with ASC 842 updates or even lease negotiation; at the end of the day, outsourcing lease administration ensures that you have the best experts handling the second-largest expense item for many retailers. Relying on experts can help transform a game-changing expense item into a hidden profit center. ASG saved its clients $5 million last year.

ASG manages leases effectively, ultimately serving as a profit center for many of our clients. An investment made with us results in measurable savings – without the headache of arguing over every dollar saved, because we don’t charge an additional contingency fee on the recoveries we generate.  You keep every dollar. For one client last year, that amounted to $1.1 million.  We will do the heavy lifting for your implementation of ASC 842 reporting capability on our lease management platform, many times at no additional cost over the base service fee, saving you thousands in accounting consulting fees and headaches. Your experienced lease administration executives are going to retire. Now is the time to outsource that function to a highly skilled and effective organization who lives and breathes leases.

6 Tips to Generate Customer Loyalty
6 Tips to Generate Customer Loyalty 1440 428 ASG

In today’s retail landscape, the loyalty of your customers is one of your greatest assets, particularly as you leverage an efficient omnichannel strategy. Research has shown that customers that make their purchases both online and offline have lifelong value, but what is it that attracts consumers and keeps them coming back for more? These tips will help businesses maximize their return on marketing efforts and build a brand that consumers will love.


1. Stand for something

Consumers want a transparent brand that boasts a sense of community. They’re looking for brands that back, focus on providing ethically sourced products, and demonstrate how they value employees. Your consumers want to know that you treat people and the environment right. Your brand should have a stance that consumers can get behind and feel good about when they make a purchase.


2. Do more

Excellent customer service should be obvious, but many retailers fall short in this area. Sometimes return and exchange policies don’t resonate with the needs of the customers or HR isn’t hiring the right people for the available positions. Your culture should create an environment in which the people working at your business are driven to help the customer – and empowered to do so.

Not only should you meet your customers’ expectations, but you should exceed them whenever possible.


3. Emotional Connection

We’re well beyond the time where encouraging a sign up for your email marketing and customizing your newsletter with coupons will even deliver ROI. Today’s customers expect to be surprised and delighted; they want a reason to come to your store – and that reason is highly-customized, hyper-focused, and experience-driven.


4. Create convienience

We’re well beyond the time where encouraging a sign up for your email marketing and customizing your newsletter with coupons will even deliver ROI. Today’s customers expect to be surprised and delighted; they want a reason to come to your store – and that reason is highly-customized, hyper-focused, and experience-driven.


5. Encourage conversation

Human connection is what drives retailer, regardless of innovations like AI and machine learning. Consumers love technology, but they still love being heard by a person. Ask for reviews online and encourage both positive and negative feedback from existing loyal customers. What attracted them to your business and why do they keep coming back? Such information could drive future marketing campaigns. Don’t hide behind chatbots or self-help checkouts. Your consumers want access to every aspect of retail, both robotic and human, and an honest conversation will offer better insight than any focus group.

6. Loyalty Programs

Rewards are the driving force of many purchases, like a simple points system or the classic McDonald’s Monopoly game. Loyalty programs encourage repeat visits to your store, giving you a chance to impress your consumer base even after a promotion is over. Give customers a reason to visit your business beyond the usual daily engagements.

A loyal customer is also your best marketing strategy, because they will speak highly of your brand to friends, family, and across social media. There are no limits to the benefits of a loyal customer, and with retailers fighting over consumers, engagement is a top priority. Generating leads for sales is important, but not nearly as crucial as gaining the trust of repeat customers. It costs more to attract new customers than it does to retain loyal ones. When you already know how to connect with your target consumer base, it significantly reduces marketing costs. It’s easier to promote new products to those that already love your business.

Transforming Retail Fulfillment
Transforming Retail Fulfillment 1440 428 ASG

The menace of ecommerce giants, such as Amazon, has been looming over brick-and-mortar stores for several years now. However, the threat is not as real as brick-and-mortar retailers are led to believe. Amazon capitalized on a functioning business model, and consumers are in love with convenient shopping and fast shipping. However, brick-and-mortar retail is capable of many strategies that the ecommerce industry is desperate to tap into.


Brick-and-mortar retail is dead? Hardly.

Consumers still love to browse in store, explore assorted products, and feel items in their hands before purchasing. The biggest challenge that brick-and-mortar retailers face is being able to maximize the value of the retail location. What can your store offer beyond that which can be purchased online? Consumers demand instant gratification, but what that looks like varies from shopper to shopper, and even moment to moment. Physical stores are an essential piece of an omnichannel strategy, and the ability to offer diverse product choices and delivery preferences will change how retailers do business.


Change the supply chain.

The traditional model ignores the crucial connection between the manufacturer and the retailer. Until recently, retail fulfillment has been a component of purchasing that remains rather independent. However, this reliance on drop-shipping is how consumers are lost. Colors and sizes vary depending on location, and without consolidating distribution channels, mistakes are common. Consumers want to be able to order online and pick up in store, because in-store delivery for certain items may be days faster. Others see items in stores, but an in-store app or kiosk may offer a more desirable color that can be shipped to homes. Fulfillment within brick-and-mortar retail demands collaboration to meet the changing demands of consumers.


Leverage real-time inventory

The most important aspect of retail fulfillment and required collaboration is a real-time inventory. Business associates and consumers should easily be able to track shipped items, as well as notify a customer if an item they are interested in is truly available. Even ecommerce giants have struggled with issues such as requested items on backorder and websites not updated at the time of purchase. This results in frustrated customers and incomplete orders. Over time the overall brand can be damaged.  Be mindful of your inventory movement and shipping and invest in a digital infrastructure that will allow your omnichannel strategy to flourish.

The key is to create a seamless and consistent customer experience that not only improves efficiency but also meets demands. The customer experience, not the product, is the most important factor. How you fulfill your promise to the consumer relies on more than just shipping, which is why brick-and-mortar retail is far from dead.

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