WE’VE GOT A LOT TO SAY—THAT’S WHY WE MADE A PODCAST. And trust us, these are things you’ll want to hear. Manndatory Listening is a podcast about the hows and whys, dos and don'ts, and step-by-steps of leadership. We’re combining our own expertise—16 years of it—with that of leaders across dozens of…
Welcome back to Manndatory Listening! It has been a minute since you've heard from The Mann Group, and you may be wondering what these folks have been up to. Join Dan Mann, Ryan McCarty, and the rest of The Mann Group team for this recording of Dan Mann's recent virtual book talk discussing his newest release, Leading Change: How to Achieve Superior Results with Gentle Pressure Relentlessly Applied - now available everywhere! And be sure to stay tuned for upcoming episodes of Manndatory Listening. Thank you for listening! Pick up your copy of Leading Change on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop! Please leave a review for Dan's Leading Change on Amazon: Hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?asin=B0C2WPY56F Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?asin=B0C2K4SCPH Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?asin=B0C1TKP5PJ
Kent and Dan talk with Ian Hughes, founder and managing director at Vielo Sports, a boutique bicycle company in the UK. The guys discuss Ian’s interesting and varied background in the bicycle trade, in marketing, and in establishing his own brand starting in 2017. Ian also talks about the COVID-19 situation in the UK and how businesses are coping there.
Kent and Dan recognize some unsung retail heroes—some of The Mann Group’s clients who are doing whatever it takes to keep going and keep innovating during the pandemic. During the worst economic crisis of our (or maybe any) time, these leaders and business owners are staying positive and coming up with new and novel ways to keep in touch with their customers, keep offering their goods and services, and to keep their spirits up.
Kent and Dan continue their coping with COVID-19 discussion, focusing on the importance of staying active and continuing to set goals. Something as simple as writing a “to do” list and methodically accomplishing those tasks keeps the mind focused on the positive and helps to tamp down stress and anxiety. Despite the gravity of the situation, it’s not only possible but crucial to think positively and to be grateful for the good things in life and business.
Dan and Kent look back to 9/11 for lessons learned from that tragic time that business owners and leaders can apply today to help get through the COVID-19 emergency. The main lesson: take care of your people. Host a video conference call to touch base, make sure that your team members are doing OK, and to discuss plans and strategy looking ahead. As Dan and Kent discussed in the last podcast, it’s important for leaders to set the tone for their teams by taking the situation seriously while also remaining optimistic and thinking about new opportunities that may emerge in the aftermath of the current crisis.
In the first episode of the 3rd season of Manndatory Listening, Kent and Dan Mann discuss our new, locked-down reality and what businesses, and especially business leaders, can do to weather the storm and emerge even stronger than before when things return to something like normal. A key for leaders is to practice and demonstrate self-discipline and self-care. Projecting calm and making insightful decisions, even when you’re feeling less than calm and even scared, is crucial for boosting your team’s morale and positioning your business to not merely survive but to stand strong during these difficult times.
We’re wrapping up Season Two and our GPRA series with a look at cultures of accountability. Dan and Kent discuss how to create a culture of accountability (the key is in following up), cultivating transparency through metrics, and how accountability is both the beginning and end of the GPRA cycle.
Matt Powell, retail sage and VP & senior industry advisor in sports at The NPD Group, talks through the evolution of our industry, including topics like the transition from omnichannel to blended retail, customization versus personalization, brand and retailer partnerships, and investing in technology and people.
Once you’ve gotten an agreement from your employees and established metrics to measure the results, it’s time to train. But the trick lies not just in comprehensive training, but in watching what’s happening and providing live feedback—or coaching. Learn how to implement both in the third episode in our GPRA series.
The only way to ensure you’re getting results is through intentional, numerical tracking. In the second podcast in the Gentle Pressure Relentlessly Applied series, Dan and Kent talk through how to define the metrics of your goals, how to measure your business’ and employees’ results, and why it matters.
It takes more than training to effectively implement change, and it begins with Agreement on Approach. Dan and Kent talk through why it’s important to get alignment before you train your employees, hope versus causal management styles, and one entertaining story involving a millionaire and a bathroom.
Self-employment requires a whole host of skills familiar to entrepreneurs like self-disciple and self-awareness (yup, lots of "self"). Emily shares lessons learned from the freelance road on productivity, prioritization, and when to say "no" that are applicable to leaders, business owners, and entrepreneurs.
Everyone’s different, especially when it comes to communication styles and approach to tasks. It takes a savvy leader to set aside judgements and emotions in order to hire and coach with those individualities in mind—Leslie and Kent help you learn how to do so in the latest episode of Ma
Whether you’re connecting with customers or leading your team, cultivating an authentic connection begins with one person: yourself. Leslie and Kent riff on cultivating personal awareness and avoiding judgement in order to foster empathy and true connection with the world around you.
The first step to hiring the right person for the job is to define it. Leslie and Kent chat about how to craft a job description that goes beyond words—including expectations, competencies, and priorities—in order to hire well, plus discuss how to avoid the perils of hiring with urgency and assumptions.
We’ve heard all the excuses why you’re not hiring high schoolers: they’re not responsible, they don’t have the experience, they’re on their phones, they can’t focus. But what about the reasons why you should hire high schoolers? Eileen Urtz of A Runner’s Mind shares the many pros—like cultivating diversity and encouraging community—of hiring young, and dismantles those false cons, too.
Do you know what your customers think of your business? Unless you’ve cracked the mind-reading case, the best way to accurately understand the perspective of your customers and how to make them happy is the Net Promoter System. We talked with Steve Beheler of Spokes Etc. on how they’ve used and adapted NPS to receive precise and applicable feedback from their customers.
He’s back, and even wiser than before. Uriah Standish of Asheville butchery The Chop Shop lends his spry but experienced insight on specialty retail—like how to level the playing field and offer feedback as a Gen Xer, incentivize lackadaisical employees, and wow first-time customers—in this episode with Kent
A single interview has the potential to change the trajectory of a candidate’s fate—and the fate of your business. That’s why it’s so important to do it right. Tony and Kent talk through resume revelations, key interview questions (plus ones to avoid), and how (and why) to excavate and investigate a potential employee’s past during an interview.
What’s an influencer? How do you connect with them? And how can your business use them to its advantage? In this episode of Manndatory Listening, we answer all these questions and illustrate why influencers can help your business grow through targeted marketing campaigns with valuable metrics that make this the #bestmarketingever.
Our first tip for interviewing is never stop interviewing. If that’s your approach, you’ll get good at it on your own—but we’re boosting you with our official guide, including how many interviews to host, what questions to ask, and what to look for to build your A-team of staff.
Look, even we have tried it, but video training simply isn’t effective on its own. Our own Tony Tanner breaks down all the reasons why video training just ain’t the real thing (like the fact that you can’t guarantee buy-in, and that the experience of failure is a huge motivator) in this episode.
As much as 20% of bike business is on the service side, and despite common perceptions, service people are integrally tied to a business’ customer service. In this episode, Dan and Kent discuss why providing a great customer experience in your service department can be a vital part of retaining your most valued customers.
The bike industry isn’t failing, it’s simply evolving. That means e-bikes, bike sharing, bike tourism, and direct-to-consumer manufacturing like Canyon Bikes. According to the president of Canyon USA Blair Clark, it’s a model with both benefits and disadvantages—learn how he’s worked through both to push the company past its targets in this episode.
Bike retailers—actually, all specialty retailers—represent the frontline of their industry. When those retailers aren’t prepared, manufacturers become more directive, and frustration often ensues. The solution? A well-researched inventory plan based on calculated risk, Dan says. Listen in for the how-to inspired by a question from a bike retailer.
Roll Bicycles are made to order and completely personalized, a fact that founder Stuart Hunter claims is a major factor of success in not only his own business and industry but the entire field of specialty retail. The passionate cyclist talks through the benefits of both direct-to-consumer and retail partnerships, how to find and retain talent, and the future of the industry in our first Bike Month episode.
Just because you have co-workers doesn't mean you have a team. Dan and Kent define a true team, the leaders who make it (we like to call those "Player-Coaches"), and the five things you have to have to build an effective, evolving team. Some of them are straightforward (like job descriptions), others are a little sexier (incentivizing performance), but they're all necessary to make the team.
Want to increase trust, access new markets, boost customer retention, and bring in more big-spenders? That's what consistent branding is all about. Learn why consistent branding matters (and why it can't be based on a single initiative) in this week's episode with VP of Marketing Emily Glaser.
Your brand story is much more than just your marketing message. VP of Marketing Emily Glaser explains how your brand story impacts all aspects of your business, from hiring to store layout, and shares applicable tips for defining and replicating your own message, including revelatory q's and queues for adaptation.
Ian Christie of successful specialty retailer Summit Bicycles shares his experience with commission-based compensation, including its effects on employee motivation, effective hiring, and healthy competition, as well as the pros and cons of bonuses, incentives, and offering compensation options.
Late last year The Mann Group experienced the best kind of culture shock when we hosted Mann U with PrimaFit in Jakarta, Indonesia. The lessons we learned were many (including quite a few on the merits of good air travel), but perhaps most important was the cultural prioritization of JWD—jobs well done—in Jakarta.
We have the key to passionate, knowledgeable, dedicated employees: decent compensation, and 40 hours of it. Kent and Dan outline the detrimental effects of minimum wage on the specialty retail industry, advocate for a change in payroll structure, and even talk about the other C-word: commission.
We’re back with Manndatory Listening Season Two, and we’re starting with a subject that’s near and dear to our hearts: ORBiT, or Optimized Reality Behavior Training. ORBiT is a methodology that turns leaders into influencers and employees into eager students—listen in to learn how (and why it matters).
The music retailers play sets the scene for customer’s interactions, including their purchasing decisions (did you know that 30-40% of folks surveyed would negatively respond—ie, leave—a store with no music?). We sat down with Brian Hawkins of Fixture Lab to discuss the importance—and legalities—of your preferred tunes.
Your customers are stressed, your days are long, and the Christmas music is on loop—but this can still be the most wonderful time of the year for you retailers! We’ve got six tips—including easy ones like asking every customer “Who else is on your list?”—to make this the best holiday season ever.
“The building of great teams starts with the leader.” Ryan Hawk, founder, and host of the Learning Leader Show would know. He brings his own extensive leadership experience and insight he’s gleaned from more than 280 conversations with a breadth of leaders to this episode, covering topics from building a great team (including firing) to effective rewards (it’s all about family).
We sat down with Brenda DiVincenzo to talk about the photo and printing industry, which capitalizes on modern-day nostalgia, in-store education, and service packages or VIP programs to get folks in the store (lessons we could all stand to learn). We also dive into the pros (no cons) of a collaborative purchasing experience.
Managers, gather ‘round. Vice President of Strategy Leslie Cunningham riffs with regular Kent Mann on everything from intentionality to vulnerability in this episode. Their core message? Cultivating a welcoming retail environment where customers feel comfortable is integral to the future of brick and mortar retail success.
Harry Paul (you might know him as Harry the Fish Guy) knows a lot about cultivating an excellent customer experience. Dan and Kent sat down with the guru to discuss creating a culture of excellence, employees as ambassadors, and the manager’s supporting role.
Corporate retailers dictate their day-to-day actions by payroll ratios and sales predictions, but it’s a strategy that’s not adaptable on the ground level. Without a leader present at the store to make real-time decisions, the retailer misses
We sat down with Dave Hanson of Jax Bicycle Centers at Interbike to talk about the Net Promoter Score methodology, and how he uses it in his store to build lasting relationships with his customers—or, more appropriately, his clients (he tells how to distinguish between the two).
By 2020, millennials will have a collective spending power of $1.4 trillion dollars, which means that retailers have to adapt to their market. Glean some insights straight from the source: Dan Mann sat down with three Mann Group millennials to play a game of true-or-false about their spending habits. You might be surprised to hear why they buy.
Millennials are on the cusp of becoming the majority of America’s workforce, which means you literally can’t live without them. In this episode, Dan & Kent break down why that’s not a bad thing, and how to engage your millennial employees through transparency and real authenticity.
Treat every customer like they’re your next regular. So says Uriah Standish of our local favorite The Chop Shop Butchery. We sat down with the customer experience guru who proffered this and other gems (including some of the best advice for hiring we’ve ever heard) for this week’s episode. The best part? He’s just 19 years old.
Interbike, the largest bike show in the country, is just weeks away. We sat down with interim director Justin Gottlieb to discuss the current state of the cycling industry, retailers’ prevailing problems, and what to expect at this year’s expo and market week (including our special Mann U course!).
Hank, Kent, and Dan Mann make the argument that it’s the small things—not logistical shifts or technological advances—that make a customer experience positively memorable and, as a result, your business profitable. It’s a trainable skillset, but more than that, it’s a culture. So what are the small things, and how do you teach them?
Here’s a fact: the negative interactions your employees have with your customers directly and adversely affect your sales results. So how do you fix it? Define the specific actions and experiences that create a great customer experience in your business and create a strategy to implement them.
ESOPs aren’t for everyone, and Peter and Tom Henry considered other options before choosing that path for their business seven years ago. In this episode, the brothers share the growing pains and rewards (including customer reactions!) of being an ESOP.
Episode 3: Rock/Creek: Succession Squared Jonathan Scott of Rock/Creek is a leader in the outdoor industry, but it’s his unique experience in and perspective on succession planning—having bought and sold a business he’s been with for a lengthy career—that’s the subject of our podcast.
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