Music Retail Consulting

  A second generation business is always a challenge - even more so when the first generation was a local LEGEND that ran the entire business from his head!

  Today’s conversation was really interesting. Laura purchased Nick Rail Music in the fall of 2019, right before the global pandemic. We discuss how things are going, her background, and we had a really interesting and honest conversation about sexism in MI - you’ll definitely want to tune in!

Part of the process of consulting is partnering with businesses that have been impactful for us at Springfield Music and sharing them with others. We started using Merchant Cost Consulting earlier this year. These guys are former banking and credit card reps who go and negotiate your processing rates on your behalf. Now, like most of you, we are pretty aggressive about shopping our processing rate around, so I wasn't sure they would be able to save us much money. Boy, was I wrong. On average they are saving us $600 per month. The deal is we split it 50/50 with them for so many months, after that all of the savings are ours to keep. Plus, they keep an eye on your fees during this time to make sure those @#$% credit card processors don't find a way to jack up your rate again. They are good folks, and they actually do what they say they do. Actually, in our case, they under promised and over delivered. They estimated $500 per month in savings, and it's been closer to $6

  Maureen Doron, from women’s fashion retailer Skirt, shares with us what is clienteling and how it can dramatically grow your revenues. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE INTERVIEWS - IT’S A MUST LISTEN!

  Bertrand’s Music - an eight-location school music dealer based in San Diego, has grown their business despite a lot of tough competion. In this episode, Jeff shares lessons learned, leadership advice, and so much more.

There’s no doubt that 2020 has been crazy. Actually, beyond crazy. Each and every one of us has been tested in many, many ways. Life is different. BUSINESS IS DIFFERENT… are you? Has your store made the breakthroughs necessary to excel – or are you hoping that things will go back to the way they were pre-pandemic? If you are, you’re dreaming – and it’s about to turn into a nightmare. Because don’t kid yourself, this thing isn’t done yet. Not by a long shot… If there is one thing we learned through this whole s%#t show, It’s that we can’t control what’s happening. The only thing we can control is how we react. And how you react is determined by what you know. It’s that simple. When you know what to do you make good decisions quickly. You act with confidence. You need… New insights  into how retail is changing so you can be ahead of the curve, not caught helplessly behind it. New skills and strategies  that are going to work NOW and keep working no matter what new craziness is in our fut