Advocacy Articles

Advocacy, DO IT NOW!!
By Mark Palmore, Institutional Store Advocate and Executive Director

For those of you who have read any of my advocacy articles or attended my sessions at industry meetings you know that for many years I have preached “Be Proactive, Be Prepared, and Be Positive.”  But what do those words really mean to you and to the value of your store for your institution?

Be Proactive – Many stores over the years have followed the lead of such industry gurus as Bruce Barnard at Colby College by developing annual reports showing the value of ALL the contributions the store makes to your school including financial, customer service, faculty and student relations, and the intangibles.  Bruce and his staff did the first of those reports BEFORE their administration asked them, not after!  By going to the administrators to tell them the value of the store, they avoided waiting for bad press to call attention to their store in a negative way.  The administration did not have to discover the store was of value, they already knew it because the Colby bookstore staff proved it to them!  How does that apply to you?  Don’t be afraid to be the aggressor, Be Proactive about the value of your store to your administration.  Tell them why your store is indispensable, and tell them NOW!!

Be Prepared – Many stores have fought hard to stay institutional/self-op, but some never even have the opportunity to fight.  However, when you have the opportunity to fight the lease companies it is vitally important that you Be Prepared to meet the challenge.  In order to be more prepared, give serious thought to hiring an independent college bookstore consultant.  There are some excellent independent consultants who are experts on improving the value of college stores.  For many years there was a misconception that consultants leaned toward recommendations of outsourcing.  I do not believe that is true.    I know for a fact that the independent groups that I recommend are just that “independent.”  They will offer you suggestions on how you can improve your store and add value to all of the great things you do for your institution.  If you want some names, give me a call.  Hiring a consultant and LISTENING to what they suggest will help your store succeed, but don’t wait until it is to late, begin the process to use a consultant in the works NOW!!

Be Positive - In order to be prepared, and be proactive, you must also be positive.  Like many of you, I don’t like bad vibes!  It is nothing but counter- productive for people to say things like “I heard XYZ store has an RFP out, that must mean they are going lease and it is a done deal.”  Believe me, I have heard that statement and it has more often than not been wrong.  Don’t be negative, find a way to be positive and work toward a positive solution.  Use all of your energy to keep your store from being leased, don’t waist any energy on negative vibes.  Being positive helps keep your staff motivated to do the best they can do to help you and the management team prove the value of your store.  Don’t let an RFP, or the possibility of an RFP get you down, respond with fury and take charge of the situation.  If negative vibes abound in your store, change them NOW!!

At Connect2One we want to help you succeed against leasing.  We want you to WIN.  In my opinion you can win by being Proactive, Prepared, and Positive!  If that is not the culture and general attitude that exists in your store today, change it NOW, before it is too late!!