The first thing about management is realizing there are different things to manage, and that even in those categories, different management, leadership and motivational styles will be needed.

Things I generally have to manage, and I call these "Mission Critical Management Areas (aka. MCMA), are:

• People
• Assets
• Time
• Money
• Objectives
• Obligations

Managing People

In managing people there are different things you have to manage, including all the other MCMAs listed above. But also, as a business owner/operator, I have to manage people in various areas, not just the workplace.

For example, I have to manage my employees to mission accomplishment, and in prioritizing their work, to meet objectives and obligations, within the limits of Time and Money, while employing other Assets and People as judiciously as possible.

But, I also have to manage my customers. In so doing, we have to realize that customers come in various forms. Auction customers who buy from us on eBay, 3FREEgames.com customers who buy from our bulk site, titangames.com customers who buy rare or expensive items, retail game customers, retail non-games customers, other customers who give us money for stuff, and even people who come into my shop, and buy nothing.

Additionally, I have to manage my vendors. This ranges from my sales reps at various suppliers and distributors, to people who buy stuff at yard sales and sell to me on a regular basis. It includes people who sell me supplies (postage supplies, collecting supplies, even ink cartridges), and even peripheral folks, like my UPS Driver, Mail Carrier, and Trash Pickup Driver.

And, there is the other category. Any person who comes into contact with my business, in any way, in any venue, who is not selling me something, or buying something from me, but who might tell others about me: I have to manage that, too.

That is a lot of people to manage. Let's break this down some.

Customers: being as general as possible, any person who gives me money for something that I sell is a customer.

I like to try and remember, as well as train my people to remember, every time a person comes into contact with our company, they have an expectation in mind. If we exceed that expectation, we have done a good job. If not, we have done a poor job. If we continue to make people more and more satisfied with us, or at the very least do not make them less satisfied with us, we will inevitably gain market share, customer loyalty and -hopefully- profits will follow.

To this end, we have constantly tried to upgrade our store, our staff, our selection, our service, our reputation and our ability to react flexibly to the customers needs. Certainly there are things we can not do, and other things we are not willing to do. But, essentially, it is my job to decide when a customer is no longer suitable to our store - such as when someone tried to return a PS2 system they didn't buy from us, for a refund. (They bought a PS2 from us, then tried to return one they already owned. Our keeping a log of the video games systems' serial numbers in a journal helped prevent this.) At that point, that person was no longer a customer, they were nothing more than a "vandal" to my mind.

Our customers can depend on us for a good selection at a fair price (not cheap). They can depend on good packing, and easy returns by mail, and personal service and answers to their emails. Retail customers can expect that our posted hours are correct, that our shop is clean, friendly, safe for their kids, has a good selection, and that we deliver what we promise and then some. Though we don't take checks, we will hold items for people, take all 4 major credit cards, will special order, and even ship items to their homes if they don't want to come back in, usually for no additional charge.

I try to make sure, and do train my employees to remember, that every customer leaves with a positive feeling about us, so they will return.

Employees: Employees make you money, though they don't give you money. I learned years ago not to make money off of my employees, so anything they want to buy from me I sell them at cost (excluding rare items, which they get a 25% discount on).

The category of "employee" has yet more subcategories too. For example, in our organization, I have sales people, general labor, contract labor and specialized labor employee positions. Sales people sell things. General labor are folks who work the sales floor, helping customers, and keeping the shop stocked, clean, and friendly. Contract labor could be the person who helps me unload a truck, or load a truck. Specialized labor would be the gal who puts postage on the packages we ship.

And, of course, every employee may require different management styles to motivate them, or keep them on task, or make them want to continue to work for us. Because, while many employees need their jobs, as an employer, I need them to come in and work for us. I need them on task, goal-oriented, and focused.

Having been a drill sergeant, platoon sergeant, and and old Infantry soldier for 12 years, I initially found myself ill-equipped to lead people in a business environment. I have found, over the years, that by changing, and learning a better, more reasoned approach to personnel management, I get better results. Not everyone wants, or can tolerate, being called a maggot. Repeatedly. :)

I can't teach you how to lead your employees, but I can suggest you follow some rules:

1. Praise people publicly.
2. Reprimand people privately.
3. Never talk about one employee's shortcomings in front of another employee.
4. And, for employee's who may later leave, have in writing an agreement that if an employee will give two weeks' notice, you will keep them for the two weeks, not just fire them on the spot.

Vendors: I demand a lot from my Vendors, so I try to make it easy on them whenever I can. I once had a vendor ship me 48 wrong blisters of a new miniatures release. I did not do a return. I simply sold that item off at cost at a con, and got restocked on the right item.

Many things I do for my vendors, I do because I can be demanding in other areas. So, I try to place regular orders. I never avoid their calls; if they call me, I always take their calls. I read, and answer, their emails. And, I try not to call them on Mondays; I know they can be hectic. For my primary distributor, I try to preorder everything I will eventually want to order, and I pay either COD or Credit Card on every order so I am never on bad terms with them.

Delivery People: My mail carrier is critical to our success, and some days we have 20+ mail tubs of parcels to carry out of our shop, so, my mail carrier only carries one tub per trip. When he comes in, we hand him a tub, and then notify every employee in the store that the mail carrier is here, get on it. Everyone but the one retail clerk then grabs a tub or two, and we make as many trips as necessary to carry out the mail for them. See, a mail carrier would have to take out a tub or two, unlock their vehicle, put in the tubs, close and relock their truck, and come back in, making, sometimes, 10-12 trips, or more. But, by allowing them to make one trip, we make their job easier, and it takes our employees (and me) only 2 to 3 minutes for even the busiest shipping day. They appreciate out assistance.

My UPS driver is also critical. Sometimes we need to be first on his route, even though we aren't. So, I have his cell and call him if we have a special bunch of stuff coming in. Other times, if we have a COD show up, and we don't have the money order ready, I will need him to make another trip to us (maybe 3 or 4 times a year), but on those rare occasions, it can be critical to get his help, and his trust. So, every time the drive comes in, he gets a soda, a candy bar or a bag of chips free. My cost, maybe $2 a week. My pay off: A UPS driver that looks forward to our shop, and who always helps when we need it. (We also help the UPS or mail carrier bring in packages when they have a big delivery day - and sometimes they have 30-50 boxes at a time for us.)

Others: A mom who comes in while her son shops, a person who walks in thinking we are either the pawn shop (next door) or the old bank (been gone for years), or the person who comes in for something we don't have: we try to make their impression of us positive, too.

Any of these people can be a future customer, sure. But, they could also tell friends and family of the shop they were in that has great/awful people with a good/crappy selection. We prefer great and good to awful and crappy so we try to make sure we are smiling, friendly, and helpful, even if they want to use our phone, or whatever.

Well, that's the people part of my management handbook. Should I do assets next time?

Marcus King
Titan Games - Owner
637 Capital Ave SW
Battle Creek, MI 49015