In the third episode of the Business Operating Systems series, host Charlie Malouf welcomes back Stacey McCormick and Carl Hillesland to discuss the transformative impact of Mr. Mo, the Retail Performance team's business operating system. Introduced in late October 2021, Mr. Mo powered the Retail Performance team to achieve record results in 2022 by instilling an increased cadence of accountability and increasing trust.
In this episode, Stacey and Carl walk through their approach to implementating Mr. Mo; recount the roles each of them played; discuss their healthy and vigorous debates; and review the key milestones that they achieved along the way. They discuss the impact of measuring three main behaviors (Using 3X Tool, Draw the Room, and conducting a quality Comfort Test) to drive exponential results.
And they discuss how Mr. Mo led to several iterations and improvements of their most critical sales processes. For instance, they have had seven different iterations of the 3X tool, and v8 is in the process of launching now. They have retooled the Comfort Test process twice since launching Mr. Mo. And, they have introduced multiple additions and enhancements to the C4 sales process, such as the Purposeful Reapproach.
The episode delves into how the indoctrination of Mr. Mo led to notable uplifts across the board in their Retail KPIs in 2022, including the following:
- Highest Sales per Guest (SPG) in a single year that the Company had ever had
- Highest Revenue Volume Year
- Highest Conversion Rate
- Highest Average Ticket (by far!)
- Highest Sleep SPG
- Highest Secret Sauce (effective net margin)
- Highest # of Experts
Stacey describes how the impact of Mr. Mo helped them overcome a challenging economic year for the retail furniture industry in 2023. When many other retailers were struggling or suffering through double digit declines, we experienced a record year in every single measurable KPI that we control and impact, except for one, in 2023. That speaks to the power and impact of Mr. Mo and an established Operating System within a Company or department.
Topics and takeaways in this episode include:
- Visionary - Integrator relationship
- Goal-Setting changes in terms of raising the floor of performance instead of shooting for the moon. Instead of raising the ceiling, raise the floor.
- Burning the Boats
- Offense sells tickets
- Rising tide lifts all boats
- Business Operating System helps you get today done while keeping an eye on the long-term benefit
- Behaviors drive beliefs
- Framework for solving unknown problems when they manifest
- In reference to the October 2023 Cyber Event incident: in times of uncertainty, you need to increase your communication.
- Your leadership either creates confidence or chaos.
Their adaptation of Mr. Mo facilitated leadership development and empowered employees, especially during challenges like a major cyber incident in 2023. The ethos of playing the "infinite game" in business, as per Simon Sinek, and fostering collaboration across departments were key themes explored, demonstrating the long-term success of Mr. Mo at Broad River Retail.
Stacey and Carl discuss some of the books that they have read along with their Senior Retail Leadership Team that have helped shape their framework by introducing tools from EOS such as "rocks" and the rigorous L10 meeting structure, which has elevated the senior retail leadership team's understansing of the concepts within Mr. Mo. And these books have helped them them all get on the same page. These books include the following:
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman: https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661845/
How To Be A Great Boss by Gino Wickman and René Boer: https://www.amazon.com/How-Great-Boss-Gino-Wickman/dp/1942952848/
The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek: https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Game-Simon-Sinek/dp/073521350X
Watch Episode Two from this series here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuHenu3l51U
Find the first two episodes on this series here: www.youtube.com/@StoriesFromTheRiver
This episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ApFNYx_wZJo
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Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.
