Many years ago, I remember a gentleman by the name of George Prescott who frequently came into our store. He loved to talk about baseball, and the most familiar comment I remember was George saying, “Gol durn that George Steinbrenner. He is ruining the game of baseball.”
Free agency had just begun, and it appeared to George Prescott that Steinbrenner had a bottomless wallet. There was also Ewing Kauffman, owner of the Kansas City Royals. Kauffman was not in the same financial league with Steinbrenner, just as Kansas City was not in the same league with New York City when it came to population and money in the area.
But the challenges of population and money did not stop Kauffman. In Sarasota, FL, where our store was, Kauffman created a baseball academy. Kauffman’s scouts looked for outstanding athletes. Anticipating the best in baseball had been found, Kauffman was looking for an athlete who might not make it in pro football or pro basketball; but nevertheless, they were outstanding athletes.
Kauffman could not buy the best baseball players, but perhaps he could develop players that would be very competitive: like Frank White, also known as “Academy Frank.” He was an all-star, as were two other players who came through the Royals Baseball Academy — Hal McRae and George Brett.
The academy aimed to use technological innovations and advanced training techniques to develop baseball skills in overlooked prospects with raw athletic ability. The academy produced 14 major leaguers from the 77 prospects that attended the academy in its four years of existence.
Which brings us to your store. When you hire someone, are you doing so in the Steinbrenner method by looking at people in other stores and then offering higher dollars for their service? We ask this especially in this post-pandemic business world. You are seeing businesses with entry-level jobs quickly approaching starting wages of $20 per hour, and that does not include the expenses you pay that are related to each employee.
Or do you approach new employees like Kauffman and develop the skills of the employees you have and those you hire?
Let me offer a secondary baseball note. Counting spring training games, regular season games and the potential number of games in the playoffs, a team could compete in about 200 games during a season. Yet, on the afternoon of the seventh game of the World Series, the team is still on the field practicing.
When are you “practicing” with your team? In our store, every other Thursday evening at 8 p.m., every employee was paid and required to participate in a staff education class. We practiced our selling skills, discussed our principles and procedures, reviewed our job descriptions and learned about the merchandise we sold.
This staff education program made a lot of difference in our business. While you might first think of increased sales and profits, as one who experienced it with our staff and our customers, I think about it as I shop today. I think of those I visit most often; I think of one store in particular.
I can’t say it is my favorite store, but it’s the closest to where I live. And being closest is the primary reason I go there. And every time I visit this store, I count how many employees I see — none of which ever call me by name, say hello or offer to help more than the usual, “Find what you’re looking for?”
In the words of George Prescott, “Gol durn.”
Tom Shay is a lifelong small-business owner and manager. He has authored 12 books on small business management; a college textbook on small business financial management and co-authored a book on retailer/vendor relations. Read his column: Incentivizing Your Staff Works.
