RMA Training Center
We’re pleased to announce the formation of the RMA Training Center, to be used by both our members and the business community alike. We have terrific training space on the 2nd floor of our building, located at 5101 Monument Avenue at the corner of Willow Lawn Drive with plenty of free parking. The RMA Training Center houses two large classrooms, comfortably fitting 20 people each, and one small classroom seating 8 people.
The Training Center curriculum is the result of listening to our members, particularly at our monthly Retail Authority Mentoring meetings, along with months of research and discussion with trainers. We believe that offering relevant courses in four segments—sales/marketing, business growth, operations and finance—are what most retail and small businesses are requesting from us.
We invite you to attend one of the free preview sessions so that you can make your own assessment of the available training classes and whether or not they are right for you and/or members of your team.
- Breakfast Briefings with David Nagle
- "Protecting Profit Margins" with Sarah Paxton, VP of LaDifference and Kevin Reardon, Owner, Franco’s Fine Clothier
- Think. Shop. Buy. Local Member Training
- Social Media Workshop
- Free Training Center Assessment Classes
- Social Media Jumpstart! A Social Media Primer for Small Business
- Maximizing Your Membership
- Understanding Today’s Marketing Purchase Funnel
- Who’s In the RMA House
- 30-Day Retail Business Booster
- Rich Lundvall’s 4-Module Course on Shopper Psychology
- How to Obtain Financing for your Business's Growth
Postponed. New date TBD
Breakfast Briefings with David Nagle
Come and enjoy coffee and light fare while listening to David Nagle speak about hiring, firing, documentation, and avoiding the EEOC. Nagle will also discuss legal considerations relating to the use of credit reports and criminal records in making employment decisions.
David Nagle is a managing partner of Jackson Lewis LLP in Richmond. He has been listed annually in Best Lawyers in America (Labor & Employment, Appellate). Nagle is frequently sought out to counsel and represent employers on a wide range of issues relative to the work place, such as wrongful discharge, employment discrimination, breach of contract, and numerous traditional labor law matters.
Contact us if registering multiple people from same company; discounts apply.
Postponed. New date TBD
8:30–10:00 a.m.
Location: Retail Merchants Association
5101 Monument Avenue
Richmond, VA 23230
(804) 662-5500
Directions >>
Cost: Members $60; Non‐members $85.
Postponed. New date TBD
"Protecting Profit Margins" with Sarah Paxton, VP of LaDifference and Kevin Reardon, Owner, Franco’s Fine Clothier
Moderated by Nancy Thomas, CEO of Retail Merchants Association
Sarah Paxton, VP of La DIFFERENCE, and Kevin Reardon, Owner, Franco’s Fine Clothier, will cover learning how to protect you profit margins. The discussion
moderator will be Nancy Thomas, President/CEO of Retail Merchants Association. We’ll cover the following:
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- How to monitor your incoming freight amounts closely
- How to price against your competitors
- Find out if your vendor offers discounts or freight programs
- How to handle customer requests for discounts
- When and how to mark-down slow movers
- How to be aware of and know your margins
Call Whitney Fifer if registering multiple people from same company; discounts apply.
Postponed. New date TBD
8:30–10:00 a.m.
Location: Retail Merchants Association
5101 Monument Avenue
Richmond, VA 23230
(804) 662-5500
Directions >>
Cost: Members $25; Non‐members $40.
TBA
Think. Shop. Buy. Local Member Training
Register today and find out more information about how other members have used and benefited from the campaign. We’ll also highlight the 2013 discounted advertising packages RMA has to offer through the Think. Shop. Buy. Local campaign. There is no cost to attend and lunch will be provided.
Location: Retail Merchants Association
5101 Monument Avenue
Richmond, VA 23230
(804) 662-5500
Directions >>
Cost: Free to members.
Free Training Center Assessment Classes
Attend one of these free previews to assess the training courses and decide which ones will be best for you. Design and customize your learning experience for you and your staff. Register for one of these free assessment classes today. Seating is limited to 20 people per session.
We’re ready to launch several training classes in the RMA Training Center, which is on the 2nd floor of our building: a terrific interactive training space with 2 large classrooms. We’d like to invite you to the RMA House for a free preview of what’s in store for our members and the business community.
- TBD
Each preview class will last about 1 hour and we will inform you about the RMA Training Schedule and the upcoming courses which will be offered in the following four business tracks: sales/marketing, business growth, operations and finance.
TBA
Social Media Jumpstart! A Social Media Primer for Small Business
Haven’t yet got your business rolling in social media? Or maybe you launched your social media accounts but haven’t figured out an effective content strategy for your business? Or maybe you think it takes too much time and need help with productivity tools? Or, you have no idea what Pinterest is?!
If so, then this 3-module course is the right one for you. We’ll cover the following:
- How to use Facebook for business plus the new Facebook Timeline rollout
- How to use LinkedIn to connect to business professionals and generate leads
- How to best use Twitter, hashtags and social media management tools
- How mobile apps can help your business (if you’ve got a smart phone, be smart!)
- How to use short videos to bring your business to life (oh, and it’s okay to borrow videos too)
- Why tablets like the iPad are increasing video usage; why videos and mobile web sites help you sell 24x7
- Know where to find social media resources to keep you and your team up-to-date
- How blogging can help you with content and SEO (search engine optimization) plus basic blogging tips
- Then there’s Google… we’ll talk about that, too, along with how to measure your social media performance across multiple data points
Lastly, we’ll cover what other social media services a business owner should understand (depending on your business type) such as Foursquare, Pinterest, Yelp! and more.
- 1st Person per company: $195 RMA Members; $245 Non-Members. Includes all three modules.
- 2nd and 3rd Person per company: $175 RMA Members; $225 Non-Members. Includes all three modules.
(if sending more than 3 people per company, please contact us for special volume discount)
Maximizing Your Membership:
RMA Endorsed Vendors Capital Packaging & Dominion Payroll
We will be teaching you how to make the most out of your business’s packaging purposes and fantastic pricing offers as well as the benefits of outsourcing payroll and payroll laws.
Next class TBA
Instructors: David Bortz and David Gallagher
- Free to RMA Members only; class closed to general public. Come to learn and network with fellow members in the process.
TBA
Understanding Today’s Marketing Purchase Funnel:
How to Best Structure Your Marketing Efforts
A marketing 101 foundations course for the small business owner and/or their marketing manager, or anyone who wants to have a better understanding of formulating an overall marketing strategy for their business.
- $49 RMA Members; $69 Non-Members
Who’s In the RMA House:
One-on-One Sessions with Business Growth Experts
Another RMA exclusive for members only, our Who’s in the RMA House series begins with Carroll King Schuller, a business coach who can help you move forward fast as a business leader. Carroll understands retail firsthand having served in leadership roles for Williams-Sonoma, Laura Ashley, Domain and Citigroup. She has a proven track record of helping a wide range of clients leverage their talent pool to develop a thriving culture of success. She will be available to RMA members at affordable hourly coaching rates. For more information, visit http://organicblueprints.com.
Next class TBA
- Two 45-minute sessions for $195; Members only; Must book two sessions on the dates and times above. You can bring up to 3 people from same company.
30-Day Retail Business Booster, an RMA exclusive Retail Industry Boot Camp™ brought to you by Business Owners Institute
In all your efforts to compete in the marketplace do you feel like you have lost your focus and direction? Do you feel like your business is running you?
You have an opportunity to make a significant change and boost your business success and it starts today when you choose to take action and join us in our Retail Boot Camp. During this 30-day course you will implement:
- Setting the Direction -Your framework for success-
- Redefine your Vision, Mission and Strategy
- Creating YOU the Brand and set yourself apart from your competition
- Have a brand that customers can identify with and get excited about
- Creative ideas to make your business stand out and get more customers
- Create more visibility and consistency in your cash flow
- Creating the right customer experience that leads to loyalty and raving fans
- inexpensive ways to keep your customers engaged and referring you
- Much, much more
This Boot Camp is not for the faint of heart. Be prepared to make serious progress on building your business in a short time, identifying weak links, setting goals, strengthening your brand, developing effective new business strategies and creating loyal customers. This course is geared toward small business owners who are wanting to take their business to the next level of success.
Dates TBD
Instructor: Jim Roman, Business Owners Institute
- $495 RMA Members; $595 Non-Members. Fee includes ongoing follow-up and assistance from Jim and the Business Owners Institute during the 30-day workshop time period.
- 2nd and 3rd Person per company: $395 RMA Members; $495 Non-Members. Includes all 4 modules.
(if sending more than 3 people per company, please contact us for a special volume discount)
Rich Lundvall’s 4-Module Course on Shopper Psychology:
Turning Shoppers Into Buyers and Improving Shoppers Lives
Following up to his presentation at the February First Friday Forum, Rich Lundvall will help you go much deeper on the topic of better understanding your shopper and helping you convert shoppers into buyers whether in the retail or e-tail environment. This course will be broken up into four modules as follows:
- Shopper Psychology: The rational versus emotional component of shopping
- The Path to Purchase: Are we helping our shoppers or getting in the way?
- The Shopping Cycle: How shoppers navigate the path to purchase
- Building a Winning Promotional Strategy: Are your current efforts really resonating with your shoppers?
Next class TBA
Instructor: Rich Lundvall, Partner, Landfall LLC.
- 1st Person per company: $495 RMA Members; $595 Non-Members. Includes all 4 modules.
- 2nd and 3rd Person per company: $395 RMA Members; $495 Non-Members. Includes all 4 modules.
(if sending more than 3 people per company, please contact us for special volume discount)
How to Obtain Financing for your Business's Growth
From an expert who approves funding for businesses for a living, Dan Moskowitz of SunTrust will be teaching an in-depth, two-module course on how to effectively write your business plan to best position your company, specifically to get funding approval. He’s seen all the mistakes and knows exactly what to do and, better yet, what not to do! After this course, be prepared to go to work to get your business plan completed in record time.
At the end of this workshop you will be able to answer the following:
- Is my company’s cash flow a strength or a weakness?
- Is my company “over-leveraged?”
- Do we have enough collateral?
- Is our credit history strong enough?
- Is our liquidity a strength or a weakness?
These are some of the usual and customary components of financial health that will be explored. It’s not very complicated to determine the answers to these for yourself, once you know what to look for. This workshop won’t turn you into a banker but upon completion, you will be much better prepared to have success when working with one!
Next class TBA
Instructor: Dan Moskowitz, SunTrust
- 1st Person per company: $195 RMA Members; $245 Non-Members. Includes both modules.
- 2nd and 3rd Person per company: $175 RMA Members; $225 Non-Members. Includes both modules.
(if sending more than 3 people per company, please contact us for special volume discount)
Additional classes will be scheduled soon expert retailers panels on the topics of “The Experience of Expanding: Advice on Opening a New Store Location” and “Protecting Your Profit Margins,” a 3-Module course on Conversion Based SEM, Understanding Richmond’s Broadcast Media and more. Bookmark this page and check back often!
