PROFILE
Art Suriano
Chief Executive Officer, The TSi Company
Art Suriano is a business development executive with expertise in retail sales consulting, business culture analysis, and process improvements. He is a forward-thinking business intelligence leader who knows what it takes to run a business and make it a success. Suriano has had an extremely successful and multi-faceted career path that has been anything but conventional. Suriano’s career has provided him skills as CEO, VP of Sales & Marketing, Patent Owner, Published Author, Award-Winning Composer/Arranger, and Public Speaker.
Suriano’s talent includes a keen eye for mining, analyzing, compiling, and presenting data that consistently boosts company value. His patented methodology known as LTraining® has put numerous businesses back on track fixing disconnect, improving performance, consistency, sales culture, sales, and customer satisfaction.
In addition, Suriano is the author of “The Ultimate Customer Experience...The Path to Victory for Any Business...Any Size...Any Time.” His leadership style is extremely creative, energetic, motivational, customer-focused, collaborative and ambitious.
Suriano began his career accepting work as a freelance composer. Soon he was scoring original compositions for television and radio for such programs as As The World Turns and Another World, and jingles/soundtracks for companies such as Subaru, Ford and more. From his success working for media directly as well as advertising agencies, Suriano soon figured out he could offer clients better and more effective creative campaigns for less than what they were paying. This led to founding his own company, PMI in the late 1980’s, which in time, became a full- service ad agency billing over $5 million annually, with local and regional clients.
From the success of his winning agency formula, a few years later, Suriano was offered an opportunity to offer his talent directly to broadcast companies such as WABC in New York and Kiss 108 in Boston. His assignment was helping underperforming clients get better results. Suriano would write and produce a new ad campaign that included custom commercials, and oftentimes, a custom jingle. It was during this period that his peers and clients coined him, “Mr. Fix It,” as every client he was handed began to see improvements in advertising results within 30 days.
Suriano’s passion for advertising continued, but as deregulation affected broadcast media and how they operated, he felt the need to move on and in 1994, founded the company he has today, The TSi Company. Starting out as an in-store marketing/advertising program for retailers, Suriano created an exciting program known as RadioPlusTM. Simply a better in-store music program, RadioPlusTM provided retailers with in-store commercials, complete with a custom client jingle, stations calls and personalities, making their in-store sound system appear as if it was the company’s own radio station. Soon, The TSi Company was signing local and regional retail clients who liked the idea of the added opportunities to build sales with customers through Suriano’s effective commercials and concepts.
By 1997, Suriano’s creative reputation was growing and clients were asking for his help in what was becoming a strong need: training. He began by creating and producing an in-store “before and after” hour radio program that quickly helped store associates learn about upcoming events, in-store promotions, customer service, and policies and procedures. Starting with Stern’s Department Stores, he was soon asked to expand the product to Macy’s, and other divisions after such as May Company divisions and other retail chains. Next, he turned his attention to part-time employees and created what eventually became his patented training method, LTraining®.
Today, LTraining® has been used by over 4 million trainees and consistently outperforms any other training method, scoring over 90% retention after a single session. LTraining® sessions have been created for every training topic necessary from orientation, POS and systems training, product training, sales training, customer service, and more.
As time progressed and Suriano recognized the strong results his training method was achieving, he realized that in order to get maximum impact for any business, he had to take it one step further. He began to look at the other areas of a business that, regardless of how effective his training was, would prevent a business from reaching its full potential.
Suriano met and spoke with clients and requested the opportunity to perform assessments, asking the right questions from top executives to the field and then comparing answers. Soon he found that every business was experiencing serious disconnect from the vision and objectives of the senior staff and what was actually taking place with lower level employees, especially the employees dealing with the customers. Soon he created his TSi 360TM, which became the footprint for helping clients increase sales, cut costs and improve customer satisfaction. Clients experienced over 15% increases in comparable store sales, saved millions of dollars that were being wasted, and saw increases in conversion of 7% annually. Moreover, clients saw long term growth quarter after quarter due to the improvements in performance and consistency.
Today, Suriano enjoys his role as Chief Executive Officer of The TSi Company which has expanded into a full-service company providing branding/marketing, training, communication skills and technology. He also provides his expertise as a consultant, teaching companies what they need to know to grow their business.
As the author of “The Ultimate Customer Experience”, Suriano follows the principles in his book that help clients achieve their goals. Furthermore, as a public speaker, Suriano has been asked to speak at various functions and events all over the world including the Intercoifure International event held in Australia.
Suriano is an accomplished composer/musician who won numerous awards through the decades for original scores for radio/television and corporate presentations. Today, he is under contract with two record labels in the UK as the songwriter/arranger for Circle of Faith, an up and coming Christian pop band.
Suriano’s talent includes a keen eye for mining, analyzing, compiling, and presenting data that consistently boosts company value. His patented methodology known as LTraining® has put numerous businesses back on track fixing disconnect, improving performance, consistency, sales culture, sales, and customer satisfaction.
In addition, Suriano is the author of “The Ultimate Customer Experience...The Path to Victory for Any Business...Any Size...Any Time.” His leadership style is extremely creative, energetic, motivational, customer-focused, collaborative and ambitious.
Suriano began his career accepting work as a freelance composer. Soon he was scoring original compositions for television and radio for such programs as As The World Turns and Another World, and jingles/soundtracks for companies such as Subaru, Ford and more. From his success working for media directly as well as advertising agencies, Suriano soon figured out he could offer clients better and more effective creative campaigns for less than what they were paying. This led to founding his own company, PMI in the late 1980’s, which in time, became a full- service ad agency billing over $5 million annually, with local and regional clients.
From the success of his winning agency formula, a few years later, Suriano was offered an opportunity to offer his talent directly to broadcast companies such as WABC in New York and Kiss 108 in Boston. His assignment was helping underperforming clients get better results. Suriano would write and produce a new ad campaign that included custom commercials, and oftentimes, a custom jingle. It was during this period that his peers and clients coined him, “Mr. Fix It,” as every client he was handed began to see improvements in advertising results within 30 days.
Suriano’s passion for advertising continued, but as deregulation affected broadcast media and how they operated, he felt the need to move on and in 1994, founded the company he has today, The TSi Company. Starting out as an in-store marketing/advertising program for retailers, Suriano created an exciting program known as RadioPlusTM. Simply a better in-store music program, RadioPlusTM provided retailers with in-store commercials, complete with a custom client jingle, stations calls and personalities, making their in-store sound system appear as if it was the company’s own radio station. Soon, The TSi Company was signing local and regional retail clients who liked the idea of the added opportunities to build sales with customers through Suriano’s effective commercials and concepts.
By 1997, Suriano’s creative reputation was growing and clients were asking for his help in what was becoming a strong need: training. He began by creating and producing an in-store “before and after” hour radio program that quickly helped store associates learn about upcoming events, in-store promotions, customer service, and policies and procedures. Starting with Stern’s Department Stores, he was soon asked to expand the product to Macy’s, and other divisions after such as May Company divisions and other retail chains. Next, he turned his attention to part-time employees and created what eventually became his patented training method, LTraining®.
Today, LTraining® has been used by over 4 million trainees and consistently outperforms any other training method, scoring over 90% retention after a single session. LTraining® sessions have been created for every training topic necessary from orientation, POS and systems training, product training, sales training, customer service, and more.
As time progressed and Suriano recognized the strong results his training method was achieving, he realized that in order to get maximum impact for any business, he had to take it one step further. He began to look at the other areas of a business that, regardless of how effective his training was, would prevent a business from reaching its full potential.
Suriano met and spoke with clients and requested the opportunity to perform assessments, asking the right questions from top executives to the field and then comparing answers. Soon he found that every business was experiencing serious disconnect from the vision and objectives of the senior staff and what was actually taking place with lower level employees, especially the employees dealing with the customers. Soon he created his TSi 360TM, which became the footprint for helping clients increase sales, cut costs and improve customer satisfaction. Clients experienced over 15% increases in comparable store sales, saved millions of dollars that were being wasted, and saw increases in conversion of 7% annually. Moreover, clients saw long term growth quarter after quarter due to the improvements in performance and consistency.
Today, Suriano enjoys his role as Chief Executive Officer of The TSi Company which has expanded into a full-service company providing branding/marketing, training, communication skills and technology. He also provides his expertise as a consultant, teaching companies what they need to know to grow their business.
As the author of “The Ultimate Customer Experience”, Suriano follows the principles in his book that help clients achieve their goals. Furthermore, as a public speaker, Suriano has been asked to speak at various functions and events all over the world including the Intercoifure International event held in Australia.
Suriano is an accomplished composer/musician who won numerous awards through the decades for original scores for radio/television and corporate presentations. Today, he is under contract with two record labels in the UK as the songwriter/arranger for Circle of Faith, an up and coming Christian pop band.
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- Posted on: 04/11/2018
Walmart slows push to add third-party sellers to its online marketplace
I think Walmart is continuing to do many things right. If they are slowing down adding third-party sellers to their marketplace, they’re probably seeing that overcrowding their business with too many choices will not benefit the sellers they already have. It may be temporary as they figure out a strategy that will benefit everyone. I am not concerned about Walmart because they seem to have their pulse on precisely what they are doing. I especially like that when testing something they are quick to make adjustments to make sure customers are getting what they want. - Posted on: 04/11/2018
What makes a successful retail CEO?
I see two types of CEOs today. The first type is the person who is committed to the success of the company, puts themselves last for the good of the company, is a good listener, confident but is an inclusive leader and, most importantly, from top to bottom makes everyone feel part of the team, valued and appreciated. The second type of CEO which we see more of today is more about themselves first then the company. Their compensation is the most important, but they have no money to invest in this or that in their business. This type of person looks at the job as a term of “X” amount of years and, as long as the company can sustain moderate growth, they pat themselves on their back for their genius and leadership. How many of these CEOs have put companies in the red, in Chapter 11 or out of business entirely still walking out with their millions and soon landing their next job? This group is the group I see as the most significant problem in retail today. If you don’t have the genuine desire to do everything right and grow your business as well as letting those in your organization grow, you will not be the leader of tomorrow, and the company you run will never achieve its fullest potential. Family-run businesses like Wegmans where leadership is committed to the success of the company will always outshine public companies that have the CEO who came from here or there, puts in a few years and then goes someplace else. - Posted on: 04/09/2018
Is Walmart building a tower of power with its expanding in-store pickup network?
I think in some ways Walmart is missing the opportunity with their BOPIS program. Yes, the idea is to get the customer into the store, that’s smart because the hope is it will lead to impulse buying. However, if Walmart is going to make the experience unpleasant either by the location of the Pickup Tower or the inconvenience depending on the item, they are defeating the purpose. Walmart should consider an easy way for the customer to get to the Pickup Tower area and they should staff it with a friendly associate who can assist the customer. That associate should be quick to hand out a promotional flyer or coupons to the customer with “today only” specials encouraging the customer to shop. Merely using detached technology, one that does not enhance the in-store experience, has minimal benefit to the customer as well as Walmart and, unless improved, customers will not be encouraged to use it. - Posted on: 04/09/2018
Retailers face criticism for failure to protect customer data
There is no doubt that hackers are doing tremendous damage and things will only get worse unless all businesses start to address the predicament. The problem is so many businesses and retailers are too busy chasing after the next technology rather than taking a good hard look at where they presently are and how vulnerable their systems are to hackers. It’s quite unfortunate, and it is only when their business gets attacked and customers sue them and leave that they begin to take the matter seriously. That is stupid and quite sad. The problem is they don’t see the bang for their buck investing in security because they already have those customers and their primary interest is going after new ones. But without reliable security, it is only a matter of time before their systems get hacked and there is great damage. Retailers must take this problem seriously and protect their customers and ultimately their business. - Posted on: 04/06/2018
Can MoviePass help revive America’s malls?
MoviePass is a great idea, but I don’t know if long term it can be successful. The company is already losing money so that’s a concern and there’s no way to know if and when they can turn that around. As long as the customer gets a discount and MoviePass is making up the difference the loss will continue. True if customers keep the subscription and use it less that will help but even if the subscriber sees just one movie a month, there will be a loss. Unfortunately, what MoviePass has no control over is the quality of today’s films, which is the more significant problem. How many times have you walked out of a theater with the question, “What the heck was that?” Special effects too often replace what should have been a good script. Instead of seeing “This is a true story,” we often see “Inspired by a true story” so writers have the creative license to write plenty of fiction. To solve the problem, Hollywood needs to get back to making better films and not just the few a year we’ve become accustomed to but several. Once that happens, we will start to see a real increase in movie theater traffic. - Posted on: 04/06/2018
Will micro-designers disrupt fast-fashion giants?
Fashion has always been about looking unique and getting noticed because of what you wear. Here is an opportunity to take individuality to a higher level. I can see micro-designers having great success with the fashion-conscious crowd who wish to be different, knowing that what they’re wearing will not be mass produced. That said, technology will continue to change the apparel industry as we are becoming closer to custom-made clothing and eventually less off-the-rack items. Micro-designers will still have a place with their designs. However, as we rely more on a computer manufacturing custom-fitting apparel, I would expect that customers will be able to take more control of the design of what they wear by picking and choosing the fabric, color, patterns, etc. and in essence themselves becoming their own micro-designer. Only time will tell as technology progresses how this will turn out. - Posted on: 04/05/2018
Retailers push to onboard tech talent
I see many retailers making a colossal mistake in that they are investing heavily in technology an ignoring some of the basic needs at store level like a well-trained staff. That is costing them sales, and I don’t mean a few. There is a competition today with too many retailers chasing after technology, much of which is still not fully developed or proven that the customer will want it. We see today the downturn of social media because there is too much of everything and Millennials are getting bored. How many apps are out there and how many ways can technology impress a customer? I’m not saying retailers don’t need to be on top of what is important and make sure they have the technology necessary to remain competitive in today’s business world. But what makes the in-store experience is well trained, friendly store associates that know how to “wow” the customer. No app, no kiosk and no robot to-date can do that. So as the retailer who ignores this continues to lose sales, watch the smart retailer who invests in store-level staff put them out of business. - Posted on: 04/05/2018
Target succeeds by going big on convenience in small stores
I see smaller stores as the way to go not just for Target but most retailers. As we move forward with faster home delivery, the store will remain the place to see and touch the item, purchase it and pay for it but instead of bringing it home, it will probably be waiting for us by the time we get back. Smaller stores mean lower rent and a lot less inventory, because of the fast home delivery. These savings will help retailers immensely. With this concept, the in-store experience has to become one for browsing and seeing with excellent customer service for recommendations and assistance. The retail store of the future will still be a great place to shop. Target is on track and heading in that direction. Watch how other retailers will soon follow. - Posted on: 03/29/2018
KB Toys plans a Christmas comeback
KB Toys has an opportunity to be successful and possibly become a major toy store player. One-thousand pop-ups is a brilliant first step and I like that they’ll wait until after the holiday season to see which ones will remain permanent, so they are not committing to too much debt long-term. KB has to realize that every retailer who sees an opportunity with toys will attempt to go after that business, so they must focus on being different and the new toy brand leader. With the right locations, promotion, toy selection, technology, prices and service, KB has a real shot of gaining significant market share, enough to take them to the next step which would most likely be additional pop-ups followed by full brick-and-mortar locations, whether in malls or free standing. Let’s hope they have the right leadership and enough dollars to back them up, and if so they just might become the toy store of the future. - Posted on: 03/29/2018
Do men and women still shop differently?
As far back as I can recall, women have always been more price-conscious than men, more thorough in their researching of what they want to buy than men and tend to make less impulsive decisions. So I don’t see much change here other than how men and women are responding to online opportunities. The bottom line is most men aren’t as patient as women and want to move on rather than take time to read, search and research what they’ll buy. That’s not a criticism that’s just the way it is. So the lesson for retailers here is to have your stores staffed with well-trained associates who can help the man purchase by showing him the right merchandise and also to build the sale. Retailers will soon see a nice increase in profits and less lost sales. - Posted on: 03/28/2018
Bi-Lo, Winn-Dixie parent expects to thrive after Chapter 11
Too much debt and out-of-date stores are the two main reasons why SEG needed to file for Chapter 11. But that seems to be the story today for most retailers filing for bankruptcy protection. Technology has changed the world and it is moving at a rapid pace. Today grocers face heavy competition on all fronts from selection to home delivery. So staying on top of every detail is challenging and when you’re carrying significant debt, it’s next to impossible to compete. This restructuring should help SEG, and they can survive if they focus on building the supermarket chain of the future with all the wants today’s customers have. - Posted on: 03/28/2018
Retailers can reduce turnover by treating employees like consumers
Whereas I firmly believe technology has a role in today’s retail environment and employees should have access to the internet, technology is not going to reduce turnover by that much, if at all. Why is turnover so high in retail stores? For many, low pay but for most poor working conditions where the employee gets bombarded with a task after task and often are not even allowed much face time with customers. How does that part-time employee feel when all they want is more hours so they can pay their bills, but instead their hours get cut so managers can meet payroll? And how do employees feel when they cannot get a raise, and they read about how their top executives took home bonuses in the millions? We can delude ourselves all we want thinking that technology is going to solve all of our problems, but it’s not. Look at the companies with a low turnover like Wegmans. Why is the turnover low? Because they have the right employee culture. The company is run by a family who cares about both the customer and employee and demonstrates it 24/7. Start by acknowledging your employees and make them feel appreciated. Give them the tools they need to do their jobs like effective training and thank them when they do a great job. Reward excellent work with better pay and growth opportunities. That’s how you reduce turnover. - Posted on: 03/26/2018
Customers want to be left alone while shopping
I think technology is needed and it is essential for every retailer to be in the game with a fully functioning app for purchasing. And it’s okay to have an in-store app for navigation for those customers who wish to use it. But I challenge the results of this survey. I am in stores all the time, and I mean several times a week. Recently, I’ve read a statistic that states 85 percent of customers use their phones in-store before making a purchase. Yet when I shop, I don’t see it. In fact, I see customers of all ages still looking for and asking for help when they need it. And they’re asking humans -- the problem is too many retailers have thinned out the in-store staff making it hard to find anyone. And often the person you’ve found isn’t trained. When I am watching customers, they are talking on their phone, usually texting but when I’m close enough to see what they’re doing, they are not looking up a product on their phone. Too often the in-store Wi-Fi connections are so weak it becomes too frustrating to even try. That said, the solution is for retailers to be smart and that means to provide the technology services their customers want, and I mean "their" customers, and not just what some survey says. But most importantly, continue to provide in-store staff that knows how to properly engage the customer, answer questions, make the right recommendations and build the sale. A proper blend of the technology customers want and well-trained staff will give the “big win” to any retailer wise enough to provide it. - Posted on: 03/26/2018
Should retailers emulate or differentiate from Amazon?
There is only one Amazon, and all retailers need to know that. That said, smart retailers are those who are fully aware of what Amazon is providing customers, don’t try to copy it exactly and instead offer something similar or entirely different as long as it is appealing to the customer. We already have too many “me too” retailers copying one another, and many of them are failing. In a world where competition is extremely tight those that stand out are the brands that are unique, offering customers something different than their competitors. To be different works best when it’s a blend of product, price and service. Find that niche that makes you unique. Then be the best you can be, and you will succeed! - Posted on: 03/23/2018
In this digital revolution, stores are media
Stores are not going away, but they are evolving. That is taking place because of the new concepts and technology being introduced mostly by e-commerce companies. It is not possible for an e-commerce company to compete and reach their full potential without some physical presence and online companies realize that. Each year we see more e-commerce companies breaking into brick-and-mortar with pop-ups, a store-within-a-store or their own retail locations. What we are seeing as well are the innovative ideas that differ from one brand to another creating curiosity and in most cases success. I expect that over the next 10 to 20 years, we will see most of the traditional stores that we have today replaced with many of these new concepts as well as many e-commerce companies becoming the major brick-and-mortar players of tomorrow.
