The most important people in any company that use retail outlets to sell their products are the Store Managers. Every company has a basic job description of what a successful store manager should be capable of. The job description that no company can create is a list of the intangible traits that a store manager should bring to a company. A truly successful store manager recognizes and embraces that they are responsible for the "face" of their company to the public. Unfortunately, it seems that there are way too many store managers that do not understand that point.
Store Managers must be constantly setting the bar, and then raising the bar. One area that seems to be easily forgotten, but costs tons of payroll is receiving. Typically the receiving team is very small, and works with little to no supervision. It is a very easy scenario for people to lose their drive and ultimately a huge drop in productivity occurs. It is up to the Store Manager to set that standard, uphold that standard, and even raise that standard as your team becomes more efficient. The faster product can move to the floor, the more you can spend on helping the customers buy that product.
I once had a sales associate that was so bad on the sales floor, that I had to take her off the floor and put her on stock. It was a pretty heavy shipment day, and I gave her detailed instructions and left her to work. About two hours later, she emerged from the stockroom smiling and said,"All done!!" I thought that was impossible. When I got back to the stockroom, it had never looked so perfect. It turned out that she grew up stocking in her parent's convenience store. A girl that I thought I was going to have to part ways with I promoted to my stock coordinator. The most impressive thing happened later though. She became the most dominant sales leader in the store! Her motivations came from a desire to move product faster so her stockroom could run more efficiently. Her actions and understanding of the flow of products truly inspired the staff like I had never seen before. She was a true leader. The company also recognized her leadership skills and rewarded her two years later with her own store.
Several stores have slipped into a "rut" as our economy shows little signs of improvement. Where are the leaders? These stores need that manager that will lead by not accepting that things are "good enough". Everything can always be better, brighter, cleaner. If it is softlines, sizing and a perfectionist attitude towards standards should be where you are setting the bar. If it is hardlines, creative and clean merchandising along with proper lighting and clear marketing should be your standard.
I was once told that a customer should be able to walk into my store and identify me as the store manager simply by the quality of my actions. The store manager is the face of your store. Are you smiling?...or do you look like you had a long night last night and are dying for a cup of coffee?!
Store Managers must be constantly setting the bar, and then raising the bar. One area that seems to be easily forgotten, but costs tons of payroll is receiving. Typically the receiving team is very small, and works with little to no supervision. It is a very easy scenario for people to lose their drive and ultimately a huge drop in productivity occurs. It is up to the Store Manager to set that standard, uphold that standard, and even raise that standard as your team becomes more efficient. The faster product can move to the floor, the more you can spend on helping the customers buy that product.
I once had a sales associate that was so bad on the sales floor, that I had to take her off the floor and put her on stock. It was a pretty heavy shipment day, and I gave her detailed instructions and left her to work. About two hours later, she emerged from the stockroom smiling and said,"All done!!" I thought that was impossible. When I got back to the stockroom, it had never looked so perfect. It turned out that she grew up stocking in her parent's convenience store. A girl that I thought I was going to have to part ways with I promoted to my stock coordinator. The most impressive thing happened later though. She became the most dominant sales leader in the store! Her motivations came from a desire to move product faster so her stockroom could run more efficiently. Her actions and understanding of the flow of products truly inspired the staff like I had never seen before. She was a true leader. The company also recognized her leadership skills and rewarded her two years later with her own store.
Several stores have slipped into a "rut" as our economy shows little signs of improvement. Where are the leaders? These stores need that manager that will lead by not accepting that things are "good enough". Everything can always be better, brighter, cleaner. If it is softlines, sizing and a perfectionist attitude towards standards should be where you are setting the bar. If it is hardlines, creative and clean merchandising along with proper lighting and clear marketing should be your standard.
I was once told that a customer should be able to walk into my store and identify me as the store manager simply by the quality of my actions. The store manager is the face of your store. Are you smiling?...or do you look like you had a long night last night and are dying for a cup of coffee?!
In so many retail chains, there are a few star store managers and then all the rest. In my experience, the qualities that set the stars apart are a highly entrepreneurial approach, a very high energy level, and a merchants touch. As for the rest, what they seem to have in common is that they are very competant at managing a budget, executing instructions, and following procedure. The stars, in fact, are usually renegades of a sort, who don't do well all bureaucratic things the other store managers do well, but are tolerated because they deliver volume.
ReplyDeleteThere is something in the nature of top-down, centralized corporate retail that seems to breed a certain lethargy at store level. Too many store managers are very good corporate players, but not very dynamic merchants. But retailing is all about what the customer experiences at store level. Whenever I've walked into a store managed by a high-energy, entrepreneurial merchant I could immediately feel the difference.
Thanks for reading Ted. I have read your comments on other retail blogs, and as usual you are spot-on! You have delivered a pretty accurate description of that "star" manager. But how can a company translate that into a hiring process, or deliver that within a large corporate culture? It unfortunately, almost takes "one to know one".
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes I have tried to keep consistent in this blog is encouraging management to revive themselves with energy and to embrace their entrepreneurial spirit. It is that "difference you can feel" that people need to strive for.