Most of you in Retail Management understand that you will manage several store in your career. If you are a assistant manager or the general manager you will sometime be sent to a failing store. I was certainly the recipient of several failing stores. As a manager you need to have good eyes and good ears and most of all a good attitude. Your attitude is the first tool you will need.
If your supervisor wants you to take a transfer to one of these failing stores it is important for you to have the correct attitude. If you are unhappy, or mad, or just plain disappointed just get over it. If you don't you will lose the ability to listen to what he is telling you, and then you may miss the settle hints he can give you to help improve the store. More companies are willing to not transfer managers than it used to be, however if the circumstance is right for you, you can make a very good reputation and good money. Managers in many companies now are not pressured to take these moves, and if you are in a comfortable position I would certainly say stay there and be happy.
Alright you have just made the decision to take another store, and it is failing. Your supervisor tells you, the store is not making its goals and he has had continuous conversation with the old manager. When there was no improvement the change had to be made. Does it make sense to try getting specific reasons from the supervisor(District Manager)? Yes, you need to get the best answer from him you can to have a specific goal the DM is looking for. It is possible you won't get the direct answer you want, however it gives you a path to direct your efforts.
In the past I have found there are three ways to get a quick boost in store results. First is "Customer Service" next is "Store appearance" and third is "Store Personnel". The following are three ways I have worked in the past and have good results. These examples will only work if you as the Manager are dedicated, involved and with a open mind and good observation skills.
1. I was asked to take a store that had not had a increase in sales for several years. On the first day I was in the store I was in my office putting my personal things away. The office was in the front of the store so I was able to observe the Check-outs, and Customer Service counter. I had already been introduced to the staff working that day. I heard the team member at Customer Service page the assistant manager, she paged again a few minutes later. I stood up looked out the windows, and since I didn't see the assistant come up front I walked to counter to see if I could help. It was a small refund, the previous manager insisted all refunds regardless of size were to have a signature before money was given back. The company policy was refunds over a specific amount, but he had insisted all. Managers many times enhance company policy. You have to understand when you do this you create customers service issues. In this store I met with the management staff and we outlined the ways we could improve customer service. Since we had short meetings every morning before the store opened we immediately attacked the customer service standards in the store. Within the first 90 days we had the first sales increase the store had seen in several years.
2. I had changed companies and was about done with my training, and I received a call about my first store with this new comany. The DM for my training store gave me this description of the store I was about to take. On a store visit from a new President, who was traveling by car to the Company Headquarters stopped at this location and it was a disaster. To sum it up he said it was the worst looking store he had ever seen in his entire retail career. The DM met me at the store the first morning and after he introduced me to the staff we discussed the incredible disorder in the store, and early that afternoon he told me he would be back in two weeks to see what I could get done. Maintenance of the counters was totally unheard of in this store. General maintenance was even worse, the store had 4 foot light tubes in the ceiling and nearly half were burned out. As I was looking around in the stockroom I found a Hugh pile of the light tubes for the ceiling. Easy fix since it was summer I brought two part timers in showed them the proper way to install the tubes and how to dispose of the bad tubes. When they were finished the store was so bright customers started to ask if we had remodeled the store.
My first night I closed I found there was no program in the store for recovery at the end of the day. You can imagine the team members surprise when I told them we had to straighten and face the store before we left. OK, since it was such a shock to them I had them concentrate on one area of the store making certain they understood this was what the entire store should look like every night when they left. Keep in mind there are many ways to run a good recovery program, the important thing is you have to have one.
The district manager returned in two weeks and he was absolutely amazed at the progress we made. Let's be honest here, if you set the example and show the people it can be done, then it can be done. With this in mind it is up to you to find the right approach, the correct attitude and the fortitude to set the standard and insist that it be kept. The great benefit from this quick action was the DM gained confidence in me at once, the team members were proud of their work, and the sales started to get better.
3. Personnel is probably the most difficult problem to correct when you take a under-performing store. I have never been one to take someone else's opinion as gospel. When you are dealing with these issue's I always realize this can effect a person's life. My feeling is, a person should never be surprised at the annual review. With this in mind when I was given stores with what was termed bad personnel the best thing to do is be sure the people understood what was expected. Since I have always believed in communication as a foundation for good performance our morning meetings were focused on what the expectation was.
This covers the first principle, do they understand what they are to do. Second if they know, have they been properly trained? If you are sure of the first two, then are the people just indifferent to what you want done. If you come to the conclusion they met the first two you should take the proper action to let them go. I have found situations where employees have been put in positions that they were wrong for, and have changed them with success, but this is tricky and caution should be taken. It very important that when you are dealing with personnel that you proceed cautiously and if the company has a district or regional personnel, you use their guideance in making the changes.
To conclude I would say the upside in taking a store with problems is very great. The rewards are truly beneficial to your reputation and pay scale. Making a problem store an asset to the company is good for all parties concerned.
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