1 minute read
Home Center Merchant
willing to say "I don't know how we'll do it, but if it means more sales, if it means protecting our market share, then we'll find a way."
At one point in my retailing career I faced daily a sign above the general manager's desk that read, "Nothing would ever be accomplished if we must first overcome every obstacle." Think on that for a while. Pilf :FlI?,i &,Afi ili atespaperwork that btankets retail organiza- I lb5u.lDena-Pla^c9 ^- iionr. Memos, bulletins, ad letters, San Diego, Ca' 92128 count sheets, product knowledge information, and more and more words are being processed and distributed.
Bill Fishman
OME of my most frustrating moments in retailing have come while listening to the killing of great sales producing ideas because they bend some company procedure. Like you, I've sat around the conference table at a planning meeting where a sure-fire idea was presented that would bring in more traffic than the stores had seen in a long, long time. Then, as we went clockwise around the room, members of the planning committee offered their vote of confidence to the idea. Each extolled the virtues of the concept until the last executive reminded everyone of a company policy that could be violated.
Now. as we returned counterclockwise. each chair was able to find a reason for not violating company policy. And, another great sales getting presentation bit the dust.
The proliferation of word processors and duplicators has created a sea of
The glut is burying the managers and sales staff. Procedures, policies and directives are being created to control inventory, protect cash, prevent pilferage and reduce shrink. They're all necessary but the procedures should not be more costly than the potential loss.
When loss prevention systems interfere with, or prevent logical, easy shopping they're wrong. And, when companies are so inflexible that a system can't be altered to safely accommodate a good sales producing program they're wrong.
Watch carefully the store wars of 1984-85. The survivors will not be those with the largest advertising budget or the lowest prices, and it won't be that organization that is operations oriented. It will be those who are sales oriented. The winners will be the retailers whose controllers and operations managers are
