Maki ng the most of floor t i m e l*r^:u$f,s".ui"",,,n"

I\IOW you have bulldozed paper I lwork with the suggestions in my last article, you cirn spend 80-907o of your time on the sales floor.

Start by getting to work 30 minutes to an hour before the store/yard opens to organize the day. Plan to do the toughest papenvork first and the least important last. Pull out anything that can be covered on the sales floor ano check your calendar for notes pertaining to the floor. With these on a clipboard, head out into the store.

Let's assume you have the following standard operating procedure for the store/yar( no matter the size. The unit is divided so every employee (including sales desk staff) has an area to cover with desk people having smaller areas. Each person is responsible for reporting out of stocks, maintaining cleanliness, replenishing warehouse goods, etc. With this method, you can determine who is getting the job done and who is not. Assign yourself a different area to check each day.

Make a quick floor tour before the store opens, look for and note obvious problems. Greet the crew. If any are visiting instead of taking care of assigned areas, point out the glitches.

After a few reminders, they will be getting ready for customers.

Just before opening, head for the front door. Depending on how busy openings are, have other staff there. Greet everyone coming in. Use their name if you know it. If customers want to talk. listen. Make them feel you are genuinely glad they came into the store.

Next make a quick tour to make sure all iueas are covered. No one should be in the warehouse or stockroom at this time. Now it's time for coffee and the office. Write quick notes on the glitches and warts observed on the floor and ask the secretary to get them to those responsible for the cures.

Tackle the two toughest tasks for the day, finish them and return to the floor. If customers are waiting or wanting while the help is doing stock work, visiting or lingering in the warehouse, remind salespeople to "Please help a customer in aisle l*-." If this happens often, be less polite and more pointed.

Go to the aisle scheduled for review. Check for full end caps, well displayed and signed to grab tle customer's eye. Check several sections or bins. Are the adjacencies mrrect?

Is the merchandise displayed so that it is user friendly? Keep those two words in mind.

Storv at a Glance

Ways t-o work smarter, not harder procedures to keep store operating efficiently, employees on their toes, customer service at an all time high.

No one should have to get on his lmees or stretch to reach merchandise. Signs in front or next to each item are to inform, not hide. Stock underneath. Put accessories close to categories requiring them. This is what I mean by adjacencics and user friendly.

Spend an hour or two each day on reviews (except on the busiest days when you prowl the floor) and you'll cover the floor two or three times a year. Schedule your staff to help when you are sure they lrrow what to look for and accomplish.

Alternate between the office and floor. Check on yesterday's gttches. Ask the customers if they are being taken care of, finding what they want happy with the service. (Be prepared for some nasty answers.) Since paperwork will take different amounts of time each day, the crew will never know when you will be out on the floor.

If you don't have time to finish the final paperwork, put it in tomorrow's file. Tasks will rise to the top if important or become trivial and be thrown away.

Never make floor time look like a witch hunt or inspection. Everything you do or say should be customer oriented and discussed as a customer function. Without making direct references to what employees need to do, you will step up the pace. Learn to discipline yourself to be productive. Never become a robot or martinet. Work smarter, not harder.

Housing Will Lead In 1993

Housing will lead construction in 1993 with the single family sector slated to grow to 1,050,000 units, a 9Vo gun, F. W. Dodge forecasts.

Strongest regional gains will likely be in the south central area which has demonstrated consistent growth in recent years, and the south Atlantic, spurred by rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Andrew. Deferred demand from the 1990-91 downturn and the uneven 1992 rebound is expected to account for the increase.

Alaska Store Embezzlement

Michael A. Buza" forner president of Spenard Builders Supply, Juneau, Ak., was charged with embezzling nearly $100,000, lhe Juneau Empire reports.

State prosecutors claim he wrote checks totaling $96,496 on the conpany's general account between March 1988 and Apm 1992 and charged him with one count of first degree theft. Officials said he has cooperated with investigators and repaid part of the money.

After 19 years at the company, he resigned three months ago when officials discovered checks had been written for cash, goods and services not for the company, Diane O'Gonnan, an assistant district attomey, said.

Galloway, president of Hood Industries, Inc., Hattiesburg, Ms., said that although industry exports declined last year, "our industry is once again on pace to match or exceed the record mark of 1990. And I believe we are poised to make quantum leaps throughout the balance of this decade and beyond."