Dealer's personnel problems called Serious enough for the panic button

ENTLEMEN, you do indeed have personnel problems.

',.i1:, My first reaction to your situation is that .,lyou as an industry are close to the moment time, so far as this subject is concerned, Vhere you might be excused for hitting the panic button.

Is that an impertinent statement coming ftgq me, an admitted non:expert on build' fiil! materials operations? I don't think so.

'I think the problem is so plainly visible that

I'm amazed some dealers have survived so far. I am told, of coursg that your numbers have declined drarnatically in the last few years in the eleven western states while the 4umber of businesses handling building materials has increasedand I think I now know at least one oI the reasons why.

From what I can gather, based on my own samplings, I can say that some of the members of this association are living on borrowed time unless you face up to a few facts of today's business environment, and do something now.

' In order to give us a quick profile of your operation as regards your use of people, we decided to get a perspective from the outside looking in, and from the inside looking on.

Held Interviews

I We interviewed some professional customers-general contractors and sub-contractorsto determine their observations of l\e specific abilities, traits and practices of lumber yard personnel. We also disseminated questionnaires to retail customersthe do-it-yourselfersto determine their experience with lumber yard personnel.

, We structured the two surveys so they ntould rate your various personnel from 'oexcellent" down to "very poor" in several categories of customer service.

The contractor customers were asked to rate the order clerk, the yardman, the yard boss, the credit manager, and the outside : salesman. The retail customers were asked to rate the order clerk, the yardman, the ', yard boss and the counterman. All of these people were rated by the customers for their efficiency, product knowledgc courtesy, service, extra effor! patience and follow-up. r The order clerk rates "good" in efficiency, product knowledge, courtesy' serv' ice, and patience. He rates only "fair" in extra effort and he rates "poor" in follow' up. r The yardman rates "good" in efficien' cy, courtesy, and service. He rates "fair" in product knowledge, extra effort and patience. r The yard boss draws the only "excel' lent',' of the entire survey, and that is efficiency. He rates o'good" in product knowledge, courtesy, service and patience. He is ranked o'fair" in extra effort and draws a oopoor" rating in follow-up.

The surveys among contractors and homeowners alike revealed that, although the average efficiency and product knowledge is fairly good, there is a wide margin of room for improvement.

The research project clearly showed that the greatest need you have is in sharpening employeesf skills in the art of related saleq putting forth extra efrort to help the cue' tomer, and in follow-up.

At this stage we'll quickly review the average ratings given lumber yard Personnel by the contractor customers.

The rating of a credit manager, of course, could well hinge on the credit rating and paying practices of the contractor. The credit manager generally was rated "fair" to "good" in the performance of his or her j"b.

Extra Effort Needed

It is clear from this survey that lumber merchants must put greater emphasis on extra efiort to assist contractorsif they consider the "big ticket" business an im' portant part of their sales volume. The ex' tra effort goes beyond just the normal service of filling orders that are placed.

The extra effort would encompass such things as doing "take-offs" from the builder's blueprints; informing him of new products, techniques or ideas and providing him with technical literature, etc. A glaring

Wcrlcrn Lumbcr t Bulldlng ilororiolr gglQl{ANl weakness also shows in the follow-up area. r The yard boss rates "good" in all, ex' cept in courtesy and Iollow-up, where he rates only "fair."

The survey among retail customers pre duced more varied answers on the scale that covered ratings of ttexcellento" "goodr" ttfairrt' topooro'o similar to those in the con' tra,ctor sunrey.

I Consumers rate the order clerk o'good" in efficiency, courtesy and patience; and rates "fair" in service, extra efiorts, and follow-up.

I The yardman rates ttgood" in efrciency, product knowledge, courtesy and pati' ence; and rates oofair" in service, extra ef' forts, and follow-up.

The counterman, with whom the average retail customer has the most contact, carries the highest rating,in this survey. He rates ttexcellent" in courtesy and service; ttg*dtt in efficiency, product knowledge, extra efforg and patience; and only "farr" in fol' low-up.

Comments of retail customers were both pro and con. Here's an important one: uI umild soy they are & cut bdut tlrc at)erage retail persowtcl in other types ol stores."

These comments forrn a pattern that in' dicate there is much that canand should be done to improve the effectiveness of your employees in their dealings with your cus' tomers.

MUCH COII/IPETITION

Looked at from the customer standpoint, the picture is not I00/o bad. In many ways you are doing a good job and, you're in a tough league. You are competing with dis' count houses, variety and hardware stores, and in some ways with the big chains like Sears and Montgomery Ward.

You compete with these types of smart operators with the talents and efficiency of the people who are working for you. How well are you doing this?

The survey we made of your internal people operations involved talking to the owners and managers of yards or building materials supply operationg and in some cases to people with lesser responsibilities within the larger operations.

The inside survey generally points out that there seems to be large and urgent areas for improvement. Gerierally you seem to be overstafied with under'talented p"* ple. Your methods of handling people could stand real thoughtful analysis and effort to improve. This is dollars down the drain. This means cutting stafi, which you can only afford to do if you upgrade those re'. maininghopefully by training, if not, by motivation. Or, finally, if no other course remains, by replacement. This will cost you moneyprobably a good bit. Consider it

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