Answers to Everyday Questions : What would you do as new manager of a DIY store to improve the overall performance of Store?

What would you do as new manager of a DIY store to improve the overall performance of Store?

14 Responses to “What would you do as new manager of a DIY store to improve the overall performance of Store?”

1. bugaboo said :
   May 21st, 2010 at 1:27 pm

   I’d employ people who actually know something about DIY..
2. lea n jase said :
   May 21st, 2010 at 1:30 pm

   employ people who are actually old enough to drive. also help them improve their customer service skills. employ good cleaner as I called into my local DIY store and the toilets was diabolicle
3. baby firefly said :
   May 21st, 2010 at 1:55 pm

   get in staff with real knowledge and experience!!!!
4. Blueberry Cheesecake said :
   May 21st, 2010 at 2:44 pm

   I would put various deals into place – buy one get one free etc. This time of year should be products that have low turn around- eg plants that have already flowered.

   I would also be tempted to offer services to the customer- a cafe or vending machines- DIY is hard work!
5. dick19532003 said :
   May 21st, 2010 at 3:04 pm

   blow up the nearest b and q thats bound to improve business lol
6. stef the blueboy said :
   May 21st, 2010 at 3:18 pm

   Ban smackheads from entering your store
7. scullion.foredo said :
   May 21st, 2010 at 3:26 pm

   A few thoughts from someone who spends a LOT of time and money in DIY stores. I don’t know if it answers your question but these are what I look for:

   Make sure the store is clean and tidy with aisles that are wide enough for a loaded trolley to get past browsers;

   Provide suitable trolleys. Too many DIY stores lack anything in the mid-range between a supermarket trolley and a heavy, giant truck.

   Make sure that each item is in the correct location on the racks and that the racks clearly display the correct current price. It is embarrassing to get to the till only to be told the item will cost twice as much as you expected and time consuming to wait while staff check the price. Rather than face this, I will not even attempt to buy anything that is unpriced or in the wrong location.

   Employ experienced people and train them in customer care;

   Provide a café like in many garden centres;

   Provide toilets. You are probably out of town. I have come some distance to spend my money with you. Neither you nor I want my spending spree to be cut short by personal discomfort.

   Make sure you never run out of your top selling 20% of products;

   Eliminate stock that is out-of-season or obsolete (but keep for a while consumables for products sold in the store that are now obsolete – You don’t want a reputation for selling durable goods on which you pull the plug as soon as you have made the sale).

   Do not use your public address system for paging staff every few minutes. Provide them with pagers, personal radios or even mobile phones for the purpose.

   Think about the music (if any) you play in-store. The average DIY store customer is not into RAP, garage or many other genres of music. A store that plays unsuitable music is saying it doesn’t want me as customer.

   Provide a car park which allows adequate space to load vehicles.

   Provide a delivery service for heavy or bulky items.
8. DIY Doc said :
   May 21st, 2010 at 3:27 pm

   To just answer the Q directly, without the details you added, the key factor, as others have suggested is customer service. That would include knowledgable employees, either with specific knowledge of a dept. and context, or at least where things are in the store. OR, be able to admit they don’t know but will find someone who does know, what size Pipe, or where Pipe can be found.

   Certainly a decent staff should know product, and applications of product, and in many cases be able to cross over, in some manner, from Paint, to Hardware, for example. Certainly having specialized staff would be ideal, but many stores don’t or can’t function that way.

   I shop “hardware” stores, every day of my life, and I want decent customer service, even beyond stressing over any price, (which is often negligible in difference) in competitors operations. I want what I want and expect it to be available, or be available to order.

   I want stores to better manage their merchandise, especially on the sales floor stock. That might mean having the cash out register, track inventory, and/or having someone on staff take regular walk throughs, checking for out of stock. One reason I say this is, through experience I often find something out of stock, ( I understand it) but the store, or its clerks seem to be unaware, or unaware more about whether or not that merchandise is in an upcoming shipment.

   Accurate pricing is important to me, not in the sense of cost, but in the sense of being IN MY FACE so I know what an item costs. I don’t carry a bar code scanner with me to shop. I suggest too, that someone on staff PULL price specials signs, when a sale is over, or the merhandise runs out, and keep track of the merchandise that’s on clearance, discontinued, etc., for the benefit of the customer.

   I’m adamant about being well taken care of for a valid reason. Example: I’m in FL. On my way to a job I pass a Lowes, new, clean, but nearly empty of staff. It happens to be on the same side of the highway as the direction I’m going. Opposite the Lowes, is a Home Depot. I could stop there as well, with some traffic management, or on my way from a job site. Further into my example, I may want a specific “WIDGET”, Lowes may or may not have it, but someone makes an effort to find it, or may call other stores for their stock, or order some after checking inventories and upcoming shipments, and I may leave, a happy customer. The same should be the case at their competitor, Home Depot, OR in Neither, or perhaps even in the smaller chains. Obviously that may not always be the case in a small operation, similar to Mom and Pop, independants, but even they should be hoping for return business.

   If I’m not taken care of, it won’t matter how well staffed you are, how clean you are, how large and bright you are, how many yellow sales signs you post, OR even that your competition may charge more for an item,,, I’ll shop your competition.

   This global economy is too IFFY to give up on service to the customer at this point.

   Steven Wolf
   Just my two “sense”
9. Michael H. ID# 635700 said :
   May 21st, 2010 at 4:27 pm

   There is a lot you can do. Start by checking out your competition. See what they do or don’t do with there customers. Customer service should be your #1 priority. Make sure your employees greet each and every customer asking them if they can help. If they do not know the answer to the question then they should know who in your store can answer it. Make sure they are trained in customer service and the store.

   Without customers there is no DIY store. Then focus on sales. Hire people with DIY experience or contractors such as plumbers, carpenters, electricians and so on. Keep your store clean and inviting. Remember, there are 2 things you have to watch, the first is your customers the second is your competition!
10. Jamie R said :
    May 21st, 2010 at 4:53 pm

    Fire most of the staff who seem to spend half the day avoiding doing anything that might be construed as work…
    Then bring in people who would actually know what the hell they were talking about to customers….Most of them who work at B&Q have no idea at all….
11. Tedruski said :
    May 21st, 2010 at 5:27 pm

    I would want to review sales reports from all departments for the last 12 months. Such as hardware,paint,tools,etc.
    I would look at there ratio of % of total sales for the store.
    Pay close attention to the time of year for each dept’s sales.
    I would ask for list of inventory that has been on the sales floor for more than 60 days. This tells you that these items are not moving, you then need to find out why.
    #1. Pricing? Is your store to high on pricing
    #2 Appearance? Is the item no longer appealing due to dirty package, missing parts, only 1 item on rack. Inventory of only 1 item regardless of what it is signifies that no one wants to purchase this item – so I won’t buy it either. Have a minimum of 3 of everything.
    #3. Is this merchandise in the wrong location in the store?
    Some people especially regular customers have never seen all your store- By moving merchandise quarterly – Some of it – not all of it, you bring new items into view for those who either don’t have time to walk the entire store, or for those who always just buy bird seed.
    Spend your first 3-4 months observing the store and the employees. Use this time to gather data like what I mentioned above. Check out your competition, do it early in the morning and see just how busy they are. count cars and trucks in the parking lot, you can do this with a good pair of binoculars each morning. You need to know your competition-this means their strengths and weaknesses.
    Review employees and their performance and evaluation records. Is there a time clock? Do you have a pattern of tardiness in some employees? Do they take too long of a lunch or break? Do some like to have extended chats with customers?
    Make it clear that everyone has a job to do. Store owners have a right to earn a profit from the money invested in this store, let your employees know that what they do or don’t do has an impact on the stores performance.
    Remember the current employees will follow a good leader, even if they have to work a little harder and start coming to work on time.
    Take pictures of the front of the store, the inside, displays,restrooms,etc., use these pictures to involve employees at your first company meeting – let employees suggest ways to clean up store appearance and image.
    You have to pump new life into this store – employees also get burnt out if things stay the same for too long. Get them excited about coming to work again.
12. Enoch Root said :
    May 21st, 2010 at 6:25 pm

    Unless you can move it to any area where people are actually buying houses, you’re pretty stuck as regards to sales, but if you can improve sales turnover in some way, overall performance will surely follow too.
13. lmills148 said :
    May 21st, 2010 at 6:37 pm

    Stop giving advice. Diy store advice hurts people everyday, they should be held responsable for it.
14. Gear M said :
    May 21st, 2010 at 7:09 pm

    ask your staff to be cheerful to customers it’s contagious