The Pursuit of Perfect Retail Execution
By Michael Hankins, SAS Senior Vice President of Operations
In the world of retail merchandising, there is a lot of talk about perfect execution. At SAS, we define perfect execution as meeting our stakeholders’ expectations. SAS Retail executes over 100,000 shifts each month with the pursuit of perfect execution on our mind every day. Completed work has different meanings to every one of our partners, and SAS has developed a recipe to help the “Pursuit of Perfect Retail Execution.”
The recipe for great retail execution starts with Great People. With over 15,000 associates nationwide, these great associates enable SAS to provide solutions to any opportunity our customers may have. Our core services continue to expand from resets, installations, assembly, to dedicated programs which include planogram (POG) work!
Other key ingredients include…
Collaboration/Partnership—Preplanning with details to ensure alignment on the best way to accomplish the objective and establish clear KPIs (key performance indicators).
Communication—Intuitive directions to accomplish objectives. Most issues occur here. Associates want to do a good job, but they need simple, clear and intuitive directions.
Real time technology—Leveraging technology to complete work, report accurately and efficiency, with 100% visibility to our partners on the data.
No surprises—Handling issues with resolutions. Even the best plans will have obstacles; how you address and solve is the difference.
Recap and download—Did we accomplish the objective, what worked, how we can improve next time? Continue what worked and review how to implement the improvements.
A couple of watch-outs we keep an eye on…
Store is not a Store—Each location is different. Do not assume. Different locations have different merchandising needs. We must understand the differences to better prepare associates.
More is not better; better is better—This has so many applications, especially with Big Data. Do not over complicate the report; make it easy for customer updates.
In summary, perfect execution does not happen by chance. The recipe is simple—start with SAS Retail. We will mix in great people, established processes, real-time technology and customer collaboration, and get you on your way to Perfect Retail Execution. Please contact me at mhankins@sasretailservices.com if you would like to know more.