Updated: 24th May 2006
Deletions for consideration by manager
Updates
Section Manager Job Description
1 Customer needs
Always be thinking of how you can better serve our customers.
Be focussed on what the customer says (and thinks) they need and also what they really want. Make it easy for them to achieve both these objectives. For example, a customer may come in and ask for a few ferns when what they really want is a lush cool glade in a difficult corner of their garden. You want to make it as easy as possible for them to find the specific products they want, and also for them to build the cool glade.
You must be continually changing and modifying your section.
· Continually modify and improve your product range
· Continually modify and improve the information and the techniques you use to give inspiration to our customers, e.g. pictures of gardens, working fountains etc
· Continually modify and improve your merchandising and display of your product
To achieve this, it is important that you are in touch with what others in the industry are doing and getting some ideas. However, if you are continually trying to better serve the customer you should be coming up with new ideas and products yourself that better help our customers. (Discuss your ideas with your area manager because the idea or product may have been tried before, however sometimes it is worth a second try).
What is the right way or right product range now, will not be right in a couple of years. It will be boring for the customer or another business will be doing it better. We must be constantly updating and revamping our sections to inspire customers.
2 Section Maintenance
If you are in charge of a section, you are not only responsible for maintenance of the section and restocking, it is also your responsibility to :
· Provide information about individual products and also information about what the customer can achieve using products from the section.
· Price all products clearly and facing the customer. This reduces staff enquires and leads customer into making a decision, yes or no. It is vital to have all products in all sections clearly priced. There is a huge saving in time in checking prices and a significant increase in sales as customers have the opportunity to make a buying decision.
· Update and monitor product ranges to ensure relevant
· Positioning and grouping of products must be done so as to solve customer problems. Signage must be clear and tell the customer what you are doing.
· Never use supplier brand name promotions. The only brand name we promote is Bulleen Art & Garden. Using cement signs, Walls seedlings signs or Hunter irrigation signs makes the section look tacky and confusing and incrementally undermines our own image/brand name.
· Have a defined area for pickup of ordered products. A lot of time can be wasted if it is not clear where customers should pick up from, sometimes it helps to tell customer where product will be when they are notified that it is in stock. When holding a product for a customer or for delivery, tag it, place it in the pickup area for that product and monitor it. If it is not picked up by particular time, ring the customer and return the product to stock. (If paid for need to hold off on returning it to stock).
· With information you should draw attention to other relevant associated products and sections, eg info about composts in yard in rose section or lawn starter for instant turf. It is our policy not to encourage unnecessary add on sales, but to draw customer attention to products or services when they are of value and use to them.
· Promote the consultants and trade recommendations, which relate to your section.
· Remember that what you do in your section affects the customer’s perception of the sort of place we are. We are going to be increasingly an art and garden centre so make the effort to think about your displays. Over time we will be using more artwork throughout the centre, a consistent company style must be used in your area.
3 Environment.
It is the policy of the organization that we are prepared to sacrifice sales for environmental reasons. You should draw customer’s attention to environmentally favourable products and to environmental issues without creating too much controversy. Generally, we will continue to stock a full range of products that are available at other garden centres, but it is your responsibility to ensure the customer is advised of the alternatives, including not buying a product at all. (eg someone who wants to kill worms in the garden should be told not to worry) There are some products which we have deleted from our product range for environmental reasons, consult with a manager if you have concerns about a particular product.
See Appendix Bulleen Art and Garden Environmental Weed Policy.
POINT OF SALE.
4 Point of sale
Point of sale, including that which we produce internally, is entirely your responsibility as the staff member in charge of a section at BAAG.
Good point of sale will generate a lot of sales and can make BAAG a more interesting place and a lot less frustrating place for our gardening customers to shop.
If our customers find Bulleen interesting and do not become frustrated solving their gardening problems they will come back and recommend us to their friends and neighbours.
4.1 General guidelines for all point of sale
(i) Never leave any point of sale which is tatty or faded out in your section.
(ii) Minimise the colours and use standard nursery colours whenever possible.
(iii) Display signs at uniform heights.
(vi) It is important that you make the effort to secure all signage properly to an appropriate stand. Frequently in the past we have incurred all the cost of producing the sign to see it lying face down on the ground a day later. This will not be tolerated.
(v) All point of sale must be authorised by your area manager.
(vi) Be efficient in your specification, communication and putting up time, your time is costly and this exercise will become uneconomic if you waste time.
(vii) It is very important that all signage that might be used again is stored properly. Give it to the signage staff member or store it properly yourself. Look after your signs at all stages of their handling.
4.2 Signs produced externally by sign writers
Fill in requests for these signs in the same manner as you would a computer produced sign but make it very clear that the sign is in colour and it will be outside for more than six weeks.
These signs are expensive to produce so they must be supported meticulously and looked after when they are taken down.
These signs should be meticulously stored after use in logical order for use in following seasons.
4.3 Product information supplied on the product
4.3.1 Plant labels
An unlabelled plant will not sell. It is quicker and more effective to return a label than to write a new one. Therefore regularly check the ground around the plants to locate the missing labels and return them their correct pots. If nursery staff are not returning labels and relabelling report the problem to the nursery manager.