It helps to remember which side of your bread is buttered
Sometimes, and I do mean ever so occasionally, corporate mindsets are, shall we say, forgetful?
This comes to mind after thinking about the whole grocery business hierarchy. President and CEO, vice president of produce, produce purchasing and warehouse level, retail supervision — all the way down the retail ladder that culminates with produce management and their crews. It’s a wise chain principal who says this chain of command is backwards. It should be bottom-up. Doing everything possible to support those at store level, who are key in executing plans, generating sales and gross profits and so much more.
I recall going through an extensive upper-management period where this was especially drummed into our heads.
The message was clear. Everyone is someone’s customer. Internally at a grocery chain’s organization, all the top management, all the middle management should remember that store level produce managers are their internal customers, and every decision should be based upon how it affects these, their customers.
Considering adopting new ordering system software or devices, for example? How is that going to go at store level? Is the new system user-friendly? Easy to train, use, make adjustments on the fly, durable and dependable? Or is the new system complicated, difficult to adapt to, forcing managers to devote far too much time and energy than necessary?
Any decision from corporate tends to have a long, ripple effect. We once had an interim director with little experience who overnight wanted to sell peaches by the each — when ours was historically a per-pound market. It caused confusion and made the chain appear to be trying to cheat customers with new, “trick” pricing. This didn’t last long, but the damage was done, and it took time to regain shoppers’ trust.
Fresh produce decisions are made every day at higher levels: Who best to purchase from, determining sizes, grades, and other specs, identifying what items should be promoted, when and at what price point, and often, how best to merchandise for maximum sales. Other decisions revolve around company programs such as fresh cut operations all the way to how best to receive, break down and prep a produce delivery. Every decision should be carefully thought out with a host of questions: “Is this going to make our produce departments better? Drive more sales? Operate more efficiently? Require more or less labor?” And especially, “How will this decision affect our customers?”
Too many times, an organization follows the unfortunate path of “ready, fire, aim.”
One of my best mentors demonstrated some great and thoughtful habits. Whenever we visited a store together, I observed him closely as he spoke to the produce managers and their assistants. He introduced himself to crew members he didn’t know. Then he asked them in all sincerity, “Is there anything I can do for you?”
And even if he didn’t always agree or couldn’t act on the store personnel’s suggestions or change things to their satisfaction, he always followed up with a call to the produce manager. It made all the difference and he had unmatched success and respect. He knew his internal customers well.
