NOTE TO STORE MANAGERS: Welcome those in-store service personnel strangers with your broadest smile and your best positive attitude. They come courtesy of headquarters and suppliers, and they are really, truly here to help you earn your bonus.

The proof of the in-store planning pudding is in the implementation of those excruciatingly detailed plans for improving store profit.

No matter how great the plan is, if it goes awry, auto parts retailers will not realize their entire potential gains in gross sales, margins, and profits.

I’m working now with a major supplier for a large mass retailer. As you read this, 1,100 people (non-store employees) are busy setting up a new merchandiser in almost 2,000 stores. Two people (per store), who work 5 ½ hours on installation, report to “In-Store Central” here at Automotive In-Store Marketing about which stores have been serviced, and which people did the servicing.

There are progress checks, because implementation has to be done as planned, on time. Big ad dollars will go to waste if this merchandiser is not in place in each and every store when the advertising campaign hits. We have three weeks to “do” this chain.

Why two people per store? The new merchandiser is heavy, and two people are more efficient than one in setting this up and placing the merchandise and graphics properly.

Why 5 ½ hours per store? For any such merchandising project, it takes this long to retrieve the specially marked, sent-to-the-store displays, to unload the current merchandise from the old merchandiser, to set up the display and to load merchandise according to the planogram.

The planogram, by the way, varies from store to store depending upon each store’s shopper demographics, sales history and our analysis from Merchogramming®* (see May 1999 issue of Aftermarket Business) of that store’s potential sales in this category given the help of the new display.

Why outside service people? They’re specialists who do this for a living. Store managers and their associates manage stores and sell parts for a living, serving the customer. A total of 11 hours per store is a big chunk of time to take away from the prime function of making customers happy.

How did I settle on the company doing the installation? From my national merchandise service company database, I selected some companies to call to discuss the parameters of this assignment.

My questions included Can you do this? Do you have similar experience? Can your employees read planograms? Can your company get this done in three weeks? Can I talk with your previous customers for references? The cost was less important in the initial conversations.

Of course, at first glance, the cost of outside service personnel is shocking. It’s important that retailers understand the fallacy of having store employees “do it themselves.”

Relying upon regular in-store personnel to set new merchandisers can cause horrific problems for a new program. In fact, the non-compliance rate for do-it-yourself installation of new merchandisers is higher than 50 percent when you factor in late installations. Why risk missing 30-50 percent of your increased sales in a category? The cost of using service personnel should have been factored into the cost of the new selling program. In some chains, it may be assessed and charged back to a store, but that charge-back is also factored in when it comes to establishing the new sales and profit goals for this category for the store.

In-Store Merchandising & Marketing Tip of the Month Enlist Your Store Associates When someone sends in-store personnel to your operation, say “Thank you!” Chances are this person knows his in-store job very very well. Then, follow up after monitoring the results. Observe and measure the consumer’s reactions. Compile the results to develop an empirical performance database for future reference.

In many instances, the vendor, or product supplier, is picking up the tab for the “honor” of installing that new program or the vendor may be the category captain. Using in-store service professionals provides the vendor with assurance that the money spent on an in-store program is well-spent when the installation goes exactly as envisioned.

There are other, practical functions which in-store specialists serve. Been in a supermarket lately when the bread person was stocking shelves? He or she was replenishing stocks, taking inventory, straightening displays that haven’t had a daily cleanup. This works in our stores, too.

This ongoing in-store detailing is particularly helpful in auto parts retail where a category captain is responsible for other suppliers’ inventory as well as his own in that category.

Then, there’s the store survey that in-store service specialists can perform for HQs and suppliers. For an existing display, an in-store service specialist will determine the physical condition of a merchandiser; arrange for replacement of broken components; check the display against specifications for length, look and planogram compliance; work with store managers to overcome profit-costing, out-of-stock problems; and arrange to return of unneeded items.

Needless to say, it’s important that in-store service personnel don’t just show up to do their work. A letter, an e-mail, a fax to set an appropriate time for in-store service is nogt only the courteous thing to do. It avoids the embarrassment of a service person showing up on a manager’s day off and having to deal with an assistant manager who hasn’t been told to welcome these professionals.

The benefits of in-store service are good for everyone. It’s a good story that we don’t tell openly enough in this industry. We should. It leads to more profitability, which makes us all smile.

Stephen J. Alexander, president of Automotive In-Store Marketing, is a member of Aftermarket Business’ Retail Advisory Board. To reach him at his Sanibel Island, Florida headquarters, call 239-395-9203, or e-mail, salexander@autoinstore.com.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE:"Reprinted with permission from Aftermarket Business, October, 1999, page 81. Copyright by Advanstar Communications, Inc. Advanstar Communications, Inc. retains all rights to this material." To subscribe to Aftermarket Business, call 1-218-723-9477 or email fulfill@superfill.com.