C-Store Management Made Simple

Using time well is not easy, but if you had a set of key information, would it make sense to take a little time each day to organize? If your managers have a good daily plan, what would happen?

If they manage the important work – staffing, stocking, cleaning and customer service, then good results will follow. Those that believe managers can control store activity, know they must have a plan to succeed. Using time well is the key to growing profits. Good managers control the work in their stores. They resolve problems, fix inventory issues, open the store and schedule labor. It takes knowledge of the situation and the ability to manage the resources. Providing the key information makes managing more effective.

So what information should be provided to make it easy for a c-store manager to have a great daily plan?

Many think helping them to choose daily work items wisely, is a key to success. Providing key facts allows a manager to assess the store performance and then assign the work to get the needed results. Making it easy to see the key indicators for store results allows the store manager to focus attention and make things happen. Here is a list of things used to make decisions that help improve store performance.

C-Store Daily Plan – Prioritize, Fix & Grow

1. Same day sales – same day of week, last week or last year
2. Monthly sales – year over year comparisons
3. High-risk shrink activity
4. Underage Selling alerts
5. Top selling items
6. Items that sold last week but are not selling this week
7. Categories that are going up or down compare to the same period last year
8. Planning orders to keep hot movers in stock yet avoid excess inventory.
9. Customer feedback
10. Store inspections
11. Store maintenance items

Daily C-Store Plan – Make It Easy!

If there is a place that the most important information can be found so that the manager is not spending time gathering the information, then it becomes a quick check to decide what things need attention. Creating a list of actions and getting them done becomes a short task each day and leads to success. Knowing where to find the answers is a big part of the job. Make it easy!

There may be missing information, but having a regular scan to keep an eye on the big things helps find small problems before they become large. Of course, there are other things to manage and address. Hiring, training, new programs, holidays and sick leaves will alway keep managers busy. Making sure the regular items that need attention every day are not missed, help to keep a manager’s day less stressed and a bit more managable.

More on C-Store Management

The Impact of C-Store Onboarding Debt

C-Store Operations – Keep It Simple – The Hard Work

Managers Forget the Numbers to Fix Problems

Get the book on store accountability.

The post C-Store Managers Start with a Daily Plan appeared first on BandyWorks.

The Components of a C-Store Management System

Every c-store has a method to run its operations. They have to acquire a location, building, utilities, inventory, staff, suppliers, finance and management to keep it operating. The ability to deliver the convenient experience that brings customers back, produces profits avoids excessive effort is a combination of these components into set of processes that are effective, efficient, clear, understood and utilized consistently. Having the ability to apply the same service across multiple locations while maintaining the same quality allows a chain to replicate their services across their locations. Such a systemized delivery of services takes an investment of time and management and of course money, but yields an ROI in terms of great value to the community, staff and owners.

A c-store management systems includes the software applications for the management of the business:

Basic Management Is Not Enough

An automated or partially-automated c-store operations management system foundation is found in most convenience stores. It is very common to have solid POS, payment processing, accounting and inventory at even new stores. These systems are widely available and provide choices to allow for small investments to solve important issues. These initial systems are critical and more importantly, tend to be focused on back office staff. Either the ownership or specialized staff that do not have retail responsibilities are the primary users. As such, the users are highly motivated and/or have the time to focus on the special training and usage that builds expertise.

System Evolution to a Customer Focus

As the system is expanded to address more of the retail operations, customer interactions and remote facilities, the number of systems that are involved and the number of different tasks that the users are assigned grows quickly. Store management, staff development and customer experience components are utilized by retail staff that also work with ten or more other components. Additionally, these staff have numerous daily tasks making it harder to find dedicated time to master the technology and processes.

It is important to address the learning curve, the time available to use components, the need to train to store managers and the requirement to simplify work to remove low value tasks to make time for the more important work. As the systems expand into staff development, customer service, loyalty and the marketing effort for branding and customer experience, the ability to increase sales and profits grows. To make time for store managers to drive the culture and long term value of their stores, the system needs to eliminate work, make the work easier and/or allow other staff to get it done. Systems are designed to make high value workers more productive and thus increase operating revenue and profits.

C-Store Management System Complexity

The c-store manager is involved in nearly every part of the c-store management system. In addition they perform store operations and are primarily responsible to ensure the store team fulfills the culture, brand and overall customer experience. They are critical to the system effectiveness.

In order to operate well, these managers must have on-going skill development, productivity aids to ensure their time is protected and the support to guide their awareness of issues. Advanced customer-focused systems (e.g., loyalty, mobile apps, digital marketing) expand the roles and skill required within the store to ensure the customer experience and the chain brand promise is fulfilled.

C-Store Management Systems Complexity Increases

As new system components are added, store managers must have time and information to manage and address of the various aspects of the service. This increased skill and complexity is addressed with staff development and better tools to save time and assist the manager in the oversight, follow-up and delivery responsibilities. It is important to assess not only the systems, but also the store skill sets and the ability to utilize the systems as desired. With the increase in the number of system components, it is critical to train managers and find ways to help them to simplify their daily job.

Companies that do not have a solid system in place tend to work harder at lower value tasks. These jobs can limit the staff satisfaction and increase turnover. Adding more work in terms of hiring and onboarding staff can make an operation very tedious and unproductive. In the extreme, it can end the viability of a store. It is not uncommon as chains grow to sell unproductive sites.

Making Time to Develop New Skills

A system that produces results in terms of financial outcomes, customer perception, and capacity growth yields great value. Using system designed for accountability allows the staff and the management to know their job, get feedback to keep growing, and provide an environment for employee and customer retention. Strong operations, avoid spending too much time in crisis mode. They generate profits that allow for investments to further expand the success. With specialized analytics, store managers are able to receive focused assignments specific to their stores. Scorecards, control/compliance analysis, and outside coaching keep store managers focused. They spend their time on the areas that will yield the best results. With increased store manager oversight, a store can not only grow its sales and profits, but also make time available for training and customer-focused work. Success breeds success. Good work eliminates bad work and makes time available to learn.

As the system increases automation and integration there is the shift towards customer and company value – culture, brand, loyalty and experience. These customer-focused activities require even more skill reinforcement and hands-on time. Even with training and great systems, however, the system cannot make the brand or the culture alone.  What the system can do is to make the brand, culture and resulting experience consistent, simpler to provide and more easily replicated to other locations.

Evaluating System Maturity

C-store systems evolve. Evaluating your current system maturity helps to prioritize and organize the work needed to improve your c-store management system. The article ‘Four Levels of C-Store Maturity’, compares service levels to assess where systems improvements can be made:

As the system grows, there is the ability to focus more effort and resources to the high value areas of customer growth and retention, competitive advantage and management development. Leadership that has the time and skill to deliver the mission and vision will build strong teams. This leadership focus improves the financial results. These companies consistently increase sales with upselling, add more traffic, increase profits by losing less from shrink. With consistent leadership and teamwork, the customer experience thrives allowing the customer perception to see the brand consistently as they shop. The best systems make the basic services easier to deliver so that the customer experiences what the brand promises. The experience and brand are controlled by the store staff and lead by the manager. The system is there to support these goals and simplify the work.

The Reason We Work Here

The culture, brand and customer experience result directly from a company’s ability to deliver it’s promise. The idea of what a company wants to be is considered its vision. What it does is the mission. Making the vision and mission simple and clear enables a system to be established and improved to drive work towards the resulting goals. Having a purpose defined makes it easier to hire the right staff.

The key is to find people that desire and have ability to be part of a team that serves the purpose. Of course, compensation, schedules and location matter, but the desire to do the work makes any job more interesting and produces better teams. Before you can ‘live the brand’ and create growth a store needs to be built, supplied and staffed. Getting the right stuff and the right staff stack the deck in favor of good results.

Building the Team – Hiring and Onboarding

Having a team that works well together and consistently delivers the desired results begins at the hiring process. Teams that ‘live the culture’ and achieve the results are comprised of people that want for themselves the things they can accomplish in their jobs. When hiring, the goal is to find those that want to work in a manner that fits with the culture of the company. That is, their personal values and goals match the purpose of the company and align with others on the team. With such alignment, personal motivation matches with expectations. There is less resistance to training and work assignments.

As result of the on-going management development, there will be a source of new leaders developed organically. Such growth helps the company to grow as management depth is a factor for store growth. Additionally, when staff have a career path, they stay engaged knowing the company is investing in them.

No Limits to Staff Development

There is no limit to a person’s growth. Bruce, a McIntosh Energy store manager, offers his experience for c-store employment. He reminds each of his hires to “come in with the right attitude – you are going to be successful. Strive to be the best and look for the job that you desire.” As company growth occurs, it is important to build a system to encourage advancement. The system and the staff need to keep improving. Improvement comes from new technology, better processes, clear communication, great marketing and  c-store staff development.

Create the Culture

Store managers are critical to the culture in the store.  Each store takes on the personality of the store manager. In order to provide the resources for growth, you must build a system to develop c-store managers. The resources to add new stores include not only the finances but also the management capacity. A growth system must train managers at a rate that not only addresses c-store attrition but also the need for new managers as store count increases.

In addition to the system components listed in the tables above a typical store manager must be able to address a full range of management duties:

1. Hiring
2. On boarding
3. Compliance Oversight (e.g., age verification, food preparation)
4. Loss Control (inventory, theft, carelessness, labor usage)
5. Time Management
6. Competitive Analysis
7. Customer Service
8. Inventory Management
9. HR Duties
10. Scheduling

Hiring staff with all these skills along with the knowledge of the system technology is very hard. Commit the resources to maximize the resources invested in the systems. Even the best technology fails without proper resources available to the users: time, training, practice and on-going support. Systems change, usage is modified and people make mistakes.

Live the Brand & Drive the Experience

With a strong system in place focus can shift to building a team that focuses on the customer. The goal of a great system is automate and minimize the labor for mundane or less important work, so the skilled staff can focus on the most important work. In a c-store that work is the customer experience. “As the management experts at Bain and Company point out – a 5% boost in customer retention increases overall profits by 25%.” according to Nick Triantafellou the Director of Marketing & Merchandising at Weigel’. Making the customer’s experience wonderful drives loyalty and in turn will increase sales and profits. Nick explains “Customer experience is the core concept address to maximize customer c-store relationships. The purpose of the company defines how to deliver services to every customer that comes into our convenience store. It is the most important marketing goal there is.”

It takes skill, resources and time to train a team to perform basic customer service. There are numerous jobs. Delivering a memorable experience goes beyond great service. It is the ability to act rather than react to customers, to provide a feeling they love rather than make a quick transaction. Getting to the level of great customer perception involves every staff member, a good location, the desired products and service provided as the customer wants. Such delivery means staff that know what they are doing, enjoy where they work and are proud of the location and goods they provide. They need to feel trusted and cared about to deliver such service to the customer. Having such staff in that mindset requires good management and leadership in the store.

Create Growth

The business must generate results and fund the operations. Higher sales and profits are essential to having a great company. The system must result in a source of managers that are able to step into the roles needed for the desired growth. With all the benefits of a consistent brand, great loyalty and high retention,  there will be an increase in sales. Of course, external factors will impact sales. The point of the system is to control what can be controlled and to understand the factors that are not controllable. Understanding what is not controllable, will identify new or existing controllable things.

The system helps to understand and adapt to the situation at hand. Utilize strengths and minimize weaknesses. There are always opportunities to serve. Knowing the true position within a market – how your compare to others and what creates your customer loyalty – makes it simpler to operate your stores.

With the clarity of your brand and how that impacts your customers, it is much easier for staff to focus on the things that really matter. Having a clear job with great customer feedback, makes staff proud and reinforces the system with the positive feedback.

The Balance Scorecard

Robert S Kaplan and David P. Norton argue that a balanced scorecard provides better guidance for long term success. This concept is described specifically for c-store in the article –The 4 Components of a Balanced C-Store Performance Scorecard. Wikipedia states that there are 4 parts to having a balanced scorecard:

1. Financial

2. Customer Perception

3. Internal Business Processes

4. Learning and Growth

Build a System to Develop C-Store Managers is a key to on-going growth to increase sales.

Having managers available that understand and have proven they can establish the culture makes adding new stores so much easier. A good system will not only keep the operations on track, but will also include learning and growth. Specifically, train managers and staff to ‘live the culture’ and drive growth in the staff, in the store an for the community.

Accountability Sustains the Culture, Brand and Retention

There are five principles that the most successful c-store operators use to apply accountability to get better results.  Thriving organizations practice accountability. Optimized accountability systems use all  five principles. Together, the five principles make work simpler. Over the course of a decade studying accountability, we have found that many owners and managers have expressed frustration, doubts, or uncertainty on the subject. As documented in the book, C-Store Growth Mindset Making Peace with Accountability, the five principles are:

1. 1. Vision & Mission

   2. People & Teamwork

   3. Process

   4. Goals & KPI’s

   5. Tracking  Follow-up

Applying the principles of accountability as you create and implement the operational system ensures you are able to live the brand more easily. Knowing the purpose, hiring and onboarding the right staff with the processes established to achieve the desired goals makes the follow up a positive team activity. The system reduces unknowns, identifies priorities needed for any course corrections and reinforces successful behavior. Removing small defects and reward the desired behavior makes management and work fun and reliable.

It takes a strong system to build a high growth and valuable c-store chain. The process is never done and there is not set timeline for growth. Strong companies move forward and make things better. They invest in their assets, systems and people. The irony of great technology and systems is that they can help to build strong relationships and more personal interactions.

More Resources for a Building a Strong System

Using scorecards to pinpoint trouble shooting

Kendra discusses the value of sharing management issues

The post Building a System to Develop C-Store Management to Drive Culture, Live the Brand and Create Growth appeared first on BandyWorks.

Key Areas Impacting C-Store Retail Data Analytics

While there are many reasons, operators frequently list one of these five reasons not to use c-store data analytics. It is not surprising that c-store operators are working long hours and have senior staff spending time in the stores working. Lots of interviews, lots of training, helping with orders, and even working registers.

With all that extra work and the stress of staff shortages, many operators just do not feel they have any time to pause and think. They list these five reasons most frequently as to why data analytics is just not a good idea:

1. It will overload our managers
2. Using the wrong numbers will make things worse
3. It is not that effective compared to in-store observations
4. I do not trust data analytics results
5. Confrontations may be necessary

Many will explain their rationale as follows.

1. Overload

Area and store managers have a busy day. Their experience tends to be with people, vendors and customers. They know how to read people and things done. Looking at reports, working spreadsheets and sitting behind a desk does not make the stores run well.

In addition to not wanting store managers away from the staff and customers, it is really hard to keep the good ones. They already have too much to do, so adding even more thing to their plate may just tip the balance the wrong way.

Turning a Negative to a Positive

In order to mitigate the con of c-store manager overload by using data, the correct retail data analytics must be utilized. A key way to make a positive impact is to limit the amount of data and to prioritize insights that have high impact. On the pro side of using data in c-stores is the ability to show high risk items and high value results. For example, a simple list of the top 3-5 cashiers that are not making proper identifications for age restricted items or a list of high risk transactions with for shrink are time saving.

When data is delivered with just a few key points including the time and person involved, it makes it easy to take action. Retail data insights into the specific behaviors that need to be addressed save critical c-store management time and provide a means to address a broad range of issues with little research time required. Giving the store manager simple items to address fits naturally into the oversight tasks. Further,  coaching priorities are identified without requiring a lot of time or training.

2. Wrong Numbers

If staff are given numbers without a clear explanation it can be very confusing. Worse, if the numbers cannot be tracked to the correct staff or products, it can provide a very objective assessment, but may not present an accurate causation. For example, if cashiers do not sign in individually, the sales or shrink may not match the person involved. If the price book is not organized well, the wrong items may show in the wrong categories.

The Con of Bad C-Store Data

Clearly, not having accurate c-store data is a big negative item when considering the pros and cons of c-store managers using data analytics.  In addition to using bad data, there is also the issue of focusing on data that is hard to control or manage. Sometimes, huge reports are emailed that are never reviewed. Such unused reports are the classic example of data overload. Managers deal with it my ignoring the reports which leaves them vulnerable to unseen and risky situations.

An example of picking the wrong items to track are things like lottery sales or fuel sales. While all sales can be influenced in some manner, some items are more directly influenced than others. Picking the your tracking items is important to differentiate the  local competition and market forces that the local staff have little or no ability to influence from those things like store cleanliness and upselling. Using numbers that staff and managers cannot influence and holding them responsible can be demoralizing and hurt team performance.

Avoid Tracking the Wrong C-Store Data

Using data that tracks process-related activities that are directly related to the key objectives of the store is the place to start. Overload happens when there are more things to address than what one can handle. Use your key objectives (e.g., items in the bonus plan, items in the supervisor summary reports) for tracking. Even better, identify the behaviors that lead to the desired results and track those items. In the book, “C-Store Growth Mindset”, Mason Cowan explains there are two types of accountability – process and outcome.

Once the key areas are identified consider the desired outcomes and seek to find the key activities that lead to the objectives. Using both types of measurements provide guidance as you work (process), while also ensuring the process produces the desired results (outcomes). The combination of both tracking numbers helps to guide work and also to improve the work process. In summary, use a limited set of operational areas for focus.

Get Buy-In for Tracking Goals

Even when the right numbers are used, if they are not explained they can have the same impact as wrong numbers. If  the staff is not involved in helping to set the scoring system or it is not explained, there can be misunderstanding or resentment. They may feel that the numbers are taken out of context. For example, there may not be a way to communicate why their situation is unique or different. Stores have different sizes, staffing levels, customer demographics that numbers may not address fully.

3. Human Touch is Needed

Data analytics is not that effective compared to in-store observations. Even if the numbers show results, the only thing that impacts performance are the behaviors in the stores. There is only so much time. no one wants to have data overload. Managers should spend their time in the stores watching and coaching, rather than in the office studying the numbers.

Irony of Objective Data

One of the surprising benefits of using retail data analytics is the way it can increase time for coaching. By having precise counts and examples of great results or poor results easily available, c-store managers can move directly to high impact feedback. Of course using data well can be both a pro or a con for c-store management. If used only to punish, it will not improve a management relationship.

However, by seeing both the good and the bad objectively, meetings are focused and fact-based rather than arbitrary and favorites-based. A good manager uses the data to show a new staff member  their growth as they are trained (transactions handled, upselling accomplished) compare to more experienced staff. For experienced staff, the results provide areas to review and analyze.

By pinpointing operational issues (e.g., lower sales, too much shrink, inadequate age verification), store managers know who needs attention. It makes c-store interactions more personal and direct. With specific results it is easier to ask targeted questions and make suggestions. There are more opportunities to meet with staff to identify with new ways to handle difficult customers or bad service  such as long lines, missing items, or high prices.

4. Lack of Trust

The people preparing the analytics may not understand the business or even calculate the data correctly. Worse, the data may not be available to address issues early so the analysis only brings problems after the fact. It can be used to bully or catch mistakes so that store staff feel blindsided. It can make staff feel they no one takes time to listen to them or even understand issues, but just sends numbers and expects better results regardless of the situation.

Expectation Overload

Many times staff feel like they cannot win. If the numbers are good, the company is great and if things are bad it is there fault. Worse ownership may worry that making small improvements that are the result of better branding and upkeep will empower the staff to ask for bonuses that they have not earned.

C-Store managers can feel like they are in a no-win situation. When this happens it is easy to have manager overload. Ownership and leadership must lead by example. Expecting store staff to perform well and have trust comes with trustworthy leadership from the top down. Using c-store retail data is a tool to help everyone win. With teamwork and alignment, data (even for bad results) becomes a useful tool to make things better.

5. Confrontations May Be Necessary

The numbers sometimes paint a bad picture that requires action.  Consistent late attendance, low upselling, inadequate age verification or excessive shrink activity limits success. With labor shortages, it may just be too hard to address staff short-comings, yet having numbers may make it hard to overlook.

Store managers must ensure basic operations are met. Balancing the need to keep staff working, making profits and not expecting too much is hard. The benefit of c-store managers using data analytics is the time it saves and justification it provides. Rather, than expecting excessive in-person or video monitoring, now the c-store manager can simply address those top priorities that are identified. It magnifies oversight and reduces the burden of deciding which issues cannot be avoided.

When the Pros Outweigh the Cons of C-Store Data Analytics?

C-Store Data Analytics is not for everyone. It does take time to review even the best analysis. Of course, there is the expense to buy tools or pay someone to create the analysis. Further, it requires looking at things objectively. Before embarking on a new approach to use data, it may be wise to talk with others. Given the pros and cons of c-store managers using data analytics, take time to consider key staff to help analyze the benefits and provide guidance on the best way incorporate a new management tool. Building support as well as having peers to explain the reasons for a change helps with motivation. Retail data analytics are here to stay, but do not ignore the human aspect. Allow some time and team input to help to maximize results and reduce the negative impact of the change.

Involve your key staff and set fair and reasonable expectations. Of course, make it safe to take a bit of time and even make some mistakes. It takes a little practice to use analytics, but it pays off when done well.

Research C-Store Retail Analytics

1. For real life examples, join c-store manager workshops for using data analytics to avoid manager overload.
2. Hear from leaders of four chains that use data analytics in a recorded conversation:  C-Store Growth Webinar with John Lofstock of CS Decisions.
3. Read more about setting goals in our blog – Begin with the End in Mind.
4. Watch C-Store Manager Best Practices and Tips Videos

The post Pros and Cons of C-Store Managers Using Data Analytics appeared first on BandyWorks.

1. Reducing c-store manager bias in decision making
2. Pinpointing c-store problems quicker
3. Recognizing good performance of cashiers
4. Reducing anxiety about the unknown
5. Locating best practices

Reduce Bias

One of the biggest demotivators is having your work ignored and having the ‘favorite’ person recognized due to popularity or favoritism rather than on merit. Naturally, c-store managers have biases towards those that they like. Using numbers provides a ranking system that can be made without subjective evaluation. Of course, there are lots of ways to maintain a bias such has getting the best register or time slot. Nonetheless, using a comparison is objective and removes one aspect of rating results.

Pinpoint Problems

Retail data analytics can show the top and bottom performers, show the trends that have the highest change both good and bad and list the very top values for things like total sales, refunds or take rates. When used as comparisons with either cashiers, stores or even same store over time the top differences can be spotted easily. Naturally, a manager needs to know if results are changing or are much different than other similar stores or cashiers.

Instinctively, outliers make us curious and demand attention. Using data analytics consistently finds these outliers. Watch the top performers and ask them questions about what makes the difference. Then repeat the analytical review with the low performers to identify the things that the low performers can do like the top performers. Have the managers coach and assist to ensure the best behaviors are used.

Feel Good About Your Work

Doing work and seeing that it made a difference is satisfying. Trying something new – especially something that is hard or uncomfortable – and see things improve is very rewarding.

The risk of course, is doing something different and getting bad results. Great managers know how to set the expectations for growth without setting the expectation of perfect execution. Fear of failure can cripple learning and trying new things. Progress over time is rarely a straight line. Performance also may not stay better without monitoring the results. Using analytics can help spot coaching and training needs and help reinforce the changes that need to be repeated.

Given the challenge for c-store retention in the current market, many c-store managers focus on this feedback aspect of data usage. Such managers, site it as the most important of the five reasons to use c-store retail data analytics. That is, objective data makes the praise and positive feedback absolutely believable. Thus the good feelings are based on trusted outcomes. Everyone loves to feel good about their work.

Reduce Anxiety

For many, the fear of the unknown can be worse that knowing things are bad. If we do not know about something and we are trying new things, it can hard to continue. Worse, it is nearly impossible to fix a problem that is unknown.

With confidence in your team and the ability they have to do their jobs, knowing about problems can be a fun situation. it makes it easy to assign the important work. Even better, the ones that fix it get to feel the satisfaction of doing a good and important job.

Identify Best Practices

Knowing what practices produce the best results is important. Therefore, applying data analytics across stores and over time, those cashiers and stores that produce the top results are identified. Next, the best results are studied. Obviously, it is simple to visit and discuss the practices used to achieve the top results. Comparing the work approach from the best results to the lesser results identifies the specific actions that make a difference.

Using these differences to coach and train the other cashiers and stores, can then prove that the practices make a difference. If things do not get better, then the situation is different or the best practices may not be understood or followed well. Either way, there are more insights to guide the c-store management effort.

What Experts Say About Data Analytics

While it is not specific to the five reasons to use c-store data analytics, these leading management experts provide summary quotes as to the value of using data to manage. They like having objective ways to track and coach store performance.

1. “In God we trust; all other must bring data.” William Edwards Deming
2. “Accurate information is a key part of motivation.” Mary Ann Allison
3. “We’ve got to use every piece of data and piece of information, and hopefully that will help us be accurate with our player evaluation. For us, that’s our life blood.” Billy Beane
4. “No great marketing decisions have ever been made on qualitative data.” – John Sculley
5. With data collection, ‘the sooner the better’ is always the best answer.” – Marissa Mayer
6. “Data beats emotions.” – Sean Rad
7. “Data are just summaries of thousands of stories – tell a few of those stories to help make the data meaningful.” — Chip & Dan Heath

For more information about retail c-store data analytics:

C-Store Scorecard Option

C-Store Growth Mindset: Making Peace with Accountability

For videos with C-Store Managers Tips and Best Practices:

BandyWorks C-Store Growth Mindset Youtube Channel

C-Store Managers Discuss Coaching Techniques for Staff Retention and Problem Solving

The post Five Reasons to Use C-Store Retail Data Analytics appeared first on BandyWorks.

“What would you rather me do? Take 5 minutes to know my store or just start to work?” This was the answer given by a successful c-store manager to the question – “Do you have time to plan your day?”

Nothing is free and everything takes time.

Using time well is not easy, but if you had a set of key information, would it make sense to take 5 minutes to organize the day? If your managers have a good daily plan, what would happen?

Stores that grow 5 percent produce more than $20,000 in extra profits each year. Some argue that a good store manager can control many things in a c-store. If they manage the important work – staffing, stocking, cleaning and customer service, then good results will follow. Those that believe managers can control store activity, know they must have a plan to succeed. Using time well is the key to growing profits. Good managers control the work in their stores. They resolve problems, fix inventory issues, open the store and schedule labor. It takes knowledge of the situation and the ability to manage the resources. Providing the key information makes managing more effective.

So what information should be provided to make it easy for a c-store manager to have a great daily plan?

Many think helping them to choose daily work items wisely, is a key to success. Providing key facts allows a manager to assess the store performance and then assign the work to get the needed results. Making it easy to see the key indicators for store results allows the store manager to focus attention and make things happen. Here is a list of things used to make decisions that help improve store performance.

Five Minute C-Store Daily Plan – Expectations-Plan Considerations

1. Same day sales – same day of week, last week or last year
2. Monthly sales – year over year comparisons
3. Categories that are going up or down compare to the same period last year
4. Top selling items
5. Items that are not selling at all
6. Items that sold last week but are not selling this week
7. Customer feedback on bathrooms, service and selection
8. Store inspections
9. Store maintenance items

Five Minute C-Store Expectations Plan – Make It Easy!

If there is a place that the most important information can be found so that the manager is not spending time gathering the information, then it becomes a quick check to decide what things need attention. Creating a list of actions and getting them done becomes a short task each day and leads to success. Knowing where to find the answers is a big part of the job. Make it easy!

For more information on C-Store planning

You may also want to read about our blog on C-Store Operations – Keep It Simple – The Hard Work?

The proven way to increase sales, simplify work and make time to grow – download now.

Get the book on store accountability.

The post 5 Minute C-Store Daily Plan – $20,000 Profits appeared first on BandyWorks.

• Firstly, Founding addresses financial issues.
• Secondly Organizing addresses management,
• Thirdly, Growing addresses sales and
• Finally, Thriving.

As progress occurs, higher sales and better teamwork result. Of course, the path is not always straight-forward. As normal, change is hear. Obviously, it takes time to learn and practice new ways to work. When a new level is attained, however, better results occur and therefore the work pays off. In fact, as companies step up the levels of growth, companies achieve both higher profits. In addition, work becomes easier.  As such, staff produce the desired results consistently. Even better, many find higher performing companies have less turn-over.

Reaching one of the higher levels of c-store performance growth does not happen accidentally. It takes planning action and follow-through. The path is well-documented. As a result, any company desires growth can use the model to improve.

C-Store Performance Level –Indication of Developing C-Store Maturity

When planning for store performance optimization and growth it’s important to start by assessing your current level of store performance maturity. The table below shows examples of how focus changes as maturity increases. Use this table as a model for identifying your own opportunity areas. In so doing, you to lay out a plan for moving forward.  Finally, note that with less maturity there is more potential to make substantial gains. So do not despair if you find lower maturity. Remember, you have a lot to gain!  Above all, have patience. Try to remember the gains will likely require more time and investment to achieve.

Determine Your C-Store Performance Maturity Level

Download the whitepaper to determine your level of c-store performance maturity. Find ways to improve with the white paper-  “Optimize C-Store Performance – The proven way to increase sales, simplify work and make time to grow.”

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Top 20 Chains Own 30{935b322e3519fc731b8c8389742fbd46918a79373f6355bb2e07141df02b187b} of All Stores

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Small Increases Yield Big ROI

There are lots of ways to improve by just 1%. Some things are easy for you to do yourself. Others happen with your partners.  Manufacturers will provide the signs and promotions to pay for incentives that provide a lot more than 1% improvement. Making 1% brings value to your bottom line. Making a series of improvements builds a very profitable store. Making improvements pays. High-growth chains find ways to keep improving so they make growth happen consistently.

Check the math when growth improvements get bigger across multiple stores. It pays to find ways to improve.

Proven Method of Growth

Read more about the proven way to increase sales, simplify work and make time to grow. Download the white paper and get started –   “Optimize C-Store Performance – The proven way to increase sales, simplify work and make time to grow.”

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Attention Brings Focus

Engaging staff to think and share experiences while also opening the possibilities to new ideas brings attention to obstacles and opportunities. Focusing on making things better while reviewing existing work habits can uncover good ideas that are not hard to implement. For example, store managers may share that up selling is not consistently done. routine operations may have become sloppy and need improvement. Other times, you may learn that the competition has a lot better offers that have not been addressed. Many times, a new look at promotions and signage brings new ideas to the buyers that may not be aware of specific-store conditions.

Getting Buy-in for C-Store Performance

During the process of gathering information from staff, they become an owner of the new ideas. It also ensures the store-specific conditions are considered and as well as providing staff with a corporate perspective that may not be understood. Everyone gets a chance t0 understand the full range of issues. The most common obstacle is just the business of doing one’s day job that prevents special projects.  Having a consultant provides someone with the specific job to do the assessment, brings perspective and focus. Such a resource can often spark the energy and activity to make a few changes that have been left to be done ‘when we find time’. Of course, considering necessary work flow and keeping the changes to a few critical items is important to avoid overwhelming the staff and missing existing work tasks that remain necessary.

Choosing a C-Store Consultant

When choosing a consultant to help your c-store operations to increase sales, experience and fit are key. Make sure you have sufficient buy-in from leadership and the objective is made clear. Setting a timeline and promoting open dialog will increase the initial participation level from your staff. Many times implementing an on-going service helps to ensure that success changes become part of the daily work. Therefore, always consider the tools that the consultants use. The goal is to get better and stay better.

Finding a consultant that understands your culture and works to balance existing needs with the right amount of change will provide the best results. Before choosing someone to help, ask for an outline of the consultant’s planned activities. Spend enough time so both you and the consultant have a clear understanding of the scope of work. While each situation is different, there are a few basic steps that any consultant will take to ensure a successful store-sales engagement.

8 Consulting Steps to Increase C-Store Sales

1. Interview District Managers to Assess Strengths
2. Visit Stores to Assess Cashier Interactions and Store Presentation
3. Compare Competitive Promotions and Product Mix
4. Determine Budget and Flexibility of Service Options
5. Brainstorm Options and Pick the Best
6. Implement Options and Train Staff
7. Measure and Understand Results
8. Celebrate Success, Learn from Failures and Adjust as Needed

Change versus Stability

Great operations know their culture and strengths. They seek outside perspective to challenge weaknesses and improve strengths. No one wants to delegate leadership, but having different perspectives add value and grow teamwork. Ponder whether you believe that consultants  increase c-store sales. If so, would listening to convenience industry best practices justify part of the expense. Would it help your company’s culture and corporate capabilities?

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Balanced C-Store Scorecard to Optimize Performance

There are a lot more other things than availability and price driving the market and C-Store performance than ever before.  As competition heightens, regulations increase, and more categories come into play, a balanced view of all that could impact revenue  becomes a lot more important.  The scorecard needs to measure more and it needs to be done more frequently.

According to Robert S. Kaplan of Harvard Business Review ‘Conceptual Foundations of a Balanced Scorecard’, it is important to consider
1. Financial results
2. Operational results
3. Customer feedback
4. Capacity

FINANCIAL
The financial results should be timely, accurate and have meaningful comparisons such as comparison to similar periods (e.g., last week, last month or last year) or targets/ budgets. Have a short but complete picture of financial results typically includes inside sales, fuel, customers, loss items (voids, refunds, over/short) and margins.

INTERNAL PROCESSES
Operations covers daily tasks at the store (shift duties), stocking and inventory, periodic work, maintenance, inspections and cash audits. This ensures the staff is taking care of the work to keep the store maintained and building long term relationships with clients.

CUSTOMER PERCEPTION
Customer feedback is different perspective that ensures your customers have a chance to tell you how they think you are doing. Short simple questions with the option to leave notes is recommended. This ensures you get feedback if something is going wrong. It can be scary to get the news and some worry it is open for asking for free stuff, but getting the feedback helps to keep everyone accountable.

LEARNING AND GROWTH
Finally, the capacity scores help to ensure there is an emphasis on training and staff building to keep the company strong. Many measure staff turnover, training scores and labor to sales.

Having a balanced measurement that provides frequent objective feedback helps staff to know what is important and ensures they look at both todays results while never forgetting the future. The outside view helps to keep us honest and ensure we are not missing opportunities to improve.

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Wikipedia states that there are 4 parts to having a balanced scored Reference:
1. Financial
2. Customer Perception
3. Internal Business Processes
4. Learning and Growth

To see a holistic view of the company, these components must be included in the scorecard to monitor the critical parts of the business. Of course, having the management and process to use the scorecard is essential for success, but Robert S Kaplan and David P. Norton argue that a balanced scorecard provides better guidance for long term success in their article written in the Harvard Business Review. To apply this theory you only need goals and metrics. When looking at a balanced view of metrics, one will have a much better chance of seeing the cause and effects of areas that may be lacking. To apply this theory to a C-Store, here are a few examples of what could be measured:

Financial

Financial goals can include sales growth, sales totals, or sales comparisons to similar times throughout the year.

Customer

Components of Customer Perception to monitor might include customer satisfaction, cleanliness, friendliness, convenience and likeliness to return. The frequency of surveys attest to the importance of feedback. To know your customer is to control your operations.

Internal Business Processes

The existence of internal business process can be easily tracked. With a list of processes, it is easy to track training and testing. Naturally, it is much harder to access how well staff know the work systems. Even harder, rating the effectiveness of systems directly can be a challenge. In the end, attention and care for business process improves service. Staff jobs are easier with clear definitions and adequate onboarding and support.

Learning and Growth

Learning and growth can be measured. Of course, new products or services can be measure. It shows marketing testing and the effectiveness. Likewise, your use of new technologies in the C-Store industry can be tracked and rated. Further, it could be a measurement of how much of the analytical data is being shared with staff. Obviously, they must understand the day to day requirements. Clearly, having good data helps to understand results . In addition, one can measure the execution of safety or other required training in the industry. Finally, it comes down growth of the business, the staff, and ones self. That is why there are 4 components of a balanced C-Store Performance Scorecard.

At the core, Kaplan’s and Norton’s theory is a simple one. It applies common sense to using data. Naturally, it is so much easier to see the big picture when the view is not blocked.

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1. Tank Meters are not calibrated correctly – Tank meters are prone to a lot of action and hardware with action can easily lose its calibration.  Scorecards will relay what the meters are reading which will immediately flag any that are out of calibration.  Though this is a normal check in most companies, it is often overlooked.  If that goes on too long, you can easily find yourself with an outage you weren’t aware was coming.
2. No change policies are not being followed. We have all been there. Someone asks for help and you know you are in the position to help them, so you do. This can quite often be the case when No Change policies are in place. Rather then force themselves into a debate about store policy, they just provide the change to make the customer happy. However, you have good reasons for having it as a policy. You need to make sure each drawer is capably of providing proper change throughout the day.  By keeping track of “No Sale” transactions, you can immediately be flagged when your cashiers are giving change.
3. Where your marketing programs are working and not working. By tracking customer counts you can determine if your Marketing efforts are having impact. Any Customer Count report will give you this. But if you can parallel your perspective of where they are working and not working by paralleling your study to customer count and sales, it may help you streamline your marketing activity better. A simple example, promotions can be studied to see how sales are changing. If they are only working in 50% of your stores, then you can adjust how those stores promote or change promotions.
4. What your store mangers need to focus on today. The scorecard provides a list of alerts telling Store Managers what they need to focus on each day in order to pull their grade up. What may be on that list on the 25th of the month may be completely different than what was on the list on the 4th of the month. With the many things that can impact performance in a C-Store Company, it is very important to keep up. If waiting on weekly reports or time for the Supervisor to run analysis the Store Manager will lose momentum and be likely to fail in reaching their monthly goals. The list can get too large, too quickly. Scorecards approaches issues with the “one bite at a time” philosophy. Dealing with issues on a daily basis can prevent larger problem situations and keep them on track towards their goals.  When doing so, today’s list may be completely different then yesterday’s list.
5. Are your employees stealing from you? One of the hardest things to discover before it is too late, is whether your employees are refunding imaginary sales or  stealing money from the drawer.  It is very plausible that someone mishandled change in a transaction, or if customers actually did return merchandise.  Unfortunately, that is not always the case when these transactions pop up repeatedly.  By keeping a constant check on Over/Short and Refund transactions, you can see the patterns as this fraudulent activity begins.  Clearly, store managers are able to address theft more easily.

The day to day activity in a C-Store is busy and fast paced.  It is difficult to monitor everything that happens.  Scorecards catch things in a c-store. They use data analytics to monitor the many things that make or cost you money. As such, you know when things go awry in these areas   Of course, there are many more things scorecards will tell you that you didn’t know as well.  The important thing is that viewing all of them in a single page. In that way, you stay on top of the money-maker. It makes the daily work  simple and do-able.

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This quarterly or six week routine trained the student to be responsible on their own. It wasn’t until college that we were reported our grades without parental involvement and hopefully we were incented to improve when seeing the result without their involvement.  We were conditioned by the academic culture.   These same principles  are brought to the corporate environment by annual or quarterly reviews.  However, when performance correlates to revenue, one needs to ask, “Is that often enough?”.

Business Scorecards Give Context

If you are a Supervisor, you can probably look at your desk and see a stack or at least one report that shows the result of a person or department on some key performance indicator.  Have you looked at it today?  If there is a deficiency causing revenue loss, how much money will your company lose if you wait until the weekend or next week to review it?

C-stores have a lot of transactions made each and every day.  Each presents the opportunity to gain more revenue than the customer intended to spend, but they also  present the possibility of error, where that customer will not pay fully for what they purchased due to sticker errors, entry errors at the register, and even inventory and/or money being stolen just because it could. 

C-Store Scan Data Can be Graded

A company with an average of only 300 transactions a day can lose some serious money between now and next week.  By the time  you have  a moment to review and study the report, people tend to forget why what happened did happen, and it all gets get sloughed off as part of the business.  This is because no one has time to monitor each and every statistic where money can leak.  Business Intelligence Tools have become an important part of the business in this industry for that reason.  They do monitor all scan data. The good ones will notify you when there is a revenue leak.  A better one will inform the store manager and the supervisor so that action can immediately be taken. Fast action prevents the revenue loss when it begins, where it begins. 

A daily scorecard or, corporate report card provides contextual data to spot changes – both the good and the bad.  Sending the store manager a daily notification of where they are in KPI standing, will allow them to correct errors, coach their team or, put more secure measures in place to stop the problems and drive the store to better performance before month end totals get tallied.

I Got My Report Card at Work Today

Benefits of the scorecard reach beyond  financial gain for the company.  Performance reviews will be better. Better results enable increased pay.  As they reach goals rewards are earned.  Additionally, they also gain a clear understanding of expectations when good results are compensated. Dr. Jan West, PHD, of the National Business Research Group touts  lack of proper recognition is one of the biggest flaws of employers. A regular scorecard show performance clearly. Obviously, a daily email with bad news is better than a surprise call by your manager who sees bad results at month-end.   BandyWorks data analytics and scorecard software allows a clear feedback loop.  The grade results also allow the store manager to find core issues that impact results.

Win Win 

When problem identification and correction becomes part of daily process it all becomes conditioned and routine, which leads to better, well rounded success.  So take Dr. West’s management practice advice and, provide the feedback your employees want and need to do their very best, and give them their daily report cards.  You may very soon find yourself running out of gold star stickers.

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