Bottlenecks - Do You Have Any?

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What is a bottleneck? A bottleneck is an aspect of your business that restricts or constricts productivity. Bottlenecks hold up precious revenue producing resources. They restrict progress, effect efficiency and cost you money. For many retailers bottlenecks can be anywhere. Can you think of an area in your store where productivity is at a stand still? Do you have any?

In order to improve efficiency you will have to identify your bottlenecks. Possible bottlenecks for a retail home center might result from a backlog of deliveries or merchandise returns. Stacked up or over scheduled deliveries can lead to cancelled orders and the loss of a positive shopping experience. Long lines of customers waiting to return products can be equally damaging. Good customers wishing to exchange products that are incorrect or defective don’t appreciate long wait times. They may leave vowing never to return. Bottlenecks can be found in other types of retail as well. Customers who are also on their lunch hour can easily overwhelm a drug store operating on a lean staff over the noon hour. A lumberyard or plumbing supply business may do a significant percentage of their business in charge accounts. If at the end of the month the charge statements are not sent out on time, it will greatly affect the income steam of that business. Any one of these scenarios can result in lost revenue, and not for just one instance, but possibly forever. What is the cost of a good customer over multiple years?

Once found, take action. Whether it is merchandise returns, monthly statements, or daily deliveries, ask yourself is it a staffing issue. If it is, correct it. You may only need to increase your staff levels at peak times. If it is a procedural issue find out where the breakdown in policy occurred. If it is a personnel issue, make a change. As an owner or manager of any retail business, you must recognize that the bottleneck potential is always there. It is important for you to be vigilant and train your staff to recognize the signs of a possible bottleneck.

Successful retailers build their businesses on good service. They are able to do this by avoiding the negative elements that effect productivity. This is because they believe in training. Training your staff is the best investment you can make to increase your productivity and your profits.

Gary Petz - At Discovery-Based Retail we help retailers make more money. Visit our website and find out how. http://www.discoverdbr.com and http://www.discoverybasedretail.com

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