“Be careful what you ask for!” is certainly an apt phrase for getting store feedback about their DMs.  When we do the SVE (Store Visit Effectiveness) survey we do it anonymously.  The Store Managers are more willing to divulge their feelings more freely without concern for retribution or being stereotyped.  The retailers who have implemented the SVE have been amazed at what stores say; both positive and negative.

The questions on the SVE are tied to leadership training we do for multiunit managers.  It’s a way to assess how much of what the DMs learned is actually being used as they manage their districts.  It can also be used as an assessment of what leadership gaps there may be with Regionals and/or DMs as well even if they haven’t participated in our multiunit management training.

Store Managers have been very forthcoming about what they like about their DM visits.  Spending time with the broader management staff and associates is a big one.  Teaching the store something they didn’t know is another.  Helping them innovate and merchandise to drive sales and service is another.  What they really don’t like is all the distractions a DM has (allows) while in their store.  One Store Manager recently said, “I know he’s important, but sometimes we’d like to feel important too!”  That says a lot about cell phone and laptop use during a store visit!

How would you use feedback from the SVE to improve DM visits?  Share your thoughts here or tweet us @mohrretail.  Thanks for reading. In retail every day is a chance to learn MOHR.

Posted in Retail Pulse
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About MOHR Retail

For more than 30 years, MOHR Retail has developed the critical people-to-people skills needed to create results in the retail industry—and we’re just getting started. Through innovative classroom and online learning methods, as well as our ongoing national retail research projects, we continue to stay on top of the trends so we can fuel the success of specialty stores, chain stores, outlets, catalogue retailers, department stores, and more. Nowhere does learning meet experience as it does in a MOHR Retail training program.