Use It or Lose It!

For some people, it’s simply called spring cleaning. It’s about taking a look at what you need, looking at items you rarely use and then deciding what needs to get tossed out. Some homeowners do this often while others only complete the task when they move to a new home. Some have never done it.

But for your business, this is the time. With continual changes in reimbursement, new products being developed by a long list of creative manufacturers and the potential for increased costs in rent, electricity and insurance, etc., your sales operation needs an internal analysis and, possibly, some spring cleaning. It’s time to decide if you are not using it, should you lose it?

Begin by asking yourself these questions:

• Do you have products on your shelves that you have not sold in more than a year? If so, it may be time to use that coveted space for products that customers actually want. You may want to use that space for products that generate more sales and greater profits. In most retail stores, display space is limited. You don’t want to become a warehouse for products that no one asks for or wants. Could some products be located through a catalog? Could you order some products at the time of the purchase and receive 24-hour delivery?
• Am I carrying too many products? Have I expanded the product line beyond my needs? You may be storing and maintaining too many products. I have often been in retail stores that barely allow space to walk around and are absolutely inaccessible for those using a wheelchair. Maybe you bought products you never got around to marketing because a manufacturer’s rep convinced you the sale they were having was one you could not afford to miss.
• Are there products that are not selling because staff is not trained on their use or who would benefit most from the item? People don’t talk about or sell products they don’t understand. Understanding the features and benefits of those more complicated products will help position you as an expert and ensure that customers find exactly what they need.
• Can you easily determine what’s in stock before you promise a customer immediate delivery? You need the ability to determine the products that are just taking up space for far too long. Hopefully you can easily check your inventory management or bar coding system. For those products that have been housed far too long in your store or warehouse, how about running a sale to see if you can sell them? Then you can give that valuable retail space over to a new product.
• Finally, it’s time to take on the warehouse Make sure your warehouse is not a home for products that you are not able to repair or that are of no interest to your customers. As the retail territory is prime land, so is your warehouse. Your customers want immediate access to products, and your warehouse should not prevent you from being as efficient as possible in locating what they need. If you don’t intend to repair the product or believe your space could be more valuable in storing products that actually sell, give that product up for a greater cause.

Experience tells me there are products in your store that no one sells because not all staff know they are there. Some staff may actually be shocked to hear you have in stock products a customer called about — and they told the caller you did not have any. I remember being in a store several years ago when a customer entered, asked about a special bed pad and was told by the first person they met that the store did not carry the item. From the back of the store came a loud voice saying, “Sure we do, but you’ll have to look behind that big stack of boxes at the front of the store.” I wonder if you have ever heard a similar comment made by one of your staff.

Take time to review a list of those products that sell, how often they are sold and the time it takes to reorder. In difficult economic times, you don’t want to miss an important sale and you cannot afford to waste time, space or energy in making the sale happen.

Now that you have a better handle on your inventory, consider helping customers become more informed about what you sell and how you can meet their present and potential needs.

Read more Sales Notebook columns.

Louis Feuer is president of Dynamic Seminars & Consulting Inc. and the founder and director of the DSC Teleconference Series, a teleconference training program. You can reach him through www.DynamicSeminars.com or at 954/435-8182.