12 | Orgill Case Study Before After A Multi-Faceted Solution With the MDR study complete, the store open, shelves stocked and customers coming to K&C Supply, the next step in the store improvement process was for Barker to visit the location. “This first visit is one of my favorite parts of working with retailers,” Barker says. “I get to see so many stores and help them find ways to grow. Every time we walk into a business, we are very much bringing a new set of eyes on the operation and using our insights and experience to draw out a roadmap for helping that retailer be more successful.” During Barker’s first visit to K&C Supply, he walked Jim and Dana through the process he uses with all the customers he works with. Before the process starts, however, Barker is very clear about one thing. “I always let the owners I work with know that throughout this process, I am going to make suggestions, but they are going to make the decisions,” Barker says. “We are going to use our insights to provide them with guidance, but it is their business. We aren’t going to push them into doing anything they don’t want to do.” Barker and Musselman kept this theme of “complete transparency” front and center throughout the process. With the guidelines of the project established, Barker and Musselman began developing a plan for helping improve the assortments and K&C Supply. The Walk-Through Because Orgill’s team of RDMs and sales consultants regularly help retailers improve their businesses, an early step in preparing a customized proposal is for a Business Development Manager to physically walk through the store, aisle by aisle, and look at each assortment. “We have to get an idea at what every single assortment looks like and make notes on what we see and where we might have opportunities to help them improve their offering,” Barker said. Prior to a walk-through, Barker says he downloads data (with permission) from the dealer’s POS system. With this information, he can initiate the process of matching the retailer’s current inventory with the products and assortments Orgill has in its system. “Having the data file just helps speed things up,” Barker says. “We can prepare a proposal more efficiently if we know exactly what we are dealing with.” When reviewing customer POS data, the conversion team at Orgill’s headquarters separates the data into several different categories.
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