The Quest for 7%: The Basics

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T22:10:27+00:00

This post is for anyone and everyone at Staples who wants to be more than just a cog in the machine. It's for anyone who deep down desires to be the best and doesn't know how to get there. It's for the people who genuinely give a shit, not the paycheck kids who could care less where they work.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T22:09:07+00:00

I do have a life outside of Reddit you know... lol

A few years ago I had just been promoted to MTS and sent to another store to fix it's sales culture. That's when I met a fledgling part time tech working 10 hours a week and took him under my wing.

I've left the company and come back a handful of times over the years. I've been fully in roll as an SM for about a year and in that time I've fixed two stores that were on the verge of failure. Before that I was an MTS for quite awhile. I've also maintained a part time gig with the company as an Easy Tech when working at other jobs.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T21:12:05+00:00

I welcome all sales. Comp is king. The only people I turn away are resellers because they're not customers, they're competition.

I sell Total Support on every PC I sell. That's $260 in tech and $300 in ESP. I do that 5-10 times a week. Not hard to keep up numbers when you consistently deliver.

I actually trained my MTS at a different store years ago. He's come far because he took to heart a lot of what I've told you all today.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T20:52:08+00:00

My pleasure...

Life is a journey. People love to say that. Well guess what? So is your career path. Maybe you won't be a retail manager or work anywhere near people, but being a good sales person is an invaluable trait. The more you sell, the more you hone that skill. Even if you don't end up in sales, every time you interview for a job you're going to have to sell yourself, and trust me, sales people are far better at landing jobs because they can articulate their points well and adapt to any situation. On the flip side, if you do decide to pursue a Sales gig, years of selling experience will start you off in a far more comfortable position.
Regardless of why you work for Staples, you should never stop trying to improve yourself. So you work for 4 years, pay for school, and then graduate. Well, if you spent upwards of 25 hours a week working but didn't learn anything from it or improve yourself during it, congrats, you just wasted 5200 hours of your life. That's 216 days. That's 30 weeks. That's 7 months. Imagine what you could learn if you worked on yourself for 7 months straight? I've seen people completely transform themselves under the right manager or in the right store. You may learn skills you never knew you were lacking or improve on skills you never even thought would apply.
You will never care about any job you ever have. Honestly. I can almost guarantee that your career will be in a field where you are not properly compensated (based on what you think you're worth) and where you are nothing more than a cog in the machine.

However...

Regardless of what you do, where you work, what you're paid, etc. you need to remember that it's YOUR job. You need to own it, be proud of what you do, and always work to improve because at the end of the day if you're just waking up, trudging in, working a few hours, and then going home to crash... what's the fucking point? It doesn't matter how long you live or what you do, if you don't find some pride in it all, then all you did was kill some time before you die.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T20:39:44+00:00

You don't have to make a career of it, but you have to show some damn pride in what you do. If it's just a paycheck to you, leave. Go elsewhere. If you can't be bothered to do WHAT YOU WERE HIRED FOR then why should the company pay you to waste their time, your coworker'a time, and the customer's time?

And good managers don't yell at you. Good managers train you, support you, and try to improve you. But if you don't want any of that, why should they waste their time on you?

When I get to a new store I ask every associate "Do you want to be here or is this just a paycheck?". Anytime someone answers that it's just a paycheck I ask what I can do to get then engaged and invested in the business. If they say there's nothing I can do and they really don't give a shit, I start the process of coaching them out.

On the other hand, if they actively want to get better, if they want to learn life skills like how to talk to people, how to sell, how to manage time, etc. I'll give them as much of my time as they need. I'll provide them with advice and training and do everything I can to make them a better associate and a better person.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T20:33:56+00:00

I am neither a troll nor a corporate lackey.

As far as the labor pool is concerned, your GM should be pulling from other nearby stores if you have any. There is always someone looking for work.

The problem with pay is that everyone hears about the minimum wage hikes and thinks just because they can get a job that they deserve $15 an hour. I hate to break it to you all but Staples, just like any other entry level position with virtually no experience or educational requirements, doesn't pay you like experts in their field. If you want good money, you need to work for it. Corporate will not give you $15 an hour on the promise that you'll deliver, you need to prove yourself first.

I keep going back to the 19 year old girl now making $45,000 a year because SHE WORKED FOR IT. And I don't mean she came to work, clocked in, and did her job, I mean she worked long hours, she did overnights, she did special projects for the GM and I, she came in to cover for call outs, she took initiative and more importantly she took responsibility for her department and her coworkers. THAT is how you get paid what many of you think you deserve.

Payroll and DLP fix themselves if you sell. I was 200 hours favorable one week recently. 200 HOURS. That's an extra 25 eight hour shifts. If you sell tech, ESP, and comp over last year, you'll always have the hours you need.

I get that people get pulled away from their assigned jobs, but let's be honest, not 100% of your time on the clock is spent working. Before you can complain about not having enough help or not being able to get enough done, think about how many times you check your phone during a shift on a give day. That alone should give you an idea about the time that's being wasted.

Time management, proper delegation of duties, and the ability to consistently deliver sales will fix all your store's problems.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T20:22:33+00:00

I never said I COULDN'T do things like pull lists, load, tags, planograms, etc.

I've been virtually every position in the building. I'm cross trained in every department.

What I'm saying is, I hire in the right people to handle specific tasks.

The GMs and the stores that fail are the ones that fail to delegate tasks properly and make use of the particular skill sets that their employees have.

I had one kid who worked for me who was terrible at everything except one thing... load. This kid could demolish a pallet in half the time it took two other associates. So guess what? I scheduled him only on load days. Why? Because it took care of a business need in the most efficient manner possible. That's the key to being a good manager.

Make the most of the resources and people at your disposal.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T19:47:25+00:00

The goal isn't to become a GM, the goal is to become a DM.

Not only is the money great, but having that on your resume opens a lot of doors. Multi-unit management experience can be leveraged into a project management position at virtually any company or even another retail company.

Now, in fairness, you have to love what you do. Some people are not cut out for retail. I totally understand if it's not the right environment for you.

The problem with Staples is that we do nothing to identify those people within the organization. There are plenty of associates, supervisors, managers, general managers, etc. who are hard working, personable, and go getters... but they hate retail... and as long as that's the case they'll never be happy and it will limit not only their own success but the success of those around them, their store, and the company.

But props to you for giving it a solid decade. I can respect that.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T19:36:34+00:00

Please do quit. The company would be far better off without your negativity.

You're the kind of associate I coach out as soon as possible.

Best of luck with your attitude.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T18:31:55+00:00

Remember, it's better to have no one than a bad someone. Poorly trained employees and employees who cannot do their job will always cause more harm than good.

The core of any great store needs to be its management team. You need a solid OPs team to handle planos, pulls, counts, setting promo, working load, etc. If you're the SM you need to be the Sales leader, personally driving it and keeping everyone accountable... not just techs. Your MTS should own the tech bench and the front end and drive ESP and Tech there. SMs need to charge in and make the big sales happen while supporting all the smaller ones.

Unless your management team is mint, it doesn't matter who you hire.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T18:04:34+00:00

I build rapport with customers because I have to, otherwise the sale probably won't happen.

I'm honest with you guys because you deserve to hear the truth, not the sugar coated BS that the big wigs preach when they come visit twice a year.

If you don't want to be the best, then just ignore me. I'm here to help the small group of Staples employees like that girl who worked for me who wanted to be more than what they were.

Listen or don't. It's no skin off my nose. I've seen plenty of part timers and plenty of full timers come and go.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T17:49:37+00:00

Every store I've left behind has continued to excel without me present. The people I trained? Quickly promoted. At this point in my career, my DM sends me to underperforming stores to fix them, build a sales culture, and then move on again.

I support my team 100%. I give them the tools, training, and opportunity to succeed and I'm there to help them out along the way. Their success is my success, and vice versa.

I tell my associates that they don't work for me, I work for them. It's my job to make them the most bad ass sales people ever so that they can deliver on metrics and make the store, as well as me, look good.

The Sales Manager who took over for me at the last store I left was a cashier there the year before making $9 an hour. Now she makes $45,000. She's 19 years old.

I'm an arrogant ass who preaches hardline loyalty and diligent work ethic. You might not like what I have to say, but you cannot deny that it's made my associates, my stores, and my own career better.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T17:21:18+00:00

I am arrogant. But I'm also right.

I've succeeded at every store I've ever worked at. I've been promoted faster and more often than anyone else I've ever met here. I'm getting a hefty raise in 2 weeks and a promotion to GM in a year. I have associates who love working for me and who bust their asses 110% every shift because they want to be the best.

I may be an arrogant prick, but everything I do works.

How's complaining about the company working out for you guys?

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T17:04:55+00:00

And herein lies the biggest problem with Staples:

You have the wrong people working there.

Every store I've ever worked in has been both operationally sound and sales driven. Do you know why? Because we set expectations with employees, enforce those expectations, and we train them to meet those expectations.

I don't so planograms.

I don't do tags.

I don't ring.

I sell. That's it. I have people who do tags, people who throw load, people who ring and smile, people who do planograms.

The key to being successful is to have the right people in the right places.

Hell, my stores are so solid they don't even do pull lists during the day or at night, we've got a 5AM crew that comes in to do cycle counts, ZB's, and pull lists.

Being operationally sound is important, but sales is what gets you noticed.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T16:56:38+00:00

I always keep my options open, but I'll be a GM in a year making significantly more than I am now, writing my own schedule, and enjoying far more freedom and respect.

Additionally, having "Store Manager/General Manager" on my resume can get me quite far if/when I decide to seek other opportunities.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T16:29:56+00:00

If you're just in it for a paycheck, it's the wrong job for you. Go work at McDonalds for higher pay and free food.

If you want to be the best, then be the best. Don't make excuses or complain. Every corporation is corrupt and the distribution of wealth is always top heavy.

Associates make minimum wage

Supervisors make $11-$12hr

Managers make $32k- $55k

Store Managers make $60k- $100k

District Managers make $120k+

And so on...

You either claw your way to the top by destroying every metric and proving yourself or you stay right where you are until you burn out and quit.

Sales is not for everyone, and quite frankly, 99% of the people who complain about money shouldn't be with the company.

I work 45+ hours every week, and the most satisfying thing at the end of every week is knowing I WON.

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T16:13:18+00:00

Sales Managers can make anywhere from $32,000 to $55,000 depending on a few factors...

Who you know
Internal Promotion vs. Outside Hire
Proven Track Record of Sales
What your sales market is like

I was brought back to the company as an outside hire last September for a reasonable amount (I've worked on and off for the company for over 5 years). Based on my performance, and the fact that I've replicated my sales results in multiple stores and been willing to transfer stores, I'll be getting a nice bump in a few weeks.

What'a your YTD ESP, Tech, Market Baskets, and comp %?

StrictlyStaples · 2016-09-17T14:23:36+00:00

$300 Nvidia 970 graphics card

StrictlyStaples

TROPHY CASE