I met Kris Herbert delos Reyes during my very short stint in a BPO company. We’re both management trainees.
Kris has long been a manager of different popular food and clothing stores in the country. He’s got an aggregate seven years of experience in store operations and leadership.
I’m really inspired by the man, because he’s not only smart, he’s very humble, too. And I got him to share his experience with us so that anybody there who wants a store management position one day may get to know what it’s like.
Dream or circumstance?
When asked if he really aspired for this position, he explained, “It was never my plan to be in store operations. I was a graduate of Psychology and I expected to be a part of the Human Resource industry. But the need for male HR employees is very low, so I decided to look for other options.”
Daily Duties
As a store manager, you’ve got three major duties. According to Kris these are:
1. Overall supervision and managing of daily store operations.
This means you got to check on your goods or services, your employees, and reports. You also have to oversee customer relationship.
2. Make sure that standard procedures are being observe or implemented.
Every store communicates and reports to the company’s head office. The store receives instructions on displays, promos and updates with regards to the products, services or customer interaction. So, the manager needs to make sure that his store is compliant.
3. Make sure to hit your numbers.
In other words, if sales target for the month is a million, then your figures at the end of the month must be a million or more. If not, you got to present the reasons your store didn’t meet the target and propose actions on how to achieve it.
Upside, Downside
When asked what he liked most about the job, Kris says, “I get to influence other people and help them become more productive employees of the company.” He finds fulfillment whenever he sees his crew get promoted or deliver better results.
But as manager, you got to be accountable for everything – every little thing in the store. And this is what Kris finds to be very challenging. He adds, “Anything that affects store performance reflects how efficient and effective you are as a manager.”
So no matter if it’s the hours of operations, the weather or changing customer tastes, you got to know how to make it work.
One thing a store can’t survive without is…
Teamwork. Everybody’s role is important. Some may argue that some people have easy or difficult task but, the thing is, each must perform at the best of his/her ability and assume responsibility. I always tell my crew, “Gawin nating madali ang trabaho ng isa’t isa.(Let’s make each other’s job easy [by doing our part].)”
“When you sell service, you sell a relationship.”
That’s what Kris’ Operations Manager (OM) used to say to them. He went on, “Competition will always be there. And you just can’t rely on brand to hit the target. It’s not really a priority to customers anymore. Customers go where they feel welcome, where there’s genuine concern for what they truly need. It may sound sappy, but customers really want service that comes from the heart.”
So in this consumer driven market, Kris thinks that the trend will shift from being brand-centered to service-oriented.
I want to be a store manager!
If so, Kris has this advice for you:
Strong leadership skill is indispensable. You got to be highly analytic and logical. Most of all, you got to be a risk-taker. You should have the courage to speak for your crew and your store performance. Most of all, you got to be people-oriented. Treat your crew fairly and let them know that they are important.
The writer thinks that a store manager must also be an excellent juggler. So much to do, so much to think about but you got to keep your balance. 🙂
So there ends our interview with Kris. Hope this gives you a glimpse on the career of a store manager.
If it so happen that you’re a store manager or aspiring to become one, let us know what you think about this post. Thanks for reading!
Photo Credit: RomanK Photography via photopin cc
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