| Clear out your stock! |
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Have you got dog soap on your shelves which have been there since 1987 or 3 different shampoos all doing the same thing? When was the last time you had a really good look at what lies on your shelves? It’s sometimes easy for those ordering merchandise to get caught up in the ‘specials’ or ‘new products’ and buy items you don’t need. This leads to surplus stock or stock which nobody will sell. Don’t have 5 products doing the same thing! All staff has favourites but if you stock all of your staff’s favourites you would have a very high stock level and therefore poor profitability. I once did some work at a practice that had 4 different types of shampoo, all doing the same thing. When I asked why this was so I was told that each brand was stocked for particular staff members and on deeper investigation they really wanted to stock these favourite shampoos because they didn’t know how to sell the others! Crazy isn’t it? I removed all of the shampoo except one and arranged for a rep to come to the practice to brief the staff on the product kept so they would feel comfortable selling it. The pharmacy is another area where you can save big money. Get in there and clear it all out. Daggy old stock makes your new stock look old and daggy too. Make sure your practice doesn’t look like an old junk store and get rid of the lines that don’t move. Don’t forget to also make sure you have procedures in place to ensure they don’t creep back in! Remember it’s hard to break old habits and can be easy for staff to slip back into their comfort zone and reorder their ‘favourite’. Be aware that this happens! Marianne’s tip You should never add a new item to your shelves unless you first brief all of the staff on the features and benefits of the product and you remove or sell what it is that you currently stock. For example: I currently stock ABC oatmeal shampoo but a new oatmeal product has come on the market which does the same thing but has a greater profit margin for the practice. What do you do? Bring up at your next meeting that you want to replace the existing shampoo with the new product and give your reasons why (features & benefits). Listen to the feedback from the staff and address any of their concerns but remember you are never going to please everyone so don’t try (particularly if you are replacing their favourite!) It is important however to sell the new product to staff and get them on board. If you can’t sell to your staff how can you sell to your clients? Do not put the new product on the shelf until you have removed the old product. Run an end of the line promotion to get rid of it or use it as in-clinic stock. Don’t keep adding to your shelves or you’ll end up with so much clutter that the popular items won’t move as quickly as they are lost in all the rubbish. |
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