Feature Article
Time – The Recovery Killer
Sometimes spending more time is a good thing, sometimes it is not. Taking additional time vetting out a critical decision may bring additional information from which a more informed decision can made. In the case of a Retailer’s reverse supply chain, more time continuously erodes value of the returned goods such that alternative strategies may be the best option.
Retail goods have a limited market lifecycle. Some high fashion goods, such as apparel or footwear products, are “in” today and “out” tomorrow such that long return lifecycles miss any opportunity of recapturing value from the returned goods. Other products have longer lifecycles allowing a Retailer to spend more time processing, sorting, storing and repairing returns while products are still within their peak market lifecycle. Still others are seasonal in nature causing a need for a highly efficient return program or a return program reliant on storage and resell during the next seasonal period. No matter what product you’re returning, the point is no one process fits all categories of products. You must design processes specific to the products in question and take into consideration the impact of time on the subsequent resale value.
Now as a Retailer you may be thinking; “So what?” Perhaps you have a process whereby you get cash credit, or product credit, for all returned goods and therefore you may think you are impervious to the effects of time on your return process. Consider this, any costs the Product Manufacturer incurs in the returns process is being passed back to you as part of the overall product pricing. Consider also, the costs you, as the Retailer, incur in order to prepare, stage, and process the return back to the Vendor. If you’re one of those receiving product credits, consider the time effect of the process on the replacement product market value. By the time you’ve received the replacement product the market has eroded the price point of the product due to competitive activity and buyer interest. If you’re getting cash credit consider the concept of cash today being worth more than cash tomorrow.
Assuming you agree time is affecting your overall profitability then what might you do? An option is to consider engaging the Supply Chain professionals at ASIL to map your return product portfolio and process using our proprietary analytical Return recovery models. ASIL, Inc. consultants are Logistics and Supply Chain professionals with over 100 years experience in various Supply Chain roles. ASIL’s partnerships with Logistics providers can provide you a returns program design offering the best balance of time, touches and recovery. We have a proven track record of pragmatic solutions and welcome the opportunity to serve you and your clients. Call us today and let us help you achieve new areas of profitability and success in this ever changing economic climate.
Contributed by Warren White
October Spotlight
The Holidays Are Upon Us
Unless you live in a cave or are hiding under a rock you are well aware that the holiday season is upon us. We are bombarded with messaging everywhere we go. We can see this opportunity, or that sale, or these savings, and they seem to be endless. This is both a time of great joy and celebration as well as a stressful and difficult time of year.
Manufacturers and Retailers are counting on your business to make lemonade out of a year of lemons. Yet, buyers are more cautious than ever with their precious few dollars. Wild spending sprees are part of the past. Resources must be controlled and managed to ensure that all needs are covered. Our time must be planned if we are to attend to the variety of activities that are forth coming.
Hectic holiday life resembles business life in many ways. Both require planning, budgets, controls, and your valuable time that must be focused. As the holidays begin, the year is winding down and there is a tendency for businesses to fall into a lull.
Now is the time to be planning the start of the New Year. Creating the ramp that will enable a greater level of success in 2010. Start by rethinking your approach to achieving results, focus on the few versus the many, and begin to plan new possibilities. If you are in need some ideas to get started, the Professionals at ASIL, Inc. are here to help.
May your Holiday Season be filled with good health and good times.
Contributed by Peter Pazmany
Industry Trends
Happy Employees = Customer Loyalty
Managing customer experience depends on being able to manage the employee experience. A happier, more satisfied and better informed employee can go a long way in influencing the customer experience. Research has 6 identified common steps to take to increase employee satisfaction and customer loyalty. While not an exhaustive list, adopting these steps will put your company on track for positive employee experience and foster an environment for building customer loyalty.
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Match each employee with their training needs. Emphasize individualized learning; flexible access, format and timing; and quality over quantity. Learning experiences such as on-the-job training, specific classes, and mentoring will support employee performance. Use a central learning management system to track employee learning.
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Provide employees with the resources they need. Give employees the tools they need by establishing goals, managing knowledge, streamlining navigation, and providing analytics based recommendations for individual customers. This may include investing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools to support customer needs.
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Empower your employees. Ensure that policies, procedures, and systems enable employees to take actions and resolve customer issues quickly and accurately. Provide metrics and incentives that focus and measure customer experience as well as efficiency.
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Be responsive to employee feedback. Companies should actively solicit and act on employee feedback that can shed light on ineffective processes and other workplace issues that hamper the delivery of good customer service.
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Share the “Big Picture”. Employees often have a good understanding of what they need to do to succeed in their jobs. The big picture perspective will allow them to further understand how company strategies enable them to link their efforts to overall corporate vision.
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Provide an employee growth environment. Companies should provide employees with an environment that supports advancement of their careers. Investing in education, talent management, and administration to address employee needs will help align their efforts with performance expectations and create positive growth potential.
Providing a positive employee environment will impact how employees interact with your customers. A study has shown that about 40%* of customers that have a bad experience with customer service employees will never tell companies as to why they left. Companies need to realize that negative customer experiences that they never hear about have a direct relationship to attrition. Improved employee satisfaction will have a direct effect on decreasing negative experiences.
The staff at ASIL, Inc. has experience in employee development and building strong customer loyalty. Give us a call for help in increasing customer satisfaction in order to grow profitability.
* Source: CEO Magazine September/October 2009
Contributed by Michael Singleton
Our Software Products
Click on the links below to view ASIL, Inc.'s MAX Partnering® self paced software demonstrations:
Strategies and Execution - This demo depicts the tools that organizations can utilize to embrace change effectively and implement it successfully.
Self Assessment Sample Questionnaire
- This demo will enable you to respond to a small sample of self
assessment questions focused on change management and create a Heat Map
of your responses to see areas that may need attention. The Driving
Complex Change® methodology addresses the six areas of Direction,
Ability, Incentive, Resources, Structure, and Action that can impact
your effectiveness of change management.
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Change Happens
Are you ready?
Click here to read the first four chapters of Driving Complex Change®.
After you've read Driving Complex Change chapters one through four, click here to generate your own Change Readiness heat map based on the Driving Complex Change® methodology.
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Partner
How To Become An ASIL Partner
Can
ASIL help you to increase the value proposition of your customer
offerings? ASIL partners with leading companies that offer
complimentary services to provide customers with a complete solution.
Join the growing network of ASIL Partners and gain a competitive
advantage today!
Click HERE to find out more about partnering with ASIL, Inc.
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Key Term
Extended Enterprise - alternatively referred to as a supply chain or value chain, is a self-organizing network of firms that combine their economic output to provide products and services offerings to the market. Firms in the extended enterprise may operate independently, for example, through market mechanisms, or cooperatively through agreements and contracts.
Source: Wikipedia
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ASIL, Inc.
2901 Tasman Dr., Suite 117
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Phone : (408) 980-9904
Toll Free : (888) 878-2745
email : sales@asil-inc.com
www.asil-inc.com
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