hall manager

Dick Smith

Everyday was something different as we dealt with all sorts of different customers. I needed to make sure all ticketed prices were correct and all products had prices on them.  I had sales goals to adhere to everyday and had to try and reach those targets.  I had to make sure that the store was clean and tidy and safe for customers to walk through without having any incidents.

I learnt a great deal whilst at Dick Smiths such as how to run a retail store and the electronic products we sold, I learnt about the safety measures taken to ensure staff and customers were safe within the store.  I learnt how to deal with unhappy customers face to face and helped those who needed information on certain products within the store.

My Managers and Co-workers were amazing to work with and so we had a lot of fun working everyday together even on extremely stressful days when we had massive sales.  We all supported one another and helped each other when some customers would get a bit too aggressive towards us.

The hardest part of the job would have to be dealing with an irate customer who was not happy about a product sold or the sales person they had dealt with.  Our objective was to calm the customer before proceeding with the complaint but sometimes this could be proved difficult depending on that customer.  Another hard scenario would have to be having to deal with shoplifters and the strict policies we had to adhere by as we were not to approach a shoplifter outside the store if we knew they had stolen an item/s.  This was so we wouldn't get hurt during in a pursuit.

I absolutely loved my co-workers and their quirkiness they made a bad day enjoyable and as they were mainly male co-workers they were extremely funny.  Also receiving great customer feedback from customers who were so grateful for the help and information I was able to give them making their shopping experience enjoyable.

Every day at Dick Smith, I was presented with new customers, and people to interact with, which led to a very fulfilling time throughout the 2 years I worked there. I was able to develop my skills as a sales consultant, asking questions and understanding the customers situation, so that I could find the best solution whether it was in regards to a product or tech support. 

I was also required to take on the responsibilites of Shift Supervisor, so I learnt how to do more managerial tasks such as change orders and day-starts and day-ends (as well as other tasks such as staff-member coaching and skill assessments). On of the best parts of working at dick smith was my teammates, which I formed a strong bond with. We all developed our own selling styles, and were able to bounce Ideas around off each other which helped develop our ability to communicate with customers and also, discussing the latest products released. 

The hardest part of the job was dealing with difficult customers. we were required to do this on a regular basis, and while most we were able to deal with, during the time the business was in recievership, we had to diffuse their (understandable) anger and frustrations and help customers understand the situation. during this period, I learnt a lot about consumer law as well as gained new understandings on how to explain situations to customers.

Overall, despite the unfortunate collapse of the business, I greatly enjoyed working alongside my team and feel that I learnt a great deal about not only how to interact better with customers, but also developed my skills greatly as a sales consultant, and gained confidence in my abilities through that time period.

A typical day would usually include but not limited to collecting boxes of stock from storage and moving out on to the floor where the box would be opened and the stock placed onto the shelves in aisles accordingly. Discarded boxes would be placed into a trolley specifically purposed to be used as a waste bin that when fill would be taken outside to two large bins where the waste would be disposed of. I learned how to approach and assist customers with their inquiries and sufficiently and effectively provide a satisfactory service to the best of my ability. Management and co-workers are all on equal ground as each store person has a say or contribution to the general store function and discussions on improvement or changes to the layout and positioning of store merchandise or team structure and tasks. The hardest part of the job was when a customer inquiry is either too complex or vague to efficiently fulfil or respond to however this problem was usually due to limited or lack of personal experience and knowledge on the merchandise in question. The most enjoyable part of the job was successfully completing a sale or providing outstanding customer service and receiving positive feedback from both customer and co-workers on my efforts and achievement.

There's nothing quite like working at Dick Smith. It's extremely fast paced, proactive and reactive - retail at it's most competitive. No two days are the same which keeps everyone occupied and working at their peak. 

Originally a part of Sales team, my career progression has been phenomenal and given me the opportunity to enhance my commercial acumen and touch a variety of functions within the organisation. The passion we have to succeed and drive our business forward in such a tough retail environment is testament to people we have and culture we've created and constantly evolve. 

Hardest part of the role is the pace with which we plan and execute and the ability to shape culture in such a broad retail network. This is also the most enjoyable, as when we do it right - we definitely hear the feedback and see the change. 

The ability to influence positive behaviours and recognition through initiatives that matter and seeing the result is extremely rewarding (albeit challenging).

We Work Hard every minute of every day, but we Enjoy the Ride along the way.

Everyday is never the same when it comes to face to face customer service, walking into the store it can be busy overflowing or slow with customer foot traffic, but it's the expectation and anticipation of what the day will be like which make things interesting, you just never know what to expect and especially people, can never judge a book by its cover, can never see who will actually purchase or won't. 

  Always being ready to step in for staff when situations get a little rough is always a great experience, due to the fact that the outcome surprises you on what you can learn about people and how their days went prior to anything happening in stores.

  Being in a retail environment, it was all about the demands on reaching KPI's from back of house restocking shelves, printing new tickets for new sale promotions to just sell, sell, sell not a dull moment because there's always something to do which always make the day go faster.

Typical work day

*Start all demo products ready customer interaction
*Allocate staff jobs and daily sales targets
*Review head office communications and action
*Serve customer and assist with purchases through out the day.
*Make sure store standards are meet.
*End of day closure, make sure all staff hours are signed off and all end of day procedures are completed.

What I Learned

*Exceptional customer service 
*Time Management Skills
*Dispute resolution

Managment

I had a great Area manager who was very supportive and gave me the support and helped me develop my management skills. 

Workplace culture

We had a great culture of honesty and trust amongst the staff which created a great place to work. 

The hardest part of the job was not having the correct stock or we where sold out of something a customer needed as we where a rural store it took longer for delivery's

The most enjoyable part of the job was great customer feedback, when you made their life easier..

- A typical day of work was greeting customers and helping them choose products, selling them products, keeping the store tidy, printing new price tickets for items, restocking areas.
- I learned about the best way to resolve disputes, processing refunds and etc. in a calm and collected manner. I also learned about specific products extensively including Samsung phones, batteries, etc.
- The management on a store level was good, with specific duties outlined each day including sales targets.
- Co-workers were very cooperative and we learned a lot from each other about specific products. They were also friendly and enthusiastic.
- The hardest part of the job was the receivership's strain on customer relations and on team morale.
- The most enjoyable part of the job was making customers happy.

I work in a very small store, dealing with lots of customers and big sales merchandising stock and organizing tickets for our various promotions. I have learned quite a lot about technology and various gadgets and devices, processing repairs and helping customers with technical problems and also giving advice on different products. 
I get along well with my store manager. The hardest part of the job is not having enough time during the day to finish simple tasks such as ticketing or merchandising and replenishing stock. This is because my shifts don't go beyond 5 hours and there is only 2 staff on at any given time. We are very busy all of the time!
The most enjoyable part of my job are my customers, there is nothing better than knowing they have walked away happy. I also enjoy merchandising and keeping the store tidy and organised.

Dicksmith is a very challenging place to work.

With the constant cuts in wages it makes even staffing your floor appropriately difficult.

It is a very fast paced environment and due to the lack of staffing can often get out of hand with customers walking out often none to impressed with the lack of service.

The enjoyable part of the job is the people, everyone is doing it tough  currently due to the lack of staffing but it is still a tight nit group that bands together to do the best we can with what little we have.

Due to the lack of staffing though even everyday tasks like stock management, training staff, merchandising etc are very hard to complete.

This position taught me how to direct a team through day to day difficulties and meet KPI's and higher management expectations.
Typical day was the opening and running of a retail store, dealing with customers from all walks of life.
My co-workers were fantastic and often the reason each of us survived a day was because of the support that was shown by each team member. The hardest part of the day was dealing with thieves and angry sometimes violent customers. 
Most enjoyable part of the day was dealing with regular liked customers, setting up and testing of new electronics and the after hours team meetings.

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