Audits, zoning and inventory management | Flexibility and agility

It takes a very detailed plan to get execution right. In retail merchandising, you need a service company that is willing to invest significant effort up front to create a comprehensive plan while remaining nimble and agile enough to execute the plan with speed. This is how LMS tackles each opportunity. A recent new continuity program demonstrated just that. Last year, a client was referred to LMS by the buying team of a mass retailer. As happens far too often, the client’s current service provider went out of business and left them in a predicament. The buying team immediately recommended LMS due to our track record of delivering exceptional results and our ability to build a comprehensive execution plan…quickly!

The client’s service request included setting product, zoning, inventory replenishment, and several additional tasks, in 15 national and regional retailers. While overall goals were consistent, executional components were different for each retailer. This created complexities and challenges that demanded careful planning, training and communication.

Planning was critical; with many competitive products in a given category, customers can –and do – easily pass by a visually unappealing area. Our Account Management Team understood the need to go to the stores and stand in the shoes of a field representative, in order to design the most efficient and accurate plan. So we partnered with the client and conducted pre-project research in stores to understand the unique aspects of every service call. And rather than trying to fit the program into a single template, LMS created a detailed, customized plan that addressed the requirements of each location, with individual instruction guides and webinars for each of the 15 retailers. While the service required thorough planning, we didn’t let it slow us down. Our agile team worked swiftly to launch execution in the first chain of stores within one week of us learning about the client’s urgent need for a solution.

But we didn’t stop there. LMS then implemented an independent monthly audit process to validate consistency and performance goals. We invested the time to ensure that our field representative team was executing according to plan and achieving the desired results. It’s one reason we achieve consistent completion percentages well above industry standards. Then, to provide additional value for our client, we created unique performance scorecards for each retailer, making it easy for them to share results with their individual retailer partners.

The careful planning and attention to detail paid off; LMS exceeded the execution goals, with over 18,000 reported visits. The client saw a large lift in sales in the stores we serviced. Additionally, they successfully improved relations with their various retailers, supported by our unique scorecards. Within months, they significantly expanded the number of locations serviced by LMS, ready to capitalize on the additional sales potential through excellent execution.

From an initial phone call to execution in stores in less than one week, then rolled out to 15 retailers. That’s performance.