Overseas TeamTalk Back Chat

BACK CHAT FROM THE USA

Written and composed by Mark Fletcher

BACK CHAT AUGUST...

After a short break back chat is back! But there is not so much back chatting going on from you guys and girls out there. Going forward I will be calling the branches looking for anything that will give this section of Team Talk a bit more personality. So get your thinking caps on!

DOMINIC’S NEW ARRIVAL...

Congratulations to Dominic and his partner on the birth of his second son Adrian Dylan Gonzales. Dominic is currently on paternity leave and we give him our best wishes.

TEAM BERMUDA...

As you know Bermuda has had a new face for a few months now. Many of you don’t hear much from Bermuda so I thought I would bring the faces to the names of Jamie Turner and Leigh Poulton.

Jamie as some of you may know has been in Bermuda for 3 years now.

Leigh moved to Bermuda back in March and has now settled into the island’s way of life. Leigh worked in the UK for 3 years before a spell in Germany. She then came to join Jamie in The English Sports Shop and has helped to keep up the success of the store. Leigh is not only a successful salesperson, but also takes care of all her own alterations. Sounds too good to be true!

AMANDA HIGGINS...

Amanda Higgins, one of our newer members of staff has nearly completed the Bronze and Silver awards. She is due to have her work evaluated in the next few weeks to then hopefully be successful with the 2 awards.

PASSPORT TO SUCCESS

All new comers are now completing a new training manual that Andy Schofield and John Collins re-wrote. It combines the Bronze and Silver awards but still has the same 3 months completion time.

The material inside the manual has all the day to day information that any seasoned member of staff should know, however it also incorporates info that experienced staff should know.

Anyone else interested? If you are interested in doing your silver award there is a cash incentive awarded on completion. There have been a few people interested already who have asked about incentives, well here you have it.

Send me an email with any questions. It would be great to have everyone on the same knowledge page.

BACK CHAT FROM EUROPE

Written and composed by Trevor Scarratt

BACK IN TOWN...

Last month there was no edition of Back Chat and so I want to welcome you all back! However I am still looking for feedback from you all for future editions so please don’t hesitate to contact me with any anecdotes, tips to improve business etc in fact any information work related or not.

SO WHAT’S HAPPENING IN EUROPE...

On the shopfit front, September should see the completion of a revamped Grafenwohr. Paul Kerslake is looking very much to the new challenge and if everything is successful then he will be moving in on 29th September.

On the reverse side Br 3273 Hanau will now be closing on the 30th September, however the good news is that Robbie Miller will be still be with us covering four branches Ramstein, Kaiserslautern, Wiesbaden and Heidelberg.

SURPRISE - SURPRISE...

Here is a delightful story from Gary Bloom which turned out to be the pleasantest of surprises.

On the weekend of his 60th birthday, Gary left work as usual and was met in the car park by his wife. As he got in the car he was suddenly presented with an Al Capone hat and a silver gun - he was told to don a gangster outfit and driven to a pub. On entering the premises Gary was surprised to find friends and family adorned in fancy dress, the pub was closed and a private party was being held all for Gary’s Birthday. A great time was had by all and more surprisingly they had managed to keep it quiet so Gary had no idea...

HOBBIES...

In the last edition I mentioned that I would be highlighting hobbies and interests and this time it is the turn of Dave Tindell.

Dave is a lover of the great outdoors, he frequently goes bike riding at home and takes holidays abroad, especially to warmer climes. This year, for example, Dave and his wife headed off to Greece where as we all know temperatures have been scorching. Whilst on holiday Dave likes nothing better than heading off – the – beaten – track and I think we have a budding entymologist here because Dave takes a keen interest in the local insects and he also observes the local flora and fauna too. Dave is also a lover of cultural things and he and his wife often visit museums and churches.

FROM STUTTGART TO RUSSIA...

Vince Blackett told me this anecdote about him selling a suit to a Russian Officer. It transpired that his customer who was an Officer, spoke absolutely no English and as I am sure you can guess Vince’s Russian is shaky to say the least (perhaps Vince should have a Geordie-Russian phrasebook on hand for next time.) Anyway to cut a long story short, by using all sorts of sign language and bodily motions Vince successfully achieved the sale.

The moral of this story is that we shouldn’t give up no matter what the obstacle be it linguistic or otherwise,on our objective of sell sell sell.

EPOS BRIGHT IDEAS...

On a daily or weekly basis you can check how you are performing against target and last year and whether you are above or below by going into the following screens on ready to wear:-

Retail ETC by Store RM
Order Book by store MM

This is the report used by Head Office and your ASM to record your sales and calculate how your store is performing.

OASYS SCREENS...

Do you have any screens on Oasys which you are not quite sure what they mean or how they work – if so email me and I will be happy to explain them to you.

Back Chat

August 2008