I’m sure it was Allan Leighton who first pointed out to me that indisputable truth that ‘feedback is the breakfast of champions’.

I’m sure it was Allan Leighton who first pointed out to me that indisputable truth that ‘feedback is the breakfast of champions’. (Although Jimi Hendrix probably once said much the same thing).

Having arrived in retail from Unilever and Mars, it took me rather longer than it should have done to realise what an extraordinary source of knowledge and wise feedback was to be found in that pivotal role – the store managers. 

They uniquely sit at the nexus of customer, product, price, format and colleagues. It’s where the retail brand meets its moment of truth – and every day the store manager is our witness.

It’s a privilege to serve as a judge on the Retail Week Store Manager of the Year Award each year. And there really are some blindingly good finalists.

Star store managers

But it is equally astonishing when a manager – and these are the cream of the crop – sometimes reports that senior management is not camping on his/her doorstep to harvest learnings.

“The way to hit that sweet spot of sales growth paired with cost reduction is to replace a dud with a star manager”

Stephen Robertson

Time and again I have seen that the most certain way to hit that magical sweet spot of sales growth paired with cost reduction is to replace a dud with a star store manager.

Suddenly all sorts of good things happen: availability improves, shrink plummets, staff turnover falls, customer service blooms and, lo and behold, store contribution soars.

I recall at B&Q running a trial in 10 stores of a new kitchen range to determine customer reaction. At the conclusion we found that the top performing store had not in fact had the new range but simply had a new star store manager.

Timpson Group, where I am a non-executive, is extraordinarily able at this. The leadership team is consistently close to the stores and have their senses turned up to max.

Ideas and innovation flows across the estate. But, in Timpson language, if you are not a nine or a 10 out of 10, then you are helped to ‘find your happiness elsewhere’. Of course, Timpson leadership put enormous care into finding great colleagues in the first place.

Warts and all feedback

And what a clumsy device formal market research often proves to be when compared with ‘asking the store’. Damn sight quicker cheaper and more accurate.

The real skill is getting close enough to the store team to ensure their feedback really is warts and all. Get store feedback that is honest, fast and unedited and then you have supreme commercial agility.

There are plenty of stores that look like a generous injection of store feedback, direct to the board room, might be overdue.

  • Stephen Robertson is a non-executive director of Clipper Retail Logistics and Timpson Group, and a visiting professor at Bristol Business School