The Home Depot – Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank success factors

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famous quote

“We believed from the beginning that if a customer has a quality goods at the right price, and offered excellent service, we could change the retail trade in the United States. Today, we are a model of what retail should be. “

from the business

in 1970, Bernie Marcus and Arthur blank both working in a Southern California home center called Handy Dan, when Siegfried S. Sigoloff, senior management of the company known to have bought it, bought the struggling Daylin Inc., parent company of Handy Dan. As Handy Dan was profitable, it was empty and Marcus certain jobs were safe. But they were wrong. False accusation against the two, which claimed that allowed a child open an account and use the resources to fight the union of Handy Dan Stores in San Jose.

Before firing, but Marcus and Blank have been working to find a profitable way discounting Handy Dan locations. It noted that the marking down items, volume and costs rose as a percentage of sales decreased. At that time, when they lost their jobs they are already planning to implement the discovery of other stores, but are now free to begin to build a national home center chain private. He planned to develop a store where product selection was great and the prices are kept as low as possible and, where skilled, knowledgeable and helpful customer service representatives provided the best service.

The venture began in suburban Atlanta with money in a New York investment firm. These shelves are filled with the first two stores 18,000 different products, all paint supplies specialized equipment repair, cut prices as much as possible, and hired and trained staff themselves. On the opening day, they gave the kids a stack of $ 1 bills handed out to customers thank you buy in the store, but at the end of the day, there was still money left, and the kids were out in the parking lot of money to try to convince people to go in and have a look.

Both depressed and disheartened. Marcus remembers that “[his] wife would not let [him] shave the day. He did not want to [him], a razor [his] hands.”

Construction of the Empire

A few days after the opening, the customer returned a token gratitude – a bag for Marcus – the positive experience of shopping at Home Depot. Although I do not like to, that was the turning point, and word of mouth began to spread.

Money is still tight (top workers stacked empty cardboard boxes and paint cans shelves so that the stores appeared in several packaged goods than they really were), but because the first two stores were good, empty and Marcus has decided that two, this time in Miami. Miami two additional stores and then two months later. November 22, 1981, the company went and investments and profits exploded. The chain has expanded and profitability far exceeded my expectations. Originally projected $ 9 million worth of sales per store average sales exceeded $ 17 million. Prior to 1990, 118 stores were pulling $ 2.7 billion in sales.

Less than two decades, from 1999, Home Depot has become the world’s largest home-improvement merchant. Furthermore, it has become an international company stores in Canada and South America, and will continue to expand. Blank insists that the basic principles of the company, although it has grown so huge, “were taped in those early years, and has never changed. Prices were low then, and is still low today. And the service was excellent then and still he is today, “

core values ​​and Company secrets

Marcus and Blank, as the book is” built from scratch “attributes the success of the eight core values:

-. Give excellent customer service.

– Take care of the people

– Develop an entrepreneurial spirit.

– respect for all people.

– do the right thing; not only do things right.

– Give back to the community as an integral part of doing business.

– Watch out for the shareholders.

– Build strong relationships associates, customers, suppliers and communities.

The success of Home Depot also shows how encouraged customers to do it themselves. The Home Depot vendors hired for their knowledge and understanding of home repairs and direct customers to the equipment they may need for a particular project. Short practical courses are also offered in the stores to teach various aspects of repair and remodeling.

Blank and Marcus takes “journey” and show up unannounced in stores. They say the experience is good for them because they constantly learn from their peers – that marketing strategies have changed because of these opportunities to learn from the ground, who know more about the product, and deal with customers directly.

Furthermore, empty and Marcus operate under the “Running Scared” method of treatment, where 90% of their meetings and the issues of how to outdo competitors’ approaches or products that are in demand and what customers will not find in stores. Longstanding goal is to continually work to improve the current standards. And he certainly has worked for them so far.

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Source by Evan Carmichael

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