As a Retail Store Manager, I conducted business in my store as if it were my own franchise. My top three priorities were revenue, profit and customer service. During the recession of 2009, more than 50% of the stores in our wing of the mall were closed. This left us with very few customers walking through the door. I developed a strategy to sell higher end devices with additional services to the customers we did have to increase revenue and profits. I began by training my team to ask targeted open-ended questions so they can find the true wants and needs that the customer was looking for. By first completely understanding the customer’s wants and needs, we were then able to recommend a custom solution of products and services that would satisfy their wants and needs, with some room to grow over the next two years of their contract. By showing the customer a single package price vs. a base price and adding individual costs for each service and accessory, our revenue per customer went up by 30% in the first six months. It was easier to overcome the objection of cost because everything we recommended was based on the customer’s wants and needs. I also held individual and group based trainings so our customers got the most out of their new phone and services. The individual attention and short training lessons lead to outstanding customer service scores and dozens of referrals.

As a Technical Services Manager, I ran a technology services store within a retail store. I managed my own P & L, budget, inventory and scheduling. When I took the position, the customer satisfaction scores ranked among the bottom in the company, computer repair turn around times were ranked among the highest in the company and add-on service sales were poor. I took a team of good technicians and helped them develop their communication skills with non-technical customers, developed a new process to handle repairs prioritizing by difficulty and cross trained the technicians with the sales associates. In turn, this raised our revenue and profits, computer repair turn around times and customer satisfaction scores to the top of the company. I accomplished all of this in just 4 months.

As a Regional Project Manager, my primary responsibility was to coordinate individual store marketing strategies to achieve company sales directives. To accomplish this, I met with each store’s management team to discuss the company’s sales directives and how we could best meet or exceed those goals. After receiving approval from the regional management team, I designed marketing materials with targeted promotions and outsourced our printing and delivery tasks. This marketing project was the most successful ever run in the Chicago market. Since one of my areas of expertise was analyzing Profit & Loss reports, I was able to find and get to the bottom of discrepancies that saved our region money. My largest individual store project was in our flagship Chicago store just off of Michigan Avenue. The first of two floors was being unused except as an entryway. With just six weeks until Chicago’s Christmas parade would be passing right in front of the store, I needed to transform over 1,000 square feet of empty space, into a very profitable “iPod Shop”. With very little spent in materials, and all labor coming from talented associates within the Chicago region, the “iPod Shop” was open for business the night before the parade.

As a Retail Sales Manager, I was the assistant to the General Manager. I discussed and implemented sales and service strategies with the General Manager to increase revenue and profits. I provided sales and product training, scheduling, coaching and mentoring to approximately 25 full and part time sales associates. I recruited, interviewed, hired, disciplined and terminated all sales team members. By the end of my tenure in this position, I created and developed a team that brought in the highest profits for the fourth quarter since the store was opened, all while maintaining the highest customer service scores in the Chicago market.

As Assistant Retail Sales Manager, my primary responsibility was to drive sales and profits. I accomplished this by consistently coaching the sales staff on using add-on sales techniques, feature/benefit selling and product knowledge. In the holiday shopping season of 2004, I lead my sales team to the highest profits in the store’s history, despite many large weekly sales that put us at a disadvantage to start. During every customer transaction, I observed of the sales associate. The first thing I paid attention to was how much listening vs. talking they were doing. I continually coached each sales associate on the benefits of understanding all of the customer’s wants and needs before recommending anything. Little by little, our customer base, revenue and profits rose because of the individualized service our store had become known for.

As a Retail Sales Associate, I assisted customers in finding computers, computer peripherals, accessories and services that would solve their needs. I consistently lead the sales team in both volume and margin, which gave me an opportunity for a promotion to Department Lead. As the Hardware Department Lead, I set up all new technology displays, merchandised the sales floor with add on accessories for easy add on sales and trained the entire store staff on the latest technology, all in addition to my sales responsibilities. Many customers told me I was the only person they would come to for any of their technology needs. Some came from neighboring states, because I took the time to listen and understand their needs. Only then would I give my recommendations based on those needs. This is where I first learned that outstanding customer service is ultimately more important to the customer than paying a slightly lower price somewhere else with poor customer service. When online shopping was in it’s infancy, I realized outstanding customer service would be the only reason why customers would shop in a store rather than buying online.

As a Database Administrator, I addressed a need to track labor hours expended on individual projects. To accomplish this, I set up and secured a Windows NT 4 Server running Microsoft SQL Server 7 and Apache Web Server. I created a database in SQL with a web user interface so the Engineering staff could enter their time spent on each project they were working on. Decision makers could easily pull reports on each project using a web user interface and Crystal Reports compiling and formatting the data. This allowed for more accurate planning and budgeting for future projects. I also researched and implemented an automated data backup system for the Engineering department saving time and money trying to replace lost data. For several months before taking this position, until I left the company, I was the primary support for any technology related issues and training within the Engineering department of over 60 local employees.

As a Solid Model Computer Aided Designer, I created and modified 3D computer models as directed from Engineering Change Orders. I was hired not having ever used their Solid Modeling program, Pro Engineer. I had only a few hours of experience using AutoCAD’s Solid Modeling program. I completed two weeks of intense Pro Engineer software training and was able to absorb additional skills quickly from my colleges. After one year of using Pro Engineer, I was able to take the lead on three major software upgrades by providing on-going training to the software users, ensuring the drawings and database made it through the upgrade, and addressed any issues with the software developer. I also worked on several design projects like designing the stress reliefs for the plastic housing on ½ horsepower garage door openers.

My primary responsibility as a Computer Aided Design Drafter/Designer was to apply Engineering Change Notices to mechanical production drawings. Some were simply changing a dimension others were transferring older hand drawings to electronic CAD drawings while incorporating the change(s). Within a year of being in this position, I took the lead on our transition from Micro Draw to AutoCAD. I provided on-going training to the Engineering department’s CAD users and I created a database for CAD document storage that would lock a drawing if someone else was currently making changes. This eliminated wasted time and money due to multiple changes being made to a single drawing, but one overwrote the other and occasionally made it to the production floor before it was noticed. Before I left the company, I started specifying design changes to gearboxes in order to meet a customer’s requirements.