I am the DFW Sales and Operations Manager for Surface Connection, and I'm a National Marketing Manager. Surface Connection is a family owned company that has been open since 1999, and our operation expands to 11 states across the Midwest, East Coast, and the Southern regions of the United States.

My Internship primary objective was quality insurance for Dollar Generals in the South Dallas Zone. My goal was to increase sales growth, decrease unsellables, and certify stores through Frontline Destination. For a store to be certified through Frontline Destination there must be every piece of sold in equipment present, all of the products in the store with no gaps in the facing of the products, perfect planograms, and no missed serviced. I visited all 99 Dollar Generals in the South Dallas Zones, and I started in the districts with the most opportunities. These visits consisted of talking to the store manager, photographing, score carding, and making action plans. Each day would make reports and send them to the District Sales Leader so that they could understand the opportunities in their stores, and give it to their Route Sales Representatives. The reason I began in the districts with the most opportunities was so by the time my visits were completed those store would have all the proper equipment and products. My results were that I reset over 40 Dollar Generals after my store visits, I surpassed my sales growth goal, cut unsellables almost in half, and had 14 stores become completed certified.

My summer internship was filled with hands on experience, but was based upon a main project delegated at the first of the summer. My main project was to convert the Oklahoma City Zone to a new program called Snacks To You. The project included researching and reconstructing 93 routes in the Oklahoma City Zone, personally visiting 136 accounts and assisting in the conversion of 134 accounts, and reprogramming the zone service file and hand helds for the Oklahoma City Zone.