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Home//A Case Study - JB Hi Fi
A case study of good business practice in tough economic times - JB Hi-Fi Chairman, Patrick Elliot
The impact of the Global Financial Crisis and its effect on Australia is being widely reported and yet the entertainment retail chain JB Hi-Fi recorded a 41% rise for the first half of the financial year 2008/2009. Patrick Elliot, Chairman of JB Hi-Fi, in an interview on ABC Radio on 12 February 2009, has spoken about what he thinks are the reasons for this remarkable success. While he admits it's probably a lot of little things done very well, he did speak at length about JB Hi-Fi's approach to staffing. Maybe there's something JB Hi-Fi is doing that other businesses, even outside of retail, can learn from ...
The right staff at the right time
"I think it's a fallacy to focus just on wages or to think it's about wage rates because it's not. I think it's a question of making sure you have the right labour on the floor at the right time of the day to provide the best service you can to the customers."
Hire enthusiasts
"...for us to continue to grow our business and to have the comparative store growth that we've achieved and hit those double digit numbers, you really do need to know that your customers are spreading the word for you. I think we've tried to create a culture within our business where we're able to hire enthusiasts ... and I think that comes across as part of our customer experience."
Empower your staff
"We incentivise our sales staff, they are trained on sales and customer service technique and I think it clearly is an important element in the sale process that there is some flexibility for the sales person ... we do give an enormous amount of discretion to people on our floor to manage that process."
