Archived Sales Planner Team Member

[AsianBeast88]

Hello, everyone! I had a question about my "new" position.

I was hired as a softlines-flow team member almost 3 years ago. A few months later, I was made team trainer for softlines. I was doing really well, and a year later, I was being trained for plano, in-stocks, and pricing. With all of my training, I was working a solid 40 hours a week. Not too long ago, my ETL-Logistics approached me about becoming a TL. I was really excited about it, and soon after, I was being prepped (having weekly meetings with my exec, going over interview questions). That all came to a standstill during 4th quarter since we were so busy. And then one of the Team Leads was "seeking employment elsewhere." With that, they announced they weren't hiring a new TL. Instead, they were making a Sales Planner position. And I got that position.

Basically, I'm in charge of ALL of the hardlines endcaps in the store. We're an ultra-low volume, so it's not too bad. However, my workload varies from 10 to over 100 endcaps due in a week. I plan my weeks out, and I'm pretty much left to do my own thing. I get 35-37 hours a week and weekends off. My direct supervisor is the plano team lead, but I'm listed under sales floor on the schedule.

With that being said, with having such a large responsibility (maintaining all of the endcaps, so some of the pressure is taken off the TLs), do you think I deserve a raise? I asked the ETL-HR if I got one, but she said it was a lateral move, so no raise for me. But I do get a desk AND mailbox! :huh:

Anyone else a sales planner team member? I would love some input.

 

[commiecorvus]

We don't have the position in our store.
The TL's, STL and even sometimes ETL's handle the endcaps or delegate them (that can be a bit of a nightmare).

 

[STLinMaking]

Sounds like a store is getting creative with making positions........... This is never a good sign.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

That's was my first position at spot. I loved it! Back then, spot paid a little more than regular tm. Get br certified, know the new store tie app & seek opp at every space. Know your backroom & what guests want. Get used to terms like active, discontiuned or d-code, ptm or mpg, & clearance. Stay ahead on your planners, make sales, & enjoy the creativeity of the job. Also, I had to set, pull, & push everything myself. Map planners out well & use workbench online Plano to help you. Partner w/tl's on ad endcaps.
If you all this well, etl's & Tl's will see you as the get it out/done person. Signing is important, read up on the signing guide.
Good luck!

 

[Rock Lobster]

My guess is that they are trying to push you into a leadership role, but AE12 probably cut a few from your headcount and they realized they wouldn't have a spot for you! I would say if you are PG7 then that is the most you can get before becoming a TL so you won't get more money... but if you do a good job at this position they made for you, it will give you TONS to talk about in interviews when you guys do have a spot open up!

 

[CrazyTarget]

We have something similar, we have a TM who just do sidecaps in the whole store, but he doesn't get 40 hours, he gets 20 hours max for that! Our salesplaners are done by TLs, except for electronics, I do that.

 

[greydot]

do you just set them or do you come in and fill them all and do all the flexing/mpg-ing, clearance, etc? if it is just setting it is basically just a hardlines role (since most TLs don't do ECs anymore, at least in my store [they used to be solely done by TLs once upon a time]). at our store they wouldn't pay more for that. if they were giving you plano hours to do it - then you could as a Plano TM be qualified for a pay grade raise but looks like in this case everything would be store specific since it isn't a defined role per-se.

 

[Backtohardlines]

at my store the spl's for A through F are done by the team leads, and I take care of G (i'm not a TL). I have to agree it sounds like your store is getting creative with titles.
We're doing all kinds of juggling around so it's not unusual. And yes, I would expect that you should get a raise or at least a differential for that position, but knowing spot... i wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[Fast Service Needed In]

Can someone explain to me why everyone calls them "planners"? In all of my years, I've always heard "sales planners" but I've only ever seen "sales plans" on company documents.

On topic: Best Practices states that Hardlines Sales Plans are the responsibility of Hardlines TLs and the ETL-HL is in charge of making sure they are completed. Seems to me that you should be getting a raise (they could always code you as a Bike Builder or something else with a slight raise).

Personally, I love setting my own SPs. I prefer choosing their location (if priorities aren't shown on certain adjacencies) and filling/flexing them properly. I usually utilize strong TMs to help me set them if I am behind, but I can't imagine one of them being responsible for them all without some sort of pay increase.

 

[Backtohardlines]

not sure why they are called planners... could be Spot making it's own terminology.
I've found that while best practice states how something should be done, it doesn't always work in every store (ie look at the Ad setup thread).
I love setting my own SPL's too, market has it's own little rhythm going on 🙂 What I don't like is have a week like last where I've got 29 spl's and under 15 hours on my schedule. Thankfully, I planned well and got it done, but stress much??

 

[Backtohardlines]

not sure why they are called planners... could be Spot making it's own terminology.
I've found that while best practice states how something should be done, it doesn't always work in every store (ie look at the Ad setup thread).
I love setting my own SPL's too, market has it's own little rhythm going on 🙂 What I don't like is have a week like last where I've got 29 spl's and under 15 hours on my schedule. Thankfully, I planned well and got it done, but stress much??

 

[Elandora]

Wow, it would be nice to have something like that at my ULV store. We struggle when we have over 30 sales planners in a week due to the fact that only the Presentation TMs do them. Sales Floor team leads wouldnt be caught dead working on their own end caps, its all the responsibility of the plano team. We dont get extra hours to do them either. 2 week out we have 100 hours of plano workload and about 50 sales planners. Its going to be killer.

 

[Backtohardlines]

Wow, it would be nice to have something like that at my ULV store. We struggle when we have over 30 sales planners in a week due to the fact that only the Presentation TMs do them. Sales Floor team leads wouldnt be caught dead working on their own end caps, its all the responsibility of the plano team. We dont get extra hours to do them either. 2 week out we have 100 hours of plano workload and about 50 sales planners. Its going to be killer.

I'm at a ULV store too. What do your SFTL's do? Our plano team doesn't do any endcaps except in seasonal and mini seasonal when those change over. Market endcaps do a major change about once a month other than 4th quarter, so I don't have to worry too much. Luckily, I have partnered with the flow team and usually can get some help setting and/or pushing mine. two weeks out I have 33 spl's. I'm scheduled for 20 hours. but I'll probably start changing what I can next week.