September 12, 2015

►    Congratulations. We won Best Pool Service in the Best of the Souhegan Valley. It will be awarded on September 29^th.

►    Customer Feedback: A Seasonal Specialty Stores Report Card was received from Karen C. in Merrimack, NH. Her general shopping experience was rated Excellent. Did any of our team members do a good job? “Yes, but I can’t remember their name, two guys and one girl.” Sales help was rated Good. “I haven’t gotten a lot of good advice and sales help, however sometimes there is contradicting info. given. Not considered advice.” Operations, communication, and product performance were all rated Excellent. Pool School was rated Average, in-store advice was rated Good, and free water testing was rated Excellent. What can we do to improve? “The sales help tends to give inconsistent pool advice; all is probably correct advice, but I get very different answers from each person, so it gets confusing.” What do we do really well? “Convenient location, one stop shopping for most needs, friendly service, and fair prices for the service that is provided.”

►    Advertising, promotions, and specials continue from last week: “Winter Pool Covers”

►    Events during the next couple of weeks:

         September 8: Final day of Pentair Automatic Pool Cleaner Rebates.

         September 12: Happy Birthday Andrew: FREE birthday cake in the coffee shop, while supplies last.

         September 16: Pool School 303 ~ Above Ground Pool Closing, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

         September 23: Pool School 304 ~ Inground Pool Closing, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

►    We have given out a poll on winter jobs. This is important, because you either stay busy this fall and winter, with jobs that   are necessary – or you go home. Please give your list some thought and turn it in as soon as possible, so we can start on it. Thank you.

►    From Stephanie: Cashiers – please remember to check and tighten all caps of all chemicals that pass through the register. Customers should never have product with loose caps, that’s asking for an accident. Please check during every transaction, and every cap while you are stocking. Thank you.

►    From Anne-Marie: Cayan will be installing the functionality for us to accept credit cards with chips by October 1^st. Customers will need to be reminded that it isn’t a swipe. They must insert their card into the reader, and leave it there until the machine acknowledges it has been read.

►    From Patrick:

1. A reminder that there are no longer people being assigned to the front counter or the water lab during the week, we do not have enough people here during these days to keep someone posted there all of the time. It is everyone’s responsibility to keep an eye on both the lab and the front counter. It is also everyone’s responsibility to help those customers the best they can. Everyone does the lab and everyone runs the register when needed to do so.
2. If there is an instance that you need to call out of your shift for any reason, you must call the store and speak to the manager in charge that day. Call the store’s main number 603-880-8471 and dial 5 when you get the recording. The system works perfectly fine, leave a message if no one answers. This is the only acceptable way. Just to be clear the following are unacceptable ways: Texting any one of the three managers; Call in and telling who ever picks up the phone; Relaying through any other employee. If you have questions regarding this please see me.

►    Life in These United States from the Reader’s Digest:

While filling out a doctor’s medical questionnaire, I was stumped by this entry:

“Choose one: Hispanic __   Non-Hispanic __    Other __.”