Test new ideas
PETCO’s renewed focus on innovation has helped keep the company thriving (it generated more than $2 billion in 2008 revenue) in spite of the economic downturn of the past two years.
PETCO’s success has much to do with its ability to keep producing fresh ideas for employees and customers. But there is one more wrinkle that Myers and his staff have to deal with: how to get those ideas from the drawing board to the sales floor.
Once you give the thumbs-up to a new idea and green light it for rollout, it’s usually better if you can get a sample-sized result before you implement it throughout your company’s entire footprint. That way, if miscalculations are made, the effects won’t hurt the entire company.
Myers has set aside regions of stores for new product, service and policy testing. If the reception and results are positive, PETCO will roll out the new idea to larger regions until it takes effect across the entire chain.
Throughout the rollout process, Myers and his leadership team are frequently checking the new idea’s progress and gauging how well it is being received via feedback.
“You don’t just roll a new concept out to 1,000 stores and see how it turns out,” Myers says. “You take some small samples, learn what the outcome is there, what the challenges might be in implementing that new direction, and be sure you keep communicating with everyone on how to overcome them and how to avoid the pitfalls.”
If an idea is a success, it will begin to sell itself as people throughout the company start to buy in.
“More often than not, you find someone who has been a success with what you’ve just tested, and you let them be a promoter of change with the people they work alongside,” he says. “That one-to-one communication makes the new idea more personalized, and the more personalized you can make the experience, the more receptive people will be to the idea, and the more they will believe that it can be successful.”
How to reach: PETCO Animal Supplies Inc., (888) 824-7257 or www.petco.com
