A feminine approach at Engen Kempton Park - Supermarket.co.za
A feminine approach at Engen Kempton Park - Supermarket.co.za
A feminine approach at Engen Kempton Park - Supermarket.co.za
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Fore<strong>co</strong>urt storew<strong>at</strong>ch<br />
A <strong>feminine</strong> <strong>approach</strong><br />
<strong>at</strong> <strong>Engen</strong> <strong>Kempton</strong> <strong>Park</strong><br />
The site of the <strong>Engen</strong> Dealer of the Year in <strong>Kempton</strong> <strong>Park</strong> is all about personal rel<strong>at</strong>ionships with clients and being the go-to in the <strong>co</strong>mmunity.<br />
One of the very few women in the industry s<strong>co</strong>oped<br />
the <strong>Engen</strong> Dealer of the Year Award<br />
By Michel Mack<br />
A new challenge<br />
Back in 2007 when the former Trek site,<br />
subsequently rebranded as <strong>Engen</strong>, became<br />
available for purchase, Oliphant was looking<br />
for a new task after many years as a social<br />
worker. Coming from an entrepreneurial<br />
family, she decided to follow her sister’s<br />
footsteps and enter the fore<strong>co</strong>urt industry.<br />
She then paid regular visits to the site to<br />
observe whether it would provide a lucr<strong>at</strong>ive<br />
business opportunity.<br />
“I wanted to get a feel for the staff<br />
and how the site was frequented before<br />
I made my final decision. The staff was my<br />
utmost priority because they were the key<br />
to making this business successful. They<br />
were motiv<strong>at</strong>ed and the site definitely had<br />
a lot of potential. I therefore decided to go<br />
ahead with it,” says Oliphant. Shortly after<br />
her taking over, <strong>Engen</strong> refurbished the site<br />
into its new ‘on-the-go’ design <strong>co</strong>ncept,<br />
achieving a universal look and feel amongst<br />
its large network, <strong>co</strong>mprising 1 200 st<strong>at</strong>ions<br />
around the <strong>co</strong>untry.<br />
Excellent r<strong>at</strong>ings in customer<br />
service, facilities and<br />
present<strong>at</strong>ion, as well as strict<br />
health, safety, environment and<br />
quality standards brought the<br />
owner of the <strong>Engen</strong> Quick Shop<br />
in <strong>Kempton</strong> <strong>Park</strong> the honours<br />
of being awarded <strong>Engen</strong><br />
Dealer of the Year. Owner and<br />
former social worker, Thabang<br />
Oliphant takes a unique and<br />
successful <strong>approach</strong> in dealing<br />
with her staff, as well as in<br />
building rel<strong>at</strong>ionships with her<br />
customers and her <strong>co</strong>mmunity.<br />
Over<strong>co</strong>ming reserv<strong>at</strong>ions<br />
Oliphant’s major challenge was to make<br />
a success out of her business as a woman<br />
in a predominantly male industry. “Many<br />
customers had difficulties accepting th<strong>at</strong> a<br />
woman is now running this petrol st<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
and expected the service to deterior<strong>at</strong>e,”<br />
she says. She gained the respect of the<br />
<strong>co</strong>mmunity by keeping up high standards<br />
and secured a long-term customer base<br />
by building personal rel<strong>at</strong>ionships with her<br />
cus tomers. She knows wh<strong>at</strong> her regular<br />
cus tomers want to buy and gets their<br />
purchases ready before they even drive onto<br />
the fore<strong>co</strong>urt or walk into the store. She<br />
speaks English, Afrikaans and several African<br />
languages and is therefore able to address<br />
almost all in their home language.<br />
Supporting the <strong>co</strong>mmunity<br />
“My passion is to support my staff and the<br />
people in the <strong>co</strong>mmunity in reaching their<br />
dreams in life,” says Oliphant. If <strong>approach</strong>ed<br />
by either, she takes time to sit down with<br />
them and talk through their problems. If<br />
they are uncertain about their future, she<br />
enables them to <strong>at</strong>tend career <strong>co</strong>unselling<br />
<strong>at</strong> university in order to make the right<br />
career choice. She also assists illiter<strong>at</strong>e<br />
parents in bringing their kids through<br />
the formalities of school and university<br />
applic<strong>at</strong>ions. She equips her staff and<br />
wholesalebusiness Issue 3, 2012 27
Fore<strong>co</strong>urt storew<strong>at</strong>ch<br />
members of the <strong>co</strong>mmunity with wh<strong>at</strong><br />
they need to apply for jobs or studies th<strong>at</strong><br />
help them move closer to their dream jobs.<br />
Recently, a girl who struggled to finance her<br />
studies <strong>approach</strong>ed her asking for help. She<br />
then hired her temporarily to enable her to<br />
earn the money th<strong>at</strong> she needed.<br />
One of her staff members just finished<br />
his m<strong>at</strong>ric. “Sadly for him, being a petrol<br />
<strong>at</strong>tendant was the only job he was able to<br />
find. I invested a lot in him so th<strong>at</strong> he too<br />
can reach his potential. I hired him to give<br />
him the opportunity to gain experience and<br />
grow closer to wh<strong>at</strong> he wants to do in life,”<br />
she says.<br />
Cigarettes gener<strong>at</strong>e 20% of the turnover within<br />
the C-store. Their prices are kept just above the<br />
supermarket next door so th<strong>at</strong> the <strong>Engen</strong> will<br />
remain a viable altern<strong>at</strong>ive for customers.<br />
The C-store alone roughly gener<strong>at</strong>es R600 000<br />
turnover per month. The offering is still basic<br />
but will expand in the future to optimally c<strong>at</strong>er<br />
for all customers.<br />
The Snackzone offers customers <strong>co</strong>ffee, pies<br />
and <strong>co</strong>okies. Most items are sold on Sundays,<br />
while people wash their cars after church.<br />
Motiv<strong>at</strong>ed staff<br />
As a social worker <strong>at</strong> heart, Oliphant puts<br />
above average emphasis on the physical<br />
and mental well-being of her 28 staff<br />
members. Most of them <strong>co</strong>me from the<br />
nearby township of Tembisa. They receive<br />
financial incentives from her, as well as<br />
from <strong>Engen</strong> directly when targets are<br />
reached, helping them to stay motiv<strong>at</strong>ed.<br />
Additionally, Oliphant regularly tre<strong>at</strong>s them<br />
with cake or other small goodies to lighten<br />
the <strong>at</strong>mosphere. She works very closely<br />
with them, dispensing petrol and serving<br />
customers herself as well. “I don’t sit back<br />
when the fore<strong>co</strong>urt is busy but help where I<br />
am needed. This shows the staff th<strong>at</strong> there<br />
is no ‘us and them’, but only ‘us’. We can all<br />
do it and work together,” she says.<br />
In dealing with problems, she takes a very<br />
different <strong>approach</strong>. “As a social worker,<br />
I am <strong>co</strong>ncerned about the person. Of <strong>co</strong>urse<br />
the business is important but it is also very<br />
important to me th<strong>at</strong> my people are looked<br />
after well. If, for example, they have an<br />
important personal issue to sort out and<br />
need a day off or advice, they can <strong>co</strong>me to<br />
me, tell me their story and we will discuss it<br />
and find a solution,” she says.<br />
She also intervenes immedi<strong>at</strong>ely when<br />
fore<strong>co</strong>urt staff members have to deal with<br />
outraged customers after making a mistake,<br />
because she doesn’t want them to take<br />
the customer’s careless words personally<br />
or have a lasting neg<strong>at</strong>ive effect on them.<br />
“I always emphasise to the staff th<strong>at</strong> I am<br />
here to protect them and th<strong>at</strong> I am there for<br />
them. If they are faced with more than they<br />
can handle, it can break them permanently<br />
and I need to prevent th<strong>at</strong>,” says Oliphant.<br />
Most staff members enter the business<br />
untrained and receive training on-site<br />
from specially disp<strong>at</strong>ched <strong>Engen</strong> trainers<br />
and senior staff. Once the job-specific<br />
training and customer handling training<br />
is <strong>co</strong>mpleted, new employees shadow<br />
their supervisors until they deem them fit<br />
to work independently. The <strong>at</strong>mosphere<br />
amongst the staff is very positive and some<br />
have been working on the site for over<br />
20 years. “I always refer to my staff as a<br />
team. A shift doesn’t make the business<br />
successful, but a well-oiled team is the <strong>co</strong>re<br />
of success. It was therefore very important<br />
to me to mould them into a team and<br />
teach them to work together and look out<br />
for each other,” she says.<br />
Owner, Thabang Oliphant emphasises the<br />
importance of working closely with her staff.<br />
“We can all do it. We can work together.”<br />
Josephine has been working on the site for<br />
over 16 years. Most staff members stay for long<br />
periods of time due to the positive <strong>at</strong>mosphere<br />
on the fore<strong>co</strong>urt.<br />
Taking ownership<br />
Shrinkage is currently <strong>at</strong> 3.5% but used to<br />
be quite a significant problem in previous<br />
years. CCTV and armed response are<br />
available for increased security and stock is<br />
protected by a daily, weekly and bi-weekly<br />
stock <strong>co</strong>unt schedule. If any irregularities<br />
are dis<strong>co</strong>vered, the schedule is adjusted to<br />
quickly identify the source of shrinkage.<br />
For Oliphant, her staff is the most<br />
important asset in shrinkage <strong>co</strong>ntrol.<br />
“One time, I called them all in and explained<br />
to them th<strong>at</strong> the significant shrinkage <strong>at</strong> the<br />
time affects the amount of money<br />
I have for the business. If I have less money<br />
available, then less or no money is left for<br />
incentives and tre<strong>at</strong>s for the staff.<br />
28 wholesalebusiness Issue 3, 2012
28 staff members are employed <strong>at</strong> the site. Owner, Thabang Oliphant, emphasises<br />
th<strong>at</strong> looking after her staff is one of the most important aspects of the business.<br />
Store: <strong>Engen</strong><br />
Loc<strong>at</strong>ion: <strong>Kempton</strong> <strong>Park</strong><br />
Owner: Thabang Oliphant<br />
Staff <strong>co</strong>mplement: 28<br />
C-store turnover:<br />
R600 000 per month<br />
They needed to understand th<strong>at</strong> it<br />
affects them,” she explains. Afterwards,<br />
shrinkage decreased significantly and staff<br />
went out of their way to be part of the<br />
solution. When certain customers who<br />
were known to steal arrived <strong>at</strong> the store, all<br />
fore<strong>co</strong>urt staff would walk inside the store,<br />
demonstr<strong>at</strong>ing th<strong>at</strong> this person’s intentions<br />
were known.<br />
Free car washes are available to SAPS<br />
vehicles to increase police presence and<br />
establish visible security. The site has also<br />
be<strong>co</strong>me known as a place for security<br />
<strong>co</strong>mpany staff to <strong>co</strong>me to if they need hot<br />
w<strong>at</strong>er to make a cup of <strong>co</strong>ffee, for example.<br />
Together with the <strong>co</strong>mmunity policing<br />
forum (CPF), Oliphant also previously<br />
hosted an annual braai for police and<br />
security staff on N<strong>at</strong>ional Police Day.<br />
Convenient and <strong>co</strong>mpetitive<br />
The fore<strong>co</strong>urt offering is <strong>co</strong>mplete with<br />
50ppm diesel and a car wash loc<strong>at</strong>ed<br />
<strong>at</strong> the back of the site. Product offering<br />
within the <strong>co</strong>nvenience store (C-store) is<br />
currently focused on the basics with bread,<br />
chips, sweets, <strong>co</strong>okies, car products, basic<br />
medicines and <strong>co</strong>ld drinks – in line with<br />
<strong>Engen</strong>’s assortment requirements. <strong>Engen</strong><br />
laid out requirements for 80% of its fore<strong>co</strong>urt<br />
stores’ product assortment to ensure<br />
a <strong>co</strong>mpetitive range, and leaves it up to the<br />
store oper<strong>at</strong>or to fill the other 20% with<br />
products relevant to their target market.<br />
The store includes the Snackzone bakery,<br />
offering pies and <strong>co</strong>ffee to the customers.<br />
The owner is busy in negoti<strong>at</strong>ions with<br />
<strong>Engen</strong> to upgrade the bakery and make a<br />
wider array of products available through<br />
the <strong>Engen</strong> Corner Bakery <strong>co</strong>ncept.<br />
Oliphant’s site has a very mixed customer<br />
base with middle class residential customers<br />
and large numbers of passers-by from<br />
Tembisa, en-route from the nearby train<br />
st<strong>at</strong>ion to their workplaces. She included<br />
items like small polony rolls, <strong>at</strong>char, snuff<br />
tobac<strong>co</strong>, as well as R5 airtime vouchers,<br />
which are not available <strong>at</strong> the local<br />
supermarket. Th<strong>at</strong> way she ensures th<strong>at</strong> she<br />
c<strong>at</strong>ers for the l<strong>at</strong>ter customer base as well.<br />
“We are keeping our prices low in order to<br />
remain <strong>co</strong>mpetitive with the supermarket<br />
across the road. Most filling st<strong>at</strong>ions make<br />
the <strong>co</strong>nvenience of a 24-hour store an<br />
expensive service, but we decided against<br />
th<strong>at</strong>. Our cigarettes, for example, are only<br />
marginally more expensive than in the<br />
supermarket as we have slightly higher<br />
oper<strong>at</strong>ing <strong>co</strong>sts. This way our <strong>co</strong>nvenient<br />
store remains a viable altern<strong>at</strong>ive for the<br />
customers, who are rewarding these efforts,”<br />
says Oliphant.<br />
Convenience sells<br />
Roughly 300 000 litres of fuel are sold on<br />
the fore<strong>co</strong>urt every month with steadily<br />
rising figures. The C-store itself gener<strong>at</strong>es<br />
approxim<strong>at</strong>ely R600 000 per month.<br />
Bestselling items are cigarettes, ac<strong>co</strong>unting<br />
for 20% of the store’s turnover, as well<br />
as airtime and prepaid electricity, which<br />
together ac<strong>co</strong>unt for another 30% of the<br />
store’s turnover. A Lotto outlet is also<br />
available to customers. Cold drinks, energy<br />
drinks, cho<strong>co</strong>l<strong>at</strong>e and pop<strong>co</strong>rn are most<br />
popular within the grocery section.<br />
“The advantage for the customers here is<br />
not having to stand in long lines when they<br />
just quickly want to get a box of cigarettes<br />
or electricity on the way home from work.<br />
They are also not limited to opening hours<br />
of a supermarket, which makes the prepaid<br />
electricity, in particular, a vital asset to our<br />
store,” she says.<br />
The site c<strong>at</strong>ers for a wide range of customers.<br />
Middle class residents visit the site as often as<br />
passer-by traffic from the train st<strong>at</strong>ion nearby.<br />
Sometimes more unusual customers can be<br />
spotted as well.<br />
Growing further<br />
Going forward, Oliphant wants to include<br />
a fast food franchise into the site. “Many<br />
customers <strong>co</strong>me here on Sundays to have<br />
their cars washed after church and it would<br />
be gre<strong>at</strong> for them if they can just enjoy<br />
a nice breakfast as a family while we are<br />
taking care of their car,” she says. She also<br />
wants to expand the offering within the<br />
C-store to better c<strong>at</strong>er for the different<br />
needs of all her customers.<br />
She <strong>co</strong>ncludes: “In our business we are all<br />
about personal rel<strong>at</strong>ionships and helping our<br />
customers with wh<strong>at</strong> they need <strong>at</strong> wh<strong>at</strong>ever<br />
time of day. Being a mom myself certainly<br />
helps me understand the pressure many<br />
people are under. So when, for example,<br />
a mother is l<strong>at</strong>e dropping off her kids <strong>at</strong><br />
school, she can quickly refuel, drop her kids<br />
off and then <strong>co</strong>me back to pay. I also want<br />
the <strong>co</strong>mmunity to know th<strong>at</strong> this is a place<br />
to <strong>co</strong>me to when they need help.”<br />
wholesalebusiness Issue 3, 2012 29