As our survey works stands now, only 10% of the stores surveyed said that sales have not improved sequentially in April and May. Surprisingly, 50% of the stores surveyed are reporting positive sales trends. As of today we are only 1/3 of the way done with the survey.


We are also asking the following question - "In your opinion, is management taking the company in the right direction and what particular decisions is the management taking that has an impact/effect on your store's sales?" Increased employee training, customer satisfaction and sampling are helping to improve current trends.


All of the following comments come directly from the survey work.


"Their decision to keep the prices of Ice Coffee's low has been effective. They have also introduced new meal coupons which have had a positive impact on the sales."


"Their focus is on product promotion and making sure that the customers get a sense of the products that we are targeting. For example, currently we are targeting ice-coffee, seasonal coffee, ice-cappuccino and we make sure that they are displayed near the cash counter with various attractive pairing options. This has led to a positive impact on the sales."


"They are pushing us towards suggestive selling which helps us to achieve our targets. Providing samples is another aspect the management is focusing on."


"We are now doing sampling. We prepare a product and hand it over the sales desk for them to offer these to our customers as samples, and it is working well."


"They are ensuring that the customers are familiar with our new products. They are doing up-selling by offering pastries with other products, which is a good practice. The management communicates effectively to ensure everyone is on the same page. They are posting products on the display board so that all the partners read them and work on the required action items."


"They are aggressively marketing and sampling products such as pastries, drinks, etc. which has impacted the store sales in a positive way."


"Their focus on reducing costs has been successful. They offer programs to perform a particular task in an efficient manner such as organizing the pastry case, etc. This helps us to save time and thus we can spend more time helping customers. They keep a track of the sales of various products and encourage us to sell more."


"Their focus has been on pairing and sampling of meals which has lead to an increase in the store sales."


"Lately, they have been more amplified on the training they give us. They ensure that all the store supervisors are well-trained and equipped in order to further explain and relay information to the customers. They are giving trainings around new and different ways to make drinks, etc. I think they are trying to build our more knowledge base rather than just focusing on sales."


"The decisions with reference to the menu and pastries have a direct impact on our sales and our success. They share the recepies with us about how a particular pastry is actually made, which we can share with our customers. This generally attracts more customers as they are interested in that piece of information."


"Their lean initiatives are doing really well. Focusing on the right products and maximizing on the core beverages has led to an increase in the store sales."


"Considering the current economic condition, their focus is on customer's satisfaction, taking care of partners, paying attention towards cost and minimizing waste. They are pushing us to offer our customers combos and to up-sell."


"The management is taking the company in the right direction by shutting down stores that were not doing well."