My favorite week at Hajoca

Since my last entry, I’ve had some great new experiences!  It’s a tough call, but I think my favorite week of working for Hajoca has been the MDP workshop.  There is an annual workshop for all trainees held in Pennsylvania at a conference center.  This is the only time all of the trainees are in one place so it’s an amazing networking opportunity.  For four days, we listened to different topics such as Business Etiquette, Pricing, and Sales Strategies.  The president of the company even gave a two hour presentation about leadership and personnel.  He made us all aware that we are the future of Hajoca and reminded me of how much power I have to make a positive impact in my Profit Center.  It was amazing to get to mingle with the top leaders of the entire corporation.  They are all very approachable; even the Vice President sat at my table for dinner one night.

Back at the profit center, I am about half way through my training at the parts counter.   The counter module is the time that I have to go out with plumbers and see them in action!  Since I’ve gotten to know many of our top customers fairly well, I am comfortable asking to join them for a few days.  This month, I was able to see the installation of toilets, lavatories, a mop sink, water heater, and water fountains.  We were working on a new store in the mall: Rue21.  This trip was mostly watching, but I did solder some copper pipe and fittings which entails using a flame to fuse the metals.  Another customer took me to see a final inspection.  That morning we finished soldering the drain pipe for a Chick-Fil-A and then walked through every fixture with the inspector.  I will have to become at least a little familiar with plumbing codes to help my customers get the right items, so this was a great experience.  A third customer took me to a residential trim.  This is the final step in plumbing a house and includes all of the things that the home owner sees like faucets and the water closet.  I was able to learn completely hands-on because the plumber explained each step and watched me do some of everything.  I set a toilet and installed the faucets on a shower and tub.

I have been encouraged by my manager to make any changes to our counter area that would help increase our sales.  From seeing the other stores, I noticed ours had less merchandise for customers to shop themselves so I went about adding some displays.  First, I looked for shelving at liquidations, bought the cheapest I could find, and painted them to look like new.  Then I stocked them full of products our customers might not know we carry and also the stuff they buy every day.  So far it’s been successful and the biggest problem is keeping the shelves full! I’m not done with my counter makeover but I’m already feeling proud and happy to see a project through from start to finish.