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Home Depot Business Environment

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Submitted By Mcumella
Words 1918
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Home Depot Business Environment
Communication Channel Scenarios
MGT 521
March 3, 2012
Jacob Nichols

Home Depot Business Environment The Home Depot is the world’s largest do-it-yourself home improvement retailer that was founded over thirty years ago in Atlanta Georgia by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank (The Home Depot, 2011). Through the lifespan, The Home Depot expanded from a two store operation into the fourth largest grossing retail store as reported by the Fortune 500 listings (CNN Money, 2012). Strategies like price matching, environmentally friendly supplies, introducing Home Depot brands and services, and offering clinics to patrons assisted in Home Depot dominating the do-it-yourself home improvement market. Throughout the lifecycle of Home Depot there have been numerous changes; markets, consumers, direction, and leadership to name a few. Home Depot made adjustments along the way and endured the constant waves of change and in the process developed the orange blooded culture enjoyed by employee and customer. Things change and the Home Depot understand this simple value, but constant is the orange apron and everything it stands for. To date the Home Depot remains a sound corporation even through the recession and unfavorable markets and is in a prime position to generate stronger ROA, ROIC, and ROE measures relative to their closest competitor Lowe’s (Sozzi, 11/2). The pages that follow will analyze The Home Depot and examine what differences it has from the closest competitors. Taking a brief look into the culture behind the store, how Home Depot markets itself, and the major differences that clearly makes the Home Depot number one in their market. We will draw conclusions from customer experiences to see how the orange blooded culture serves and exceeds the customer’s expectations. Compared with personal experience and interviews we will compare them against published findings to determine the effectiveness of the Home Depot’s strategic marketing strategy. Back in 2007 Frank Blake replaced Bob Nardelli as CEO and had a different visionary plan that changed the marketing strategy of the Home Depot (The Home Depot, 2011). Customer service has always been what made the Home Depot stand apart from the other big do-it-yourself retail stores and Bob Nardelli appeared to lose sight of that important message. When Frank Blake took over the helm he had a fundamental belief that without customer’s satisfaction the Home Depot was just another store; begin the resurgence of Home Depot’s new priority of customer satisfaction (Waters & Moore, 2007). With direction difficult to distinguish under Bob Nardelli, the Home Depot’s new CEO Frank Blake focused on the customer. “At the heart of any execution strategy is great management, and Home Depot has that in CEO Francis Blake. He’s done a great job of putting his company back on track, Cramer said, after six years of contemptible stewardship by Robert Nardelli. Blake’s top priority? Emphasizing the customer, a key component of retail that had escaped Nardelli” (Brennan, 2009). “Those pursuing a strategy of customer intimacy continually tailor and shape products and services to fit an increasingly fine definition of the customer. They typically look at the customer’s lifetime value to the company, not the value of any single transaction. The company’s business strategy is built not just around selling home-repair and improvement items inexpensively but also around the customer’s needs for information and service. Consumers whose only concern is price fall outside of Home Depot’s market.” (Brennan, 2009). Frank Blake had success with the implementation of his vision and dream to return to the customer satisfaction realm and some investment advisors suggest that this shift is a major reason to invest in Home Depot stock (Brennan, 2009). The return to customer satisfaction stoked the fires and provided the Home Depot its competitive advantage; customers. With the understanding that most customers will not return to a retailer that provides poor service, inferior quality products, and less attention to detail, the Home Depot tried numerous new strategies to improve their image. One method was to place a greeter at the main entrance to acknowledge the entry of a customer and ask if any service could be provided. Another was to have sales associates cease daily maintenance and restocking practices during high peak hours. Instead, associates were to seek customers and ask if they required assistance, could use information about products, or simply thank them for coming to the Home Depot. This practice increased the confidence of the customer and increased the probability of a return trip in the future. The return of sound customer service propels the Home Depot even further ahead of its competitors like Lowe’s and Ace Hardware. I shop at both the main competitors but prefer Home Depot based solely on the assistance I receive. When I went to Ace Hardware to find new hinges for a pantry door the associates treated me as if I was a complaint. At Lowe’s I had to search the store to fine help only to be rewarded with someone who directed me to the wrong area of their store. When the product I was searching for could not be located they simply walked away without trying to offer solutions. At home depot I received help as soon as I walked through the door. Although the Home Depot did not house the part required for my repair, they gave me directions to a specialty shop that stocked older hardware for just about anything. That day I found what I was looking for and pledged loyalty to the Home Depot simply due to customer service. Another reflection on the outstanding customer service at Home Depot came from price matching. I was remodeling a bathroom and ran out of tile. I purchased the tiles at Lowe’s because of the cheaper price unknowing that the Home Depot had a price matching policy on like items. When I returned to Lowe’s for more I was simply informed they ran out and had no knowledge of a restock date. I proceeded to Home Depot only to find out not only did they have the same tile in stock, but they offered to match the price found at Lowe’s and gave me a ten percent discount for being military. Walking into a Home Depot feels like walking into Mom’s house; safe, warm, and cheery. Greeted by associates, see a clean well organized store, and always feel welcome. You can feel the strategy of customer service is number one being enacted in every visit. More lighting has been installed in my local store and they are in process of making isles wider and easier to maneuver. These marketing strategies are being implemented to attract the female of the household because it was observed many of the major purchases were made by females. In an effort to reacquire lost footing from Lowe’s, Home Depot saw these renovations needed to create a leaner, better illuminated, and navigable store (Embrey, 2003). Another strategy but in place were the workshops designed for the female do-it-yourselfer planned and geared for educating women in home repair projects. Some of the workshops covered ceramic tiling, installing ceiling fans, and learning decorative painting techniques(Embrey, 2003). Home Depot also caters to the children of do-it-yourselfers by holding clinics geared to small crafts children can built, decorate, or paint. These classes are held the first Saturday of each month and associates provide a pin they can attach to their personal apron; this truly gives children something to look forward too. Stores engineer specific events based on locality and who shops where. Store managers might hold events for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), cater to families by having child friendly entertainment (bounce house, inflatable slides, hotdog cookout), and even have events to celebrate other cultures depending on where you live. These programs condition the customer to expect more from the Home Depot and they are eager to comply via improved product selection, friendly environment, low prices, and the best customer service (The Home Depot, 2011). So many homeowners put off home repair because they either have the lack of knowledge to perform or the task is to intimidating. The phrase now associated to help ease the minds of the would be do-it-yourselfers is “You can do it. We can help” (The Home Depot, 2011). This marketing strategy empowers the homeowner to believe in themselves; small steps with help around the corner have become a customer service standard—more saving, more doing. From building your daughters swing set to painting your house the Home Depot is there to assist each step along the way. By offering quality products, outstanding customer service, and subject matter experts on site shows why the Home Depot is number one in home improvements. Evidence proves that the new customer FIRST program (find, inquire, respect, solve, thank) implemented by Frank Blake is changing the way people see the Home Depot (Executive Insight, 2010). Robert Nardelli started rethinking the entire warehouse environment back in early 2000 and born was the marketing position. With this direction came an increase in productivity and revenues soared and earnings doubled over the next five years(Charan, 2006). Today the balance sheet of Home Depot is booming and they posted just a single quarter loss through the lifespan of the current rescission but have rebounded nicely according to findings in fiscal year 2011 (InvestorPlace, 2011). Earnings were up well above 2009 numbers and are still on the rise. Many believe the customer oriented mentality and great management has contributed to these successes. However, the same cannot be said for Home Depot’s leading competitor Lowe’s as it reported a 44% slump in the third quarter of 2011 contributed to store closings and discontinued items (InvestorPlace, 2011). Even though the Lowe’s corporation rebounded to show a modest two percent gain for the year, it was much less than what was expected; making Home Depot even more impressive to look at. Home Depot remains top of its class and plans on not slowing down in the coming years. In 2012 projections show gains and analysts are tracking five year annualized growth of 13.5% for the Home Depot. Although other competitors of the Home Depot are showing growth and slow recovery, they cannot maintain pace with the Home Depot. Other signs of strength are apparent too with its drawdown in debt and the 2.6% dividend beat Lowe’s 2.4% and the average 2.3% dividend yield among all S&P 500 stocks (InvestorPlace, 2011).

References
Brennan, T. (2009). Home Depot Vs Lowe's. Retrieved from http://www.cnbc.com/id/324630663
CNN Money. (2012). Fortune 500. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/full_list/?
Embrey, A. (2003). Home Depot and Lowe's: the race is on. Display & Design Ideas, 15(10), 55.
Executive Insight. (2010). Putting the Customer FIRST at Home Depot. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/nov2010/ca2010114_996107_page_2.h
InvestorPlace. (2011). How Home Depot is Hammering Lowe's. Retrieved from http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?from=en_us_msnhp&post=aaf00ea7-ba37-442f-a0ed-a76a8f9e3112&ucsort=4
Sozzi, B. (11/20/09). Home Depot Vs Love's Investment Debate Settled for Now. Retrieved from http://www.wstreet.com/investing/stocks/19036_home_depot_vs_lowes_investment_debate_settled_for_now.html
The Home Depot. (2011). About the Home Depot. Retrieved from http://corporate.homedepot.com/wps/portal/?
Waters, J., & Moore, A. (January 03, 2007). Home Depot chairman CEO Nardelli resigns. Retrieved from http://articles.marketwatch.com/2007-01-03/news/30766741_1_chief-executive-robert-nardelli-vice-chairman-frank-blake-ceo-nardelli

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