Background
Vera Bradley, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is an iconic lifestyle retail brand known for its bright and patterned women’s handbags and luggage. The brand prides itself on knowing that customers can walk into any of its 149 stores across the U.S. and Canada and have a superior and memorable shopping experience, discover new products, and connect with a community of like-minded shoppers who are inspired by the vibrant, colorful brand and believe in making an impact.
Challenge: A two-person team supporting 149 stores across North America
EJ Wright runs a lean two-person facilities team tasked with managing the daily operations of its fleet of 149 stores as well its 400,000-square-foot distribution center and corporate headquarters. EJ’s top priority is being available at a moment’s notice to store and district managers in the field who are on the front lines serving customers. A distraction like a leaky roof or jammed door lock diverts the store manager’s attention from customers to a maintenance issue, which has adverse effects on sales. This requires EJ to be fully involved in the day-to-day operations including being reachable by phone on nights and weekends. “I like to be strategic, but if I’m too busy putting out fires then I can’t get to this important work.” He knew there were efficiencies to unlock – like improving the speed and quality of work done – but without being able to get out from underneath the daily reactive demands, his teams weren’t able to focus their time on strategic optimization. EJ’s priority objectives included:
“ServiceChannel is now one of our biggest drivers in how we manage facilities services. It’s a highly efficient way to keep our stores up to the same luxury brand standards as our products. As the “owner of our information,’ we can now spend less time to accomplish more at a higher quality than was possible before.”
Solution: Leverage technology to deliver better results with less work
- EJ was eager to see what
SC Managed
- could do to help accelerate the performance of his facilities program. He engaged
- "from end-to-end, gaining:"
“The coolest thing about ServiceChannel is the tools,” EJ said.
Results: Operational benefits and lower costs
- The company saw impressive results within three months of implementing
SC Managed
- ", both from an operating and business perspective, such as:"
- EJ explained that one of the cool things about
ServiceChannel Managed
- is, “You have all the providers in one place with data so you can see performance for each and you know who the best vendor for the job is.” He continued, “I conducted a survey among our store district managers after making the switch … and everyone is satisfied.”
With SC Managed accelerating team performance and bandwidth, plus providing cost savings, EJ says, “Why wouldn’t you try it?“
