Nikunj Shah
Phones 4U, Sunderland
My Team
Nikunj credits his salespeople for his store’s outstanding performance. He says: ‘The success is down to the team, all they needed was a push in the right direction.’
My Challenge
Nikunj joined Phones 4u as a part-time student almost six years ago. He worked his way up the ladder and his biggest challenge came when he took over as manager of his under-performing Sunderland store. Morale among the 14 members of staff was low, with the shop only hitting 70% of its target. Nikunj says: ‘They had never been given any kind of proper direction and they didn’t know what was expected.’
He decided to give most of the existing staffers another opportunity to prove themselves. This has since paid off, with his store now hitting over 130% of target and upping average monthly gross profit from £50,000 to over £90,000.
Leadership
Nikunj has a more traditional approach to leadership. While he likes to build a good rapport with staff, he prefers to keep a measure of distance. He says: ‘You have to keep a bit of a professional distance to get the best results but at the end of the day they should feel comfortable to chat to you about personal stuff. I’ll always pick up my phone to them, even on holiday’.
Achievements
• Nikunj’s store was only hitting 70% of its target when he took over, now it’s over 130%
• He has come top of his division (around 150 stores) every month for the last six consecutive months
• He has boosted gross profit at his store from around £50,000 per month to £90,000
• Nikunj was managing the biggest store in Phones 4u’s northern division by the age of 25
My Magic
In previous Store Manager competitions we’ve seen contestants using all kinds of novel and innovative tricks and techniques to generate revenue. Nikunj, however, appears to work on the simple premise that ‘motivation + competence = results’.