Day in the life
After the success of our Leadership Spotlight we now want to shine a light on all the different things we do at Three.
We’re launching a new series called ‘Day in the life’ where we’ll be interviewing employees of all levels, across all areas of the business to learn a bit more about them and how we all work together here at Three.
The first in our series we’ll be getting to know Della Johnson.
Vital stats:
- Name: Della Johnson
- Job title: Lead Store Manager, Birkenhead store, Area 8
- Function: Retail
- Tenure: Joined 2008
Tell us a little bit about yourself
I am from Liverpool and travel across the Mersey every day for work. I have 2 sons who are both in the Fire Service and am about to turn 50. I have been in Retail all my working life and I love it. My career spans a time at Disney, through to phones, designer clothing and now back to phones.
In a nutshell, describe your role and how you support our business objectives
I have been with Three since 2008 and have taken on the Lead Store Manager role for the last 2 years. I look after engagement across area 8 and am part of the Retail Forum – ensuring all our team are heard. No day is a typical day in store, there are so many factors that affect our day – from adverse weather, sporting events, localised events, the list goes on. However, it starts with a briefing from the dashboard so we can address the day’s priorities. We set up a Teams post to share all our sales and brilliance for the area and after our check in from our area manager, those priorities are also aligned. After that, we start to greet all our customers, find out what brings them in with a lovely warm welcome and we swap names early on to make our interaction super personal. Once we find out about the customer, we offer relevant demos of devices and make them feel comfortable, so they return again and again and tell their friends and family too.
There will be deliveries and plenty of admin to keep me busy, but our priority right now is to ensure we are covid safe with our cleaning, so we are continuously keeping ourselves and our customers safe. Most of the day is interacting with customers and then feeding back from the team’s interactions, as well as coaching and developing. We keep ourselves up to date with product knowledge from our vendor training hubs but we also use apps to help us, because sometimes our customers know more than us!
What are the big things in the world of retail right now?
2022 will be a healthier year and one where we start strong with our deals (since November and Black Friday’s fantastic deals) and ensuring we are supporting customers better. Our Business deals will particularly support those who are self-employed when January is notoriously tough, as we’ll be able to save them money. Going into the first quarter we will be looking after the handset growth from all the sim only sales the last half of 2021. Great opportunities for us in Retail.
How have you supported your personal wellbeing during the past 18 months?
I take time out to look after my mental health by ensuring I split my work/life balance to give the best to my family and my job. I drive to and from work with my husband every day, so I get to talk through my day before I get home, so it stays out of the house. I absolutely love true crime and weirdly I like to listen to podcasts on this subject – it relaxes me. I make sure I am available for all my team so they can offload to me, and I make sure that we spend time having fun on the shop floor, with customers too.
Give us a fun fact…
I have been a contestant on Supermarket Sweep, Family Fortunes, Strike it Rich and Play Your Cards Right!
