At more than 13,500 square feet, the Mojave Express at Fort Irwin is one of the Exchange’s largest Expresses. As the Mojave team of 50 associates navigated the store and its exterior features, they communicated with one another by walkie-talkie.
But that wasn’t ideal—customers could hear both sides of the conversation. So the store recently became the first Express to use Theatro, a headset communication device used by more than 90% of main stores that aids in quick customer service.
“The region requested Theatro due to the store’s size and sales volume,” said Western Region Senior Vice President Ronny Rexrode. “The Mojave Express has as many associates working at one time as many main stores.”
Theatro, which has a headset that looks like something pop stars use on stage so they can keep their hands free, comes with a small rectangular box that associates can attach to their belt or another part of their clothing. When associates need to talk to someone, they press a button on the box and call for assistance.
Store Operations teammates are eager to see more Expresses adopt the device.
“It’s not for every Express,” said Program Specialist Vanessa Hurguy. “If it’s a small Express and there’s only a few people working, it might not be necessary. But at the larger Expresses, it would be beneficial.”
At a main store, for example, if an associate at customer service needed to talk to someone in hardware, the associate can just say “Hello, hardware,” and get directly connected. But the device has multiple uses that can apply to Expresses.
“In larger Expresses, Theatro will help managers give direction to associates without having to track them down,” said Senior Business Program Specialist Melissa Moring. “It’s more about associate efficiency than customer efficiency, but it helps customers because associates can communicate immediately instead of saying, ‘Wait a minute.’”
The device tracks where requests originate, so it will send backup assistance where it’s needed. Floor associates can communicate with those in the stockroom so that they don’t have to leave the sales floor to see whether merchandise is in stock.
Mojave Express Manager Camille Gonzales says Theatro has already helped her in several ways.
“We use it a lot,” Gonazles said. You can use it for morning meetings, you can do announcements with it. The team is more engaged because it makes communication better.”
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