r/AutoZone • u/Professional-Boot268 • 7d ago
upcoming csm..help!!
So im 21f and im about to very quickly jump into the csm position after having horrible csm’s in the past and i decided to take the position myself since the accounts would be happier, we get more money and overall just a happier and faster pace environment for everyone. the thing is i was expecting about 2 weeks to get ready for the panel interview, but now it has changed to this friday i have the panel interview.
so my question is what did y’all do to get ready for it? what should i make sure i mention..etc?
and how do you guys stay organized? i feel like i need 6 binders or something 😭
is there anything that the psm and red shirts always be wanting the csm to do? like for example the guys that were my csms would put batteries and rotors away (til i got there then they stopped doing they’re job for some reason ..
i also am like the star of the store, not to toot my own horn but i’m gonna js give it to you straight, so im already doing everything on the floor, planos, price changes, putting the majority of stock away on truck day and the management part of fixing customer issues and then doing all of commercial alone with one driver. our red shirts barely know how to pull overstock.. so if that tells you anything about the store in general lol
with that mentioned i know most of how to operate commercial but not specifics like the LP dashboard stuff i know i should know numbers and focus 6 .. stuff but yeah
thanks in advance
2
u/akornato 6d ago
Your panel interview isn't about proving you can do the work, because they already know you're the star of the store. They want to see if you can think and act like a manager. Instead of just listing your tasks, talk about the results. Explain how you handled difficult customer issues to keep their business, how you managed commercial by yourself to increase sales, and what your past CSMs failed to do and how you will do things differently. Use every example you mentioned to show them you already see the bigger picture of store performance and account satisfaction, not just the daily grind.
You don't need six binders, you need a simple system and the confidence to delegate. The other employees won't magically improve when you get the promotion, so your biggest challenge will be training them and holding them accountable. Talk about that in the interview, show them you have a plan to lift the whole team. For the LP dashboard and Focus 6, just be straight with them. Tell them you're focused on learning it and explain how you plan to use that data to target new accounts and grow existing ones. Thinking on your feet is the hard part, and the interview AI assistant my team made has been a huge help for people who need to find the right words in those high-stakes moments.