When reporting to your boss or co-workers on the status of your store, do you often get these questions?
"So, what are you trying to say?"
"What's your conclusion?"
"What's your logic?"
"What do you mean?"
The PREP method is a conversation model that was created to solve these problems.
Once you have mastered the PREP method, you can not only report to your supervisor, but you can also convey how appealing products are to customers in an easy-to-understand and accurate manner.
PREP is used in a variety of situations, but in this article, we will introduce its meaning and benefits, as well as examples, for store staff to practice when reporting to their supervisors.
What is PREP?
What is the PREP method?
Point: main point (conclusion)
Reason: reason (how the conclusion was reached)
Example: concrete example (evidence, data, and situation to theorize the reason) Point: main point (conclusion)
This is a conversational model that represents the structure of a report that can be easily conveyed.
To explain it in words:
First, the main point (the result), then the reasons for the result, the rationale for the reasons, and finally the main point (the result).
Advantages of PREP
Using PREP makes reporting to your boss or colleagues smoother.
This is because it has the following advantages: it does not stress the listener, it reduces unnecessary communication, and it helps you get into the habit of organizing your thoughts.
Merit 1: No stress on the listener
The biggest reason why PREP does not stress the listener is that it is structured to convey the main point (conclusion) first.
By conveying the main points first, the listener understands what you are talking about and can listen to what you have to say, thus avoiding the stress of understanding the context.
On the contrary, a report with no apparent conclusion will stress the listener.
Merit 2: Reduction of unnecessary exchanges
When reporting with PREP, the content can be clearly conveyed in a single conversation, so there is no need to ask, "What do you mean? "What do you mean?" "Explain it again? and "What do you mean?" in an endless loop.
This kind of exchange wastes time for both the listener and the speaker, and the accumulation of such wasted time can result in significant losses.
By using PREP, unnecessary exchanges can be reduced, and productive time can be secured.
Merit 3: Develop the habit of organizing your thoughts
Giving explanations using PREP is nothing more than "organizing the main points and clarifying the reasons and rationale" in your mind.
By reporting to your supervisor, you will acquire the habit of organizing your thoughts logically.
Example of a report using PREP
Let's take a look at this illustration of a conversation using PREP between a subordinate reporting sales to his boss.
Boss: How were the sales last month?
Subordinate:
P: Results.
The sales for the last month were 10 million yen, 95% of the budget and 105% of the previous year.
R: Reason.
The number of purchases increased by 110% compared to the previous year, but the sales per customer were slower than expected, so we were not able to reach our budget.
E: Reason
The reason for the decrease in sales per customer was that the arrival of products was two weeks later than planned. Unit sales per customer were sluggish in the first half of the month, and unit sales per customer for one month TOTAL were 10% lower than expected.
After the arrival of products, sales per customer were slightly higher than expected.
P: Results
Therefore, last month's sales were 95% of the budget and 105% of the previous year's sales.
As a supplementary note, the number of purchases is on an upward trend this month, as it was last month, and the unit price per customer is slightly higher than expected, so if things continue at this rate, we should be able to make up for last month's loss.
Boss: Got it. I'll report to the MD department about the product delivery and make sure there are no delays. Keep up the good work.
In this way, PREP can be used to provide an easy-to-understand report on the somewhat vague question of what last month's sales were.
What you need to know to use PREP well
Now that we have introduced the meaning and benefits of PREP, as well as some specific examples, but, there is one thing that must be kept in mind when using PREP:
First of all, you must have an accurate grasp of your store's situation and have a conversation about it.
If you know the sales figures, you can report the results, but in order to explain the reasons and rationale, you need to have a good grasp of the store's situation and the KPIs related to sales.
However, in order to explain the reasons and rationale, it is necessary to have a firm grasp of the store situation and KPIs related to sales.
Conclusion
In this article, PREP is introduced which is effective for reporting the status of the store to your boss and colleagues.
We hope it will give you some tips on how to get a good grasp of your store's situation and accurately communicate it to others. Thank you for reading!