Motivating Your Sales Team
By Mercedes Gonzalez
What do employees want more than anything else? More money? Better benefits? More vacation time? Of course, all of these are nice perks for any employee. However, when employees are surveyed, the number one motivator for a dream job is recognition. They want to know that they are making an important and valued contribution to the company.
When I visit stores in distressed situations, one of the first things I do is set up a “closed door” meeting with the staff. It never fails—when talking to staff, they will say that they saw the problems coming and they have ideas on how it can be resolved. But when I ask why they didn’t communicate their thoughts and ideas to management or staff, the usual response is “No one asked.”
For store owners and managers, recognizing and drawing on the expertise of the “team” is key to developing enthusiastic and motivated employees who look forward to serving customers. A good employee is a happy employee. And a happy employee is an employee who feels valued by management and peers and integral to the success of the company or organization. The support and encouragement that you offer during the sales meeting is the key to building a great company culture.
The Sales Meeting
The sales meeting, held regularly, is the perfect place to create a collegial environment where employees can offer valuable insights into both the problems and successes of the company. In the morning before the store opens generally is the best time to set up your meeting. The meeting can be as short as 10 minutes but it should be done once a week.
Tour the store with your sales staff, pointing out new items on the floor. Ask sales staff what customers are asking for and what the hot sellers are. Encourage them to shop other stores and to offer feedback about brands they think the store should carry. A friendly and open atmosphere will facilitate honest and, therefore, useful comments. Accept positive as well as negative feedback. If your staff feels that their opinions matter, they will offer suggestions that do matter and feel empowered to make decisions in the best interests of the store and your customers.
In addition to holding regular staff meetings, schedule personal meetings with your staff to discuss their performance, both positive and negative, in addition to their and your concerns. Answer any questions they may have about products or situations within the store. This is also a good time to review store policies and how they should handle different situations that may arise on the store floor.
Sales meetings are also good time to remind staff to send out those thank-you cards and to make follow-up phone calls. While it is always a good policy to remind staff of what needs to be done on the job, you also need to make sure they have the tools they need to get the job done.
Successful retailers have staff who are knowledgeable about their business and who take pride in their store. They develop and maintain a company culture that attracts good employees who want to work hard and perform well. Conversely, poor employees tend not to last long in a positive environment in which their colleagues work hard and take pride in their performance.
Incentives
Although salary and security are great motivators, other incentives can also keep employees happy and motivated in the workplace. Discounts on store products can be a win-win for both the employee and the store. Employees feel great about getting a discount, which typically should run around 20% to 25% off (on top of any markdown or sale price). If they wear the outfit to work, they serve as live models for your merchandise, which is more effective than any mannequin. When they wear it when they are out and about town, even better, they serve as a walking advertisement for your store.
Think about getting business cards for your sales staff. It’s a small investment that helps employees feel validated and important. It may seem silly, but having a business card can make a person feel like he or she has a “real job.” Plus, whenever they give someone their card, and they will, they are “selling” your business.
Pay your staff well and offer health care benefits. Remember, you are competing for the best sales people. Retail sales is one of the few sales positions for which employers think they can get away with paying minimum wage to poorly trained, unskilled workers and still show profit. It may sound absurd when you read it here, but, think about it, how many stores have you walked into where this is the situation? As a consultant, I have heard every excuse from owners and managers:
● I can’t afford to pay any more.
● I can’t find employees whom I trust.
● If I am not on the sales floor, sales go down.
● My employees know what to do when I’m not there.
● My customers only want to work with me.
The answer to all of the above is: If you can’t afford to pay and train staff, you can’t afford to be in business.
How much should you pay? If you study the National Retail Federation book on industry pay rates, you’ll probably go crazy. It contains about 1000 pages of listings by city, state, and product type. There’s a simpler way: Determine what the major chains in your area are paying and offer a dollar more. Include loss prevention into your sales training and set goal-oriented sales targets. Make it a team effort. Each month, if realistic sales goals are met, share a bonus with everyone. Remember:
If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
The sales staff is the backbone of every retail company. Train them well, treat them well, and solicit their feedback on how the store can be improved on a regular basis. A pretty store with the best brands and the “right” prices is always nice but never sufficient: retail is a people’s business that requires quality employees to promote your product and service your customers.
Mercedes Gonzalez is founder and Director of Global Purchasing Companies, a full service buying office that specializes in both design and retail strategizing. A buyer in the garment industry since 1988, Mercedes has worked with some of the most important buying offices in the country and has helped open or restructure hundreds of stores in the United States and abroad. Mercedes regularly teaches workshops on successful retailing at industry trade shows such as MAGIC, Industry 212, Intima, and the Off-Price Specialist Show. She sits on the board of the Fashion Merchandising Department at the University of Arkansas and University of Nebraska.
