by Melanie McIntosh

1. Relate positive stories

Don't let negatives get everyone down. We all know how an aggressive customer, or a shoplifting incident can become the talk of the day, passed on from one staff member to the next. Make sure that the positive stories are being circulated just as much, or even more.

Make a point of having a daily story about a great customer, a terrific sale or one of your excellent employees to tell as each staff member starts their shift. You can even turn the negative stories into positive ones by relating how well a difficult situation was handled by your staff.

2. Run a small contest

During a stressful week, or even one where sales are slow, motivate your team with a daily fun contest. Pick a slow selling item, write up a list (or delegate a staff member to do it) of features and benefits for it, and run a contest to sell the most of that item for the day.

Another option is to create bingo cards with a variety of fast and slow selling items. Give each employee a bingo card and see who can come closest to filling the cards.

For prizes you might be able get small gift certificates from complementary retailers, collect points for a larger prize at the end of the month, or get the staff to brainstorm fun, no cost ways to recognize each other's achievements.

Make sure your salespeople remember to always focus on the customer first - the contest is just for fun! Don't let it interfere with your customer service.

3. Treat your staff

Surprise your team with a litte treat. A bag of popcorn or a few chocolates in the staff room for breaks, are always a welcome perk for a special occasion. An even bigger surprise is when you do it for no occasion at all!

4. Set achievable daily goals

Do you set goals each day? Goals help everyone challenge themselves, and measure their own success.

Are you sharing your store's daily goal with your team? Is it realistic based on the day's weather and recent traffic patterns?

Once you have the daily goal set, divide that amount by the total number of hours you have scheduled that day. For each employee, multiply that hourly amount, by the number of hours the person is working on the selling floor for the day. That is their share of the daily goal. You may need to adjust that amount slighty to account for daily traffic patterns.

Congratulate anyone who meets or exceeds their goals. When some staff are having difficulty reaching their goals, use it as an opportunity to coach them on their technique or product knowledge.

5. Reward achievements each day

Reward your employees achievements on a daily basis. This may be giving each person a private compliment on something they did well. The recognition could also be shared with peers, such as writing a couple of lines about a team member's achievement and posting it for staff to read as they start their shift.

Just a few small changes can help create a more positive environment in your store!

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©2001-2008 Inspire Retail Solutions. All Rights Reserved.

Melanie McIntosh is a retail consultant and owner of Inspire Retail Solutions. She helps independent retailers who are struggling to get more customers in the door.
Is your store appearance actually turning customers away?
Find out more here: http://www.inspire.bc.ca

 

Melanie's articles and interviews have appeared in Retail BC's Retail Connections magazine, Western Home Furnishing Association's Western Retailer, Intimate Apparel Business, Arabian Retailer, Teeze magazine, edplay magazine, and LA Apartment, among others.