Focus on the engagement of your employees, not the customers (…yet)
Unless you’re in command of a fleet of droids like Amazon, there’s a strong chance that most of your employees are human. Do you treat them accordingly?
If you keep your employees genuinely happy and excited to be at work, the customers will intuitively pick up on their good vibes. This may influence them to spend a little more time in the shop or speak highly of their experience later on in conversation. On the other hand, if your customers have a run-in with an uninterested or upset employee, they will be inclined to share the experience with a friend (or a few thousand online). This sort of engagement tends to be hard to recover from and there’s a good chance you might lose the customer permanently.
I have found Bob Phibb’s article, 9 Secrets to Effectively Managing Retail Employees, to be very insightful and chock-full of management advice that will help your team grow healthily.
Bob Phibb (aka the Retail Doctor) suggests an approach to nurturing the team environment that begins with respecting your employees and their decision-making capabilities. He also suggests that you take time during meetings to recognize teammates for what they have done well. The idea here is to create a team that thrives on positive vibes and encouragement rather than fear or discipline.
I also appreciate his advice to pay retail employees above the minimum wage, ask their opinions and thoughtfully reward them when goals are met. He even takes it a step further by pointing out the importance of helping new team members find a friend during onboarding. The idea is to make everyone feel that they are an important and appreciated part of the team… It almost seems as if he’s talking about people instead of employees – oh, right, he is.
Once your retail team is comfortable with their roles it will be time for a little training. Let them explore the merchandise, help them understand the products, talk about common customer questions and teach them how to set up product displays according to brand guidelines. The Doctor advises to keep these sessions private and we absolutely agree. Training is a process of teaching and correcting. There’s no need to add more pressure to a trainee’s day by correcting him or her in front of their new co-workers.
This rule also applies to correcting ANY staff members in front of a customer – so don’t do it. Your attempt to correct or educate might be misinterpreted as an impolite, and off-putting gesture to both staff and customers. Nobody wants to buy from a store that mistreats the employees. Doing so also tends to create awkward situations that act as emotional speed bumps in the customer’s path to purchase. Don’t be that speed bump.
Now that you have properly empowered everyone in the shop with product display and general merchandise knowledge they should be ready to start taking some responsibility. The Doctor suggests all associates should be held accountable, not just management and shift-leads. Once you have taught them to set up product displays correctly, all team members ought to help ensure everything is in proper order. Even part-time employees can help with your marketing efforts from visual merchandising to customer service, so make sure everyone is on board.
Ultimately, the success of your retail team will depend on taking a healthy, happy and humane approach to leadership and team building. Once your team’s core has been established then you can start considering more advanced promotional options. But let’s save that for next time.
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