Typical mistakes when selecting sales consultants. How to find a seller for your business? Tips for entrepreneurs For our sellers, adventure is as incentive as money
Seller interview: how to select sellers!
Properly selected sellers are one of the main factors in high sales of any store. Want to learn how to interview salespeople? We will share some secrets with you in this article, and we also have And if you are a salesperson, you will learn how to prepare to pass an interview and get a job in a good store.
What needs to be determined during an interview with a sales consultant?
Teamwork
Personal qualities
How to profile the ideal sales candidate?
Before inviting people for an interview, you need to accurately describe the job profile of the salesperson you would like to hire, in other words, create a portrait of the ideal candidate to work in your store. When creating a profile for a salesperson’s position, take into account his main responsibilities, the features of your store, and make a list of all the functions that your salespeople should be able to perform. And lastly, think about what kind of person a person should be so that you would be pleased to see him in the store every time.
How to determine the key characteristics of a sales candidate?
To test the seller's communication skills, ask him to tell you something about himself, about his past work, about how he spends his free time. Is the narrator in front of you interesting? Is it easy for him to answer questions? Can he immediately tell something unusual about himself?
To understand relationships with other people You should ask the seller leading questions. For example, whether the phrase “The customer is always right?” is true, or why some people are more friendly and others less so. Why is he interested in being a salesperson? Many people go into this field in order to help other people in addition to making money.
It is very important to determine candidate's attitude towards sales basically. If a person likes to sell, then he enjoys it in any situation. Even if he is given the task of selling batteries on an electric train, or selling skis in the summer! If the seller says that for him this is a drive, a game, an opportunity for self-development, then such a seller will be able to learn how to sell very quickly. Anyone who really loves sales and is interested in honing their skills - never gets tired of customers!
This is the energy and fuel for its successful operation. Motivation can be for the purpose of achievement (the desire to earn money, develop, communicate, learn new things), and for the purpose of avoidance (tired of idleness, it takes a long time to find a job, I don’t want to be left without money).
Choose those sales candidates who have a strong achievement motivation! Find out what success the seller wants to achieve in his life in the coming year! How will his work success help him with this? Where does he see himself in the future? How much does he want to earn? Are you ready to teach others and share your successes? Does he really want to be a salesperson, or does he need to take a break for a couple of months, and then he or she will look for a “normal job?”
To test your sales skills There are quite a lot of techniques that allow you to most accurately identify a person’s sales tendencies. Firstly, these help you quickly understand who is in front of you. Secondly, these are special tasks and cases for sellers that need to be offered to them directly during the interview. And thirdly, the most effective method for determining the sales skills of candidates and selecting the best sellers is sales selection training for sellers.
Qualifying sales training for sellers is a technology for quickly meeting, training and testing sales candidates for possession of all the necessary features from the job profile of the seller you need. This training is conducted in a 3-6-8 hour format, for candidates ranging from 4 to 12 people, and during this training, job seekers quickly get to know you and each other, perform tasks and exercises, and do something with each other buy and sell, receive prizes and game medals, and the winners of this sales championship receive the main bonus - a job in your store!
We prepare and conduct qualifying trainings for sellers, and will be happy to help you conduct such training for your company!
For the most harmonious work of the team, it is important to involve other employees in determining which colleagues they want to see on their team. To do this, it is useful to ask them about what qualities and skills they would like to see in their future colleague. What difficult situations are they likely to face together? What is most important to them in working together? It is also acceptable to have one of your best salespeople present at the sales interview (especially someone who will later mentor the hired salesperson).
And last but most important - Every person is characterized by three verbs: TO KNOW, TO BE ABLE. Each of us knows a lot, can do some things better and others worse, and has a set of certain character traits, principles and norms of behavior. So, the latter just means - BE! What kind of person is he or she who is now in front of you? What qualities, upbringing norms and rules determine his or her behavior? Be sure to read our article about, and select people with the maximum presence of these qualities!
How to sell work in your store to a seller?
There are no ideal candidates, but truly smart and good people will always and everywhere be in great demand. And let's be honest, do you really have the best job offer on the market for them? Most likely no! In this case, you need to learn how to sell work in your store to the best candidates, and then you will truly have the strongest sales team.
There are many factors that are important to sellers, besides money, and above all these are opportunities to develop, learn something new, feel needed and in demand, as well as the desire to spend time in the company of an interesting and promising manager, and responsive and hardworking colleagues.
Prepare your most convincing arguments for those sellers that you really like! Sell them yourself as a manager, work in your store and all the benefits of cooperation with you, and such a seller will be as loyal to you as possible (and you will very quickly see the level of his loyalty and desire to thank you by the daily increase in cash at the store’s cash register!) .
When appearing for an interview, a sales consultant must also remember that an interview is a chance to show your sales skills at their best and give the employer the opportunity to feel like the most valuable and desired client!
Do you still think that interviewing salespeople and selecting the best candidates is difficult? Well, there is always risk in this process! We can help you reduce it!
Book a consultation with our expert or a private lesson on conducting sales interviews, and learn how to choose the right people once and for all!
There is a small pizzeria in the shopping center across the street from my office. Until recently, I loved going there, but everything has changed since the pizzeria hired a new saleswoman.
I can't fault this girl's sales skills. But as for the appearance... Imagine a pimply girl with tangled, long-unwashed hair, in wrinkled, greasy clothes and a dirty oilcloth apron. In addition, the girl’s nose is running and she blows her nose into her sleeve. Just the thought of this girl touching food takes away all my appetite.
And since I’m not the only one who is so squeamish, the future of this pizzeria seems to me to be far from cloudless.
Seller, look at you!
The skill of the seller, knowledge of specific techniques, presentation skills, ability to work with customer objections - all this is undoubtedly very important.
- Otherwise I wouldn't teach these things.
Knowledge of your product and confidence in your rightness are also important... However "Inappropriate" appearance of a seller or negotiator can negate the effectiveness of all his skills , skills and abilities - because the potential buyer decides that he does not want to deal with this person, even before the seller opens his mouth .
If you are a salesperson, stand up right now and look at yourself in the mirror. If you are a business owner or manager, take a look at your salespeople right now. Do they look like people your potential client would be comfortable doing business with?
What to look for
Look from top to bottom. What should you pay special attention to?
- Hair - cleanliness, neat hairstyle, no dandruff
- Face - facial expression, lack of stubble for men, neat makeup for women
- The collar is often the first to get dirty
- Clothing - cleanliness and neatness, matching the style to your business
- Armpits - no sweat stains
- Hands - cleanliness, neatness
- Nails - clean, cut short for men, neat manicure for women
- Shoes - matching the suit, neatness, cleanliness
- Watches, jewelry - suitable for a suit, suitable for business
The appropriateness of clothing and shoes for the type of business is a separate topic for discussion. But in general terms, it is clear that a client of a reputable bank will be very surprised if he finds a girl behind the counter in a red blouse with a neckline down to her navel decorated with an earring, and a visitor to an auto repair shop will be even more surprised if a mechanic in a three-piece suit and tie comes out to him. Typically, customers expect some form of clothing appropriate for your business - and are disappointed if their expectations are not met.
Sorry for the indelicacy
Another topic that will have to be touched upon is smell. Body odor and breath odor. Perhaps, dear reader, you will be surprised - but sometimes you come across sellers who neglect personal hygiene so much that it is uncomfortable to be around them. I have also encountered sellers who use such a suffocatingly overpowering perfume that the smell entered the room before the seller himself.
Check what your sellers smell like. Of course, you don’t have to sniff them like a dog does :) Just come close to each of them (a little closer than you usually do, since the buyer may be more sensitive to smells than you), talk to him for about twenty seconds, and make sure that the seller does not emit any odors other than the light and unobtrusive smell of deodorant or cologne.
If the result of the inspection disappoints you, conduct educational work with the seller. Explain to him the need for water treatments. Teach him to check his breath odor on his own by covering his mouth and nose with a cupped palm and exhaling into it. Or simply fire this seller and hire another, cleaner one.
Who knows - maybe this is what will allow you to increase your sales.
A few more articles from the section "
with a developed imagination;
tenacious memory;
extremely sociable;
persistent in achieving the goal.
The important thing is internal energy, the ability to charm a client and close a deal.
You have your own store or are just planning to open one, you are probably faced with the problem of choosing a seller. The importance of this event is difficult to overestimate, since the level of sales of your goods depends on the seller; he is the face of your store. So how do you choose a good seller?
For starters, what is a good salesperson? He must have a number of qualities:
External qualities – pleasant appearance;
Personal qualities – polite, sociable, tactful, patient, punctual;
Efficient and energetic - you don’t need a salesperson who works sluggishly after lunch;
Competent in the field of the product - must have excellent knowledge of the product, its qualities and properties in order to quickly and correctly answer customer questions;
Experience in sales is desirable.
If you give an example, you will immediately understand the difference between a good and a bad seller. Let's say the situation is this: a buyer comes to a clothing store to choose a dress. A bad salesperson, even if he tries to be “good,” will constantly hover around the client annoyingly, “chase” him, and constantly offer help. The client will either run away from such a seller or be sent to him. A good seller will be invisible to the client and will appear only at the right moment and give practical advice or a review of the product. To do this, he must quietly carefully observe the buyer and guess his desires.
The salesperson must be able to effectively complete the entire sales process. And this:
Greet the client.
Find out his needs - find out what the client needs.
Offer and tell about the product - if the client is looking for a specific item, then offer it from the existing assortment, and if the buyer has not yet decided on a choice, then help him do it or offer something from the new collection.
Dealing with complaints - it happens that the client has a negative attitude and makes complaints about the product; in this case, in no case should you snap back or be rude to the client, but politely answer all his complaints. Even if the client is wrong, the client is always right!
Directly complete the transaction - sell the goods, package them, issue a receipt.
Cross-sell, don’t forget to offer a secondary product in addition to the main product. For example, for a dress - a suitable belt, for a coat - gloves, a scarf, for a tracksuit - a headband, etc. By the way, cross-selling accounts for more than 30% of revenue.
Say goodbye to the client - thank you for the purchase, perhaps remind you of upcoming promotions or discounts, wish you a good day.
In large chain stores, personnel selection is carried out by HR specialists or recruitment agencies, but if you are a small business, then most likely you will have to find and choose your good seller yourself. It should be added to everything stated above that you should not rely primarily on experience in the field of sales, the main thing is that the person is well trained. After all, it is easier to learn than to relearn.
You can start your independent search by submitting an ad in a newspaper or on the Internet. There are also options like luring a good seller from your competitors or growing one yourself. In the first case, you must at least offer better working conditions and higher earnings. In the second case, you will have to bear the costs of training him.
And finally, if you have found a good seller, then you should listen to his opinion, coordinate work issues with him, create a convenient work schedule, and not load every day with a 12-hour workday, this will reduce the work efficiency of even the best seller.
We won’t go into detail about who sales consultants are, why they are needed, what types of them are found in nature, and what serious problems can arise if they are selected incorrectly.
We hope that our respected audience is familiar with these issues. Let's move straight to the most typical mistakes when selecting the “personnel” of a retail outlet, the key to its prosperity or decline.
The first mistake. The prevailing principle of selection is selection “by appearance”
In the case of a conscious choice, it is usually argued that “for such work you don’t need anything else, just to look more or less neat, everything is clear from the outside...” This mistake is “two-sided.” That is, there are two possible options for skew during selection.
First option:“Oh, so cute!..” As a result, a person gets hired (or goes to the next round of selection) without thoroughly checking other work and personal qualities, skills, and motivation. That is, for some reason it is assumed that a neatly dressed and good-looking candidate cannot have other “contraindications” for working as a consultant.
Practice shows that there is no direct correlation between the appearance of a salesperson and the effectiveness of his professional activities, since the field of sales is very multifactorial, and the stage of interaction between a consultant and a potential client is quite complex. Neat clothes, a pleasant face, friendliness - can add a fair amount of “points” to the seller if combined with good knowledge of the product group, the right strategy and negotiation tactics. But a “presentable” appearance loses its meaning after it becomes clear that the consultant:
A). “floats” through the assortment;
b). cannot clearly explain how different product models differ from each other;
V). cannot clearly answer questions about the composition, materials, components of the product, demonstrating skills at the “first grade, second quarter” level - that is, the ability to read aloud a label in front of the client, which he has already familiarized himself with, etc. .
Second option:“He’s somehow... Dressed somehow...” Option opposite to the previous one. When some real or imaginary defects in the appearance of a candidate are considered sufficient for an unequivocal negative decision on the candidacy. It's not that simple here.
On the one hand, there are areas where a consultant’s sense of style and appearance in themselves are an important factor in suitability or unsuitability. This applies to various image products, expensive, luxury goods - be it exclusive clothing or expensive furniture. In cases where the candidate’s appearance clearly indicates that he “does not understand” the situation and does not fit into the desired “format” under any circumstances, a “super-fast” negative decision is understandable. At the same time, it is important that the conclusion about appearance comes from the conscious assessment of the recruiter, who clearly understands the desired “format” of appearance, and not from his personal extremely subjective ideas about “what is beautiful, expensive, cheap, etc.”
If an unsuitable appearance is wonderfully combined with personal and professional unsuitability for a given vacancy, the situation is clear (but for this the candidate must be given the opportunity to prove himself during the interview process). If the matter is not so clear, it makes sense to clarify what style of clothing and behavior was encouraged at the candidate’s previous place of work, what style the candidate himself prefers to adhere to, orient him about the style preferences of your company, explaining what this is connected with, and look at the process his reactions.
Firstly, “external features” may fade into the background compared to the candidate’s good professional level and experience.
Secondly, it may turn out that “appearance complaints” are your personal complaints.
Third, if you have good social intelligence, a lot can be adjusted during literally the first or second months of a candidate’s work - either independently (after he looks at his colleagues), or with the help of a manager.
Important: “don’t go too far”, putting forward high demands on the candidate’s appearance, unless this is really dictated by an urgent need (features of the product group, features of the company’s corporate policy, etc.)
Both mistakes in selecting “by appearance” are among the most common mistakes when selecting consultants (and not only them). The trouble is that this is often closely related to the low level of professional competence of the selector himself - this especially applies to “young” agency recruiters, or to those who have recently come to work for the company.
In such cases, there is still no deep knowledge of the field, and the selection experience is small, and therefore the novice selector clings to any evaluation criterion. And the appearance is, of course, one of the most obvious and easiest to perceive. In any case, “evaluating” a candidate based on his appearance, manners and other obvious manifestations seems much easier than realistically and “with nuances” assessing his professional level, dominant motivation and other important things.
But sometimes the recruiter never gets around to mastering professional fields, and from year to year, no longer “being a beginner,” such a “specialist” conducts the selection based on the first impression and assessment of the candidate’s appearance, stubbornly asserting that “ and everything is perfectly visible.” Although he himself “does not see” that a number of criteria important for selection with this approach elude his attention, and the professional growth of the selector is hampered by poor orientation in the necessary professional areas.
Error two. Maximizing requirements
A common case is when a recruiter, accustomed to selecting sales managers, out of inertia wants “skills in actively searching for clients.” Sometimes inertia really works (then - have time to switch!), sometimes the influence is exerted by the “rosy dreams” of the head of the sales department (store, salon): “I want those who would not sit idly by if there are no customers in the store, but would drag these customers to our store like flies on sticky tape!..” Often these good intentions are completely unfounded and are not thought out in terms of the implementation of the search process itself inside a retail outlet. If this is the case, then there is no need to complicate the process of selecting consultants with additional requirements.
Again, “don’t go too far.” “Active search” is known to be more expensive. Either you will have to “bend” standard financial conditions for a specific candidate, or if you don’t do this, but a candidate “with active search skills” still gets a job working for you as a regular consultant, then in his person the company will receive an additional element of instability in retail point. This is the case if his “active search” was really successful (and is not a “figure of election speech”) and the candidate is not averse to “repeating” this experience by spending some time in your company.
Any other requirements, from formal to educational and professional, may also be unjustifiably maximized. Starting from the requirement of “only permanent registration” (sometimes this happens on the initiative of the selector himself), mandatory completed higher education, to mandatory work experience of at least 3 (4, 5, 10) years with a specific type of product.
Of course, all these (as well as many others) demands should not be put forward without special need. The last requirement generally makes sense only if your product group is very specific, although the requirements for a long period of work with a specific product in most advertisements for vacancies for sales consultants are found rather “for the sake of a catchphrase”, to show that “we are just anyone.” We don’t take it, we need pros!..”
The same applies to the requirements for the level of knowledge of a foreign language. Do not overdo it by screening out candidates with a “basic” level of a foreign language if they will only need the language at the “understand the product catalog” level. 90% of the designations in most catalogs (for fabrics, furniture, cars, etc.) are easily mastered and remembered during the first or second week of a consultant’s work.
In such cases, there is no point in overpaying a candidate “for knowledge of the language,” who will happily “dry out” in just such a job. Moreover, inactive use of a foreign language for a person who speaks it well is an additional factor for dismissal and search for a new, more “linguistic” job.
Do not forget that it is the selector who must correlate the “ordered” qualities of candidates with their real market value and real demand. The dreams of the head of consultants “to take someone so that you don’t have to teach, and ideally, so that you can also “fumble” in the language and translate everything to others” are humanly understandable, but he is not a sultan, and you are not Aladdin’s lamp, and you cannot fulfill all his whims.
So, maximizing requirements does not contribute much to the “cultivation” of a strong positive employer brand, but at the same time it creates unnecessary problems in the selection process.
Of course, this does not mean that you need to “take everyone in a row” and be “promiscuous” when selecting candidates for a consultant position. But it makes no sense to put forward demands that are clearly excessive compared to real needs. The selection of consultants can and should be thorough, but this thoroughness should be based on your internal clear selection criteria, and not on the maximum categorical and inappropriate conditions in the advertisement. Moreover, as we know, candidates still practically do not correlate the stated limitations with their real experience, relying on “what if it’s not so important” and “perhaps they won’t pay attention.”
Error three. Preliminary “cut-off” of growth prospects for a consultant
This refers to cases when, during the selection process, it is firmly stated in advance: “We need a consultant, again a consultant, and only a consultant. We have no opportunities or prospects for growth - all other positions are firmly occupied. Therefore, we need a person who is focused specifically on the work of a consultant and would be completely satisfied with it.”
Of course, a candidate who, almost right out of the gate, declares that he is “ready to work in a store for a couple of months, but, of course, he is primarily interested in the prospects” is not a suitable candidate.
But there is no need to indulge in the illusion that there are a sufficient number of candidates who are truly motivated solely to work as a sales consultant, and are absolutely not interested in career growth and accompanying financial prospects. Candidates who claim this are either lying, playing along with you, saying not what really is, but what you would be pleased to hear, or “not everything is all right” with them.
Consultants who are completely satisfied with their work and motivated exclusively for this position, indifferent to the prospects, and for whom “everything is fine” are rarely found. But these are exceptions to exceptions, almost followers of Tao in spirit. And, as a rule, they are already over thirty-five years old. This usually means that a person has managed to find a more or less harmonious balance between work and the rest of his life, and work is by no means in the first place for him, since true self-realization most likely occurs in another area.
For most candidates, the position of a consultant is a starting point, a step that needs to be completed, and experience that needs to be gained for subsequent career, professional and financial development. Like running around in a baseball cap with a mop in McDonald's (it seems that even many of the current “bosses” started there).
And, consequently, the young, energetic, efficient and ambitious, whose prospects you immediately “cut off”, will go to seek happiness elsewhere. And in the end you will choose from what is left.
Another important point: think about whether you are being disingenuous by declaring a complete lack of prospects? The same principle applies here as with the promise of growth. That is, there may be prospects in principle, but this does not mean that every employee will “grow.” Also here. In general, prospects may not be expected, but there are always exceptions to the rules, related either to the professional and personal qualities of the employee, or to a new situation within the company. The selector is not a god who knows everything in advance, and cannot take responsibility for prospects or lack thereof. Dig into the history of the division - if there were cases of growth with supposedly absent prospects - analyze them. If everything there is “pure” in the sense of connections and protégés, it is quite possible to tell the candidate about such cases (without names, of course).
In general, it still makes sense to build a consistent scheme of prospects for consultants, introduce levels, gradations, and arrange certifications for various levels. Of course, this is a good motivation for consultants to develop professionally. And it’s not that difficult to do.
Error four. Selection by age
Let's take a closer look; the question is ambiguous.
On the one hand, the work of a consultant requires significant flexibility, which is actually more easily demonstrated by representatives of younger age groups - from 20 to 25, from 25 to 30 years. In general, they have a simpler attitude towards various negative or aggressive “attacks” from the client, and are less inclined to react according to the principle “I’m not your errand boy here...” Young people quickly adapt to various internal changes in the company and “build up” them , if something happens, it’s much simpler. They still have the atavisms of school-student psychology, which force them to look “from the bottom up” at the leadership and more or less calmly accept regular control. And these points are certainly very important.
But there are also disadvantages, as with any age group. This is a small everyday and social experience, insufficient social maturity, which allows you to establish good contact with only a part of the clients, missing out on the rest, who are quite real. The work of “youth” is less conscious, often less effort and time is spent on mastering information on a product group, and more on communicating with each other. The situation of “blushing when you don’t know” - unpleasant for a more mature person who wants to feel like a pro, and not a schoolboy who doesn’t know the lesson - is less critical for “young people”, and can be repeated from time to time, without forcing them to master the necessary information. “Young” consultants are much less stable, actively “keep their nose to the wind”, sometimes tend to “quit for the company” and have relatively low loyalty to the company.
Accordingly, candidates of an older age group have opposite advantages and disadvantages (we emphasize that we are talking about “average” manifestations; they can differ greatly for specific individuals).
We often hear statements: “we have a young team in our salon (store), an older person will feel uncomfortable there...” These problems can be left to the consultants themselves to solve - after all, the store is not a pioneer camp with groups “according to age.”
Perhaps the result will be a more harmonious interaction in the retail division, devoid of the “skew” characteristic of each of the age groups separately (of course, if the balance of power is approximately equal).
It is also true that sometimes older candidates are not only less flexible in communication, but also have not “successfully” found themselves anywhere else, they have not been able to manifest themselves and grow anywhere (although this is also ambiguous). However, this does not mean that they will not make a good consultant. In terms of responsibility, studying the assortment, delving into the nuances and technical characteristics, and, consequently, in terms of the ability to advise the client better, and answer his questions in more detail and confidently, “young people” are often far from such “mature” men and women .
In addition, it is worth considering that in a number of product groups (if we are not talking about the sale of T-shirts and shoes for teenagers), a more mature consultant makes a much better impression and inspires more client confidence (with an appropriate manner of communication, of course) than a “very young" consultant. This especially applies to fairly expensive goods.
It is also important that the stability of consultants over thirty is significantly higher than that of “youth”. And this stability can be further increased by properly developing a motivation system for this category of consultants.
Thus, each of the age groups of consultants has its own pros and cons, and “wins” the client by different means.
It can be summarized as follows: formal age restrictions should be “assigned” consciously, based on a clear analysis of the situation, product group and needs. Age restrictions should not be the result of habitual stereotypes, as is the case in the vast majority of cases, because as a result of these stereotypes you and the company lose.
Error five. The communicative criterion is at the forefront
It comes down to the fact that the leading criterion for selecting a consultant is the consultant’s ability to “communicate well with the client, establish contact, and win the client over.” This is important, but not sufficient in itself, which is often forgotten.
What's wrong here? The mistake is that well-developed communication skills are often assessed separately from intelligence, both social and general, and also separately from driving motivation. As a result, sometimes we get consultants who are “complete communicators.” And they can communicate with clients for almost hours, and receive enormous satisfaction from their work. It’s just that their personal sales volumes are “for some reason” low.
By the way, the consultant must “attract the client” not only and not so much to himself, but to the products he represents.
This problem occurs precisely in cases where the main motivation is the motivation of communication, and not the motivation of sales. That is, the consultant is not able to clearly set a communication goal for himself and smoothly lead the client towards it. By endearing the client to himself, and thereby solving (or aggravating) his psychological problems, such a consultant keeps the product itself, at best, in the background. Or he may blurt out something “like that” about him, as a result of which the client will be delighted - because he refrained from making a “failed” purchase. Unfortunately, if you do not diagnose such “complete communicators” at the very early stage - the selection stage, then in the future they will “appear” only after a couple of months, or even later, when the low level of their personal sales becomes obvious, despite "active work with clients."
Another case is when the problem is not so much in excessive “communication motivation”, but in insufficient intellectual qualities. Simply put, the consultant is pleasant to talk to, but stupid. He would be happy to sell, but “he lacks intelligence” and the speed of thinking, the speed of reactions that would lead communication to the desired goal.
In general, although it is stated that “you don’t need a lot of intelligence to work in a salon (shop),” in reality it is the “intelligence” that is worth paying attention to. Especially if your product group is complex and competition is high. You are unlikely to need a high IQ, but a normal average IQ plus good social intelligence is an absolute must for a consultant.
The “list” of mistakes in selecting consultants discussed above is, of course, incomplete. These are just the most common ones. We wish you not to do them when selecting, and you will most likely have fewer traditional “problems with consultants”.
What questions will you find answers to in this article:
- How Alphabet stores motivate staff using ratings
- Adrenaline instead of money: the experience of the Enter store chain
- For what achievements can a seller of the youth clothing store “Provocation” become a director?
According to a study by HeadHunter, in Moscow a retail seller can earn about 51 thousand rubles. per month, in Omsk - no more than 22 thousand rubles; in other million-plus cities in Russia, the income of sellers is between these indicators.
The motivation system of a retail store salesperson is most often based on gaming techniques. According to Anchor Business Solutions, a system of competitions between stores, departments and employees is widespread in retail. The key parameter here is sales volume. In some cases, employees receive an additional bonus or the company rewards them with a trip to a bar, bowling alley or billiard room. Among retailers selling sporting goods, corporate competitions in football, running, and swimming with the participation of teams formed from store or department employees are common. This year, some companies awarded the winners of such competitions with a trip to the Olympics in London.
From this article you will learn what other measures encourage retailers to work with better results (see also: Daily bonuses significantly increase sales).
Daily bonuses significantly increase sales
Complex motivation systems with numerous KPIs are not always suitable for personnel of retail companies. After a while, sellers no longer understand how much they will receive at the end of the month, and this discourages them. The effect is provided by simple shares with quick rewards.
For example, the Obuv Rossii chain of stores held the “Super Result” campaign several times. Its essence is that even if the sales plan is slightly exceeded, all store employees receive a bonus at the end of the day (in winter they paid 200 rubles - not much, but the effect was noticeable). When the promotion first started, some stores were open until 10 pm - they tried to reach the target amount. There were also funny incidents. One of the stores was just a little short of being overfull. In the evening, a customer came and chose shoes, but she did not have the required amount with her. She says: “I’ll come by tomorrow.” No, the sellers walked her home, she took the money, bought shoes, and then they walked her back. The plan was exceeded, bonuses were immediately received. Such service cannot be achieved by any training or instructions. But this technique also has a disadvantage: from the point of view of accounting, it is difficult to make daily payments; in addition, after a while the staff gets used to it and it is necessary to come up with new promotions.
Practitioner experience: Yulia Lipatova- Director of the retail chain of the shoe company “Alfavit”, Zheleznodorozhny (Moscow region)
Online ratings force sellers to perform better
Our salespeople can earn a monthly bonus equal to 2.5 times their salary. It consists of three parts: monetary incentives for the best employees, a bonus for personal sales results and a bonus for store achievements. I'll tell you more about them.
Award for a high personal rating of an employee. We decided to automate the assessment of how efficiently staff works. By 2004, the IT department installed computers with scanners in the sales areas to search the warehouse for the required shoe sizes using a barcode. Then we thought that employees, even those working in different stores, could compete with each other, monitoring the results in real time. In 2007, we implemented this idea with the help of a corporate Internet page, on which the rating of the best sellers of the entire network is updated online. No investments were required other than the salaries of full-time 1C and web programmers.
Based on the results of each day, we select the 17 best sellers in our network, who receive a bonus in the amount of a certain percentage of the cost of the goods they sell. This percentage varies depending on seasonality and the cost of the pair sold. In winter, the product is more expensive - the percentage is lower, in the summer it is cheaper - the percentage is higher. On average, the bonus is 0.5% of an employee’s personal income per day, and at the end of the month - up to half of his salary (see also: Criteria for ranking the best sellers).
Bonus for selling a certain product (personal achievements). We have long understood that the effectiveness of marketing activities depends on how the seller shows himself: whether he tells the buyer about special promotions, whether he does it with enthusiasm or with coolness. To set it up for the sale of priority products (for example, products of a certain group, brand or product that is time to sell out), we assigned a bonus - a fixed amount for each pair of such shoes sold (depending on the group of products, this amount ranges from 5 to 15 rubles. ). There is also a threshold: as a rule, the bonus is awarded only if at least 100 pairs of priority shoes are sold. These fixed bonuses are automatically added to the salesperson's total monthly bonus and can double the salary.
Criteria for ranking the best sellers
Only those salespeople who are at work participate in the rating of the current day (the time and attendance program automatically records when they showed up at work). Let's say that in the first half of the day there was a large influx of buyers, and two sellers (X and Y) worked with the same intensity, selling 15 pairs each. Accordingly, by 16:00 they had an equal efficiency ratio and occupied one place in the ranking. However, salesman X had to go home early, and salesman Y worked until the end of the day. If from that moment no pairs were bought from him, then sales of X and Y remained at the same level. But salesman Y continued to serve customers, and his working day turned out to be four hours longer. It would be unfair to split the bonus equally between X and Y. In this case, the more hours the salesperson worked, the higher his efficiency ratio. This rule forces employees not to be late and, if possible, not to take time off. If the seller wants to leave earlier, then he tries to work harder than others.
Another example. Let’s imagine that an employee came to work on time (that is, was automatically included in the rating), but two hours later he asked to go home for health reasons. Nevertheless, he managed to sell several pairs. So that his results in the evening are not compared with the results of those who worked longer, and he would not become unfairly worse, the system automatically excludes him from the rating if he worked less than half the working day.
Practitioner experience: Sergey Rumyantsev –
General Director and co-owner of the Enter store chain, Moscow
For our sellers, adventure is an incentive as good as money
Our company has come up with a corporate motivational game “OlympiaDA!” Her goal is to captivate employees so that they share her ideas with the company and work becomes for them not just another place of work, but something more interesting. The game elements of this system allow you not only to add drive to routine tasks, but also to recognize the small feats of employees. For example, there was an urgent need to make a promotional video, and a staff photographer spent personal time on it - it makes no sense to pay a monetary reward for this, and not noticing it is wrong. The system is based on the ratings of all employees, which are displayed in their personal profiles on the internal corporate portal “YakomanDA”.
General store consultants compete with each other in several categories.
1. “Unit KPI” is a team indicator of store efficiency.
2. “Fifth Element” criterion – this category includes indicators that are important for the company right now. Today, for example, this is the growth of trade turnover, but in the next quarter other tasks may become priorities.
3. Innovation: we collect interesting proposals from all employees, and if the idea is adopted, then its author receives points in the OlympiaDA! system.
4. Involvement in corporate life: this includes a number of categories with a small specific weight, guided by which we determine how much a person is “ours” or whether he “just goes to work.” For example, does an employee take part in corporate events or discuss company life on the corporate portal.
At the end of the quarter, the leaders with the maximum points are selected. Last time we marked 30 employees, but as the number of employees grows, the quota will increase. We deliberately refused to give away prizes like a phone, a TV, or an iPad—we give experiences because they cannot be lost, broken, or exchanged. The winning group goes to some exotic place where everyone participates, for example, in a jeep race, horseback riding on a mountain slope, rafting, or fly on a small plane to some island. All this is accompanied by an interesting game dedicated to corporate values. The winners return to work after three days of adventure, tired but happy, with the thought “how good it is that it’s finally over, but how cool it was with us.”
I would like to note that introducing game elements (gamification) into the work process is a new trend in business. I am sure that in five years, gamification specialists will be in no less demand than social media managers are today. What kind of profession is this? The gamifier turns routine work processes into a game. In addition, his responsibilities may include adding elements of play to relationships with clients. There are still very few such specialists, and their salaries can reach 80–120 thousand rubles. per month.
Practitioner experience: Hasmik Gevorgyan- General Director and co-owner of the Provokatsiya chain of stores, Moscow
