Whether you’re looking to ramp-up your December holiday sales or take advantage of downtime in the slower winter months, there’s always a good reason to kick your sales training up a notch. Here are six strategies to help your team take sales to the next level.
Have a Pre-Shift Chat
In order for your employees to meet or exceed your expectations, they need to know what your expectations are. Set seasonal, monthly and weekly sales goals, and then divide those goals up into bite-sized daily chunks that are easily digestible. Setting short-term goals for each employee for each shift gives them a specific task to focus on and helps them feel like they are actively working towards long-term goals.
Make it Fun
Bingo, raffles, there are so many sales-related games you can play with employees to help keep them motivated and having fun during the holidays. Bingo is great because it’s so easy to make up a quick custom board on the computer with different tasks you want your team to complete on each space such as “Sell a $100 gift card.” Whomever completes five tasks across first wins bingo. Prizes can be as simple as a gift card or an extended lunch break.
Provide Incentives
Aside from any fun games or activities that you implement, provide weekly, monthly, or seasonal incentives for your employees. The key is to balance both individual and team incentives to keep everyone motivated to sell. For example, offer a cash bonus for each employee at the end of the season that is based on their total sales volume and average sale amount. A greater average sale amount = bigger percentage bonus from total sales. Then, have an additional bonus if the team reaches a specific milestone.
Educate
One of the many great things about being an independent retailer is that you have so many unique products, many of which are made locally or have a great story behind them. Make sure each of your employees are knowledgeable about all of your product lines including any backstories. Get them excited to share these tidbits of information with shoppers.
Role Play
Practice makes perfect. Whether its resolving customer complaints or upselling seasonal products, practice sales strategies with your employees and provide one-on-one feedback so that they feel confident in executing when it is the real deal. Sure, sales role-playing can be awkward, but it is much better for your employees to feel awkward practicing with you than doing it live with an actual customer.
Lead by Example
Most importantly, lead your sales team by example. Practice what you preach and spend a much time as you can actually out on the floor helping customers. Seeing you work hard to provide great service and make sales will encourage your employees to work hard to do the same. Especially during the holiday season, being on the floor with your staff can be a huge morale booster.