No matter the humility of the business you run in terms of its size, outreach, or even potential plans, you can always benefit from implementing better and more refined methods of conducting business. If your business relies on a high volume of sales in order to be profitable, you may need to take some real affirmative action to ensure that these sales are earned, not accidental. In other words, you might need to hire a team of sellers, or at least look for those with sales potential in the retail or hospitality-led environment you might be interested in. Thankfully, doing so is more than possible if you simply apply yourself with wisdom, and view each candidate well.
In this article, we hope to discuss what to look for in a potential new recruit, and how to ensure they are supported to give their best performance possible. Consider:
The Hiring Process
The hiring process is essential if you hope to ensure your staff are perfect for your brand. You might consider assessing their personality or giving them a mini-challenge to follow. The ‘sell me this pen’ method is relatively cliched by now, but you might refer to something else there in the same spirit as this question. It might be that you decide to embark on a personal activity with the person in question. For example, if someone is applying to work at your gym, you might work out with them and see how they function under pressure. If you’re hiring someone for your online streaming team collective, you might functionally stream with them, trying to provide current content to ensure everyone jumps in and feels at ease with one another.
The hiring process is of course the first place you begin to build a team of competent sellers. Often people think that potential recruits must always show the best of themselves, but it’s also your responsibility to ensure you ask the right questions of substance, and that you care about the answer. It’s important you don’t simply let the resume talk but that you try to find out what makes this person tick. Overall, if you conduct this effort right, you’ll often find yourself in the presence of someone who only wants to do their best for your firm, and as a result you’ll likely choose the candidate you might not have expected.
Optimizing Software
No seller can manage their efforts well without the tools to do so. It would be like asking a hunter to do without his tracking tools or senses. For this reason, it might be that eCommerce for large businesses is better with enterprise level software that gives everyone a cohesive tracking, management and implementation functionality to ensure everyone is on the same page, and that the directions you give once again help their best work show through the goals you have set.
The Targets & Promotions
Targets can help a sales team push a little further, act a little more competently, care a little more about their rewards, but must never be made to punish. It’s not uncommon for sellers to feel restricted by a target. Volume of sales and quality of sales are two different things. You might spend an entire day catering to a consumer with a potentially large order, someone who could potentially become a long-term asset to the business. It’s important you learn to distinguish good performance from bad performance, and not only to lay that bad performance at the feet of your staff, but to consider what went wrong. Is the product faulty and declining in sales? For example, let’s say someone with a very humorous demeanor and relaxed attitude trying to sell your advanced services might not be the best, but they would be perfect on your store floor. Someone with a serious demeanor might put off those simply browsing, but for the more cohesive package that air of professionalism could be absolutely perfect.
You might also decide to consider the promotional tools possible to gain more sales. They are the tools of your sellers, and can potentially help them upsell. Let’s say you run a charcuterie and craft beer restaurant. You might offer distinct sales of a certain beer for people taking the raclette on potatoes dish, and conduct staff tasting of both before the shift begins. This can help the entire focus on selling and developing your best effort to truly shine from top to bottom, giving everyone more of a real focus, and that should shine through.
With these tips, we are certain that you’re going to hire a team of competent sellers through and through.
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