1. Demonstrated commitment to the retail sector
Even if retail sales remains something of a classic "second job" for the financially over-extended, your true floor-leaders should be there because they want to be there. They should understand the merchandise they are selling and look to the sector as an appropriate place for a career, whether on the floor, in management, in merchandising, or as a buyer.
2. Flexibility
Anyone looking for a traditional "9-to-5" opportunity in retail will likely not find it. On the other hand, anyone who craves an alternative to the increasingly outdated work routines of the typical corporate office will be able to find a retail schedule to suit just about any lifestyle choice or personal situation.
3. Attitude
A successful retail experience for any consumer depends on encountering sales associates who actually want to be in the store. Trying to convince a bored, disinterested, or even actively hostile sales associate to help locate an item, return, or exchange merchandise is as close to a universal experience as most Americans have. A good attitude is key to ensuring a good customer experience.
4. Know the products or service being sold
This is just as obvious in a shoe store as it is in an electronic store. It is great if a company is able to hire from a ready pool of sales associates with experience in the products or services being sold. If that is not the case, select associates eager to learn where the products come from, who typically buys them, the features and options, how to upsell, and so forth.
5. Pay attention to communication skills
America is wonderfully diverse and our retail establishments should reflect that diversity, but the buying experience will be better for everyone if the sales associate and the buyer can engage in a meaningful conversation on the potential purchase. Even our most upscale retail establishments hire from a variety of backgrounds and nationalities and while this has the potential to make for a positive buying experience, it more frequently does not. If it requires special language training or seminars in managing cultural differences to improve the experience, the investment will no doubt pay off in increased sales in the future. In fact, retail establishments can actually exploit this diversity as an advantage. Marriott headquarters, located outside Washington, D.C., brings trainees from all over the world to work in its local hotels and identifies their home location on a special badge. Celebrating rather than hiding diversity cannot help but broaden the appeal of the store.
6. Understand and hire for the target customer
A sales staff distinguished mostly by their body piercings will be out of place at a Saks or Nordstrom just as a 30-year veteran of couture sales will likely feel uncomfortable talking compression shorts at an Under Armour store. This seems blindingly obvious, but until this economic downturn the desirability of positions in the retail sector was seldom high and purchasers often found a disconcerting mix of skills, capabilities, and experience levels at many of the stores they frequented.
7. Look for candidates who respond positively to recognition and rewards, and don't be afraid to single out the top performers
There is an almost infinite variety of sales base pay and incentive plans that retailers can draw upon and experiment with. Pay matters; when done right allows a retailer to build a committed, engaged, and long term relationship with the sales associate and more importantly, consumers.
8. Find creative ways to keep your best sales associates out of sales management
Success as a sales associate has very little to do with success as a manager and retailers should be prepared to be creative in keeping the right people on the floor in front of customers.
9. Select for initiative and judgment
A competent, well-trained sales associate should be able to handle most challenges on his or her own. The most irritating and pointless response a purchaser can hear during any transaction is: "Let me talk to my supervisor." Trusting sales associates with some level of discretion can over time make him or her feel like an owner rather than merely an employee.
10. Select for self-confidence
The sales floor is no place for the timid, diffident, or insecure (though it is also appropriate to avoid the opposite unless one is selling labor-saving devices on late-night cable television or timeshares in Aruba).
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