Can't keep up with sales targets in a new job!

LegacyUser

I started work on the 17th of November, a part time 4 hour shift 5 days a week at an electrical retailer. I was told that for 3 months, I would be in a probationary period where if I don't live up to expected target sales or if I'm a general arse, I would be given no prior notice and told to go home..


I am following and looking at another PTer's sales (like I was told to do) and he has 4k more than me in sales. I'm worried now that I won't be able to sell as much as expected
Any tips?

bbam

It's a tough one...
Usually I'd be saying head in tomorrow and talk to your manager about how your going on...
However, being so close to xmas I'd say stick it out until after the festive period and then approach your manager, maybe the figures you saw were unusually high...
If you can't wait and it's worrying you too much then speak to someone sooner..

foxinsox

zandatsu wrote: »

I started work on the 17th of November, a part time 4 hour shift 5 days a week at an electrical retailer. I was told that for 3 months, I would be in a probationary period where if I don't live up to expected target sales or if I'm a general arse, I would be given no prior notice and told to go home..


I am following and looking at another PTer's sales (like I was told to do) and he has 4k more than me in sales. I'm worried now that I won't be able to sell as much as expected
Any tips?

A probationary period is the norm in most retailers, 3 months, 6 months or a year. As far as I can remember at any stage during the probationary period your employment can be terminated without explaination, ususally comes as "It doesn't seem to be working out" or something along those lines.

Your employer is probably under huge pressure to meet sales targets to keep the business afloat. Sales have dropped hugely in the past year or so.


You can only do your best Remember this.

You say the other P/T has 4k more? That could be 4 x TV's..


So, hints about your sales:

Smile and say hi/hello to every customer you see, without jumping down their neck at the door. Rather than the hard sales technique just say, Hi, If you need a hand with anything just give me a shout/I'm just over here.

Make sure that your sales are going through the till under your ID.

Often people will browse a few stores and then return for best value, or if it is a case of a €20 difference and you were particurarly helpful they may return and purchase from you. So if you see a face you recognise make sure you say hi, they could be coming back to buy from you.

Don't spend ages with tyre-kickers - you need to be able to recognise the bloke/woman who is waiting for their other half (off in another shop) and are spending their time wrecking your head.

Be able to close the sale - sounds stupid but so many sales fail at this point: "So do you want me to take that to the till for you?" "Do you want to take it today?" etc.

If you believe in a product it should be an easy sell, because you don't have to bend the truth..

Best of luck

LegacyUser

foxinsox wrote: »

A probationary period is the norm in most retailers, 3 months, 6 months or a year. As far as I can remember at any stage during the probationary period your employment can be terminated without explaination, ususally comes as "It doesn't seem to be working out" or something along those lines.

Your employer is probably under huge pressure to meet sales targets to keep the business afloat. Sales have dropped hugely in the past year or so.

My manager is putting me under a lot of pressure - constantly looking at my sales every few hours while I'm at the till. It's very demoralising for me! He's constantly talking about money around me - noone else.

foxinsox wrote:

You can only do your best Remember this.

You say the other P/T has 4k more? That could be 4 x TV's..

This particular guy is selling on the same floor as mine so we're both selling the same type of goods He's been there a few years but I don't see how experience has to do with it because we both use the same tactics with customers, but he ends up selling so much more than me. The shop has been extremely quiet in the last few days but he is still selling loads in comparison to me. Since yesterday, I've sold about 4-5 hundred worth of stuff - absolutely shocking sales! [/quote]

foxinsox wrote:

So, hints about your sales:

Smile and say hi/hello to every customer you see, without jumping down their neck at the door. Rather than the hard sales technique just say, Hi, If you need a hand with anything just give me a shout/I'm just over here.

Make sure that your sales are going through the till under your ID.

Often people will browse a few stores and then return for best value, or if it is a case of a €20 difference and you were particurarly helpful they may return and purchase from you. So if you see a face you recognise make sure you say hi, they could be coming back to buy from you.

Don't spend ages with tyre-kickers - you need to be able to recognise the bloke/woman who is waiting for their other half (off in another shop) and are spending their time wrecking your head.

Be able to close the sale - sounds stupid but so many sales fail at this point: "So do you want me to take that to the till for you?" "Do you want to take it today?" etc.

If you believe in a product it should be an easy sell, because you don't have to bend the truth..

Best of luck

I do all those just doesn't seem to be working! Maybe retail isn't for me?


Thanks for the replies foxinsox and bbam!

FMartinp

Agree with Fox In Sox. Customer service is the best way to help increase your sales in retail. Adopting the American attitude to a degree by welcoming as many customers into your store and by offering your assistance can only help. In the Retail Sector the next 5 weeks will be your best chance to "bring home some sales" as it incorporates the run in to Christmas and the Sales. So get stuck in and make it hard for your boss to let you go. Show him what you can do.

Mrs OBumble

Watch what your colleagues do - how are they behaving differently to you, to get different results?

leeroybrown

zandatsu wrote: »

This particular guy is selling on the same floor as mine so we're both selling the same type of goods He's been there a few years but I don't see how experience has to do with it because we both use the same tactics with customers, but he ends up selling so much more than me. The shop has been extremely quiet in the last few days but he is still selling loads in comparison to me. Since yesterday, I've sold about 4-5 hundred worth of stuff - absolutely shocking sales!

If he's consistently outselling by quite a lot then he's either incredibly lucky or you're really undervaluing his experience. He's likely subtly better at many parts of the game and is able to close more sales than you because of it. He's also likely quite confident in his ability to close sufficient sales whereas you are probably worrying about every sale you don't make - customers won't directly realise what the difference is but they'll actually feel more comfortable buying off him due to this.

The only other question I'd ask is, is he somehow getting to pick and choose the best customers? Maybe you're just ending up with more of the tyre kickers because he can spot them a lot better and leave them to you.

tenchi-fan

Your job is to sell.

You might know a lot about the products, you might be very friendly and approachable, and you might offer exceptional customer service... but if you don't know how to sell, learn how to sell!

Whether that means mimicking the more senior sales guy, going outside your comfort zone and being a bit more pushy or cocky, or even being a tiny bit dishonest (when someone comes in to buy the cheapest TV for their kitchen, convince them to buy the model with a built in DVD player even if they will be scratching their heads leaving the shop wondering when they ever watched a movie in their kitchen) every interaction should be focused on a sale, and you should always try to up-sell.. use lines like "My mum has one of those, she's really happy with it", emphasise the returns policy "if she's not happy just keep your receipt, once she doesn't open it she can return it within 28 days" etc etc.

And you're right.. some people might not be cut out for retail but I think it is a good skill to have.

foxinsox

Retail sales can be dog rough ...

Experience does count for a huge amount.

I've been in various forms of retail for about 25 years now, I could smell a buyer, or spot them at 50 paces, sadly I have gained all this useless information by experiencing every type of customer from the nicest to the downright smelly and abusive

From all my years experience and bloody hard work, the most important thing to know is: No job is worth a lot of crap, life is too short!


I'm going to say some things here that may or may not be true:


Your Manager may be in line for a bonus and is constantly checking figures because of this.

Your Manager may be under severe pressure to make the targets, the store may be in line for closure etc etc..

The other PT may be more experienced.

The other PT may be very pushy ( I don't agree with this sales technique)

He may be good at elaborating on the truth, as another poster mentioned, my mother/brother/sister/granny has one and loves it - This line is one of my personal favourites

He may have the "gift of the gab" and is a "wheeler dealer".

This one isn't nice - The store may have hired some PT as (in their minds) temporary Christmas staff (ie: you) and maybe they are keeping the pressure on as to preempt a failure of probationary period due to poor sales results .... sorry may not be true.

It sounds like you are doing everything right from what you said in your post. It genuinely could be just luck that he happens to get the buyers, but also as he is there a few years, they are likely to be repeat customers.

The main thing - You are only young, don't let retail eat you up!

Best of luck and seriously it is nothing to be worrying about.