To open our discussion this month, here at the Candles of Eden Blog, on your most important asset – your personnel - I’ll begin with a talk about sales associates. Whether you’re an owner-operator of a business, or a manager, your job is to sell. That’s the reason your operation exists. When push comes to shove, you’re responsible for the business bringing in streams of revenue on a consistent basis. However, you cannot do it alone. This is where having great sales associates as part of your team can make life a whole lot easier for you.

Entire books exist on the topic of developing sales associates and my intent here is to not try and tackle this broad subject in a short posting. There are, though, three points I want to highlight here that will give you the structure upon which to build so you can develop great sales associates.

Interviewing Process

It all starts with the hiring. You develop great sales associates by selecting people who show some passion for selling, and customer service. It doesn’t matter if it’s a store or spa you operate, you want people, who from the get-go exhibit a genuine love of people. You want to select a candidate who has somewhat of an extroverted personality. You do not want someone afraid to look someone in the eye when they speak to him or her about your Candles of Eden or any other product. You don’t want someone who is afraid to initiate conversation. You can sense this during the interview process. While it’s true, some people freeze during an interview, if you ask enough questions of them and make them feel at ease, those cut out for dealing with people will open up and let their true personalities shine through.

Time

The next step in developing great sales associates is to give your employees the time they need to grow into their positions. The world of retail or service-type businesses is about “right now”. Often there is a lot of employee turnover. There are times you hire new employees just before your busy season is about to hit. You need your sales associates’ up-to-speed as fast as possible. That’s a basic fact, especially in retail. However, the key to developing great sales associates is not throwing them onto the stage without at least some “watch, learn, then try” training. Whether it’s you, or one of your productive senior employees, someone has to mentor that sales associate you’re trying to develop. If they’re hired as full-time employees, a week will probably be enough time to teach them the basics of the one-on-one selling process. If they’re part-time employees, you may want to give them a couple of weeks. It doesn’t mean they will be seasoned sales pros bringing your SoyLuscious® Soy Candles sales to new heights right away. It does mean they will watch, learn, and then try what you or another staff member demonstrates to them so as to begin to feel comfortable as sellers. You’re in the business to sell goods and services, like Candles of Eden candles and accessories, so you need to mentor people to do the selling function properly.

Goals

Okay, you’ve hired someone with the right personality for retail or a service business; you’ve devoted time to them so they can learn the selling process. Now you have to set sales targets for them so they remain focused on why they are standing in your establishment in the first place. It’s a familiar story among business owners and operators that employees often seem to be occupying floor space without any verve for their job. This can happen after the glow of the initial months in their new job wears off. By setting goals, with rewards, for your sales associates you let them know three things. First, you let them know that they are required to produce. They are not simply cashiers destined to wait at the reception desk or check out area sipping take out coffee and reading People magazine. Second, you let them know that there is a pay-off for their productive efforts when they achieve new levels of sales success. Third, you let them know that your desire is to see them improve continually – that you have a vested interest in them and will devote the time and energy to see they develop both as human beings and as your business associates. When you focus on your employees by establishing goals for them – they focus on those goals to theirs and yours profit. Something as simple as setting a target for how many Candles of Eden “Scent of the Month” candles you expect them to sell can be a great start.

The above are three points to help you establish that base to develop great sales associates for your business. There are other things you need to consider, of course, all those nuances of running a business as applies to the different personalities you deal with. These three will give you the strong foundation you need to build your business with the people who work side by side with you each day.