10 Tips for Holiday Sales

10 Tips for Holiday Sales

TOP TEN CHECKLIST FOR HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE

1)       For evaluation purposes it will be necessary to prepare work schedules that give every associate an opportunity to work during premium shifts and during quiet shifts.

This will ensure accurate comparisons of Sales per Hour between one associate and another.

Obviously, you still need to ensure your top performers are scheduled when you need them, but for those you are unsure of, or for those who are average performers, you need to level the playing field by scheduling this way.

2)       Carefully review each associate’s KPI’s (key performance indicators) for the past couple of months.

Look at past schedules to get an idea of which associates were performing well and which ones were not and see if there is any correlation to the scheduling.

3)       Use the KPI’s of your top performing associate as a benchmark.

Ranking all others compared to this individual will give you a solid place to start.

If you are thinking this might not be fair – resist the temptation to have lower standards than your top performers.

4)       Be relentless in your follow up after every shift/ day.

Check all KPI’s for each associate.

Make notes on your sales reports so you can recall your thoughts and conclusions when it comes time to speak with the associate.

5)       Discuss performance at the beginning and end of every shift/day.

Feedback and coaching is much more helpful when it is current.

6)       When coaching for performance, be sure to mention the behaviors that you have observed and how those behaviors relate to the results – good or bad.

Offer tips for changing unproductive behaviors and watch to see if the associate actually does change them.

7)       Make sure product knowledge is available for associates to review.

Have them read and then initial that they have read the material.

Don’t accept any excuses for not staying current with product knowledge.

8)       Ensure your management team members understand what is expected of them when they are in charge.

Associates need to see consistency in the way they are managed.

If what you are coaching them on is important, then the rest of the management team would find it important too, right?

Associates must see this united front, or consistency.

9)       A management team member must always be available to answer questions and generally assist associates in their efforts to ‘make their sales’.

10)   Although this may not be the ideal time for terminations, it’s also not the ideal time to carry dead weight. After all, you probably have limited wage dollars and spending them on a person who does not contribute isn’t a wise thing to do.

It is unfortunate if you have found yourself in this position at this time but, in the final analysis, it is what it is.

If you have provided feedback, suggestions, coaching and a reasonable amount of time for improvement of sales performance and the associate is still not performing according to your requirements, you need to start an official disciplinary process.

This usually means a discussion with your Human Resources Department.

This was an excerpt from DMSRetail Success Guide: “Dominate Holiday Sales”