Retail Sales Tips: 5 Ways to Motivate Employees

For retailers, there’s no time of the year that catches you off guard quite like the approach of the holiday season. You’re busy planning summer blowouts, and the next thing you know, it’s time to strategize for that crucial holiday revenue. One of the many tools you have at your disposal is a great sales team, but by this time of year, they might be getting worn down and ready for a break themselves. Not to mention the madness of Black Friday shopping is enough to leave any sales association anxious. As a leader, motivating your sales team should be high on your priority list if you want to really knock it out of the park on end-of-the-year sales. Here are five ways to get your employees excited about finishing out the season, one of which you can quickly implement with your pos system:

 

1. Take Employee Feedback and Implement It

Having “idea sessions” during the holiday sales season can help employees feel more connected to the entire process. Suddenly they aren’t just out there selling products for a nameless company; they are actively thinking about how they can improve their work experience. Of course, not every employee idea can be implemented; but if you can show that you are truly listening to their concerns, and are making an effort to change what you can, they’ll be more likely to think of themselves as part of a real team. When people think of themselves as part of a greater whole, they’ll work harder, because fear of letting down the team is a powerful motivator.

 

2. Make Recognition a Priority

While it’s always crucial for leaders to recognize employees who are doing a great job, it’s also a great idea to nurture recognition among the team itself. Consider having a segment during team meetings in which employees of all levels celebrate each others’ successes. Keep a list yourself of these successes so that you can lead the discussion. By showing that open praise is a priority for the management team, you’ll encourage the team to respect each other’s strengths. This continues to build the sense of being on a team, and it’s amazing how much more motivated a person is when they feel that their true contributions are appreciated.

 

3. Employee Incentives

From video games to credit card miles, it is hardwired into our brains to want rewards. Offering your employees rewards like catered lunches for every sales goal met, or an extra day off to the highest earner during the month, can make a huge difference in the way your team works. Offering individual rewards can be a great technique for certain types of sales teams, but don’t discount the benefit of team rewards as well. Consider offering a store-wide reward to all employees, and extra incentive to managers, such as gift cards for massages or other luxuries. If the budget does not allow for rewards, additional product discounts on top of the usual employee discount during the holiday season is one technique used by many top companies, such as Apple.

 

4. Offer Commissions

One of the best ways to motivate someone who is showing up for a paycheck is to offer them a way to get a bigger check! Commissions are a great idea during the holiday shopping rush. Offering individual commissions, rather than a competition for a bonus, helps keep your team working together, and still offers plenty of motivation on an individual level. Setting up individual commissions for sales is a lot easier than you may think. When you use Erply POS software, all you have to do is set up a commission rate under Settings. You can add product sales commissions to employees, and you have an additional option to add store sales commission rates to managers.

 

You can set up commission rates along with a higher commission once a sales goal is met, both for general employees and managers

 

With this option, all employees get a straight 10 percent commission on every sale

 

If you prefer, each product can have its own specific commission amount. A great way to move specific items out of your inventory

 

Learn more about setting up commissions in Erply.

 

5. Enhance the Atmosphere

Science has shown that our physical surroundings can have a huge impact on our ability to stay motivated throughout the day. For example, playing music not only helps keep the employees more productive, but it also encourages shoppers to spend more. And having a shop that is extremely well-organized and tidy makes it easier for employees to do their job. No one is motivated by a shop that is so maze-like that it’s hard even to see where a mess needs to be cleaned up. Be sure that your shop displays look great, are neat, and are easy to use, and if your store doesn’t play music, consider implementing that this holiday season.

 

Creating your holiday shopping season strategy starts early, so don’t wait to put these five tips into action.

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