"Children's" seller of shoes. Features of the staff of the children's shoe store
The children's segment is developing rapidly, despite political and economic upheavals. We will not go into the probable causes of what is happening, but rather think about how to "catch this wave."
Maria Gerasimenko - General Director of Fashion Advisers, business coach, expert in the field of management and development of fashion business. Main areas of activity: building business processes in the fashion industry, assortment matrix management, visual merchandising, sales and service management, development and implementation of loyalty programs.
Website: fashion-advisers.ru
Online school: school.fashion-advisers.ru
Telegram: @fashionadvisers
As you know, 80% sales success depends on the seller. How well he knows the features and advantages of the product he sells, how well he understands the psychology of customers, he knows how to listen, ask the right questions, direct the conversation, and finally, how much he loves his work, the store and the assortment he works with. In the children's store, all of the above is supplemented with love for children and the ability to get along with them. Indeed, according to psychologists, at the age of three, children can influence the purchase, and five-year-olds can completely abandon the clothes and shoes that adults choose for them.
Who is he - the ideal seller, where to find him and how to motivate?
The search for a suitable candidate begins with a job description. Agree, it’s strange when an employer publishes an ordinary vacancy in the spirit of “We invite sellers from 25 years to work, 15 000p salary +% of sales, responsibilities: working with customers, accepting goods ... etc.” and wants to find a unique, customer-oriented, A trained and cheerful salesperson? Boring employees will come to a boring vacancy. Start with the right, and most importantly, unique job design. Describe in detail the very ideal employee you want to see in your store.
Further - carefully study the received resumes. It is worth paying attention to the terms of the employee in previous companies. An employee changes jobs more than once a year - a serious reason to think. Does the employee smoke? So, everywhere he will be accompanied by an unpleasant smell, and about 1 hours a day he will go to smoke breaks. Does the employee have children under the age of 3? This means that it is possible that the employee will often go on sick leave. All this must be taken into account and taken into account, you can put up with something, but something categorically does not suit you. But it’s not worthwhile to judge the candidate for the position of seller by education, age and work experience. There are young employees with no experience who are only worth a little training - and they are tearing up sales! In my practice, mature sellers with no work experience also showed a high level of sales and loyalty to the company. And there were those employees who were ideally suited to all points of the resume, with extensive experience in sales and at the same time - untrained, rude, dissatisfied with life, but who consider themselves to be professional in sales. Yes, everything has its extremes. Therefore, the main thing that a good seller working with children's assortment should have is:
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high level of empathy;
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communication skills;
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the ability to get along with children and glow from the inside in a good mood. The rest - you can teach!
How to interview with a candidate and what is such a projective question?
At the interview, try to avoid direct questions like: “Have you encountered cases of theft at your previous job?” Any sane person will give the socially expected answer “No”. But if you ask the question this way: “Why do you think some employees in the company can steal?” - your chances of getting an honest answer increase. This is called a projective question, when you ask the candidate not directly, but in general about the problem, what he thinks about it. And oddly enough, you will receive a true answer and information about whether the employee is prone to theft. With the help of projective questions, you can find out anything about the candidate: “Why do you think there are conflicts in the team?”, “What motivates people to come to work every day?”, “Why do some people like children, while others try to stay away from them away? "
Be sure to find out about the development plans from your future employee, is he interested in learning about related specialties (merchandising, assortment analytics, purchasing, etc.). And what kind of development does he want.
Test with suitable candidates. The most informative, in my opinion, are the Myers-Briggs test and the Thomas test. The first test will show what is the true calling of the employee, and the second will tell you how the candidate tends to behave in conflict situations.
Internship will help to join the team
After completing all the selection tests and the final selection of employees, we proceed to the internship. At this stage, it is important to teach the standards of work adopted by the company, sales psychology and customer-oriented services, as well as describe in detail the work that the trainee must perform and the results he must achieve. Prepare a single adaptation plan for new employees. This will allow recruits to quickly join the team and active work, and you save time and money.
And finally, a few life hacks from my training on selling shoes in a children's store:
#life hack1: Mom baby is your ally!
Mom has a goal - to buy a pair of shoes for her child. And preferably soon. We usually hear mother’s requirements immediately: “only natural materials”, “comfortable shoe”, “breathable”, “I have a limited budget” and so on. It remains to understand how to win the trust of the child, and find out his needs.
#life hack2: Contact by name!
I say this at every training, regardless of its focus. Name - a powerful amplifier to influence the interlocutor. Get to know your client and his child. Do not believe it, but it can be done organically! Consider a short selling algorithm:
The buyer enters the store - Eye contact / smile / greeting - Give the opportunity to look around in the store - Start a conversation with an open or alternative question ("What colors of sandals do you prefer?", "Do you prefer closed or open models?", "Do you choose shoes for a holiday or for every day? ”and others) - Acquaintance by name (“ By the way, my name is Daria! And how can I contact you? ”“ What is your name, little princess? ”)) - Next, we go on to find out the need and move on according to the algorithm.
#life hack3: Children of different ages have different shoe needs:
Children age 1-3 years old choose shoes adults. So, the preferences of an adult and his type of buyer are the main thing that the seller should focus on. Contrary to the fact that in this case the child does not choose shoes, communicate with him, call by name, and contact him even if he cannot answer, for example: “Well, little princess / fairy, do you like these shoes?” . Make sure that the baby does not get bored or cry - to help you cartoons and toys.
3-5 kids already express their opinion and may influence the decision to purchase. Kids prefer bright colors, cartoon characters, lighting effects, tweeters and so on. Cartoons and toys do not lose their relevance. Do not forget about comparisons: toddlers like when their choice is compared with the characters of modern cartoons.
6-9 years old they begin to look back at their peers, try to choose something unusual, vibrant, fashionable, popular and, preferably, it is advertised in the media.
Teens 10-14 years tend to buy models that look like adult shoes; collaborations with celebrities, especially popular among teenagers, have a great influence. You need to communicate with teenagers as if you were an adult buyer. Including, call it exclusively on "You."
#life hack4: When communicating with children, it is important to be at their level of growth.
In other words, before you say anything to the child, sit down on his level and create a visual contact.
# Laihak5: Music, aromas and lighting are important tools in your store’s atmosphere.
They should complement the exceptional service of sellers. If the store plays radio (albeit for children) - this may adversely affect sales. Pick the right selection of tracks, choose the best flavor and ensure the right lighting.
Summing up, let’s say that when working in a children's store, the main thing is sincerity and customer focus. Children, like no one else, feel a real attitude.
This article was published in the 147 issue of the print version of the magazine.
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