Effective staff motivation in a crisis
02.12.2015 9717

Effective staff motivation in a crisis

The main rule for the director of a shoe store is to pay more attention to your sales staff. In times of crisis, employees should be in first place, buyers in second, and goods only in third. Why in this order? Because people who are not alien to human beings are serving your customers, says the CEO of Clever Fashion consulting company, business coach Maria Gerasimenko.

You may have the best service philosophy in the world, but if there is no one to put it into practice, you will lose in the battle for the client. Remember how outstanding service stands out from the crowd.

Use non-material motivation of staff more often:

  1. Moral stimulation
  2. Informing
  3. Labour Organization
  4. Organizational culture

In this situation, the question arises about how to please employees without any special expenses.

There are simple and effective ways:

  1. Give thanks!
  2. Be attentive to everyone.
  3. Think about the family life of employees.
  4. Invest in the future.
  5. Surprise!
  6. Give the opportunity to take the initiative.
  7. Encourage individual achievement immediately.
  8. Involve employees in decision making.
  9. Use a team approach when promoting.
  10. Come up with an "experiment."
  11. Place honor boards / information boards.
  12. Have a meeting and set shared goals.
  13. Come up with a tradition.
  14. Enter the competition.
  15. Do interesting, not expensive.

Why motivation may NOT work:

  1. The employee does not understand the goal set for him.
  2. The employee has no tools to achieve it.
  3. Motivation depends on factors that the seller cannot influence:
  4. walking patency near the store;
  5. the number of visitors who visited the store;
  6. the presence of outdoor advertising;
  7. colorfully decorated showcase;
  8. assortment of goods sold.

Free promotion methods

Reducing budgets for promotion, you can always pay closer attention to free or low-cost tools:

  • Sales scripts
  • Key success factors for the company
  • Storytelling (storytelling)
  • Networking
  • Product Training
  • Sales Training
  • Service Training
  • Optimism!
  • Monitoring of competitors (sales from the counter, updating the customer base, courtesy calls)
  • Customer-centricity
  • Ability to introduce special services
  • Coalition marketing
  • Customer Reviews
  • Visualization (POS, advertising materials)
  • AIDA
  • Open Day
  • Internet
  • Social media

Develop - in a crisis, as never before, you cannot stop developing, and use its opportunities for your success.

The main rule for the director of a shoe store is to pay more attention to your sales staff. In times of crisis, employees should come first, buyers come second, and only ...
3.52
5
1
6
Please rate the article

Materials on the topic

"When Customers Are Few: How Fashion Store Owners Can Squeeze the Most Out of Every Customer"

In recent years, offline retail in clothing, footwear, and accessories has been experiencing a steady decline in incoming traffic. By the end of 2025, offline store traffic in Russia was expected to decline by 8-15%, with offline purchases…
08.06.2026 1066

How to learn to effectively manage store customer traffic?

Customer traffic in shopping malls and street retail is declining, and people are shopping less offline for a number of objective reasons, one of which is the convenience of online shopping with all its advantages. And yet, offline shopping continues to thrive and develop.
25.05.2026 2496

Sales of additional goods and services can add up to 20-30% to a store's turnover.

Many stores today have hit a sales ceiling: the product range is there, the team is working hard, the marketing is up and running, but revenue isn't growing. Where can they find growth opportunities? In reality, the potential for growth lies right in the customer's receipt. And it's not just about...
13.05.2026 4209

Offline vs. Marketplaces: How to Survive and Win in 2026?

In Russia, e-commerce's share has grown from 5% in 2019 to nearly 23% in 2024 and continues to grow, with e-commerce market analysts predicting it will reach over 30% by 2029. Offline retail, meanwhile, can not only survive, but grow…
14.04.2026 15664

Revisiting classic standards of retail lighting through the lens of modern technology

Just yesterday, the principle governing retail store lighting was: the brighter the light, the brighter the store space, the more customers and sales. Today, this principle has lost its relevance. It has been replaced by a trend toward well-thought-out…
08.04.2026 8404
When you sign up, you will receive weekly news and articles about the shoe business on your e-mail.

To the beginning