Here’s How Retailers Around the Country Encourage Their Sales Staff to Work as a Team

Question: Do you do anything to encourage your sales staff to work as a team on the sales floor?

Yes: 76%

• • We set a team goal that needs to be achieved to share in a team commission. To receive part of the monies, you must sell a minimum of 4 percent of the total sales for the month. Tonia Ulsh, Mountz Jewelers, Camp Hill, PA

• We did an escape room to work on our team building, which has been the most successful thing we’ve done. Chris Wattsson, Wattsson & Wattsson Jewelers, Marquette, MI
• Pay a bonus to the team if goal is met, and the bonus is based on the rate of pay that each person earns, so that it is proportionate to each worker. Rex Solomon, Houston Jewelry, Houston, TX
• When team selling, we train that one person is the lead and the other is to support. We also encourage them to come around the counter and have a more one on one experience whenever possible. This is where it works great with team selling, as one person can sit next to the customer almost like a friend or advisor. Natasha Henderson, Saxon’s Fine Jewelers, Bend, OR
• We are a small store, so it’s easy to just keep an eye and ear open for problems. We also use code words and phrases. For example, “Samantha (or Lydia), can you help answer a question?” means that this is a difficult customer and we need a different person’s personality to step in and take over. Sam knows if she’s called Sam, or Lyds is called Lyds, she can really just answer a question and move on. If Samantha or Lydia are called in, the current customer to salesperson personality is a real mismatch and someone has GOT to take over, lest the customer walk out. We can discuss the situation after the sale is closed and the happy customer is driving away. Erin McMichael Hess, Extinctions, Lancaster, PA
• Ours is a full commission against draw sales team, so we encourage all kinds of splits, like 30/60/10 for instance if someone shows a piece, another closes the sale, while a third cleans the customer’s jewelry or gets them a glass of wine. Any unresolved disputes will be credited to the “house” with no salesperson benefiting … and we haven’t had one of those in … hmmm … maybe a decade. Dorothy Vodicka, The Gem Collection, Tallahassee, FL
• If they meet or exceed their weekly goal, the team members each receive $25. Hey, it’s a free hour of work! We do increase it each week they do it consecutively ($5 more every week). We are also open to a larger monetary bonus for four weeks of significant growth. We try to come up with new ideas all the time. Christine Matlack, E.G. Landis Jewelers, Boyertown, PA
• Bring another sales associate into the conversation asking an opinion/question. Suggest another associate that has particular knowledge on a certain subject. Share the beauty of a piece of jewelry with another associate for a second confirmation for the client. We often work in teams on a client throughout the entire process, which leaves the client with multiple ways to contact us and work with us comfortably. Garry Zimmerman, Windy City Diamonds, Chicago, IL
• I include the staff on the store’s decisions. We have an experienced staff here; why not take advantage of everyone’s brains? Plus, I want to put in lines that we all believe in. We do not pay commission; we want everyone to work as a team, not against each other. Last year, we had a good year and it reflected in the end of the year bonus. When someone new starts working here, we let them know that you will never have to ask for a raise. If the store does well, so will you. Michael Kanoff, Michael’s Jewelers, Yardley, PA
• I pay commissions based on the sales as a team, not individually. This eliminates salespeople from claiming customers or sales based on past contacts. Donnie Blanton, Brittany’s Fine Jewelry, Gainesville, FL
• Although we expect each staff member to have a high working knowledge of each area, we assign specialties to each staff member. That allows us to pull another team member in as an “expert”. Allison Leitzel-Williams, Leitzel’s Jewelry, Myerstown, PA
• We offer a 1 percent shared commission if we make our goal for the month. Our goal for the month is to do better than last year’s month. Pretty easy. I subtract my sales from the gross AFTER we hit the goal and then take 1 percent and split it equally with the back of the house and front of the house. Can’t sell a diamond without setting it! Karen Fitzpatrick, Harris Jewelers, Rio Rancho, NM

No: 24%

• No sales staff! My wife and I try to work as a team always. Frank Salinardi, Linardi’s Jewelers, Plantation, FL
• They don’t often listen; it’s family. Valerie King, King Jewelers, Cohasset, MA