Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Les Olson Jewelers: a hands-on operation
    Les Olson Jewelers: a hands-on operation
    Merger With a Mission
    From hard knocks to soft landing in new store
    Saban Onyx helps independent retail jewelers get fancy
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Diamond industry veteran rebuts dire forecast in The Asteroid Approaches column
    Jewelry store sales and management video from Jimmy DeGroot: Check your attitude before opening the store
    CBG Miami “Experience” event gets positive reviews
    Furry Friends on the Job: Say hello to Sierra of Argo & Lehne Jewelers
  • Podcast
    Dangers of Jewelry theft and how to prevent them 350
    Episode 43 -Kenny Mullins, Dangers of Jewelry Theft and How to Prevent Them
    Inside the Generational Legacy of David Douglas Diamonds
    Episode 42 -Doug Meadows, Inside the Generational Legacy of David Douglas Diamonds
    An-Inspiring-Tale-Behind-50-Years-of-Jewelry-Design-and-More
    Episode 41 -John Atencio, An Inspiring Tale Behind 50 Years of Jewelry Design and More
    Episode 39 -Brittany Jones,95 Years of Excellence and Legacy of JF Jones Jewelers
    Episode 40 -Brittany Jones,95 Years of Excellence and Legacy of JF Jones Jewelers
    The Rise of Luxury Handbag Trend in Jewelry Stores
    Episode 39 -Frederick Mannella, The Rise of Luxury Handbag Trend in Jewelry Stores
    Episode 38 – Kevin Patton, Gem-preneur Family Legacy of Pattons Fine Jewelry
    Episode 38 – Kevin Patton, Gem-preneur Family Legacy of Pattons Fine Jewelry
    Technology Meets Our Values
    Episode 37 – Kyle Bullock, Technology Meets Our Values
    A Pandemic-Born Success of Two Jewelry Visionaries
    Episode 36 – Brooke and Chase Brinson, A Pandemic-Born Success of Two Jewelry Visionaries
    Jewelers Helping Jewelers
    Episode 35 – Aleah Arundale, Jewelers Helping Jewelers: Connection, Support, and Success
  • Columnists
    4Cs of Diamonds? Here are the 4Cs of Jewelry Marketing to help you sell them
    Applied Marketing 101: The Next Big Thing
    Applied Marketing 101: The Asteroid Approaches
    The Story Behind the Stone: Oops there it is!
    Image of Chuck Koehler
    Cool New Things from the Atlanta Jewelry Show
    Image of Chuck Koehler
    The Retailer’s Perspective: It’s Springtime in September
    Barbiecore Bling! Are you in?
    Joel McFadden Fine Jewelry
    Successful Custom: The Customers View
    Holiday Sales Success: A multifaceted marketing approach
    Holiday Sales Success: A multifaceted marketing approach
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
  • Digital Magazine
    • Southern Jewelry News
    • Mid-America Jewelry News
    • Archive
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Les Olson Jewelers: a hands-on operation
    Les Olson Jewelers: a hands-on operation
    Merger With a Mission
    From hard knocks to soft landing in new store
    Saban Onyx helps independent retail jewelers get fancy
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Diamond industry veteran rebuts dire forecast in The Asteroid Approaches column
    Jewelry store sales and management video from Jimmy DeGroot: Check your attitude before opening the store
    CBG Miami “Experience” event gets positive reviews
    Furry Friends on the Job: Say hello to Sierra of Argo & Lehne Jewelers
  • Podcast
    Dangers of Jewelry theft and how to prevent them 350
    Episode 43 -Kenny Mullins, Dangers of Jewelry Theft and How to Prevent Them
    Inside the Generational Legacy of David Douglas Diamonds
    Episode 42 -Doug Meadows, Inside the Generational Legacy of David Douglas Diamonds
    An-Inspiring-Tale-Behind-50-Years-of-Jewelry-Design-and-More
    Episode 41 -John Atencio, An Inspiring Tale Behind 50 Years of Jewelry Design and More
    Episode 39 -Brittany Jones,95 Years of Excellence and Legacy of JF Jones Jewelers
    Episode 40 -Brittany Jones,95 Years of Excellence and Legacy of JF Jones Jewelers
    The Rise of Luxury Handbag Trend in Jewelry Stores
    Episode 39 -Frederick Mannella, The Rise of Luxury Handbag Trend in Jewelry Stores
    Episode 38 – Kevin Patton, Gem-preneur Family Legacy of Pattons Fine Jewelry
    Episode 38 – Kevin Patton, Gem-preneur Family Legacy of Pattons Fine Jewelry
    Technology Meets Our Values
    Episode 37 – Kyle Bullock, Technology Meets Our Values
    A Pandemic-Born Success of Two Jewelry Visionaries
    Episode 36 – Brooke and Chase Brinson, A Pandemic-Born Success of Two Jewelry Visionaries
    Jewelers Helping Jewelers
    Episode 35 – Aleah Arundale, Jewelers Helping Jewelers: Connection, Support, and Success
  • Columnists
    4Cs of Diamonds? Here are the 4Cs of Jewelry Marketing to help you sell them
    Applied Marketing 101: The Next Big Thing
    Applied Marketing 101: The Asteroid Approaches
    The Story Behind the Stone: Oops there it is!
    Image of Chuck Koehler
    Cool New Things from the Atlanta Jewelry Show
    Image of Chuck Koehler
    The Retailer’s Perspective: It’s Springtime in September
    Barbiecore Bling! Are you in?
    Joel McFadden Fine Jewelry
    Successful Custom: The Customers View
    Holiday Sales Success: A multifaceted marketing approach
    Holiday Sales Success: A multifaceted marketing approach
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
  • Digital Magazine
    • Southern Jewelry News
    • Mid-America Jewelry News
    • Archive
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
No Result
View All Result
Home Columnists

My staff doesn’t seem motivated!

Brad Huisken, President IAS Training by Brad Huisken, President IAS Training
November 2, 2013
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Reading Time: 9 minutes

So you think that your staff doesn’t seem motivated. You don’t see them prospecting, making phone calls, enthusiastically helping customers, and generally aren’t doing much of anything to create sales. They just sit back and wait for customers to come in and then they give them a half-hearted presentation. What can you do?

I will go to the grave believing that, in general, people are good. I don’t believe that anyone ever takes a job wanting to fail. I think that most salespeople want to do a great job, create tons of sales and profits, earn substantial commissions, and be the professional that your customers expect, that you hired them to be. Far too often we hired someone that is motivated to do a great job, they leave the starting gate with a ton of enthusiasm, and then they fall into the sea of mediocrity of an average stereotypical salesperson. On the other hand we have seasoned veterans who were once top producers and they are now cruising along at half speed. In my experience I find that the number one thing that people want out of their jobs is the ability to be and feel successful. The number one complaint that I hear from salespeople is that they don’t feel appreciated, or that there is not enough positive feedback, or praise for a job well done.

To this end I find that there are basically 10 issues that cause salespeople to lose their motivation, or that makes them seem unmotivated to do a great job. All of which are easy to correct by management.

1) The rules, policies, procedures, or standards have not been justified to them. They have been told what to do, but haven’t been given the justification behind it. For example, simply explaining how add-on sales can dramatically increase sales and profits for the store, and that add-on sales can and will substantially increase their personal commissions. In other words too often management tells people “What” to do, but not the “Why” you are having them do it.

2) They have not been given the knowledge and/or skills needed to complete the jobs or tasks given. How often can a salesperson hear a customer say “I’m just looking” or “I’ll be back” without knowing the proper way to handle these two common occurrences before they are going to seem unmotivated? At every seminar that I do I ask how many of you offer a formal sales training program to educate the staff. Rarely is the answer more than 5 – 10% of the group. There is no such thing as a born salesperson. Sales Professionals are educated and trained on their professions.

3) There are factors preventing them from doing their job completely. I refer to these as quality of life issues. Let’s say, for example, you have a salesperson whose son or daughter is going to be “Happy the Snowman” in the school Christmas play on December 21st at 2:00 in the afternoon. That is a busy time and you can’t let him/her see their child in the Christmas Play, they will seem unmotivated. Be compassionate with Quality of Life issues.

4) The salesperson is not rewarded based on his/her productivity. Every company should have some form of productivity based pay and incentives. If you pay commission, over time it simply becomes a form of pay. People will reach their comfort zone and stop being motivated. You need added incentives to keep them going. If you want to make changes in your organization, 3 things have to happen – Policy, Training & Incentives. Make it a policy that this has to be done, train them on how to do it, and then reward them for doing it.

5) The salesperson does not have a goal set that he/she is working to achieve. People need goals. The human being can accomplish some incredible things if they have a goal set and are determined to achieve the goals. Anything that is measurable, thus incentiviable (I made up a word), should have a goal set for salespeople to work to achieve.

6) The sales manager does not provide positive reinforcement. As earlier stated, one of the most frequent comments I receive from salespeople is that they don’t feel appreciated. I believe the formula should be 10/1 positive to negative comments. Look for things that your staff is doing right, praise them for it, and then the negative will be better accepted and more than likely changed.

7) The sales manager resorts to fear, intimidation, and belittling the salesperson. The days of management by fear, intimidation and belittling are long gone. If you want a staff of adults, then treat them like adults. I find that once managers eliminate comments based on opinions, and only focus on facts based on statistics, then the job of coaching and managing becomes easy. Manage based on statistics, coach on the actions that produced the result, not the result itself and you will have a staff of adults.

8) The sales manager does not provide fair discipline and/or praise. Create a fair and equitable environment for everybody. If a top producer is violating a policy, they should be dealt with just as a lower producer would be. The policy is the policy and no one, including management, should be allowed to violate a policy. Equal discipline and equal praise across the board will produce a cohesive team that works and produces together.

9) The sales manager does not give adequate time to the salesperson. I can’t tell you how often I hear salespeople complain about the lack of communication within an organization. When was the last time you spent 15 minutes talking to your salespeople individually? Open the channels of communication. I suggest 3 forms of communication. 1) A weekly sit down one-on-one conversation with each staff member. Talk about goals, productivity, what is being done to create sales, adhering to the non-negotiable standards, review performance, give praise and constructive criticism. 2) Have a weekly staff training meeting. Spend 30-40 minutes every week talking about the 4 areas where people need training – Sales Techniques, Product Knowledge, Operations and Customer Service. 3) Have a morning huddle. Fifteen minutes before the store opens, gather everyone and highlight what is happening that day, review the previous day, recognize top performers, etc. Get everyone focused and ready to do business right before opening.

10) The sales manager does not make the job fun. If your staff doesn’t wake up every morning enthused and excited to go to work at your jewelry store, then you have a problem. Productivity equals morale and morale equals productivity. Create a fun and happy place to work. Games, contests, goals, statistics, recognition, praise, positive reinforcement all make the job fun. If the salespeople are having fun, the customers will have fun, and sales can’t help but increase.

If you have done all the right things to enable your salesperson to be successful and thus “motivated” them to complete the job, yet he/she lacks the “drive” to do the job, they should be replaced.

Create an environment of personal growth and development within your organization, where people want to excel and do a good job. Set the tone and culture for your organization and provide a WOW experience for staff and customers, and the store will excel.


Author, trainer, consultant, and speaker Brad Huisken is President of IAS Training. Huisken has authored several books and training manuals on sales and  produces a Weekly Sales Training Meeting video series along with Aptitude Tests and Proficiency Exams for new hires, current sales staff and sales managers. In addition, he publishes a free weekly newsletter called “Sales Insight” For a free subscription or more information contact IAS Training at 800-248-7703 or info@iastraining.com. Visit his website at www.iastraining.com.

 

Brad Huisken, President IAS Training

Brad Huisken, President IAS Training

Author, trainer, consultant, and speaker Brad Huisken is President of IAS Training. Huisken has authored several books and training manuals on sales and  produces a Weekly Sales Training Meeting video series along with Aptitude Tests and Proficiency Exams for new hires, current sales staff and sales managers. In addition, he publishes a free weekly newsletter called “Sales Insight” For a free subscription or more information contact IAS Training at 800-248-7703 or info@iastraining.com. Visit his website at www.iastraining.com.

Related Posts

4Cs of Diamonds? Here are the 4Cs of Jewelry Marketing to help you sell them

September 25, 2023
Applied Marketing 101: The Next Big Thing

Applied Marketing 101: The Asteroid Approaches

September 18, 2023

The Story Behind the Stone: Oops there it is!

September 18, 2023
Image of Chuck Koehler

Cool New Things from the Atlanta Jewelry Show

September 18, 2023

Latest News

Columnists

4Cs of Diamonds? Here are the 4Cs of Jewelry Marketing to help you sell them

September 25, 2023
Other News

Diamond industry veteran rebuts dire forecast in The Asteroid Approaches column

September 25, 2023
Other News

Jewelry store sales and management video from Jimmy DeGroot: Check your attitude before opening the store

September 25, 2023

Other News

CBG Miami “Experience” event gets positive reviews

Furry Friends on the Job: Say hello to Sierra of Argo & Lehne Jewelers

Episode 43 -Kenny Mullins, Dangers of Jewelry Theft and How to Prevent Them

Hardrock Summit wraps in Denver

ISG awarded Certificate of the Combat Flag

Artistry, Ltd. releases 2024 catalog

Southern Jewelry News

© 2023 Southern Jewelry News.

Additional Information

  • About
  • 2023 Jewelry Trade Shows & Events
  • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Sitemap
  • Newsletter Signup

Get Social with Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured Articles
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Supplier Spotlight
    • Sponsored Content
  • Latest News
    • What’s New
    • Industry Events
    • Tradeshow News
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Furry Friends
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
  • DIGITAL MAGAZINE
    • Southern Jewelry News
    • Mid-America Jewelry News
    • Archives

© 2023 Southern Jewelry News.