ENJOY YOUR RETAIL SALES JOB (OR ELSE)

We all know that there are certain jobs we're just not made for. Anyone who has ever been shopping can witness stores full of such people. Have you ever had the misfortune of dealing with a retail salesperson who 1) clearly did not care about their job; 2) knew nothing about the products they were supposed to be selling; and/or 3) displayed outright contempt for being approached in any way by you or another inquisitive customer? Have you ever been that miserable sales rep? It's no fun for anyone, ever. If you have found yourself in that position, you do have my sympathy. Sometimes we just need a job, any job, to pay the bills long enough for us to figure out what we really want to do with ourselves. But even if that is the case, the work need not be the misery we're capable of making it. If you just know in your heart that retail is not for you, then find other work. There are plenty of $8 an hour jobs out there. Trust me. I've had most of them. As for the rest of you, a simple attitude adjustment will almost always fix the situation. Of course this is always easier said than done. But since you spend more time at work than you do anywhere else, you may as well make the best of it. Here are a few tips to help you have more fun on the retail sales floor: 1. Remember that your job is not about you. Customers buy for one of two reasons: they want something or they need something. So the focus of your work should be the customer's wants and needs. Since there are very few people in the world who don't work for money, your presence in that situation is assumed. But if all you care about is your salary, that will be obvious to all by your demeanor. While it's true that there are some customers who literally need to be sold what they think they want to buy, most just want some friendly guidance and reassurance. If you just want to punch the clock and cash your check, maybe you should work at a job that doesn't rely quite so heavily on helping people feel comfortable about their buying decisions. After all, they work hard for their money too. 2. Get some work friends. You may work in a retail environment that pays strictly or mostly on commission, and that can make for lots of backbiting and mistrust. Even still, there is almost always at least one other member of the sales team that is willing to help out if you don't know much about the product your customer wants, or if you're a newcomer and haven't yet mastered your closing technique. And having a friend in management is never a bad idea. They can help train you on your product knowledge, provide running performance evaluations and back you up in a dispute, and there are always disputes among a sales staff that works on commission. 3. Life is too short and too long to be miserable. Few things are more important than the way we spend our time. If the thought of dealing with large amounts of strange people from varying socioeconomic classes in the course of an average day makes you tremble and cringe, then retail is probably not for you. And that's okay; it's not for most salespeople. But there are tons of resources to help you uncover the environment that best supports your development. Don't be afraid to make a change. It just might save your career. To those in other professions, it may seem that a retail sales job is by turns boring, excruciating, and so mind-numbingly easy that making commission is like shooting fish in a barrel (it isn't). I have to admit that before I finally gave it a try, I was convinced I'd hate it so much that any shred of humanity left inside of me would summarily vanish. As it turned out, this was far from the case. Retail sales can actually be both lucrative and enjoyable, if you can find a way to make peace with yourself. Customers are people, and if you like people, then you're on the right track.