Big Goals….Small Steps

Last week I talked to you about setting your big sales goal through the end of the year. I got such a great response to it – read it before you go on.

Click here to read last week’s article: https://retailmavens.com/blog/what-is-yours/

So you set your BIG GOAL…

Now let’s talk about the small steps to get there. You have to have your staff’s help in reaching that sales goal. One of the most effective ways to do that is to put together a motivational plan which includes games and other ways of focusing on the sales to reach the goal.

There are 4 components of a successful motivational plan.

Short and Sweet- Run them for one week only. If it is done for any longer than a week, everyone loses interest. Be sure to offer “sweet” prizes. Candy and food are always good – it is amazing to see what the staff will do for a snack size bag of M & M’s. Other great ideas include $5 food gift cards, quarters and gift certificates to the store. A “Hour Early/Late Pass” is always valued – for a bigger prize you can offer to let an employee to come in an hour late or leave an hour early with pay. How about offering a “VIP Parking Pass” if that is applicable for you? Be creative. There is much you can do with just a small investment that can create big results.

Mix it up – Offer different ‘prizes’ and different goals in different weeks. Save the biggest prizes for the largest/most important weeks – often the weeks that represent the largest % of the holiday time business. One idea that has worked well for my clients is paying an extra $1 per hour worked if goal is made that week works well)

Keep talking – Make sure all of you and the managers know exactly what and where you are in relation to the goals….and expect the staff too also! I suggest keeping quarters and sometimes singles in your pocket to reward an employee when they know just how the store is doing.

Make it fun! – This is imperative. Have fun with this. There are likely to be some naysayers in your group – don’t let them ruin the party. It is YOUR store, YOUR party and you get to run it the way YOU want to.