I have the utmost respect for people who work in sales. I think in any company, it is probably the hardest type of work, often with little or at least inadequate support from the organization. There are a ton of different types of sales and salespeople to go with them, but for my money (literally) the best place to see pure sales instincts (a an individual anyway) is a shoe store.
I know retail sales is a thankless endeavor, but I was struck this past week by the enormous difference in training (or lack thereof) in two different experiences when buying shoes. The first experience was at a Rockport shoe store on Newbury street in Boston. Newbury street is one of the most expensive places (if not the most expensive) to rent retail space in Boston. The store is designed and laid out nicely, with a good size display space with half a set of stairs leading up to a second good size sales space.
Okay, so if you didn’t see this coming already, the “salespeople” in this store stunk. I ended up buying the shoes because I specifically wanted these Rockport shoes, but because the store hadn’t adequately trained these people, they completely left money on the table (or errr…in my pocket).
Okay, so contrast this with a second shoe buying experience. This one was at Johnston & Murphy in the Burlington Mall. This can’t be exactly cheap retail space, but certainly cheaper than Newbury street store fronts. In addition, the store was maybe a quarter of the size of the Rockport store, about the size of a medium sized trade show booth.
The difference in this store was night and day. The salesman was polite, and engaging. What’s more, when I asked to see a shoe he first insisted on measuring my foot. He then brought out a pair of shoes I was looking for, plus a different but similar pair for comparison. Then, once I’d selected a pair of shoes, the real selling started. He sold me shoe trees to go with the shoes, special shoe wax that matched the leather, and even tempted me with a belt that matched the shoes (passed on that one).
I would LOVE to know what the relative sales per square foot for each store are. I’d bet these Rockports the Johnston & Murphy store is more profitable!
I know retail sales is a thankless endeavor, but I was struck this past week by the enormous difference in training (or lack thereof) in two different experiences when buying shoes. The first experience was at a Rockport shoe store on Newbury street in Boston. Newbury street is one of the most expensive places (if not the most expensive) to rent retail space in Boston. The store is designed and laid out nicely, with a good size display space with half a set of stairs leading up to a second good size sales space.
Okay, so if you didn’t see this coming already, the “salespeople” in this store stunk. I ended up buying the shoes because I specifically wanted these Rockport shoes, but because the store hadn’t adequately trained these people, they completely left money on the table (or errr…in my pocket).
Okay, so contrast this with a second shoe buying experience. This one was at Johnston & Murphy in the Burlington Mall. This can’t be exactly cheap retail space, but certainly cheaper than Newbury street store fronts. In addition, the store was maybe a quarter of the size of the Rockport store, about the size of a medium sized trade show booth.
The difference in this store was night and day. The salesman was polite, and engaging. What’s more, when I asked to see a shoe he first insisted on measuring my foot. He then brought out a pair of shoes I was looking for, plus a different but similar pair for comparison. Then, once I’d selected a pair of shoes, the real selling started. He sold me shoe trees to go with the shoes, special shoe wax that matched the leather, and even tempted me with a belt that matched the shoes (passed on that one).
I would LOVE to know what the relative sales per square foot for each store are. I’d bet these Rockports the Johnston & Murphy store is more profitable!
