Throughout my college years, while at school, i have worked at the Grove City Premium Outlets. I started working at Journey’s, which is a footwear and apparel store in the outlet complex. I have been a sales representative for them and work a few days a week. I have learned a lot working in retail and it has been completely different than any other sales experiences that I have had.
One of the biggest things that working in retail has helped me with is customer service and my communication skills. Having to treat people in a professional and kind manner is not always easy when they don’t have respect for you and your store. It sure can get frustrating when dealing with disrespect, rudeness, and irritated customers. I have learned how to put on a smile and go to work no matter how your day is going. The customer must always come first, no matter how they act. This is different then insurance sales, if the customer was a complete jerk, there is no possible way that we could work together and I would make that known.
Working in retail has also helped me with working under pressure or stress. For example, during Christmas time, the outlets get crazy. This year on black Friday, the store was absolutely packed and i was running to the back to bet 4 or 5 pairs of shoes at a time. Our inventory was pretty picked over by the end of the night which led customers to be quite snippy and unhappy. I had to deal with them and make online orders for the shoes they wanted or needed as they said, and ship them to their houses. I learned to adapt and work well under pressure and how to deal with customers in that way.
BoweryJE22