Time to talk a little bit about my retail experience. 😉
I worked for TJ Maxx for, altogether, about seven months. (three months one summer, three months a second summer, and then one month during winter break)
To be honest, I wasn’t picky when I took the job; I just needed to work. Also, I did not think I would be selling anything, but I soon found that I was making a sale every moment of every day. Here are a few things that I picked up along the way:
- Working as a cashier… there are several ways that cashiers make sales. The first is the most obvious, pitching a TJX Rewards Card. There are also other less obvious ways like providing good customer service and asking customers questions, trying to get to know them. I don’t know how many times I ended up selling a dress to a customer because I took the time to help her articulate what she was looking for.
- Working in the dressing room… often times, associates look down on the people who work in the dressing room, but you make a lot of sales there. (too bad TJ Maxx doesn’t pay commission lol) As Professor Sweet mentioned in class, it has a lot to do with asking the right questions and listening. It’s surprising how many customers want help and advice from a random dressing room attendant.
- On break… even when you’re on break, it’s your job to represent the store. This may include anything from going out of your way to help a customer who is obviously lost to making conversation with people on the floor. There is always a selling opportunity.
Happy selling!
BoweryJE22
This is awesome! Great reminder that even when we don’t expect to be in sales at all, sales finds us somehow. I especially like the point about how you’re even selling when you’re on break, because you’re representing the store. That’s an admirable concept in sales and in being a valuable employee.