Surviving the stress of retail customers even applies to soldiers.
Glenn is a sales consultant for one of my clients. You immediately notice him because of his piercing blue eyes, hip-yet-effortless dress and calm demeanor. Spend enough time with him, and you’ll notice that he is a good listener, like all successful salespeople.
In fact, a few years ago he was in the top three sales consultants in his region. That’s no small feat.
So imagine my surprise when I was visiting with him at his desk .
“Glenn, I just noticed the Purple Heart on your desk. Is that … yours?”
Most of my experiences with veterans has revealed to me that they don’t want to talk about combat. But Glenn graciously told me a little bit about his tours of duty and getting wounded.
Then he laughed: “And I got into this business thinking the stress would go DOWN!”
There you have it. Surviving the stress of retail customers can be a battle.
From another of my clients, who manages a shoe store:
My favorite memory in shoe retail is a cranky gentleman who pulled close to the door and aggressively honked the horn until I came outside to help him. He handed me a key and demanded 2 copies. I held my laughter, and tried to explain that we are a shoe store and aren’t able to make keys. Intense verbal abuse ensued.
From Surviving to Thriving
Research suggests poor treatment by customers has led to high turnover in service industries. Surviving the stress of retail customers mainly revolves around managers coaching, training and in general being there for employees. That is why most of my clients have me work with managers directly.
But what makes retail so stressful? Is it the high expectations of the customers?
Long hours?
Anxiety of not making the next paycheck unless performance is good enough with the latest batch of customers?
Boredom of the downtime in tension with the stress of the “on” time?
The hours being just weird enough that it’s hard to see your family or have a life outside of work?
Yes.
But those are the wrong questions. There are much better ones. And they are the kinds of questions I, as a coach, ask clients who wrestle with improving their work life.
- A year from now, where do you want to be? Not just your sales numbers or your paycheck. What do you want to be happening in your life? (Buying a house? Finding a church home? Seeing your kids more often? They are all related in your life. And they are all answers I have heard.)
- What are the things standing in your way of that dream?
- What is under your control to address those things?
Surviving the stress of retail customers can be a battle. I write this as we approach Black Friday. May God have mercy on your souls, retail employees.
And if you get time during a break, I suggest you write down your answers to these questions. Thinking this through can be the difference between surviving and thriving.