Know Your Numbers!

For Commission Based Sales People Working in Retail

I get absolutely amazed at the number of commission sales people working in retail that do not simply know their key sales figures. Then they wonder why they never make commission or never grow their income figures.

Why do they fail? Basically because they drift! They never go that extra mile! They never focus on the end result! They never think about how they can help their customer by finding add on solutions and thus growing their income.

So how do you change that?

Firstly, the sales person must believe they are working for them selves. They need to change their hand out mentality. Instead they need to take total ownership, accountability and responsibility for their role as a professional sales person. This means they must plan for their success. Be totally responsible for their results and be responsible for their own personal development. They need to stop being excuse merchants but to take total responsibility for their outcomes. After all they create their own destiny and have the power to change their income.

Secondly, they must plan for their success. This means setting goals. Many hate the “G” word. If you don’t know where you are going how will you know when you have got there. One of the most powerful things that you can do to build your own self esteem is to set goals for yourself as you can then measure your success. Not only does goal achievement make you feel good about yourself but achievement will flow in to making you feel more positive about your job and how you treat your customers. This will flow into making you more successful. As they say “Success breeds success”.

Setting goals for yourself, and I am not talking about boss imposed goals provides you with a great way of accessing your own performance. If you are under performing then it is like having a car that is misfiring. Do you need a tune up! In sales if you don’t know your numbers daily then how do you that your sales machine is misfiring. Once you know your numbers you can then take remedial action or seek help before it is too late. Where are the gaps in your performance? Are you asking enough customers for the sale? Are you having difficulty closing sales, handling objections, have enough product knowledge or having difficulty in building rapore with your customers?

What ever the problem unless you are measuring your performance daily you are setting yourself up for failure and the disappointment at the end of the week, month or quarter when the boss says ‘Sorry Fred. You have not made your sales targets so we are unable to pay commission this month. What a pity you only missed your target by $30.”

If you know your numbers you can quickly compensate for the low days but also stretch yourself further so that you do get that pay rise or promotion. Why drift when by knowing your numbers you can quickly help yourself to rise above all your peers and lead the field in your chosen career.

Finally, doesn't it feel good when you exceed your sales goal. You immediately feel more successful and those who feel good about themselves always go on and do more!