Kieron Williams / Staff Writer
Retail sucks. Everybody knows that. It’s filled with long hours, competitive coworkers and customers that don’t appreciate you.
My experience this summer working at a nameless store in Aventura Mall was pretty much the same, except getting paid more than minimum wage gave me just enough initiative to put up with it. However, I did learn some things along the way that I feel I must share with my fellow peers, in case any of you ever have to strap on a uniform and start greeting customers for yourselves. Consider this a survival guide.
Rule No. 1: When you show up on your first day, you are an outsider. Everything in the store will seem foreign and chaotic to you, but not to anyone else that has been there long enough. Your managers have to get acquainted with you just as much (or maybe even more) than you have to get acquainted with them and the store. Be ready for awkward attempts at conversation from your managers, and don’t say anything too weird.
When I arrived for my first day, I definitely felt like the newest thing to come to the store in a while. My managers’ efforts to assimilate me into their daily routines could be felt in every forced word that came out of their mouths. It was lonely, though, because once I had answered the basic questions, they all went right back to talking to each other or the veteran sales associates. That’s kind of how it went all summer; even when they started warming up to me and talking to me more often, I was still out of the loop when it came to little inside jokes. Prepare yourself for this, and don’t let it affect you.
Rule No. 2: No matter how big the sale is, keep yourself composed and stay sharp. You may have a chance to make that sale even bigger. One of the things that mattered a lot to this store was how many units of product you sold during every transaction. It almost mattered more than the amount of money the products were worth. As long as products were leaving the store and people were paying for them, then the company was happy, the big bosses were happy and everything was right in the world. But it’s still up to you to make that commission check worth something.
Sometimes customers would dwindle for a few days and it would feel like you’re living in the Great Depression. Other days, you might just happen to smile at the right customer and end up hitting your goal in one sale. On days like this, try and figure out the customer’s style and see if they’re not willing to look at some of the newer, more expensive stuff. And remember that this is customer service, not them servicing your wallet. After treating a rich customer superbly, there’s nothing better than having that same customer come back and ask for your help personally.
Rule No. 3: Speak another language, or get ready to learn fast. If you’re working in retail in Miami, this should be a no-brainer. However my case was a little special, as I worked for a brand that was more popular with tourists than locals. I not only dealt with customers that only spoke Spanish, but I also regularly had customers who spoke French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Dutch or sometimes just something completely unintelligible. We had some people on the staff that spoke Spanish, but if it was any other language, you were on your own to get that sale. And the only way to give that person the help they needed would be to point at the product they wanted and act out everything else, which included answering their questions and getting feedback using what might as well have been interpretive dance. If you ever work in retail in Miami, remember this quote: “Leave your shame at the door, or you’re gonna stay poor.”
If you can remember these three rules, you might make it through a season in retail. Just don’t forget to smile, make eye contact and find the positives (if any).
kieron.williams@fiusm.com
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