How Do I Get My Retail Staff to Be Better at Upsells? | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing

Sometimes I hear people say, "Oh, I can't get my crew to upsell." And people say, "Oh, I can't do it. My crew doesn't do it." Well, maybe it's time to tune up your crew. And some people say, "Well, how do I do that?" I always say, “Give them some new customer service standards.” Be able to tell them, “This is how I want to do things.” And if they don't, or if they're somebody repeatedly have given warnings to and you haven't gotten rid of them, the best way to tune up your crews is to let somebody go.

I know that sounds brutal, and some of you who've been with me for an awful long time know that I actually had to get rid of a guy on Christmas Eve. But if I give you three written warnings and I say, “If this happens again, you'll be gone,” you have to follow through with that, whether that makes you feel uncomfortable or not. Because at the end of the day, the idea of being a boss is you have to make the tough decisions. And we want to be the nice person. You're not being a nice person because they're not meeting with great success either. And invariably, they're not learning anything and their mind is going numb, and they're looking for other opportunities.

So, why not tune up your crew and train them and get them so that they can do something and have fun? That way it's not just one person who understands how to do everything - it can be everybody.

If you love what you heard on Retail Today, connect with Bob by visiting retaildoc.com or send a message to bob@retaildoc.com. Thanks for listening!