Every retail showroom is filled with salespeople, some retail showrooms choose to utilize a Retail Up System.
Is that fair?
Is it fair to the business?
Is it fair to the salespeople?
First off, it is important to understand what is a Retail Up System. An Up System is a sales process in which all available salespeople are in a queue to take turns handling the customers who enter the retail showroom.
For instance, if there are five salespeople, each one gets the opportunity to engage with every fifth customer. Think of a line-up similar to a baseball team batting order.
One discussion that always comes up when discussing a Retail Up System is, “Is it Fair?”. Is it fair for the salespeople? Is it fair for the business or business owner? The biggest concern of fairness is based on the talent of the individual salespeople, the most talented salespeople, the least talented salespeople, is it fair to have equal opportunity?
So let’s dig in.
Is it fair to the business?
All businesses exist in the end to take home a profit. Before taking home a profit they need to have sales, employees, vendors, expenses, and pay taxes. Additionally, they need to market the business to get customers to come in the door. Should the sales process be based on fairness or on what gives the business the best opportunity for success?
With an established Retail Up System all salespeople have equal opportunity to engage with customers, plus they have the time and ability to excel in follow-up and training. In a properly designed process allocation of time for training can get those less talented salespeople to the same level as the most talented. So one could argue having a well-rounded, well-trained, customer-focused team, is not only fair but gives an advantage to the business with salespeople focused on all tasks and responsibilities.
Is it fair to the most talented salespeople?
The most talented salespeople consistently sell the most year after year, so is it fair to them to have an Up System on the retail sales floor? They are usually the most productive team members and are relied upon to deliver results, especially during tough weeks or months.
So is an Up System Fair for them? The most talented salespeople find that a strong sales process and Up System allows them to be even more effective and efficient. With better time management it allows them to drive more customers into the showroom through follow-up efforts and convert more into sales. All while still filling their pipelines with a steady flow of fresh new customers as well.
So is it Fair?
Ultimately, depending on the management and environment of the retail showroom a Retail Up System is certainly fair for both the business and the salespeople. In some scenarios, salespeople could be assumed to be the most talented, but might only sell a lot based on them getting an unfair amount of customers to talk to.
Based on our research a Retail Up System is fair and would be recommended to most retail businesses. What do you think?
