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Interview with Shelley Morissette GMGT 2010 A03 Dr. Rakesh Mitoo October 10 th, 2018 In today’s increasingly competitive retail marketplace, the importance of providing exceptional customer service is one way that firms are maintaining a competitive advantage. The responsibility of coaching and training staff to be able to provide quality customer service often falls to the store managers. I had the opportunity to sit dow n with a store manager at Swim Store and disc uss the strategies that she currently uses to reach her store targets and meet the needs of her customers. Swim Store ’s approach to customer service is more hands -on than s ome other stores in the mall , and the differences are evident as soon as you enter the store. Each customer is met with a friendly greeting upon entering the store, and the expectation is t hat each customer will have a unique shopping experience and develop a relationship with the associate who helps them. In order t o better understand a nd meet the needs of their customers, sales associates are expected to continue the relationship throughout the entirety of a customer’s visit . In this interview I will e xplore the methods that a Swim Store manager uses to motivate her staff to reach their performance targets. Shelley Morissette has been working in a retail setting for forty years and has been a manager for thirty of them . She was first attracted to the retail sector because of her love for making people happy, and this remains the favo urite part of her job today. Swim Store ’s mission to make everybody, and every body feel good half naked provides Morissette and her staff with many opportunities to help people feel great in a bathing suit as they take on life’s adventures. Like most reta il businesses, working at Swim Store has its challenges. Many customers enter the store in a negative mindset or feel vulnerable and insecure about their bodies. This makes it difficult to develop a relationship, and staff often have to work hard to get the customer to open up to them . In these situations, i t is possible for staff to become deflated and unmotivated, so Morissette focuses on making the efforts of her staff recognized and appreciated so that they know their efforts are valued by her, the manage r, and by extension, the organization as a whole . She believes that staff who feel appreciated, and who have a strong relationship with their manager and organization , are easier to motivate because they are actively engaged in their work. One aspect of motivation that she focuses on is the power of a positive attitude. Morissette believes that creating a fun and positive environment for her staff by maintaining friendly relationships and taking an interest in their personal lives can help them want to come to work and do their best for the team. By keeping staff motivated to do their best every day, Morissette is able to ensure that more customers receive attentive service from her staff. Morissette also believes in the importance of setting the example for her staff by modelling behaviours that lead to successful sales and happy customers. Leading by example is important because it reinforces the verbal discussions that you would have when training and allows the trainee to learn different techniques. For example, w hen she is training a team member to effectively add on additional items to a sale she will make sure t o schedule that person with someone who is a strong performer in this area. Morissette ar gues that training staff to use specific techniques is only effective if her staff observe herself and her management team making these efforts as well. Leading by example and being visible to her staff is on e way that Morissette continues to train her team to achieve their targets. As a manager, Morissette is also tasked with handling conflict in numerous situations. She is often called on to resolve tensions between co -workers, or to attend to unhappy customers. Her strategies for dealing with conflict in the workplace stem from her overall philosophy as a manager: put the needs of the team first. In the case of an unhappy customer it is in the entire company’s best interest for Morissette to act in a way that ensures the customer leaves th e store satisfied with their experience. She handles these situations by remaining calm and doing her best to make the customer happy, and this is the procedure she expects her team to follow as well. When it comes to conflict between co -workers , more proa ctive steps must be taken. In Morissette’s experience most conflicts between co -workers arise from differences in personality . Morissette has found that getting the two parties to address their issues with each other in a respectful way is the most effecti ve way to reduce confl ict and the resulting tensions . When a team member comes to Morissette with a complaint about another co -worker, she encourages them to approach that person and explain how their behaviour is impact their environment before she person ally becomes involved in the matter. This gives the two co -workers the opportunity to work problems out between themselves instead of escalating the issue. As well as e ncouraging open and respectful communication among co -workers, Morissette al so encoura ges her team to be open with her about any issues they have. She believes that having strong relationships with her team allows her to be a more effective problem solver.Part of developing those relationships involves dedicating time each week to meet wit h each team member and discuss their achievements and overall progress towards their goals. She also makes time available during these meetings to hear from her staff and follow up on any previous concerns. Throughout my interv iew with Morissette we consistently returned to a discussion about the importance of relationships. Morissette believes that having the ability to develop strong relationships with her customers and staff is what makes her an effective salespe rson and lead er. I believe that having the ability to develop relationships is a skil l that is highly valued across many industries. In any situation where it is necessary to communicate with another person or work as part of a team these interpersonal skills would be necessary. Even profess ions like accounting, which are often perceived as suitable for introverted or shy individuals, require personnel to be able to form connections with others. When I met with recruiters from public accounting firms at the CPA Wine and Chees e event last month each and every one of them listed strong interpersonal skills as an important credential when selecting candidates. Even though relationship building is not often specifically taught in many classes, it is evident that developing s trong interpersonal skills can be beneficial to those entering the workforce.
