It feels like nobody wants to work right now, how can I find a good staff and keep them?

Answer: Millions of people are reassessing their relationship to their jobs after the pandemic, so we need to offer an attractive package. In a surprising phenomenon, people are not just abandoning jobs but switching professions. This is a radical reassessment of our careers, and a great reset in how we think about work.

• Finding the best people means you need to spend quality time working out where to find appropriate candidates For example, I would use grad schemes or university boards to advertise for part time vacancies, whilst also investing time and money into recruiting a full-time member of staff who possesses not only a desirable set of skills, but essential skills to work within my team. The recruitment process needs to be considered, allowing the right people to do the right jobs. This can be a minefield, so ensure you have the basic processes in place, i.e. person specification, up-to-date job descriptions, on boarding processes, and a continuous training programme. Couple these with valid employee contracts. 

Why does my stylist team keep losing sales?

Answer: This could be down to ‘Stylist Sabotaging’ which is a common problem. We sabotage our appointments for lots of reasons.

• A lack of confidence in pressing reset. There may not be the resources in place in your store to allow the reset button to be easily pressed. Meaning there is more of a position of negativity to your client rather than the ‘who can I deliver brilliance to next’ approach.
• Be sure to stay on top of basic expectancy training. Addressing: a) how we do stuff b) when we do it c) in what order. What I mean by this is managing expectations in a sales team. This can be crucial and critical to boosting your team’s productivity.  
• A lack of product knowledge. Product knowledge is key to a store’s success. I have two tips in my next article on how to help improve the understanding of your products. Sometimes fabulously established stores have trouble understanding their many gowns that sit on their rails. Maybe there are too many similar gowns which offer every bride the same transformation, evidenced by your team selling the same dress over and over with no other options being offered, instead of having a healthy conversion with a variety of costs, designers, styles, silhouettes, fabrics, and colours.
• Stylists being influenced by the bride and her circle of influence. As a fully trained stylist you should be the influencer which can be difficult as we are dealing with people. Sales are easy, people are not! If you can work out the connection, you can influence and negotiate effectively. This not only allows her to make a more refined choice in your store, but also helps you both trust each other.
• No stylist support network. Regular one to ones/agenda meetings/performance reviews help to encourage all staff. New staff are crucial to a diverse team, if you train and coach them well, and they may be your future super stars. Experienced staff are your current super stars so do not forget about them! They need encouragement, support, coaching and empowerment each day.
• Being too worried to ask for the sale. It is too late to ask for the sale at the end of your appointment! A sale is a transfer of confidence. You should create connections and enable rapport and trust at the beginning of each visit.

Many of my products in shop feel very similar.

Answer: Try to consider the below to help you strategise buying at markets.

• Perhaps your buying strategy has become slightly shabby. Buying similar styles used to be a safety process but is now a hindrance. Listen to your brides’ needs. There is still no set trend in the market, so we must be everything to everyone.
• Are the wrong people buying your inventory? Ensure when you go buying you invest in taking the people who sell every day to your consumer. A crucial part of buying and so much fun in my opinion.
• Are you carrying too many brands which translate to similar gowns on your rails? It is difficult, but you may have to reconsider losing some brands to stay current with a pipeline of money in your bank. 

The dresses were so expensive this season! I don’t think my brides will pay that; how do I make this work?

Answer: Value is everything to a client – what can you do to be more valuable? How can you make your products more acceptable in today’s market, where the cost of living has gone up amongst many other things in 2022. You need to be the store which helps shape consumer choices, think about enhancing the physical (the gown) and emotional (the feeling of looking incredible) experience for your consumer. Work on your bridal story to market your store to brides.

Why are my conversions down? I am struggling.

Answer: Your sales process is one thing but how much do you need to keep your head above water. Think at a strategy level and decompartmentalise your business.

Firstly, are you seeing enough brides? Secondly, what is your sales process? After that, then ask yourself ‘what is your expected conversion and what do you need to make profit?’, you cannot save your way to profitability. Try to look at:

• Your overhead costs – are they way too high/adding extra pressure to your everyday?
• Inventory costs – too many designers increase these costs (reduce to recoup).
• If your clients’ ideal spend has lowered – add more value to your brand with awareness, process, and marketing.
• Competition growth - Is your store more stylish than others? Dependent on your unbiased answer, make the changes you need, delicate changes can go a long way.
• Some clients want to seek a new way to buy, e.g. second hand, renting, internet purchasing or designing. Show what features you offer.

We have all suffered a little more in 2022, let’s fly high in 2023 together!