In Blog 91 I talked about how change is constant in retail. In this blog I wanted to talk about building the team in Brass Plum Shoes.

Our 2^nd Asst. was very dissapointed he didn’t get the promotion. “You gave it to someone from clothing?”. I could understand how he was feeling, I’ve had similar things happen to me too, it hurts. But with Jean Claude recommending Candice and myself feeling she was the better choice, he decided to leave the company. He was a good guy too, really liked him.

Asst. Opening

Candice and I decided to interview the candidates for the second position together. Cynthia was interested. She had a  strong background in the athletic world which really helped in that area. It was an area I really wanted to grow thinking it could propel us to number 2 for sure. We thought she was great, down to Earth and we felt she was perfect for the job.

Candice was also down to Earth and she didn’t take any crap from anyone. She was strong. And she never raised her voice, it was always in a very calm way. I think I was more of a hot head than she was, so we balanced each other out quite well.

The team dynamic was coming along really well. Our management team was stronger now and we acquired some more really strong salespeople.

Alberto

Alberto was one of our top salespeople. He was quiet but had a strong presence. Plus he was funny and great with the customers. Another thing about Alberto was he was consistent. Some salespeople will have good days and bad days. He was Mr. Consistency. He was on track for Pacesetter because of this.

Mike

Mike was a very energetic salesperson. He was constantly on the move and very expressive. Being very ambitious, he made it clear he wanted to be an assistant if we had another opening. Amazing sales, people loved him were just a few great qualities. Plus he was genuine and the customers trusted him. Mike was an up and coming employee for sure. Being on track for Pacesetter you would think he’d want to do that first, but he was ready..

Brent

Brent was a phenomenal salesperson. He was so fast on the floor it was hard to keep track of him. Always hyper and had a great sense of humor. He liked calling me “Big Toe”. Never been called that before but I liked it for some weird reason. There was no doubt He clearly was on track and mentioned he had a friend that was interested in applying.

Danny

Danny was Brent’s friend. He came in for an interview the next week. His background was in modeling and sales. Definitely had the gift of gab. He was a sharp dresser and was very charming. I liked him immediately. This guy is going to hustle on the floor I thought. I was right.

He quickly turned into our top salesperson and became the 9^th person to be on track for Pacesetter. We now had more Pacesetters than any other Brass Plum floor in the company. This is how we will get to number 2, having great people.

Building the team in Brass Plum Shoes was alot of fun. The following quote is so true.

“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” – Vince Lombardi