The difference between your business thriving, or struggling to survive, in the increasingly more competitive world of luxury-retail, very often rests on the quality of your sales team. As obvious as that statement may seem, what is less obvious is how you change the game to give your store the best opportunity to be successful. If you are a hiring manager for a retail business, where your salespeople are expected to influence the sales process, then Hiring Squirrels, 12-Essential Interview Questions To Uncover Great Retail Sales Talent is a must read. Smith is a natural story teller - and he taps into his own considerable reserves of experiences to build a profile of real difference-makers in retail sales. While the author contends that more than half of the people currently employed in sales should be doing something else for a living, he also offers solid counsel on how to identify, recruit and interview people with natural sales wiring, who may not currently be employed in a sales capacity. Hiring Squirrels’ is filled with great tips and practical advice for identifying, interviewing and hiring great sales talent and it is, at its core, a very good read.
Peter Smith is the author of two books, Hiring Squirrels, 12-Essential Questions To Uncover Great Retail Sales Talent and Sell Something, Principles and Perspectives for Engaged Retail Salespeople. He is a columnist for National Jeweler and The Jewelry Book, where he writes about the retail experience; including salespeople, branding, training etc. The Irish native, is a graduate of Boston College and he has more than 30 years experience driving sales and building brands in retail and wholesale. Smith is a frequent speaker on the circuit, delivering keynotes on hiring salespeople and the retail experience.