By Harry J. Friedman Founder/CEO, The Friedman Group

Have you heard any of these comments in your store?

" It seems that I can never get all of my paperwork, stock work and housekeeping chores done and be able to wait on all of the customers, too. I know the customer comes first, but I've got so much paperwork to do and not enough time to do it with the interruptions of customers.

" Joan is stealing all of my sales. Whenever a customer walks in, she jumps up and waits on them before I can drop what I'm doing to give it a shot. I don't want to act too fast and chase them out of the store.

" Sometimes I think the other salespeople don't want to help customers. Shoppers will come in and everyone hesitates to approach them. We all think the other is going for it and then no one does. I don't want to hog sales, but I just think the customers should be approached more quickly.

" The priorities of my sales staff are all messed up. I honestly think that they would rather be doing paperwork or anything else but waiting on customers.

" My sales staff is getting out of hand. They fight over sales like hungry lions. I'm afraid the atmosphere around here is getting too unpleasant to stand, let alone long enough to buy something.

You'll be glad to know that there is a remedy for these problems. It is called the rotation system, an orderly process by which salespeople take turns waiting on customers. Some of the most successful retail stores in the country operate on a rotation system. Simply run, a rotation system chart must be conveniently located. Each salesperson's name will be listed in a column at the beginning of a day. The salesperson's name at the top of the list gets the first customer in the store that day. The first person to work that day is usually the first person on the list, the second person is the second, etc. The second person on the list crosses out the name on the top of the list once that person takes a customer, and he or she gets the next customer. The process simply continues with each person being responsible for crossing out the name of the person above them on the list as each gets a customer.

When each salesperson finishes with a customer, they return to the list and write their name at the bottom. This makes it an ongoing process that assures each salesperson of having a fair chance of making sales and each customer of being helped every single time. It is possible that one salesperson could receive more opportunities in one day than another salesperson working the same length of time, since some will spend less time with customers than others. Spending too long with one customer is a problem many salespeople have and developing your closing skills will only decrease your presentation time and increase your sales opportunities.

Some managers find it helpful to add a "What Happened?" column to the rotation chart to track conversion rate (the number of customers out of ten that each salesperson sold something to) and gain more insight into each salesperson's performance.

A staff of very aggressive salespeople can get out of hand and create an uncomfortable ambiance for customers. Generally, customers do not like buying in a store that reeks of commission salespeople. It makes them feel as if the salespeople care nothing about them, only about how much commission they will make from the sale. The rotation system will ensure that only one salesperson will approach the customer, and he or she won't feel like they are being attacked.

On the other side of the coin, stores may sometimes be filled with salespeople who do not make the most of every opportunity. They let the customers roam and they, in turn, help when asked for help. If given a fair chance to make sales, these shy or unsure salespeople will be encouraged to maximize their opportunities since their sales statistics will be compared to the rest of the group, and no one will be able to depend on customers coming in and asking to buy something.

A combination of aggressive and shy salespeople is possibly even worse than a store filled with only one or the other. While the customers still encounter pushy salespeople, the less aggressive and skilled salespeople make even fewer sales and have fewer opportunities to try to improve their skills. The rotation system gives everyone a fair chance to develop their selling skills and make sales at the same time.

There have to be rules to account for unusual circumstances so that the system remains reasonable. For example, if you are using the rotation system, and a customer comes in asking for directions, you may decide that it does not count as a legitimate opportunity. But, if a customer comes in, you approach him, and he says he is just looking, you must stick with that customer. Your job is to make the best of the opportunity presented by that customer walking into your store and use your selling skills to overcome the resistance you receive. Remember, not every customer who says he is just looking is really just looking.

Many managers decide that anyone who walks into the store should be considered an opportunity, due to the fact that it is possible to sell to someone just asking directions. Because everyone will get their fair share of these types of customers, it really all works out in the end.

At times, it is likely that the salesperson next in line may get a customer who has been helped before by another salesperson and is now back to buy. This being the situation, after opening the sale, it may be necessary to determine whether this is the case. You owe it to your fellow employees to make a deliberate attempt to find out if the customer is not rightfully yours. If the original salesperson is not working on that day, you are still responsible for helping that person. In some cases, it may be a split sale. In other cases, you may only be writing up the sale as a courtesy to your fellow employee and there is no split. This should be handled according to your company policy on split sales.

The rotation system can also help in allowing you free, uninterrupted time to do your paperwork and other routine daily tasks. When you are at the top of the list, you are alert for the next customer. When you are low on the list, you can concentrate on what you need to accomplish and in most cases, finish things up faster.

When you have a fairly large staff, it is best to have the last person on the list taking care of incoming phone calls and customers who come in for repairs, exchanges or the like from a previous purchase. These customers might be approached by the person who is next, but then turned over to the last person on the list to handle.

The rotation system is effective only during slow periods in your store. If you are busy, and there are enough customers to go around, turn the sheet over and resume using the list when business slows down again. Or, you can look at it another way. If everyone takes the customer they get, regardless of whether it is a return or not, everyone will get their fair share of returns to handle over a period of time.

Develop some rules for the rotation system that takes into consideration personal trade customers, returns, repairs, meal breaks and all of the other variables. These rules must be agreed upon by the entire staff to keep the rotation system from being more of a hindrance than a help. The rules will be different for different stores and different industries.

A store meeting is the ideal means of discussing the rules and how your own rotation system will function. It is a system to make your life easier, but the team must work together to make it succeed.