Career: Sales Worker Supervisors
Whether they run the corner grocery or a gourmet supermarket, a fancy boutique or a discount department store, all retailers try to sell their products and services to customers. Customers, for their part, want their experiences with the sales staff to be positive.
As a sales worker supervisor, you’ll need to do more than make sure that products are sold -- you’ll need to make sure that customers are happy and want to return.
A sales worker supervisor heads up the sales team and keeps an eye on inventory.
“How I do my job is totally up to me … There are goals and expectations, but how I get there is up to me. ”
Teff, Specialty-Shop Manager
Are You Ready To...?
- Work long hours, including some weekends
- Work an ever-changing schedule
- Become an expert on an entire range of products and services
- Answer questions from both customers and staff
- Hire and fire
- Train staff
- Schedule staff
- Evaluate staff performance
- Decide who deserves a raise
- Settle disputes
- Check and order inventory
- Close the register
It Helps to Be...
A self-starter who can use good judgment to make quick decisions. As a supervisor, you’ll have to get along with a lot of different people, organize them, and communicate with staff and customers.
Make High School Count
- Learn a range of computer software programs. You’ll be using computers daily -- to track inventory, for example.
- Work hard in English. A major part of being a sales supervisor is communicating with people, both employees and customers.
- Sign up for business and accounting classes.
- Look into Junior Achievement to learn about business from the pros.
- Take on leadership roles in student government, sports teams, clubs, and other activities.
- Work retail over the summer. Experience counts big in this biz.
“I write a lot of evaluations and do a lot of performance reviews. I also have to deal with the negative side of things, telling people when their performance isn't up to expectations. ”
Teff, Specialty-Shop Manager
Outlook
Government economists expect jobs for sales worker supervisors to grow more slowly than the average for all careers through 2016. That’s because the trend in retail is for each manager to supervise more employees, eliminating the need for some supervisors.
Those who already have retail experience, such as cashiers or customer service reps, will have the greatest chance of becoming supervisors.
Compensation
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, managers of retail salespeople earned an average of $39,910 in 2008. These are the average earnings of those who worked for the biggest employers:
- General merchandise stores, except department stores: $32,590
- Grocery stores: $37,390
- Clothing stores: $37,500
- Department stores: $32,940
- Building material and supplies dealers: $42,490
