Whether you’re a manager or a retail merchandising rep out in the field, trust is imperative at the workplace. Retail managers assume that A.) the merchandiser will show up for the project and B.) that they are competent to get the merchandising job done correctly. You should build great relationships with the store manager, higher-ups, and even your fellow merchandising co-workers by understanding the components of a trusting relationship.
1. Consistency. Showing up to all of your merchandising jobs shows you can be relied on. Retail managers will ask you back over and over again, because you won’t let him or her down. In contrast, if you’re inconsistent in these traits—if you miss important merchandising jobs, aren’t reading your company emails, being responsive, disclosing important information that pertains to the retail group, or aren’t paying attention to what’s happening at the store-level—the retail client or higher-up will learn that you aren’t trustworthy. No one will sustain a good working relationship with someone he doesn’t trust.
2. Knowledge. A retail store manager or higher-up will need to experience your skills. Having repeatedly good experiences in seeing those skills will help him or her have trust in you. If you’re a newbie and heading out to your first retail merchandising job, be sure to ask your manager for access to our training platform. You can find this on our portal. We highly encourage you to watch all the training videos under each division so you can learn as much as you can about merchandising before getting your feet wet. Our divisions consist of 1.) Merch-Install 2.) Service 3.) Service & Assembly and 4.) Channel Services.
3. Care. Managers will often think “Does this person care?” Care is essential; if there’s any lack of evidence of caring, a working relationship is impossible. Merchandisers who are picked to move up the ladder have a great sense of pride in what they do. If you want to go far, you’ll need to exhibit care throughout your retail work.
These three components are the building blocks to a trusting relationship. Building trust with store managers, higher-ups, and co-workers will only help give you job security since these are aspects that will have your manager calling you first over others. And remember, Apollo is always looking for Team Lead material. Follow these three components, build trust, and grow yourself within our industry!