Gift Basket Business Blog

Hiring the Right People for Your Gift Basket Business

August 9th, 2009 at 05:38pm Lorie Obernauer

With the holiday season approaching, you may be considering whether you need extra help. If you’re thinking about hiring soon, first take some time to figure out exactly what you need. Here are some tips for tackling this process.

Spend several days with your staff and just observe. When do your procedures break down? When does customer service begin to deteriorate? If your designers have trouble getting back to their work after they answer a phone call, maybe you need someone to answer the phone and take orders. If finished basket designs are sitting in the design room for too long, maybe you need extra help in your shipping department. If the shipping department is backed up, watch what they’re doing. Maybe your shippers need some help preparing shipping boxes for packing and replenishing supplies. If your staff asks the same questions repeatedly, maybe you need to clarify certain procedures. Once you correctly identify the problem, you can more accurately come up with a solution.

Once you’ve identified where you need extra help, think about the skills needed to carry out those tasks. While we traditionally use interview questions to find out about an interviewee’s skills and experiences, many applicants know the “right answers”, but don’t really know how to do what they say they can do.

How about trying some role playing? Watch how the person puts together the pieces of the puzzle. If you need someone to answer the phone and take orders, watch and listen to them answer a phone call. Let the person you’re interviewing pretend that he/she works in a clothing store (or sporting goods store, food store or any business he/she is familiar with). Have one of your other employees be the “customer” and call in to place an order. How does the interviewee answer the phone? How does he/she begin the conversation? Are suggestions offered? Are good questions asked? Does he/she ask all of the pertinent information needed for getting an order right. If the interviewee handles the call well, it is likely he/she will be able to learn your products and procedures and apply his/her “telephone skills” to your business.

You can use role playing to discern skills needed for any task that needs to be done. Ask the person who is applying for a job in your shipping department to pack a fragile item. Have a “would be” designer create a basket using your products.  Have a potential customer service person handle a “customer” who comes into your store with a complaint.

What are some techniques you use to hire the right people for your business?

Entry Filed under: Business Tips, Customer Service, Employee Training