The image of a 30-year-old child still living in the basement might trouble many parents who expected their kids to become more productive. Owners of furniture stores should be just as bothered by 30-year-old sales associates who are still learning on the job long after they should be making money for the business, Jody Seivert says.
Don’t blame the 30-year-old, she adds. “Both things will happen if they’re allowed to happen.”
Seivert has worked in the home furnishings industry since 1979. She’s a designer and a training specialist who operates One X One Companies. She will lead a seminar on “Fast Tracking Millennial Salespeople” at 4 p.m. April 6 in the Retailer Resource Center at High Point Market.
Don’t get her wrong: She likes millennials, members of the generation generally born from 1981 to 1996.
“They are good students, they want to learn,” Seivert says, “but you don’t want them to learn too long. If they learn 100 percent of 100 percent that’s on the floor, they won’t be productive.”
In her seminar, she’ll give tips on how to get young associates up to speed quickly by setting targets, structuring their time effectively and even teaching them how to run a business. The conversation will even cover millennial employees who happen to be the sons or daughters of the owner – whether or not they’re living in the basement at home.
The Retailer Resource Center is on the first floor of Plaza Suites, 222 S. Main St. For more information on the High Point Market, click here.
