Hey everyone, I’m a maple syrup and honey vendor at multiple farmers markets and one of my younger employees was caught reading at one of my booths. Like another vendor took a photo of her reading and I was livid. I just talked with her about how she needs to stop this and that she’s making me look bad. She said that reading on the job us apart of her “sales strategy,” and that if she focuses too much on “hustling and pushing” products on every customer that passes by that will scare them and demotivate her. She also says that she only reads during the slow times of the market and that reading helps her take a “mental break” when she feels discouraged by customers rejecting her sales pitches. I’m not there with her so I can’t know for sure if she’s telling the truth and I guess it’s bad if other vendors are taking pictures of her. The market is not for everyone but her numbers are okay and rarely better than mine. What do you guys think should I call her back and let her read and trust that her strategy is a valid one?
As a customer, I’d be much less put off seeing someone reading a physical book or kindle instead of a mobile phone or tablet.
You need to focus on influencing positive outcomes instead of attempting to control using fear-based micromanaging. Set goals and require a daily activity summary. Provide bonuses to incentivize exceeding goals.
Focus on encouraging behavior you want instead of grinding your employee into a demoralized pile of nothing by attempting to punish behaviors that don’t affect anything.
If the employee hits the targets you set and they can provide a full summary of the daily activity, why are you bugging?