Dennis is an eager, success-minded clothing sales pro who reports to you. One of his clients, William, a Black businessman in his mid 40's, has purchased several suits over the past year. Dennis has nurtured this client relationship through follow-up phone calls, notices of sales and thank you notes.
Recently you hired Michael, a Black male with a lot of sales experience. During a sale event, Dennis noticed Michael, the new guy, ringing up a couple of suits for William. Dennis came to you and said, "I'm disappointed that after all of my efforts, William didn't seek me out. The only reason I can think of for the switch is that Dennis is Black and I'm not. What do I do about this?"
Discussion
Dennis needs some empathy from you, his manager. Even though customers have a right to deal with whomever they desire, a cultivated customer switching to another salesperson is hard to take.
Talk to Dennis about not jumping to conclusions. It may be that Michael didn't know about Dennis' relationship with William and, doing his job, approached William as he entered the store. It may be that William went to Michael for help because he wanted to support a 'brother' or maybe William was in a hurry and Dennis was busy when he entered the store. It may be that William and Michael know each other from the past.
Whatever the reason, encourage Dennis to do a couple of things. First, have him talk to Michael and tell him about the past relationship Dennis has with William. His purpose should be to inform Michael, not to judge him or demand that he stop dealing with William. Remind Dennis that William has the choice of dealing with any salesperson he wants and that the ultimate goal is for the store to retain William as a satisfied customer. Still, the conversation is important for keeping the air clear between Dennis and Michael and putting the history out there. As a sales manager, make sure the conversation happens and trust that they will resolve it. If they can't, you mediate.
Second, encourage Dennis to keep on sending the notices and notes and maintaining the contact he has with William until he hears from William that he doesn't want to receive them. Don't let Dennis get discouraged and discontinue his good service to everyone based on one incident. Even if William does want to continue to work with Michael, there are lots of other customers who will want to work with him and some will be Black.
Also, keep Michael motivated by letting him know that he did fine. A customer came in and he took care of that customer and made a sale. Let him know that even if Dennis continues to correspond with the customer, he still should send a thank you note to William for the recent sale. It's all good customer service and that's what you expect from all sales people.
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