Sales Associate in Barrie, Ontario at Surplus Furtniture

Surplus Furniture and Mattress Warehouse is a national furniture chain with locations spanning from Alberta to Newfoundland. We provide fantastic value to our consumers making us a price leader in Canada. Even with consistent growth, Surplus Furniture and Mattress Warehouse has not lost sight of its beginnings or the reasons for its success. We continue to sell quality furniture at warehouse pricing! No fancy buildings, no overhead, just great prices.

Reporting to the Store Manager, the Sales Associate is responsible for selling furniture and assisting customers with inquiries. This position acts as the store’s first line of contact with customers and is responsible for presenting the store professionally and its merchandise in a visually appealing manner. In addition, Sales Associates assist Store Managers with documenting customer requests and communicating customer-service issues to management.

• Greet customers in a professional and friendly manner to create a welcoming environment
• Build rapport by engaging in conversation with customers to determine their purchasing needs
• Resolve dissatisfaction by listening to customer concerns, diffusing the situation, and seeking the assistance of management
• Present customers with products that meet their needs to facilitate a sale
• Assist customers to ensure that presented products meet their needs to finalize a sale
• Read product specifications, appraisal statements, and certificates in order to accurately answer customer questions
• Inform customers of product specifications, styles, guarantees, warranties, discounts, special services, custom orders, promotions, special pricing, payment plans, financing, and return policy in order to facilitate their decision-making process
• Process payments by accepting cash and/or credit cards, accurately returning change, obtaining signature, and preparing receipts in order to ensure accurate monetary transactions
• Arrange furniture prior to store opening to ensure merchandise is presented in a manner that is visually appealing
• Communicate customer complaints and feedback to management
• Calculate customer balances for layaways, repairs, and customer orders by tabulating deposits, payments and applicable discounts to ensure accurate customer accounting
• Assist coworkers and Store Managers with completing sales to avoid customer bottlenecks and excessive wait times

Other

• Other duties as assigned

• Completion of a High School Diploma or higher
• Previous retail sales experience (minimum 1 years preferred)
• Proven track record of sales ability to meet targets
• Strong communication skills (both written and verbal) required to build rapport with customers
• Exceptional customer-service skills
• Knowledge of furniture and industry trends
• Able to work with diverse customers
• Able to perform basic arithmetic calculations
• Strong problem-solving skills
• Able to handle difficult customers

This position interfaces with internal and external contacts:

• Internal reports: Store Managers
• External reports: Customer base and vendors

Sales Associates work in direct retail establishments. Such stores tend to have a maximum of 3-5 employees on duty at any given time. A Store Manager is on duty during a Sales Associate’s shift. Sales Associates are required to stand for long periods of time and perform some computer work.