Rocksbox President Allison Vigil shared the retailer’s expansion plans, and her thoughts on opening stores in malls.
Squirrel Spotting: 10 Things Not To Do To Your Salespeople
From not micro-managing to not making them managers, Peter Smith lists 10 things retailers should avoid if they want to hold onto their top salespeople.

So I thought it might be interesting to compile a list of what not to do when it comes to them.
Here’s a list of 10. Let me know if you have any suggestions to add; you can email them to me or leave them in the comments below.
1) Don’t Subject Them to an Up System
Your most talented salespeople should spend as much time as possible in front of customers.
Forcing them to take a number while less capable salespeople engage customers is frustrating for them and bad for business.
They give your company the best opportunity to make sales, and they give your customers the best opportunity to have a great experience.
2) Don’t Deny Them a Meritocracy
No matter what plan you use for compensation—base, commission, bonuses, etc.—make sure your best salespeople make the most money.
Compensation plans designed to create a level playing field (i.e., we don’t pay commission but we all share the rewards equally), however well intentioned, miss the point entirely. It’s a great way to lose top salespeople.
3) Don’t Load Them Up With Non-Selling Duties
Great salespeople should be in front of customers at every opportunity. Activities and tasks that remove them from your customers will cost you money.
It’s called lost business. Hire non-salespeople to do non-selling tasks and let salespeople sell, as that’s what drives business forward.
4) Don’t Inflict a Bad Manager on Them
Clichés are clichés for a reason. Good people don’t leave companies, they leave bad managers.
If you inflict a bad manager on a good sales team, you’re telling them you don’t really care about their welfare, their productivity or their job satisfaction.
5) Don’t Try To Change Them
Nobody is perfect and top salespeople are no different. They are, however, perfectly suited to sales and that’s what they should be celebrated for. Don’t waste time trying to fix their non-selling imperfections.
6) Don’t Paint Your Whole Team With the Same Brush
There is nothing more demotivating to top salespeople than a well-intentioned but misguided manager criticizing the entire team for under-performance.
You are, in effect, telling the best performers they are responsible not just for their own results, but for those of less capable coworkers that you hired.
7) Don’t Burn Them Out
Even top performers need to switch off every now
That could be, for example, an occasional late-morning start, or a paid half day when they least expect it.
8) Don’t Micro-Manage Them
Good salespeople wake up motivated. They spend most of their time engaged in behaviors designed to make sales, and they spend most of their waking hours thinking about your customers.
Let them do what they do best and don’t try to micro-manage them.
9) Don’t Make Them a Manager
It is a rare case where salespeople step easily into a manager’s position.
The very ego that is necessary for their sales success often drives them in that direction, but they are fundamentally different roles. When making this change, you’ll more than likely be losing a top salesperson and gaining a poor manager.
10) Don’t Offer False Praise
One of the greatest traits of top salespeople is their empathy—their ability to read people and situations. They see through false praise and inauthenticity as quickly as anyone on your team.
Keep it real.
Great salespeople are precious cargo and they should treated as such.
They make up about 17 percent of all salespeople and the really good ones, what I describe as hybrids, account for about 4 percent of all salespeople.
If you’ve got any, handle them with care.
The Latest

The creator of the WJA Chicago chapter is remembered as a champion for women in the jewelry industry and a loving grandmother.

The decline was consistent across age groups and almost all income groups, with tariffs and inflation still top of mind.

The Seymour & Evelyn Holtzman Bench Scholarship from Jewelers of America returns for a second year.

The “Playlist: Electric Dreams” collection brings lyrics from the musician’s song, “Little Wing,” to life through fine jewelry.


The event is set for May 16-19 in Detroit, Michigan.

The Vault’s Katherine Jetter is accusing the retailer of using info she shared for a potential partnership to move into Nantucket.

The countdown is on for the JCK Las Vegas Show and JA is pulling out all the stops.

Agents seized 2,193 pieces, a mix of counterfeit Cartier “Love” and “Juste Un Clou” bracelets, and Van Cleef & Arpels’ “Alhambra” design.

The designer brought her children’s book, “The Big Splash Circus,” to life through a collection of playful fine jewelry characters.

The trade association has chosen the recipients of the funding initiative it formed to foster the growth and sustainability of the industry.

The organization has also announced this year’s slate of judges.

Associate Editor Natalie Francisco shares 20 additional pieces that stood out to her at the Couture show.

Lori Tucker started at Williams Jewelers when she was 18 years old.

The “Marvel | Citizen Zenshin” watch is crafted in Super Titanium and has subtle nods to all four “Fantastic Four” superheroes on the dial.

The “XO Tacori” collection was designed to blend luxury and accessible pricing.

Pritesh Patel, the lab’s chief operating officer, will take over as president and CEO of GIA.

National Jeweler and Jewelers of America discuss the standout jewelry trends and biggest news to emerge from the shows this year.

Signatories to the “Luanda Accord” committed to allocating 1 percent of annual diamond revenue to the Natural Diamond Council.

The winning designs captured the “Radiance” theme.

Nominations in the categories of Jewelry Design, Media Excellence, and Retail Innovation will be accepted through July 30.

The singer’s ring ticks off many bridal trends, with a thick band, half-bezel setting, and solitaire diamond.

The bracelet references vintage high jewelry and snake symbolism as a playful piece where a python’s head becomes a working belt buckle.

The heist happened in Lebec, California, in 2022 when a Brinks truck was transporting goods from one show in California to another.

The 10-carat fancy purple-pink diamond with potential links to Marie Antoinette headlined the white-glove jewelry auction this week.

The Starboard Cruises SVP discusses who is shopping for jewelry on ships, how much they’re spending, and why brands should get on board.

The historic signet ring exceeded its estimate at Noonans Mayfair’s jewelry auction this week.