by Carl Massa

Many church bookstores offer a fixed percentage discount--often around 10%-to paid employees, and some also offer this perk to volunteers. Additionally, an employee discount can be an enticement for potential paid or volunteer staff.

Before deciding on a standard employee discount, evaluate your profit margins. Then, develop a clear policy on who can take advantage of the discount. Consider whether the same discount will be available for paid bookstore staff, bookstore volunteers and non-bookstore church staff members.

After you develop a policy that you believe to be fair and clear, run it by the pastor who oversees the bookstore. Once the policy is approved, communicate it to the staff in writing.

Since vendors sometimes offer free products to retailers, consider using these items for staff giveaways. However, as with discounts, a clear policy should be established at the outset to avoid confusion or the appearance of favoritism.

There are lots of ways to use free products as employee bonuses. They can be handed out at staff meetings or given as rewards if a customer compliments a particular employee. You could use free products as a bonus for completing training, or simply as a sign of appreciation for a job well done.

Periodically setting aside time to train employees can be rewarding in many ways. If you hold special classes on topics such as P.O.S. technology, sales techniques or product knowledge, it will both enhance the efficiency of the store and show staffers that you are investing in them and helping them develop their skills.

Additionally, see whether any church staff members would be willing to teach a short training session to your workers. Perhaps a counseling pastor could teach staffers how to listen better to customers or a teaching pastor could teach a "Theology 101" course, explaining commonly used theological terms, to aid in the selling of academic books.

Encouraging your staff members and developing relationships with them is probably the most difficult bonus for a manager to offer-but it is also the most rewarding. The degree to which your staff feels valued and loved will be the single greatest factor in keeping them happy, content and serving at your store.

- Carl Massa is former manager of Harvest Bookstore at Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, Ill.

Read the complete article at http://www.thechurchbookstore.com/a.php?ArticleID=15419.