Design Team Sales Manager
Nell Hill's | Briarcliff Store | Full-Time | On-Site | Salaried + Commission
- Lead, coach, and develop a team of Designers, fostering a culture of positivity, accountability, and sales focus
- Set clear expectations for performance, professionalism, and client engagement
- Lead by example on the showroom floor - demonstrating best practices in clienteling, product knowledge, and customer connection
- Build a team environment that is driven and self-motivated, positive and genuine, collaborative and respectful, and independent and accountable
- Handle complaints and performance issues professionally, escalating to leadership as appropriate
- Hold monthly one-on-one meetings with each Designer to review performance, provide feedback, and set goals
- Facilitate regular team meetings to align on priorities, share updates, and celebrate wins
- Develop and deliver trainings on product knowledge, sales techniques, clienteling, and design services
- Implement systems and processes that support consistency and team effectiveness
- Push through company programs and initiatives, ensuring the team is informed and engaged
- Own department sales performance - monitor results, identify trends, and take action to meet and exceed goals
- Run reporting to fully understand individual and team sales activity, pipelines, and performance metrics
- Support Designers in working leads from initial contact through project follow-up and close
- Gather customer feedback, project data, and team suggestions to provide actionable input to the buying team
- Opportunity to attend Market to support the buying process and deepen product knowledge
- Build and manage the monthly schedule for the design team, ensuring adequate floor coverage
- Approve time-off requests and manage scheduling changes in accordance with company policy
- Ensure Designers are maximizing floor time with customers while supporting their project prep and planning needs
- Maintain oversight of the Design Studio - organized, welcoming, and fully functional
- Maintain a deep understanding of interior design to support the team at every stage - from leads and appointments to project follow-up and order resolution
- Support Designers in building lasting client relationships focused on long-term loyalty, repeat business, and referrals
- Assist in resolving escalated customer concerns with professionalism and a solutions-first mindset
- Support the team in building and maintaining client portfolios so completed work can be shared
- Maintain strong relationships with key vendors to support custom order placement and management
- Develop and maintain a high level of product knowledge to coach the team and support customer interactions
- Support Designers in the accurate preparation and submission of custom orders
- Collaborate with Visual Merchandising to support weekly floor moves and maintain a beautiful showroom
- Partner with the Buying team to share sales data, customer insights, and team feedback
- Communicate significant design projects to the Marketing team for shareable content and service promotion
- Attend monthly leadership meetings and communicate key updates and priorities to your team
- Participate in special events, seasonal activations, and storewide initiatives
- 3–5+ years of retail sales management experience, preferably in design, home furnishings, or a lifestyle environment
- Proven ability to lead, coach, and develop a sales team to meet and exceed performance goals
- Strong understanding of interior design principles at a level that allows you to confidently support a design team
- Experience managing custom orders and vendor relationships
- Comfortable with POS and reporting systems; Shopify experience is a plus
- Excellent communicator with the ability to deliver clear feedback, run productive meetings, and collaborate across departments
- Highly organized, proactive, and solutions-oriented
- Warm, approachable, and genuinely passionate about people, product, and the customer experience
- Comfortable managing complaints and navigating difficult conversations with professionalism and grace
- Comfortable standing and walking for extended periods
- Able to lift and carry merchandise up to 50 lbs as needed
- Adaptable to a lively retail environment with frequent customer and team interaction