One Door Closes…Again!

Back in 2014, I made the decision to retire from full-time work. I was proud at the time that I was able to make a career in jobs I never really loved but that were enough to fund my other interests, such as photography.

In 2021, I decided a little more work was ok, for the first time in a field of interest, and accepted a part-time job at Henry’s, one of Canada’s leading camera and video retailers. This week, that too has come to an end, making room to move forward into new personal challenges.

The job at Henry’s was not just another job. It filled a gap that was years in the making. And it came at a time when the Covid pandemic had stripped away all of my regular face to face human contact. I needed it more than it needed me. So why am I leaving?

Retail sales was not something I had ever done before. I had had customer service roles elsewhere, but not with an objective to have folks spend money. I’ve learned quite a bit about that over the past two years. You can come into a job like this one with one of three attitudes: I want to be top in sales; I want to be successful but not focus only on that number; or I have a skillset that I can share and hopefully help people make good choices (and that might lead to personal success). There are other attitudes too, but let’s focus on these three.

I love talking to people about photography. I love answering their questions and helping them take the next step forward in their own journey. But I’ve discovered that, for me, this doesn’t include pushing high-end gear. Don’t get me wrong – I want people to have the information to make an informed choice. I love showing off what the latest toys can do. I sometimes have to stop myself talking so that a customer can take it all in for a minute. But at the end of the day, if the best match for them is a point and shoot they can put in their pocket, that’s where I take them. I will suggest other options as well, but always their best fit in mind.

Retailers do encourage what they define as a reasonable push for sales. We are encouraged to “upsell”. We’ve all seen some folks take it just a bit too far. I can now say that it’s really hard to find the right balance point as a salesperson. Some customers want to know every choice available at every price point and want to debate the pros and cons with you; some don’t. Some feel intimidated, even frustrated, if you ramble on and on about options and presume to tell them what they need. At the end of the day, my measure was never what I sold, but rather orders that were ultimately cancelled or returned. If you repeatedly see customers cancel an order or return the gear they bought, that might be a sign that maybe doing everything to get the sale is not really the right choice. On the basis of that measure, I’ve done ok.

And it’s all about relationships in this space, at least when you have a storefront staffed by “experts”. And that’s my second ah-ha. Every customer is different. The ease with which you can enter into a conversation, explore their interests with them, find out about their background and expectations, and make and test suggestions with them is what made this job for me. The number of personal stories I have heard is amazing. And this met my objective for taking the job in the first place: I needed to re-establish my connection with people after Covid. From that perspective, this job has been the best experience of my life.

Sometimes that interaction leads to an immediate sale, sometimes it just leads to a friendship. But I have to say that in the long-run, most of my sales have come from those friendships. Another ah-ha.

So why would I consider leaving? Recall any job you have had. They all have features that are less appealing than others. Whether it’s administrative requirements or scheduling or even issues with compensation, eventually those things start to get in the way. I’ve discovered that all my intricate planning for retirement actually works to my disadvantage if I want to be employed again. The government gets so much of my Henry’s income that I am almost working for free. While income was not the main driver for taking this job, it weighs on you after a while – particularly at income tax filing time. I do have to admit though that the employee discounts on gear were a great offset to this problem.

And at the end of it all, I’ve decided that I no longer want to make a standing time commitment to anyone in exchange for a paycheque. I have to say that the company has accommodated all of my needs for scheduling, much more so than I have seen in any other job. They do really care about their staff. But I do still have a schedule, and strangely, I just don’t want one anymore. The only commitments I want to make now are to family and friends.

And, lastly, while “the customer is always right”, as the saying goes, sometimes an interchange with a customer leaves you frustrated, angry or deflated. It’s the nature of human relationships. There just is no way to be seen as fair in everyone’s eyes. And sometimes no way to feel good about the exchange. I won’t miss those moments.

That said, there are two experiences that I will treasure to the end of my life. Helping to gift a camera last Christmas to a Ukrainian refugee staying with friends in Canada. All of his kit back home had been destroyed. I’m told he broke down in the parking lot after leaving the store with his new gear. And all the many folks that have come in because a loved one had passed away and they needed help assembling memorial photographs or advice on selling a collection of used camera gear. My heart went out to them all. Hugs were sometimes part of these interactions.

I will go back to being a customer and visitor at Henry’s. I look forward to seeing my former colleagues regularly. I thank them sincerely for their support and for all the knowledge that they so willingly shared. I am so glad to have had this opportunity and thank everyone I’ve connected with over my time at Henry’s. I am a much better person because of it.