retail sales associate

sales associate

store manager

gérant de commerce de détail

seasonal associate

The Source

My day consisted of opening the store, prepping a sales rally to deliver it to my cohorts about the days promotions, ensuring that all stock was put out and properly secured, ensuring the store look clean at the end of night and counting the tills and running the daily report.

An integral part of this job is positioning and securing subscription-based customers on Bell Mobility or Bell Residential Services. Sadly on our end there is not much we can do to help existing customers other than to position new services or upgrades to them.

Throughout my 3 years I have learned how to become a better salesperson and how to properly manage a small team of motivated individuals to be successful in their environment.
This job has also shown that it is rewarding to be confident and it is rewarding to be honest with the people you are selling to on a daily basis.

Management support is unfortunately very lacking.
Calling in sick felt like I was pulling teeth and was often guilt-tripped even when I had COVID-19. We were often made to call and have someone cover shifts when I was physically unable to even reach for the phone. 

Hours are giving out to people who are more "deserving" of them, and if you're unable to make an early shift because of an event or obligation the previous night, the manager will cut your hours down for not only that day, but for the rest of the week.

The hours themselves were very long. 10 hour days of constant customer service completely drains your social battery, and you were usually made to stay a half hour to an hour after your scheduled shift had ended due to price changes and store cleaning.

Coaching sessions were often stressed about because the manager would manipulate you into thinking everything you are doing is incorrect, even with almost perfect results, you were still not good enough.

No helpful constructive criticism was given to people who weren't as successful in the business, and coaching sessions were not adapted to the way they learn, often leading to associates being beaten up about their results and lacking any motivation to really continue their efforts.

I loved the work, I loved helping my clients, and I really enjoyed my time with the company but the ultimate reason why I moved on was because of management.
Backhanded criticisms were often handed out, and the boundary between work and home life was very blurred. 
The managers mood switches on a dime, and oftentimes it's like walking on eggshells.

I kept going home stressed, there were nights where I could not sleep, and burnout was always inevitable because I was constantly overworked and underpaid.

I felt consistently under pressure, and any small mistake that I would make due to being burnt out would come with a threat of a write-up.
This was also made very hypocritically because another associate has actually committed fraud and the manager did not take the appropriate action, and even treated the associate to lunch a few weeks later.

When the time came for my review, I was made to believe that my efforts were not being noticed and my raise was denied. The manager said I 'owed him one" because he claims he fought for my raise.
$17.50/hr was not worth the stress or hassle of this job.

Constant back and forth arguments between myself and the manager kept escalating and came to a head just before the end of the third fiscal quarter. Thankfully a better opportunity for myself came and I decided to quit.
The last 2 weeks on the job allowed me to see how the manager really felt, with coworkers telling me that I was being disrespected by the manager. This made for a very turbulent transition away from the company.

Overall, if you like a challenging workplace that's rewarding both financially and developmentally, then The Source is a great place for you.
The Welland location however is definitely not worth your application

When I began my job @ The Source the store was without a manager. Myself and 3 other associates were running the store on our own, all but one of us having less than 1 year in the store. The coworker that had been there for over a year was in charge or many tasks beyond his responsibilities and performed excellently. 

After 2 months we had a new manager come in and he decided that he wouldn't allow my coworker with over 1 year experience in the company and many months of running the store on his own to even comment on his activity or attempt to help him with his training, show him the ropes etc. He continued to put down my coworker and claim he did not know what he was talking about until he had been treated badly  to the point that he transferred to another store. 

I've watched another coworker be forced into quitting by this manager by scheduling him purposely during his classes at University and claiming he is unable to accommodate any outside schedule although he was told he would be accommodated upon hiring. I also had myself and others questioned upon calling in sick and even been forced to allow him to "touch your head" to confirm fever. 

Working under this manager is nearly impossible as nothing is ever good enough for him. The Source is a small store with now 3 associates total and he continues to run in like it is a Big Box Store instead of being in any way personable. 3 people have been hired and quit since I started at this location.

Daily I was met with negative messages from this manager. If a single sale tag out of two hundred is missed and left on the floor a day beyond expiry we receive a photo of the tag and a long text about why its unacceptable behavior. If we leave our water or keys in the back room, the same thing will happen. One time I took all the garbage out and left one item in the garbage can that had been put there after the fact and received word that it was unacceptable behavior. 

At The Source you receive a target to hit for the month. This target is always reasonable and based off the numbers the store did in the previous year. Each time my store received a target this manager would double whatever the number is and tell us we must hit that instead. (Assumingly because as I later found out, he receives a monthly pay bonus if we are above target) 

This manager when coaching you weekly points out only the flaws in your performance and will never meet you with a word of encouragement or even a simple "good work".  At the point of my 3 month review I was written up at he lowest level possible when I have consistently hit my target and built my own base of customer loyalty. Each month I am told and threatened that I have 1 more month to prove myself or I will be let go. I was never allowed to see what as written about me in my weekly reviews and was simply told to sign them.

On a daily basis we are ridiculed and picked on. If each and every customer isnt pitched a cell phone in the day you will receive a lecture on your performance,  doesn't matter if you know you've done a phone for them recently or not. Every person that walks in the store is expected to be given the sales pitch over and over, even when they come in every day.

Commission is the only reason to stay at this job as they do pay well when you sell a phone. Although other companies do pay higher ie. Rogers employees etc. 

Selling products in the store isn't important. You are measured on your cell phones only. Unfortunately 90% of customers come in unaware this store deals with Cell Phones to begin with and are looking for small items RadioShack carried before we took over.

Overall not worth your time and energy for the recognition you will receive.

This company is the worst. If you think you're starting to work at the Source to sell electronics and to help customers to benifit their needs, think again. The Source is nothing about electronics and all about cellphones. You might as well work in a Bell store.

Here's a rundown of the Source.

1. Management.

Management here is atrocious. Managers spend 90% of their time in the back room, just lounging and barking at whether you sold a cellphone yet. The worst part is they will literally give you 1 shift a week if you didn't sell cellphones for a few days. Managers will delegate a lot of tasks for you when it's meant for them, while they will push for cellphone sales themselves. You will be tasked with cleaning, price-tagging, shipping and recieving, warranty knowledge, and tech support while trying to sell cellphones on top of all those duties. Management in the Source has this bizarre notion that cellphones run 100% of the company, and every customer should be converted to horrid Bell/Virgin mobile plans. Managers also don't care why you didn't sell that day, as they just care about numbers. This company will be run to the ground in a few years due to a few shortsighted people who don't know anything about managing.



2. Work atmosphere.

This really depends on which store you're located at. If you're in a high traffic big store, the atmosphere is always tense. Not only the upper managment literally expects you to convert every single customer to a Bell or Virgin Mobile user, you were expected to push push push push for a cellphone at every customer. As a result, there will be tensions between coworkers on grabbing sales form each other. 

3. Job advancement/ Recognition.

Absolutely no recognition in this company. Upper management doesn't care if you sold 200 phones in the last week. If you fail to sell one today, you don't get much shifts for the next week. There is absolutely no room for job advancement as the managers are already either been there forever or are directly hired into the company.

4. Salary

I guess as a retail job, you can only expect so much in salary and pay. You get paid minimum wage plus a few comissions on cellphones and warranties. If you're not good at selling, you will literally only get minimum wage while expected to do managerial duties.  Constantly you will get threatened by management to be fired if you don't sell enough, which is ridiculous.
The only good things i have to say about the Source are my co-workers. Most of the time, they're really your only source of fun while working. Getting along with co-workers is especially important in a cut-throat working environment such as this. You also learn quite a lot about different products and how they work, plus also how cellphones are activated.



In conclusion, don't work for this company. It will save you a lot of headaches

Working at the Source has been and still is a learning experience. I started as a sales associate in August and quickly became a second key holder after my first month. When the new position of Shift Leader was created, they had promoted my title to such. A typical day is where we help people find what they need, mostly batteries, and talk to them about their cellular phones and plans as well as their home services. We provide Mobile services with Bell and Virgin as well as Bell Residential Services (BRS).

I have learned a lot more about electronics than I did when I started. I learned how activations work for cell phones as well as home services, learned how to talk with the representatives that people deal with when they have questions/concerns. Learned the variety of management tasks in a retail store such as shipments that come in, that we have to send out with proper procedures, organization of all products as well as providing proper paperwork to ensure we can track our products, sales and trends for analysis later down the road.

Management puts a lot of emphasis and pressure on selling cell phones and BRS. Typically, the changes from management will derive from the high traffic/selling stores which makes it difficult for smaller less frequented stores to be successful. Quotas are most often than not higher than we predict to being able to sell. Incentives change but mostly benefit the larger high traffic/selling stores. On the other hand, Management does provide us with aid when we are in need.

The hardest part of the job is convincing people to come to Bell for home services as well as mobile services. Most people in my area have had bad experiences in the past and cannot see the changes that Bell has done in the past 2 years. They are also not eligible for the new services Bell has which surpasses the quality of their services as well as making it affordable when comparing. Most people already have a cell phone and are on contract. The second hardest part to this is making sure they don't have bad credit, if they do, they cannot get these services or have to put down a deposit to get them.

What I do enjoy with the job is being able to talk to people without a script and be professional and friendly. We have a variety of different customers and we try to have fun with them depending on their moods and if we have a line up. My co-workers are fantastic and always make it enjoyable. When we do sell a lot, we make a good amount of commission on top of our wages.

If you LOVE being taken advantage of for minimum wage and LOVE shoving cell phone sales down costumers throats for pennies, then The Source is the place for you!!

I worked for The Source for over 6 months. Within my first month I was 2nd in command. They hired me telling me I would receive full time, then told me no one is hired on full time, that I MAY get full time hours but my title will always be part-time, which prevents you from ever getting full benefits. But they make sure and give you enough hours where you need to be totally devoted to them leaving you no time for finding a second job let alone school or family. 

Over the next three months, my check was shorted on numerous occasions, my "spiffs" (commission) was inaccurate and I realized, that even though I work for "The Source" at the end of the day, the company is still owned by BELL, which explains a lot. 

Near the end of my three months  my manager was fired, and my location was being closed down with NO notice to anyone, no notice to staff and NO notice to costumers, literally at the end of a shift they came in and said that our doors were closed for business permanently. They made me manager of that location so I could handle the closing procedures. They left me with ZERO staff and ZERO assistance in closing the stores.

 I had worked for the company for under 3 months and was being left alone to pack and ship out 100's of thousands of dollars of product throughout the district and to head office. Take down displays, climbing 20ft ladders by myself, taking apart the POSs, EVERYHTING. I asked my district manager for help and he came for 2 hours one day of the three weeks I was there. I continued in hopes they would make me full time, or a manager in training at the new location I would be sent too,but more empty promises and no recognition for anything.

 I continued at the new location for a few more months where they hired a barista as a manager in training and when he told me my pants were to small in all the right places, I gave my 2 weeks and QUIT. It was the greatest feeling of all time. I still have the keys to the store I closed because of they're stupidity and unprofessionalism. 


STAY AWAY!!!!!

The Source is a love it or hate it workplace. If you're a people person, good with connecting with individuals and have a bit of sales talent, you'll do very well. 

The Source is a sales job. Unlike Best Buy, The Source offers its employees commissions, spiffs, bonuses and incentives to perform. This means however that, there are quotas, and increasing pressure to perform if you're not selling up to standard. 

The job itself is not very taxing. The cardio you get is pretty good from walking back and forth all day (I average 1KM per hour). Like any customer service job, it's your patience that will really be tested. Be it with cranky, entitled, know-it-all but somehow don't know anything customers or with helicopter trainers that come by at least once a week.

There are several ways to sell at The Source, each with its own quotas and standards. Primarily, it's Bell residential services (The Source is owned by Bell). Second its cellphones and plan activations (also from Bell). Finally, the miscellaneous stuff, warranties, phone insurance, email collection, etc...

The hardest part of the job is learning how to stay motivated and focused when facing constant rejection. You may deal with 30 customers in a day but you'll be lucky to even sell the big ticket stuff to one person.  

FInally, I will say that for the most part, I find that the trainers that come by to "coach" us are hardly useful. This is because they're usually standing within 4 feet of you and watching you like a hawk to make sure you're "selling" to the customer you're talking to. This is a pain in the butt, because unlike The Source's management team likes to make you think, not every customer is worth it. Sure you "miss 100% of the shots you don't take" (sales management loves this cliche Gretzky quote), but you also miss your chances with the worthwhile customers while wasting time trying to sell a smartphone to an old lady that barely knows how to work the buttons in an elevator.

A typical shift involves: punching into your shift, reviewing your promotions everyday since the promotions on the hottest deals are constantly changing & assist customers or organize once your on the sales floor until the end of the shift. With what I learned working there is that consumers constantly want to be up to date with the latest tech. Especially when it comes to cellphones or smart home devices, technology is constantly evolving & everyone wants the most up to date tech that establishes their needs more efficiently & effortlessly. Management involves scheduling & selling to hit your quota. the more you sell, the more hours you receive. Although my complaint about scheduling at times is they would often give me shifts on days where I'm not supposed to work and they barely notify me 24 hours in advanced that I'd be working that day. The culture of the workplace is that everyone is also willing to help each other, especially when it comes to explaining promotions or how a certain product works to establish a customers needs whenever they prompt these questions. The hardest part about the job is constantly being up to date with the promotions since we are also owned by Bell. Since it's essential to know both Bell & Virgin Mobile promotions, they also help leading up to selling the numerous electronics we sell at The Source that compliment selling cellphones or even other tech. What i find most enjoyable about the job is trying out the new demos we usually receive in store. Whether it'd be a newly released cellphone like the IPhone 11 or even casual/seasonal technology, it gives us a better understanding on how to sell these products to the customer & how it would benefit them.

Since I wore many job titles it was important to take some time in the morning to make a list of objectives for that day. Generally I came in an hour before work started which gave me some time to center my thoughts on the day ahead, check emails and write my list. Then the rest of the day was dictated by the events, customers and calls that came in that day. Usually by 5PM I had a moment before closing to look over my list and evaluate how I managed. This also gave me some time to add to the list for the next day.
I learned so much that is hard to list it all here, the most important thing I learned was communication, and how important good communication is. Whether it was with my boss, co-workers, wholesalers or my clients it was important to speak clearly with purpose, listen with focus and follow up when needed.
Management was caring in a high pressure business. My co-workers were a valuable part of my work and my day, I could not do my job with out them.
The hardest part of my job was that we were understaffed most of the time. I did not mind that I worked as a sales representative the whole time, and I learned how to put the customer first. I learned that by allowing my day to be interrupted but not feeling like it was an interruption but an opportunity to build customer loyalty and interact with the very people who really paid my cheque at the end of the day.
I guess the most enjoyable was a product of the hardest, the people I got to talk to and help as well as the staff I worked with.

Mediocre atmosphere depending who you are assigned to work with, friendly staff. It is a business afterall, but afterall it is the source, not a dire straits mobile company. Even though it is gratifying helping a customer find their desired product or recommend a top tier item to make their day, at the end of the day on paper the companies stance is something as I described but merely words with no genuine foundation.  It is easy to say things that flow down to lower levels amongst the company  which sound nice, but  in reality Bell really seems to only focus on mobile sales and generic cross selling, it is out of the store level mangers hands as they just do what they are then told. If you are happy with trying to push a phone onto every single customer that comes in than maybe this is for you, if you are interested in just selling people good products they wish for and recommend the best ideas to fit their description of what they would like to purchase than that is not enough to succeed in this company as Bells upper management seems to single handedly care about cell phone sales. The general employees are well educated with electronics which is beneficial at a customer level but does not save you from scrutiny amongst upper level mangement as said before, which is Bell related.

Through my manager I learned a great deal about leading a team whenever possible. The turn-around is quite high as the company is interested in hiring outsiders rather than promoting from within.
The culture is unbelievably slow paced and cutthroat, with other managers consistently harassing team members of other locations, and the District Sales Managers constantly threatening and trying to keep the wheel turning pushing experienced staff out and bringing new employees in.
The hardest part of the job will always be, no matter how well you do in meeting your targets, you can see your hours drastically reduced to amounts that are not suitable to meet the cost of living, while also being expected to meet their minimum 15 hours and 4 days per week availability.
The most enjoyable part was the local teams, you came to know the people you worked with. Make real connections with long-term customers and small business owners.
The company, as per corporate standards, with reprimand team members for choosing to promote local businesses, should any of their services be better suited to the customer needs.
As a corporate subsidiary of Bell, heavily promotes the Bell Let's Talk mental health initiative but you will find the company does not promote the same level of assistance to it's associates as it claims.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
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