12 Skills to be the Best Cashier Around
With the right skills, you can be the best cashier around and feel the joy and respect that goes with being the top performer on the job in your department.
Also, it becomes easier getting a new job as a cashier if you possess the skills and qualities employers normally look out for when assessing new prospective hires for the position.
Being a common kind of job, one may think that getting a job as a cashier would be a piece of cake, but that is not the case, it is as difficult as getting a job as a sales associate, office manager, and other positions.
A number of skills and qualities are considered by retail shop owners or managers before choosing anyone for this position.
Though one does not have to have Bachelor’s degree or undergo any special kind of training to make a good cashier, however, there are skills that one must possess to succeed in this role.
And these skills are what shop owners or managers look out for in applicants before selecting the right candidate.
Below are 12 skills and qualities to develop to be the best cashier in your department and get new jobs easily:
1. Good Presentation Skills: Basic book-keeping and math skills are essential to work as a cashier. However, being able to present the transactions in an easy to understand format is also very essential, however, always ensure to stick to the stipulated book-keeping principles.
2. Friendliness: The ability to develop friendship easily with people is a skill you must have to be effective on the job, not just for cashiers, but for every retail shop worker and front office workers.
Being a cashier involves constant interaction with customers. So, it is very important that a person with a friendly disposition handles the cashier desk. So, it is good you always behave nicely and always smile.
Being friendly could just be to greet customers nicely when they approach your desk, having a decent conversation in between the transaction, and bidding them goodbye when they are leaving. These gestures might be little but they may mean a lot to some customers.
3. Trustworthiness: Needless to say, a good cashier must be a trustworthy person. No one would employ a thief to handle their shop’s financial transactions.
A cashier deals with cash, and so must be someone with unquestionable character.
4. Attentive: A good cashier ought to be attentive. He/she should always pay attention even to little details as a little distraction could lead to discrepancy in the account. Such mistake can even cost him/her their job if their manager is intolerant.
5. Communication Skills: To be great on the job, a cashier ought to possess excellent communication skills. He/she should talk politely to customers, and most importantly be a good listener. This way, he/she can understand customers’ inquiries and complaints and be able to proffer solutions or direct them to the appropriate quarter where their problems could be resolved.
6. Strong Numerical Skills: The job of a cashier involves daily handling of money. So, strong numerical skill is required to perform this job flawlessly. A good cashier ought to be someone who isn’t afraid of numbers.
7. Multitasking: Primarily, a cashier is in charge of cash receipt; however, they should have the skill to perform multiple functions together at the same time.
For example, occasions may arise requiring the cashier to perform other tasks apart from receiving cash, such as attending to customers, replacing goods in shelves, and cleaning the store.
The cashier should also be able to accept cash or card while putting goods bought by another customer in a bag all at the same time.
8. Adaptable: Being able to switch between idle and busy periods is also a must have quality for a cashier. He/she must also be able to use the idle period to do some other things like stocking the shelves or balancing the record book.
The cashier should be able to immediately switch to attending to customers when they start coming.
9. Patience: Asides being friendly, the job of a cashier also requires being patient. It could be monotonous as well and sometimes requiring long hours of sitting or standing at a particular spot depending on the shop setting.
So, a good cashier must be a patient person.
10. Team Player: Like it was said earlier, this job requires a lot of multitasking. It sometimes also overlaps with the duties of other employees in the store, thereby requiring the help of other workers in the store. Peaceful coexistence in the store between the different workers can only happen if the cashier and other workers relate well and develop a team spirit.
11. Empathy: Listening attentively to customers is an important quality to have as a cashier. An addition to that could be having genuine concern for their problems. This way, you could be able to proffer useful solutions to the problem, or just talk to them to make them feel happier than when they came into the shop. This could lead to return patronage and even good relationship.
12. Basic Literacy and Computer Skills: In as much as it is not necessary to possess a college degree to get a job as a cashier, being a good cashier requires some level of literacy and sometimes basic computer skills.
Being able to read and write very well is essential and having basic book-keeping and accounting skills is also key to succeeding as a cashier.
What Do Cashiers Do?
The work of a cashier primarily entails the receipt of payment for goods sold in a retail store either manually or electronically.
A person occupying this role may also be referred to as a shop assistant, sales assistant, or till operator.
Aside receiving cash for sales transaction, he/she may also play some other secondary roles, such as attending to customers inquiries and ensuring that the shop is well stocked and neat.
Cashiers are one of the most common classes of workers found in retail stores like supermarkets, chain stores, bars, book makers (bet shops).
In fact, any organized retail outlet employs the services of a cashier for accurate cash collection and recording of sales.
Conclusion
So, if you just got a job as a cashier or are already working as one but desire to be the best at your job, then the skills discussed above are must have for you.
Similarly, if you are a store owner or manager looking to hire a new cashier, these are the qualities you should be looking out for in applicants before hiring one.