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Some of them, like Carmen Castell, 55, are veterans and have been on the «floor», as staff call the shop’s sales area affectionately, for over 20 years. Others, such as Andy Moreira, 33, or Giuseppe Bocale, 44, may not have been around for quite as long, but still boast impressive results and leadership styles. We wanted to know what shop managers do on top of their work as salespeople and in which areas they need to be an expert.
Andy Moreira – manager of two shops in Geneva – and not a professional footballer
Andy was on his way to becoming a professional footballer at Thonon-Evian, a French second-division club at the time, when he had to cut short his career due to injury. After a year and a half each at Swisscom and Salt, he joined Sunrise in Geneva, where he’s been working since 2019.
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«I like the mixture of professionalism and the human element at Sunrise.»
As shop manager – currently for both Geneva shops – he’s not just responsible for the sales figures, but also for planning, analysing the figures, organising the shop, weekly inventory and, above all, managing his team. His eyes light up when he talks about the «five points» that he uses as a guide for leading, supporting and motivating his team.
Human values
Andy considers the professional development of each and every team member to be vital to the shop’s overall success. At the same time, he also makes sure he looks after each individual’s well-being.Daily organisation
Andy plans meticulously, because this makes it easier to deal with the unexpected.Competitive spirit
Andy motivates his employees to set ambitious goals, while also supporting them and promoting team spirit.Exuding positive energy
«A good mood is contagious,» Andy believes. Together with the team, he tries to create positive energy in the shop. This translates into better customer service and higher productivity.Business development
Andy is always on the lookout for new strategies to expand the business further. He encourages the team to contribute their own ideas so they can drive for success together.
Positive energy in the shop also includes the right music. Although he has to follow the Sunrise music guidelines, he «stretches them as far as he can», as he says with a laugh. And he’s looking forward to further creative endeavours for Sunrise.
Carmen Castell – «I need human contact»
Carmen has been at the Sunrise shop in Adliswil since 2019. She’s «back» with Sunrise, she says, because she’d already worked for a retailer who sold Diax products from 1999 to 2004 (Sunrise and Diax merged in 2001 and the Diax brand disappeared). Carmen has been shop manager for 15 years. Selling is her passion. The numbers aren’t her main focus, but it’s rather the customer and the positive experience they should have in her shop.
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«Trust is the most important thing; that’s what I keep telling my employees.»
Carmen knows what she’s talking about. Salt, Swisscom and Sunrise are all next to each other on the same road in Adliswil «and I get along well with all of them!» She smiles: «Maybe a customer will go to all three shops. But they’ll buy a product or sign a contract in the shop where they’re taken seriously and feel they trust the people.» In her own shop, she leads by example: she listens to the customer and deals with their problem. The customer senses that she takes what they say to heart. And because first impressions count, the shop has to be clean and tidy at all times.
«Our customers show us that we’re doing a good job,» says Carmen. «It’s quite a regular thing that a customer surprises us with a bag of croissants in the morning, or someone brings a bottle of bubbly or chocolate to say thanks. And word-of-mouth advertising brings us new customers.»
Her message to all Sunrise colleagues: «Quality, quality, quality.»
Giuseppe Bocale – from policeman to passionate salesman
Giuseppe has been Sunrise shop manager since 2017. From his first stop at Sunrise Lugano, he made his way to St. Antonino and then back to Lugano. He’s also Regional Sales Performance Manager a.i. (RSPM) for Ticino. There have been a few detours on his path to Sunrise. After an apprenticeship and three more years at Interdiscount, he wanted to become a police officer. But a football injury and several knee surgeries meant he had to change direction. He joined mobilezone, where he worked for seven years before joining Sunrise. «At Sunrise, quality is paramount,» he says, and he’s convinced by Sunrise products.
Giuseppe loves sales and enjoys supporting his staff, whether in the Lugano shop or in the region. Customers are also close to his heart. One sentence he often quotes in meetings is:
«Treat your customers the way you want to be treated, and take each of their concerns as seriously as if they were your own.»
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Fortunately, he also loves numbers, because he spends a lot of time with them in his two roles and gets a kick out of analysing, planning and coordinating the six shops in Ticino. His tasks also include holiday planning and training, which he coordinates for 28 employees in Ticino. Just like Andy, he plans meticulously and describes himself as «very structured». Every Monday morning, he runs a weekly meeting in the shop when the team reviews the past week, organises the upcoming week and sets targets. On Monday afternoons, he has a call in his role as RSPM a.i. for Ticino.
«Like in football, our job is a team task.»
On top of the team meetings, there are one-on-one talks, meetings for monthly in-depth topics and a dinner together two to three times a year. He appreciates the diversity of his team, which includes a wide range of ages, from apprentices to prospective deputies.
This is his message to all Sunrise employees: «I’d like to invite you to work on the front line in the shop at least once and experience the customers and their concerns in person!» And he adds that standardised strategies or ready-made answers don’t always fit and that it’s not possible to explain everything simply using logic when a customer’s angry, because «every customer and every case is unique.»