Your retail sales team is conducting a performance every day—and customers notice every unnecessary movement.
I stood in my first USC Masters rehearsal, conducting Ralph Vaughan Williams's Linden Lea. To me, I felt controlled. I was a mess to everyone else - head bobbing, legs moving, my entire body fighting the music.
My mentor, Rod Eichenberger, approached, placed his hand on my shoulder, and said simply, "We're going to slow this body down."
His point cut to the core: The choir will sound the way you look.
When I discovered the original VHS tape, I realized that moment changed everything—not just for my conducting but for how I train retail sales teams today.
At 30, with four years of training at Chapman College, I thought I knew everything about conducting. Then I entered USC's Masters program under Rod Eichenberger.
Rod's philosophy, "What They See Is What You Get," revolutionized choral conducting. His research proved that a conductor's physical gestures directly affected the choir's sound. When conductors moved their hands vertically, voices strengthened. When hands moved too much side-to-side, singers went flat. The height of hand positions affected breath and tone quality.
When my excessive movements disrupted the piece, Rod took drastic measures.
"Stop conducting," he said as he grabbed my right arm.
I stood mortified as he held my hands at my sides. The choir continued singing—beautifully.
"Is that sound disgusting?" he asked with a smile. "Notice how they sing without you."
I insisted there was no life without my direction. His response cut through my ego: "Sometimes we think tension is life. This is a calm little song, and if you move too much, you've taken out that quality."
The choir sounded better without my interference. Years of training, and I was getting in the way of, rather than enhancing the music. (You can watch this all in the video below.)
Years later, I see identical patterns in retail. Veteran salespeople rely on what they think works rather than what actually works. They practice what I call, "ask and they answer" retail—a formula killing stores today.
My retail sales training starts with the same question Rod forced me to confront: What you're doing now may work, but does it work better than if a shopper just helped themselves?
This requires unlearning ingrained habits. Conducting begins with the right-hand gesture. In sales, it starts with the greeting. Both set the tone for everything that follows.
1. Every Movement Matters
In conducting, unnecessary gestures create confusion, not music. In sales, extraneous talk and pointless questions similarly muddy the customer experience.
I once observed a sales associate who couldn't stop moving—shifting weight from foot to foot, fidgeting with products, and gesturing wildly. Customers physically backed away. When we slowed his movements and made them deliberate, customers stayed longer and purchased more.
2. Listen Before You Lead
My conducting breakthrough came when I started truly listening to the choir instead of focusing on my own movements.
Sales professionals often miss this, following scripts without hearing customer responses. They miss signals that could guide interactions toward success.
We recorded a few client interactions at a high-end furniture store and played them back to the individual salesperson. One associate was shocked to hear herself talk for 90 seconds about product features while the customer repeatedly tried to ask about delivery options.
3. Create Space for Response
When Rod had me stop conducting, the choir sounded beautiful without my interference.
Similarly, strategic silence creates space for customers to engage. I teach sales teams to pause after asking questions, allowing customers to consider and respond fully.
A luxury watch retailer implemented "3-second silences" after showing high-end pieces. Their closing rate on premium watches increased as customers used this space to imagine owning the product rather than being talked out of it.
4. Energy Draws In, Tension Pushes Away
Rod taught me the crucial difference between positive energy and tension. "Energy flows through relaxed muscles, while tension blocks it. Energy draws people in; tension pushes them away."
In retail, new associates often confuse nervous energy with enthusiasm. They move quickly, speak loudly, and overwhelm customers with information.
I worked with a young man around "centered selling"—to maintain relaxed posture, speak at moderate pace, and engage customers with focused attention.
His sales increased, and he found greater enjoyment in his job quickly.
Over two years, I refined my conducting. My chorus became one of three resident arts groups at the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center. The video I recently found shows this evolution—from frantic movement to purposeful direction. The choir responded with a unified, expressive sound.
Similarly, sales teams can evolve from script-driven interactions to purposeful engagements that create harmony rather than noise.
The full lesson with Rod was about thirty minutes, but it taught me enough to return the following week ready to practice differently. I had to be open to coaching. In the moment, I had to ask myself, "Is that the sound I wanted?" and modify it.
You can't take yourself too seriously when you want to improve. Someone has to see what you lack and change your perspective.
It's the same in retail. Even experienced retailers need to pause and assess whether their approach creates the customer experience they intend.
In retail, mastering in-person engagement remains an untapped advantage against online competition. How associates move, listen, and respond creates an experience no website can match—but only when human interaction adds value.
I challenge retail leaders: "If your associates disappeared tomorrow, would your sales increase or decrease?" The uncomfortable truth is that poor interactions often drive customers away.
1. Record and review - Capture real sales interactions and review them with your team. What movements, phrases or habits create tension rather than energy?
2. Practice strategic silence - Train associates to ask a question, then count to three before speaking again. This creates space for customers to engage deeply.
3. Conduct an "unnecessary movement" audit - Observe yourself for a day. Note every unnecessary gesture, phrase, or process that doesn't enhance the customer experience. Eliminate these first.
The fundamental lesson I learned on that USC podium continues to transform retail training: The choir responds to how you conduct.
And the other thing I hope you see is you can't take yourself too seriously. I had to be open to coaching. To in the moment have to ask myself, "Is that the sound I wanted?" and modify. The full lesson was about thirty minutes and it taught me enough to return the following week to practice how I engage.
The customer responds to how you engage. This principle remains the foundation of effective human interaction in retail.