E-commerce: How to Get Upper Management to Approve Additional Hires

Understaffing often is an issue for developing departments. Management would prefer that existing staffers handle emerging needs, leading to lost opportunities, due to a lack of available bodies. Nowhere has this been more prominent within the catalog business than on the Web. Brad Wolansky, director of e-commerce at outdoor gear catalog Orvis, explained in a session at the recent eTail conference in Philadelphia how he convinced management to bolster Web staff, leading to increased sales on Orvis’ Web site. Following is his step-by-step strategy.