FOCUS: TRAINING Shopfloor
With every brand, they will have created training modules that can either be delivered online or in person that will be specifically designed to engage with your staff and help them understand the differences in technology across the specified range but also help train soft skills, such as, how to sell these features, the brand and the concept to different demographics. Whilst staff training is great for your bottom line, that’s not the only benefit it has for your business. With proper staff training, you can expect your staff to have a morale boost and an increased motivation which in turn enables them to want to do better and learn more in their roles. Statistics have shown that proper training is proven to improve Productivity, Efficiency and Accountability.
52 A personalised approach to selling
Businesses that have a passion for training and staff development will excel during challenging times – how can indies make the most of the opportunities available.
By Rupert Cook, Business Development Director at Gekko
Much can be written in favour of independent retailers, especially in our industry, where consumers will really benefit from expert advice and a personalised approach to selling. The fact remains though that trading can be tough when faced with the challenge of online, discounter and multiple retailer competition. Independent retailers realise that they need to play to their strengths with a strong product offering, sound pricing strategy and an engaging customer experience.
Key to the customer experience and one of the fundamental differentiators over other sales channels is people and businesses need to invest in their most valuable asset: their staff. Effective training empowers your team with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to:
Understand customer needs: Go beyond surface-level requests and truly grasp what the customer is looking for. Boost sales: Confidently guide customers towards the right products and close sales effectively.
Compete with online giants: Offer personalised service and expert advice that online retailers simply can’t match. Investing in training transforms your staff into
your greatest competitive advantage. It’s important to leverage support from brands as they will often offer training to your staff for free, so why not take advantage of this it helps out both parties at the same time as more well-equipped sales staff will be able to sell more and in-turn positively affect both the retailer and brands bottom line.
The importance of training can never be overstated, with such fierce competition from all angles whether that’s another competing brick- and-mortar store or an online-only store where they’ve already got a price advantage over the physical stores. If all the products are the same with every other retailer, what makes your store different? Training can be the one differentiator that can draw in customers. With training your sales staff can create Theatre and take the consumer through the sales journey, from the demonstration to the sale process. Our ‘Mind the Knowledge Gap’ research from 2021, though still relevant today, demonstrates the importance of training staff and the impact it has on your potential customers. Key takeaways include: :
• One in 10 shoppers have cancelled a planned, considered purchase due to poor in-store advice, This equates to some £15 billion in revenue overall over the past year.
• Gen Z [those now in their 20’s] are most likely to seek out experts
• 37 per cent of shoppers in the consumer electronics category revealed they would be prepared to spend more if they received excellent and knowledgeable in-store advice
Furthermore, in a separate survey last year we established that 42 per cent of those questioned wanted to be able to engage with knowledgeable shop staff. This further emphasises the importance of training if speaking to a clued-up salesperson is a make- or-break point for customers. Fully trained store staff will always be one of
the greatest assets a brick-and-mortar store can have over online retailers and it is imperative that every retailer utilises it. As much as these stores may not always be able to beat these online sellers on price, they can certainly beat them on customer experience.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
