A strong retail team benefits from consistent retail training to ensure they have the skills necessary to manage the storefront, both digitally and physically. Like many hospitality businesses, the retail industry also faces a high employee turnover rate. This can lead to difficulties maintaining a consistent workforce, building a strong company culture, and guiding the company toward its sales goals.
Training for sales staff and management help retail businesses improve performance and increase employee satisfaction. But in order to succeed, a company has to consider both the digital and physical aspects of retail business and where they intersect.
How Does Retail Training Work?
Retail training is highly personalized to every organization, and even every individual store. The exact needs and skills gaps among employees will vary from one location to another. This is why some customers may praise one store's location and consistently provide negative feedback about a different one. To explore more about how tailored retail training can enhance your team's performance, visit our resource page.
Retail training leverages software and tools to help employees perform their roles as efficiently as possible. Good training can reduce employee turnover, improve the customer experience and lead to a more organized, productive business on every level.
A well-trained workforce is better equipped to handle the rigorous demands and unexpected challenges that always emerge in the retail environment. Managers who are trained become more proactive while staff learn to confidently navigate various scenarios with the appropriate tools and skills.
Examples of Retail Training
Training should be an ongoing part of a retail business, adapting to the store's needs. For more insights, explore our retail training resources. Some examples of training programs a company may employ include:
Onboarding for New Hires
The onboarding process sets the first impression for a new employee and can make or break their desire to stay with the store. Onboarding should be comprehensive, giving new members of the team ample opportunity to learn necessary skills, tools and processes. It should also offer them an introduction to the store, different team members and establish a clear point of contact if they have questions or need help during their work.
Sales Training
Good sales training can empower employees to boost revenue by using specific tactics to encourage customers to make larger purchases. Training is important because it builds confidence and equips team members with persuasive sales skills that build a rapport with the customer before they buy.
Product Training
Another vital part of retail training is product education. Every member of the team should be fully aware of products' key features, uses and benefits to better assist customers and offer good product recommendations. They should also be aware of other offerings outside of their department; in large retail stores, having employees know where to direct customers who need assistance will make a significant difference in customer satisfaction.
Digital Retail Training
Digital training involves leveraging software like point of sales (POS), inventory management and billing systems to help employees perform their jobs efficiently. Digital training uses hands-on sessions to teach workers the features of every software they will encounter on the job, and it prepares them to use software they may not always need but could have to use at some point.
Rather than only having a few sales members trained to use software, the entire team should be fully aware how every digital tool the business uses works to ensure they are able to pitch in at any time.
The training may vary depending on the employee's job; for example, a sales associate will have greater training in the POS than a manager, whose role would focus more on reporting software and inventory management.
Personalizing training for each career path will help the store utilize its time wisely and make the most out of each employee's schedule.
Physical Retail Training
Physical training introduces retail employees to store operations, product information, safety protocols, and interpersonal skills that boost customer service. While knowing the digital software allows employees to work well, it's their skills, adherence to safety measures, and presence in the retail environment that ultimately shape customer satisfaction.
Companies should routinely perform sales and customer service training, offer leadership training to management and provide access to resources about store operations. Doing so will ensure every individual is equipped to perform their job well and feel a sense of pride and achievement in their work.
Summary
Retail training is an ongoing process that helps employees master the skills they need to deliver good customer service while prioritizing their safety. It combines digital software and tools with a strong understanding of sales, store management, and safety protocols to ensure every person in the workforce is prepared to provide the highest level of service to customers in a secure environment.
Written by Taylor McKnight, Author for Presentation Training Institute
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