Training Retail Frontline Employees - Part 1
Not training retail frontline employees is like opening a store without staff – sales vanish and customers flee.
When it comes to the retail sector, frontline employees directly shape how consumers perceive a brand.
Yet, companies are often still taking an archaic approach to upskilling these employees, believing that training and development is of minimal importance to these workers. The reality is that training and upskilling staff is only ever a net positive for all aspects of a business.
By making efforts to build up their employees, companies can expect better internal engagement as well as a more satisfactory experience for customers.
Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
Business leaders know that customer experience is critical. In fact, 81% of executives believe that being able to compete on the basis of customer experience is vital for overall success.
It’s therefore evident that the effectiveness of retail environment employees is tied into how consumers view their experience.
Untrained staff, despite their best efforts, will generally be detrimental to generating a positive customer experience – as a result, training is an essential part of building customer satisfaction.
By developing employees, companies are helping them become better suited to cater to the needs and requirements put forward by customers. Being able to provide effective assistance is a key aspect of a positive in-store experience.
For many retail frontline employees, customer service responsibilities can bring surprises and uncertain realities. If they are equipped to deal with these, both the customer and business will benefit in the long-term.
Individuals are more likely to return to a business where they feel valued as a customer. Importantly, part of feeling valued, is feeling heard. In this respect loyalty is not only built via in-store experiences but also through after-sales service and support.
Trained employees will be able to more efficiently handle these issues while also simultaneously retaining customers through effective conflict resolution and management.
In contrast, consider the negative impact that an uninformed or otherwise overly emotional response from an ill-equipped staff member can have on not only the customer, but on the brand as a whole.
Training Retail Frontline Employees on Product Knowledge and Sales Performance
Employee training related to product knowledge and sales techniques is ultimately about building confidence with customers.
Being able to accurately answer questions related to product usage and concerns, helps to both better engage with consumers while also driving sales by showcasing how these items can bring value to customers.
As a liaison between the brand and the consumer, trained salespeople are able to effectively recognise and approach situations where they would be best able convey the value customers can expect from a business’ products.
Additionally, this training helps staff feel empowered and valued as part of their organisation as a whole. Confident employees are thereby enabled to create scenarios where upselling is a possibility.
A good example in this regard is The Walking Company – with 200 locations across the USA – it increased employee training for its sales representatives. The training included technical aspects related to shoe design and manufacture. The result? Knowledgeable sales representative helped customers make better product choices resulting in improved customer experiences and increased transaction volumes.
Brand Representation and Customer Experience
If satisfied and loyal customers are the best public brand ambassadors, then it stands to reason that the employees who cater to their needs are the most important assets a company possesses.
Customers most prominently associate their interactions with employees to the brand that they represent.
Consumer trust is increasingly difficult to gain. Seemingly small details like friendliness and helpfulness, along with the product knowledge of individuals assisting customers are often defining moments for developing brand trust
Building up this trust requires organisations to focus on the role of their employees in brand recognition and how they can be trained to better to represent company values.
In taking steps to develop retail workers, business leaders can expect several benefits.
For one, customers are more likely to trust their brand when employees are the ones giving out information related to the brand. When staff feel connected to the organisation, they become more invested in providing a valuable consumer experience in line with company values.
By improving the general shopping experience and building trust with their clients, employees create a competitive advantage for their company. Disconnecting from the sterilised and unhelpful retail stereotypes also further helps to establish customers as part of the organisation’s culture, making them feel valued.
Operational Efficiency and Inventory Management Improve with Training Retail Frontline Employees
Customer-orientated training is largely meaningless if the organisation’s internal operational structure is inefficient or if employees are not properly equipped to make use of these systems.
It’s therefore vital to ensure that retail frontline employees are able to handle these processes by effectively making use of established management systems.
Key areas of focus include:
Inventory Management
While inventory-related processes may seem simple on the surface, poorly handled stock can lead to disaster. Inventory management is a continuous process and therefore requires constant adaptation – and constant learning and relearning.
By training employees to better understand stock flow and its impact on customer service, companies can enhance their reputation among consumers.
Leveraging Technology Solutions for Training Retail Frontline Employees
Making use of digital systems and other similar solutions helps combat miscommunication, aids more efficient time usage and bolsters productivity by moving on from outmoded processing methods.
As an example, should a pricing issue arise during a busy sales period, empowered staff are able to quickly and accurately correct any mistake by accessing a digital platform, consequently effectively assisting the customer in this situation.
- Benefits
When it comes to the bottom line, untrained staff and the issues that arise from their mistakes are costly.
Taking steps to empower and train employees changes this problem around, creating opportunities for increased productivity, an improved customer experience and more confident staff, who are more likely to remain with the business as a result of the improved work experience.
Employee Engagement and Retention
Burnout is constantly linked to the high turnover of retail frontline employees. There are 3 key avenues that organisations should focus when seeking to mitigate low worker retention:
- Prioritising employee learning
Employee learning essentially involves fostering the necessary skills that allow for individuals to feel confident when handling daily interactions with customers. They can be bolstered by things like digital sales training and better communication practises.
- Promoting skills development
This relates to the initial onboarding of new retail workers – by taking steps to promote learning and skillset growth, leaders are able to benefit their organisation as a whole.
- Understanding career pathing
Those involved in the retail space often greatly vary in their aspirations. Certain individuals are looking for careers, some are just starting out professionally and for others at the tail end of their career, their focus may already be beyond their immediate responsibilities. As such, business managers must be aware of these differences and allocate resources accordingly.
The role that employee engagement plays in worker retention is a crucial aspect of maintaining a productive and connected workforce. It is evident that employees value environments where they are supported and encouraged in their professional growth. This is in stark contrast to environments where they are merely given a basic introduction and then left to fend for themselves when attempting to provide top notch customer service.
Leveraging Technology for Training for Retail Frontline Employees
Centralised digital learning systems that facilitate training and development solutions can be integrated with Wyzetalk’s digital platform, and allow leaders and managers to have a far greater influence with respect to employee development. As such, they are better able to communicate with active retail frontline employees and aren’t limited by any delays in identifying training needs.
One of the biggest benefits of e-learning is its ability to transcend traditional training environments.
Where previously (often time consuming) meetings had to be scheduled for specific dates, platforms like Wyzetalk provide alternative ways to promote content related to employee development (such as podcasts or shared videos).
This also helps to promote individualised learning, where employees can access targeted materials that they feel is relevant to growing aspects of their careers. In turn, this keeps employees engaged and connected to their brand.
Key Takeaways
Effective training for retail frontline employees is vital to the success of any company involved in this business sector.
Empowering staff creates a competitive advantage by bolstering their confidence in maintaining a good customer experience and thereby improving their sales performance.
These advantages then additionally extend to employee retention, allowing for businesses to assemble a workforce built around an internal culture that promotes growth, learning and enhanced service delivery.
To bring these benefits into your organisation, let’s connect!