Curating the Customer Journey Through Training

When independent stores raise the issue of needing more support from brands to compete against multiple and online retail to remain competitive, there's no support more valuable than training. Without the sales skills to confidently identify the customer's needs to sell the benefits of a product that is right for them, you can’t really blame the brand if you aren't selling more products than forecasted.

Most brands will offer training to your staff and this is free, so if you aren't taking advantage of it, why not and if you are, do so some more as it's there to help you and the brand in equal measure.

Allowing your salespeople access to brand ambassadors or training representatives is a positive start to your team's training journey. Put personalities aside, they aren't there to be your friend, let them do their job and train your team to develop their core competencies to improve the process of selling consumer electronics. Too often I hear criticism of training teams even before they've been allowed to do what they are skilled at doing; training your sales team.

On the whole, every brand will have created modules to be delivered in person or online that are specifically designed to engage with your staff and help them better understand not only the differences in technology options across a range but also the approach, many of which will be incorporating soft skills, how to sell.

Those of you who appreciate the value of training and see the benefits it drives to the store's bottom line should take what the brand has to offer, perhaps even developing this further by incorporating it into your own training program.

To read the full article by Dan Todaro, Managing Director please visit ERT Online