Companies are facing pressure to meet sales targets because pandemic has negatively affected the businesses. But now, since the lockdowns are over, there is so much scope for them to get ahead. But then the competition in the market is so high, how the companies can sell.

Retail training has assumed much more significance because the brands are now selling on their websites and apps. Hence the customers buy directly from them rather than visiting the shops. But retail training can help you make a difference provided you are supportive to customers. It’s because the offline shopping experience is quite personal for a prospect, unlike online shopping.

The retail training can ensure that a salesperson can churn out some commendable numbers. However, being a successful salesperson requires you to have excellent soft skills. A salesperson in the company might have such skills, but how to ensure that the entire sales team gets such skills. This salesperson beats the sales targets month after month, and hence he needs to be made an inspiration for all. Such employees must also act as leaders, ensuring that the juniors listen to them and deal with customers effectively.

The hiring process already leaves those who are not suitable for the job. Everyone who is considered fit for the role has got retail training. But how to make sure that sales targets are met repeatedly.

But what, when the sales team is not getting good leads

Not being able to meet the targets is not always the sales team’s fault. The marketing didn’t provide them with good enough leads, and conversions didn’t happen.

The sales team can be given lead scores, which means they must not waste efforts on inconvertible leads. Every lead deserves a specific endeavor in terms of time because it might lack other attributes such as income, need, etc. So, specific leads deserve more time from the sales team because they have higher chances for conversion. However, apart from providing more guidance to the sales team, it’s also crucial to see that the quality of leads is desirable, and the marketing department should see to it.

Retail training, however, checks that the efforts of the sales representatives are up to the mark.

It’s the job of the retail trainer to ensure that the customer buys from the sales representatives. This is how retail training can help the sales team:

1. Product features training

   One of the crucial aspects of retail training is providing in-depth knowledge about the products to the prospects. When the sales representative can do that, he wins the customer’s confidence ensuing that the latter has a clear idea about how the product can serve his needs or not. In addition, all his doubts about the product usability must be cleared. When sales representatives are given product training, it has been shown that it causes a 5% increase in sales. But to check the level of knowledge of sales representatives, a competency test is essential.

   The product knowledge training not only includes knowledge of the product’s features but also for whom the product is meant for or not. If the salesperson is aware of all the situations, he won’t try to sell the product to someone for whom its not worthwhile. Product knowledge training also teaches them about other products in the marketplace and how your product scores over them.

2. Empathic listening

   Retail training can only help sales employees effectively convince customers to purchase products. Soft skills training is also crucial for prospects because if they can’t be greeted well by the sales employee, they won’t feel welcome to make a purchase.

   The sales employees must have the skills to listen to the customers and not lose confidence even when the customers don’t seem eager to buy. Moreover, there are challenging situations before the sales employees, like an overcrowded store, and they must know how to tackle such situations.

   The reins are in the hands of a retail person in the case of an offline shopping experience. The prospects who have come to the store are willing to buy something; otherwise, they have not stepped out of the house. Retail training is essential because, unlike online shopping, the salesperson has no clue about the prospective shopper. The latter has not entered his information in an online form, and hence the salesperson does not know what his wants are. In the case of online shopping, a prospect has added so many options to the shopping cart, and hence the retail salesperson knows his preferences. The online prospect also has much better product knowledge than an offline shopper. An offline shopper does not have much knowledge about the product, and it’s the job of the salesperson to convey that information understandably and pleasingly to him.

   So, even if an online internet browsing person who has some knowledge about the products has come to the store to get them, he must not return empty-handed or at least write negative reviews about store sales staff so that they don’t attract further customers.

How to convince the management about retail training?

The L&D department in a company must ensure that the training gets the nods of the CEOs because they decide the funds. Once they are not included in the project, they can be appalled by the cost, unwilling to approve it, or even have some impractical expectations.

Similarly, managers also have to support the project because they will train new employees. Once they are convinced that this program will be helpful for the company, they will provide their full-fledged support in even creating the e-learning content. Such retail programs are beneficial for managers who don’t have to train the employees personally. Instead, they enroll them and supervise their progress. When such programs are implemented, managers are saved from the hassles of training juniors and can focus on their targets. In addition, managers don’t have time to provide individual coaching to hires during peak seasons, and these programs act as their alternative.

The manager’s job is to see that more and more people enroll in the training. Telling them that they will face adverse consequences like termination won’t lead them to train. Hence the metrics of the training participants like the number of units sold and conversions can be provided to encourage enrolment.

The employees also might not have the will to apply the training skills. Hence the management has to see that the employees wholeheartedly go through training and use it too.