Retail SMART

The Where and Why of Training
 

By: Dennis A. Conforto
Chairman & CEO of A-Z Media Group, Inc.

Where to Train?
The question "where to do sales training" is not as simple as one would think. The answer is varied but let me give you some thoughts, insights and suggestions: 

Have the appropriate room setting. It is important that most of your training is done in a classroom environment. The room setting shows your commitment to whatever the process is: in this case, sales training. It’s important to have sales goals and related progress posted on the classroom wall. Of course, this signage must be removable if the room is truly multi-purpose. 

Note: This is why it is so important to have your crop room set for multiple uses. This room would be for crops, a community center, a family history center, and finally as a sales training room.

Ensure your training was effective. The classroom environment is also important because from time to time you should provide a small pop quiz which will require a room that is quiet and private. Some of the quiz questions may be related to overcoming objections, product knowledge, manufacturers, pricing, policy, product usage, and techniques.

Maintain a Training Manual. In addition to the room and the training you provide, you will need to have a company sales training manual. This is a document from which you can teach and from which your staff can learn. Document every lesson you give so that you can repeat it again. 

Hold occasional off-site events. From time to time you need to have off-site meetings that you can use for long-range planning and/or award dinners for outstanding performance. Recognition events are extremely important to your staff; and, therefore, to the long term well-being of your company. Recognition becomes part of your corporate culture, and your corporate culture affects both your sales and profits. The better your culture, the better your profits and sales will be.

Why Train?
The "why" of sales training is based on this simple business principle: The more you know about your business, the more successful you’re going to be. In the end, knowing more about your business than your competitors know about theirs will set you apart from them.

Sales Training Review
Over the past few months we have discussed who, what, when, where and why to train in sales. We have introduced what we believe are new thoughts and ideas for the scrapbooking industry. These steps take work, time and planning. They are a collection of integrated ideas, thoughts and suggestions. The key word here is integrated. It's true one could pick and choose what they wanted to do cafeteria style, taking what they like and rejecting what they didn’t like. If a store owner picks and chooses which of these pieces are to be implemented, the end results will be dramatically reduced. What "could be" will remain unattainable. While it is true that doing something is better than doing nothing at all, I would argue that doing it all is best.

True retail is doing everything right; the best companies really do it all. Those who don’t do everything right will pay a huge price against those who do. 

Training Review
In review, we suggest you consider doing the following things:

1. Don’t hire retail clerks.
2. Hire salespeople.
3. Test each applicant’s sales personality before you hire.
4. Pay commissions and bonuses to your staff.
5. Set sales goals each month; monitor and post them daily.
6. Train your sales staff weekly.
7. Use manufacturer representatives to help in your training process.
8. Have a sales room to teach and instruct your sales team.
9. Create a sales manual to help you and your team stay focused.
10. Create a "sales culture" by recognizing your sales team achievements 

There is no single item that is more important than the other. There is no priority on any of them unless they are not being done. As the saying goes, "The devil is in the details." If you truly want to be successful for the long term then only mastering the details will ensure your success. And that is what being retail SMART is all about.