Article

Training for unit-level success for holiday 2009

Products may be set, but people can improve. Here are four practical ways retailers can leverage front-line employees this holiday season.

November 18, 2009

As we enter the 2009 holiday season, many retailers will rely on their employees, not their product lines, to turn the tide and increase market share. In this article we will look at practical tips that you can use to leverage the power of front-line employees during this critical holiday period as well as produce longer-term benefits within your organization.

In past years, retailers operated in boom markets. Retailers merely had to open their doors during the holidays, and customers would eagerly spend money. Retailers were profitable, but critical sales processes such as cross-selling and upselling became rushed. According to one retailer, "Deep down, we knew we weren't on our A game. However, it was tough to criticize people when they were succeeding as order takers. The downturn forced us to take a tough look into the mirror."

Most stores locked in their holiday product lines months ago. Inventory will arrive, and it must be sold. These purchasing and inventory management decisions cannot be modified easily at this point. However, well-trained front-line salespeople will make the difference between a lean holiday season and a satisfying year-end. You can make improvements in your people processes which will lead to higher customer service performance, retention and profitability.

Why train seasonal employees?

In some retail segments, front-line employee turnover can exceed 100 percent annually. Many retailers question whether they should make an upfront investment to train employees when they may be gone in just a couple of months.

Recent research shows that investments in front-line employee training lead unit performance. The study, published in the July 2009 edition of the Journal of Applied Psychology, linked people processes such as selection and training with unit performance measures such as retention, customer service and profitability.

The study looked at 681 fast food franchises within the same parent system and which sold the same products. The stores that most effectively implemented their people processes saw a 15-percent improvement in retention, an 8-percent improvement in customer service performance and an 11-percent improvement in profits over expectations. Therefore, investment in quality training program materials produced higher profits even when the units devoted two full weeks of training for front-line employees in an industry where turnover can exceed 100 percent annually.

These findings become highly significant for retailers who will add seasonal retail salespeople to their team. In past years, these employees might receive basic training to use the POS system, replenish stock and face shelves. Customer service training was treated as a luxury rather than a necessity. After all, these team members would soon be gone.

Customers' increased expectations

When customers enter the store, they do not know or care whether the salesperson has worked there for two years or for just two days. Customers expect a high degree of service and a positive shopping experience. If they receive sub-standard service, they will likely take their business elsewhere.

In 2009, stores that hire seasonal help will find many people looking for work. While these individuals will be eager to work, they must be prepared to succeed in a tough retail climate. Training must extend beyond how to use the POS system and also cover topics which form the core of the customer experience:

• Greeting and welcoming customers
• Creating a bond
• Discovering the customer's wants and needs
• Overcoming objections
• Identifying additional needs and selling opportunities
• Closing the deal and thanking the customer

Those topics may sound like the components of a formal sales training program. That is exactly the point. The underlying fundamental sales process remains the same for both veterans and rookies. Breakdowns in the sales process reduce top-line sales, decrease customer service scores, lead to forced markdowns on stagnant merchandise and ultimately reduce profitability.

In many cases, you will not be able to provide the amount of training to your seasonal salespeople that you provide to your permanent team members. However, you can still provide training that will make a difference to your customers' experience.

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Here are a few ideas you can use to prepare for holiday 2009 as well as 2010.

Leverage What You Already Have

Training programs create no benefits when they sit idly on shelves. If your company offers sales training and customer service training programs, make sure that they do not sit stagnant and unused. Dust them off and have even your seasoned professionals go through a refresher of some of the best content.

Segment Roles and Training

One smart approach will be to segment customer service roles. You will not be able to make your seasonal help into experts within a few weeks. Instead, segment their training. Identify key sales tasks that newly hired individuals can perform successfully and coach them on when to seek help from a more experienced team member.

Share War Stories

Leverage the knowledge of your seasoned sales professionals who have worked through previous holiday seasons. Ask veteran salespeople to share stories about tough sales challenges they have faced. Encourage them to share stories where they made mistakes and describe the consequences.

This type of training is known as error-exposure training. It may seem counter-intuitive to teach learners by asking veteran salespeople to share mistakes and what they should have done. However, interactions with customers can be complex and require people to adapt at a moment's notice. Research shows that when rookies learn through error-exposure training, they become better at making situational judgments themselves.

Align Your People Processes

Your customer-centric training program should align with all of your people processes: how you select salespeople, train them, motivate them and manage their performance. If your programs need a tune-up, you can fill the gap in several ways: purchase from an established off-the-shelf vendor, or work with professionals who can build custom training materials that fit your company's organizational values and selling style.

Bill Sherman co-founded Intulogy and serves as a managing partner. He specializes in diagnostics and analysis, in projects ranging from needs analysis studies for the state of Alaska, curriculum-mapping initiatives for Fluor and retail sales diagnostics for a vehicle manufacturer.