Hey everybody! I hope you’re having a great week: we’re finally seeing some signs of Spring up here. Now I promised last time that we’d talk a little more about what I learned at the Global Retailing Marketing Conference, so let’s launch right into that.
One of the most important things I learned is the value of employee training. Now, if you’re like me, your skeptical meter just went off, because nine times out of ten, when someone wants to talk to you about employee training, it involves you having to buy something and spend a gazillion dollars.
This was a little different, though. This time, I learned about the value of getting your front line employees invested in the decision making process. If you want to make good retail decisions, decisions that are going to make your customers happy, it’s not a bad idea to actually talk to the people who talk to your customers: your front line employees. It’s your cashiers, your crew members, your csrs who actually interact with the people you want to please.
The more equipped they are to do a good job, the better results you’re going to have.
I know, duh.
But here’s the other part. Some of you might know this: we have our own line of Dog Food One of the things we carry is Delectable Dinners, a wet food. We need to offer more flavors.
Now, what’s the best way to decide what these flavors are going to be?
It’s not like I can ask a dog. Well, I can, but they don’t say much.
Instead, why don’t I have my crew talk with my customers, have them do a survey, and let the customers tell me what they want to buy? So simple, it’s brilliant: the first rule in retail is to give the customer what they want.
How does this relate to training? I want the new dog food flavors to be a big deal. I want my crew to be excited and enthused about it! If they’re excited, the customers will be excited: excited customers buy.
How do I get my guys excited? Training. I can’t afford to send everyone, else I would, but I’m going to send two or three crew members out to the facility where our dog food is made. They’re going to have the behind the scenes tour, the real inside scoop on dog food manufacturing. We’re going to video the whole thing, so the rest of my crew can see it too. This will help my crew feel connected to the new product: they were integral in deciding what was going to be made, they know how it’s made, and when the food finally arrives, they’re going to do an awesome job selling it.
There you go. The beauty of training, and involving your employees in the decision making process. Let me knwo what you think, and what you’d like me to talk about!
