NFIB

Five Traits All Retail Employees Need
04/ 11/ 2002

Oh, the aggravation of it! You walk into a store, ask the person at the check-out desk if the store carries a certain product, and the answer is: "I have no idea." Or, just as aggravating, you ask where a product is. The answer (after the employee looks up from the magazine he's reading): "I'm not sure. I think it's somewhere back on aisle five, six or seven." Employees who are this uninformed (and uninterested) about the store's merchandise can turn off customers immediately, causing them to wander aimlessly through the aisles trying to find what they need. In today's Workshop, contributor Jeffrey Moses describes five basic skills and traits that all retail employees need so that your store will shine from the moment customers walk in.

1. BE FAMILIAR WITH THE STORE'S LAYOUT

In addition to the absolute basics (using the register, etc.), employees should know everything about the contents and location of merchandise throughout the store. When someone walks in and asks for something, your employees should not only know where that product is, but understand the price points of different brands and models.

2. ATTAIN BRAND AWARENESS

If your store specializes in certain types of merchandise (examples would be health foods and vitamins, kitchen products, books, or clothing), your employees should be mini-experts on all the details people need to know about purchasing and use of the products. For instance, if you have a clothing store, your employees should be experts in fabrics, styles, accessories, and the differences between designer brands. If you have a book store, your employees should be able to hold a decent conversation with a customer who asks about a certain book or author. This doesn't mean that your employees need to have Ph.D.'s in literature. They just need to be informed enough to show customers that your store cares about the merchandise it carries.

When you're looking for new employees, the ideal applicant understands your products before being hired. This is optimal because it shows that they truly are interested in and enjoy working with the merchandise you carry. In addition, this will help them sell the products. If you can't locate knowledgeable applicants, at least make sure that you train employees well during their first days and weeks on the job.

3. ACQUIRE PEOPLE SKILLS

Your employees should have above-average people skills. This means that they should be adept at listening, understanding customer needs, and reading body language. Employees should be mature enough to engage customers in conversation, when the customer wants to talk. And employees should know when customers don't want to talk. Nothing turns customers off more than a chatty salesperson who talks all about his or her personal problems, or goes on and on about topics irrelevant to the products carried by the store.

4. LEARN SALES TECHNIQUES

Your employees should understand basic sales techniques. Sales training can be given either by a trained manager, through books, or through classes. Activities such as evaluating a customer's buying level, helping a customer select merchandise, overcoming objections, and closing the sale are all important, even in a climate of low-pressure retail sales.

5. BE HIGHLY MOTIVATED

Perhaps more important than any of the previous points, your employees should be excited about working at your store. Dull, uninspired employees hurt your store's image (and sales) when lingering behind the counter rather than getting out and offering service to a customer. Employee enthusiasm can't really be taught, but it can be encouraged. Don't allow your staff to be too low-key or laid back. Show them how to work with customers, and monitor them to make sure that they do. If even one of your employees continually pulls back, just standing around rather than relating with customers, you'll discover that your sales volume is less than it could be.

There may be situations, such as in a store with a high-income client base, when being aloof is acceptable. A certain amount of finesse may have to be cultivated in order not to put-off such customers. Proper selection and training of sales personnel in such instances is mandatory. But even in this situation, employees must be motivated enough to jump right in when a customer is eager to know about products.

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