Andrew Carnegie once said that, “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results."
You can have the best vision in the world, the right objectives, and the highest ambitions for uncommon results, but without a team to deliver on your vision, coordinate to fulfill objectives, and power through to results, you’re going to be left with a lot of plans and not much in the way of execution. In short, you need team members who are going to help you achieve what you want to achieve.
But those team members aren’t typically going to walk in the door on their first day of work with every necessary skill and a complete understanding of how to implement your business goals. And even your best employees need ongoing training to boost their skills and stay current with best practices. And that means delivering training.
The Importance of Training to Your Retail Operation
Satisfied customers can have a variety of reasons for appreciating your retail business, but of all the elements that tie into their experience, their direct interaction with your team members is going to top a lot of shoppers’ priority lists. To ensure they can aid in delivering an exceptional customer experience and not get in the way of it, your employees need training.
When a new process is rolled out, they need thorough training on it. If they don’t fully understand the process, they won’t be able to explain it to the customer. When standards change, when there are security or system updates, when you implement a new solution, when you start to prioritize a new product or service – all of these are scenarios where training may be appropriate.
The competition is not going to sit idly by. They are always looking for ways to improve and get a leg up on you and their other competitors, and that includes upscaling their employees and teaching them how to better work towards their common vision. Training should not be solely remedial; it should be part of a proactive, continual campaign to make your customer experience the best it can be.
In-Depth Reporting Helps You Build the Perfect Team
Retail training is rarely one-size-fits-all. You don’t need to provide remedial training on how to close a sale to your best salesperson; you need to deliver it to those employees who need a little help getting over the hump. But how do you refine your training targeting? It all starts with reporting.
Let’s say you need to provide training related to your consumer finance program. You need data on your most and least effective closers, among other data, so you can understand which employees need which training. FormPiper is a consumer finance automation solution that features all the reporting functionality you need to do just that across both single- and multi-location retail operations. With the right data at your fingertips, you can make smart decisions with your retail training program and ensure that you make improvements to your customer experience with every training delivered.
If you don’t have a robust training program in place for your retail business, you should start building one today. By using the right reporting-based targeting and customer-centric planning, you will make your customers happier, better equip your employees for success, and boost your revenue over time. With a well-trained, well-coordinated team, you’ll find your business goals well within reach.
