Retail eLearning involves the delivery of training over the Internet using text, video, audio and graphics. It enables retailers to cut costs, increase sales and customer basket value as well as improve staff retention and brand loyalty.

eLearning brings the benefits of high quality training to the retail sector in a way that is convenient for the business and staff. Well-trained staff will sell more because they feel more confident and willing to offer solutions based on the knowledge they have gained and the skills they have mastered.

One of the hardest things for many specialty merchants to wrap their head around is the fact that customers don’t really seek out products today. They seek solutions.
A product is really only a means to an end for many customers.
This is not meant to be insulting either to the product itself or the person who slavishly toiled to bring it to market. But great retailers get over product and price chauvinism and go straight to the productive art of presenting their product to the customer in the context of a “solutions set”.

Visual merchandising is the first part of the persuasion. Creating a “scenario display” which tells a story and sales aids which explain problem and solution and rational and emotional features and benefits, allows the customer to self diagnose and identify their needs and wants.
Training staff in the skills of selling forensics – skills that utilise subtle interrogation to unearth the issues or problems to be solved – is another critical part.

By far the most important element however is patience.

Customers given the right cues, volunteer the path to up-sell and cross-sell at optimum price-levels by gradually verbalising their issues and problems. This takes more patience than putting a product and a price on a shelf. It requires layers of attraction, suggestion, scenario setting, interrogation, information, packaging and resolution. The equivalent of charm and seduction instead of wham, bam thank you ma’am.

It requires not just fixtures, fittings and merchandise but the warmth and empathy of people. It requires a sense of care and intimacy to find a way of making the product seem like part of a customised solution to the customer’s unique situation. The customer’s perception is their reality.

At the end of the day, the right solution is valued far more by the customer than a cheaply priced commodity bulk stacked to assault them. They may consume and dispose of the commodity because it is cheap, but they won’t value you as a retailer.

They value a retailer who proves their relevance to them everyday through a clearly recognisable demonstration of understanding of their needs, wants, issues and problems in a cleverly constructed environment that is capable of solving them efficiently, effectively and without any hassle or stress.

It takes a little more thought than simply flogging stuff. But it is so much more productive for everyone.

Peter James Ryan can be contacted on peter@redcommunication.com or visit www.redcommunication.com

By Karen Groenen, Personally Recommended

Each year, Retailers spend millions on creating and developing brands. No matter how good the television commercials, the instore branding and the environment itself; the brand experience can be won or lost depending on the sales experience given by your staff.

Mystery shopping is a technique used to independently assess the experience your staff give your customers. A mystery shopping program can help you understand your customer’s brand experience and provide you with objective feedback on the opportunities you may not know existed.

The mystery shop will identify what products, advice and product knowledge is being recommended by staff when challenged with a specific scenario and measure the quality of Customer Service offered by staff members at the point of sale.

Many mystery shopping clients use the results to provide teams with a customer’s view of the customer service and reward and acknowledge fantastic service and selling skills.

Importantly, regular mystery shopping allows you to benchmark and track trends. This ensures you can allocate your training and marketing budgets to activities that have the greatest improvement on results. Training may be required in fundamentals like customer service and selling skills or may need to be focused more areas like product knowledge and cross-selling.

A technique less commonly used but essential to get a true benchmark, is mystery shopping competitors. This analysis details any risks associated with falling behind other brands and also identifies opportunities where your brand has a competitive advantage over others.

So how do you ensure the right mystery shopping program for your business? We recommend you start with a workshop with key team members who can provide their input on what should be included in the questionnaire. You should also establish how the program will be used to create a positive impact on the business. This is essential for buy-in to the overall program of building a better brand experience.

For further information please contact: Karen Groenen, Personally Recommended, on (02)8814 5000 www.personallyrecommended.com.au