Retailers: Step it up with training

It’s time to step it up or you may find yourself stepping aside.  To say that we are in a serious situation is an understatement. Most jewellery firms, both in retail and more broadly, are doing about half of what they potentially could and should be doing. I say this with the highest degree of respect for the industry the people that call themselves its members.  

I have to tell you that I am amazed, if not shocked, at how few wholesalers and retailers invest in training, or that even attend the free education sessions offered by their various industry associations.  

With the economy as it is and sales being tougher and tougher to make, I would think that every jewellery retailer and wholesaler would want to get an edge and to learn something new.  If you learn one thing, it might be the difference between a great year an average year, and one that leaves you wondering if you will survive. To quote a scientist of particular repute “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Last June I had the pleasure of spending three solid weeks in a retail store as the sales manager.  Running the sales floor took me back to my roots of the good old days when I was a sales manager working full time. Not much has changed.  Customers still say, “I’m just looking”, “I’ll be back”, “and “This is the first place I’ve shopped”.

Salespeople still say, “Will that be all”, “Here’s my card, when you are ready come on back” etc. etc.  Customers have habits they have fallen into just as salespeople use bad selling habits on occasion. I am not blaming anyone; I am just saying that is the way it is.  During this three-week period, we did about $35,000 (average week) in sales the first week, the second week we did over $70,000 (double an average week) in sales and the third week we did over $120,000 (a bit more than three plus times an average week) in sales.  

The reason I am mentioning this is to point out – there is no second place to ‘on the shop floor’ coaching and training’.  It is the practical, continuous, application of proper sales techniques as well as using role-playing and in live situations. This is where the real training, retention, and application of the knowledge is accomplished.

The shopowner, sales manager, store manager, sales trainer, floor manager – whatever title you give to the position – can have a dramatic effect on sales and profits. This position is the single most important position in the company when it comes to proactively creating sales and profits. Without a strong leader, people tend to revert to their safe zone or level of competency or incompetence depending upon how you look at it.  In sports, it is proven every day, that the coaching makes all the difference between a championship season and an average season. The exact same thing is true in jewellery – coaching on the floor, or in the office will make the difference between a company growing and flourishing and one that is just getting by.

However, I do know that most retail jewellers are still closing about 20 per cent of the potential customers that come in. Most shops are still averaging about five per cent in add-on sales; most do about half of the business that they could be doing without making any changes other than improving the skills of the sales staff. Most retail salespeople sit back and wait for customers to come in, when they could be doing some things to create traffic in the store.  

As a business, if you keep doing the same things that you did previously – why would you expect different results? I have heard some retail outfits that say 30 per cent of all the independent retail stores will be out of business in the next five years. Many of the chain stores aren’t doing much better.  If this doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what will. There is no doubt in my mind that the answer lies in the people that we have serving our customers. We, as an industry, have to put more and more emphasis on training, knowledge, positive reinforcement, on the floor coaching, incentives, and giving our people the help that they need in order to maximize every potential selling opportunity. Further, we need our salespeople to create selling opportunities and look at their positions more as business owners running their own business within the company.

When he/she is active with the sales person, on the sales floor, interacting with the sales staff and customers, we are on our way to positive results.  I have seen a struggling store or company bring in a new manager, and the company explodes in sales.

All jewellery companies, whether wholesale or retail, need to commit a small percentage of their sales  revenue to be reinvested in training and education. If you look at your costs and they do not include anything for training, then by extension you are not maximizing your sales opportunities.  Just as a person needs specialists for medical, legal, accounting, plumbing, or your car’s MOT, get a specialist to help you increase sales and profits.

This will make all the difference in the world.  Nobody ever accepts a job wanting to fail. Something is making success elusive. In bricks-and-mortar retail, the sales floor is where all the action is; in wholesale it’s on the telephone; or at a trade show it’s on the stand. Your training needs to address these critical areas.  If, as the owner, you do not feel you have what it take to do the training yourself, hire in someone who does. You wouldn’t believe how quickly you can reap the benefit.

Author, trainer, consultant, and speaker Brad Huisken is President of IAS Training. This feature first appeared in the February 2014 issue of Jewellery Focus.