An educated sales staff leads to a more profitable store. That’s why it’s important not to cut back on maintaining and building your team’s high professional standards. Tom Shay, of Profits Plus, says retailers must make a commitment to staff education.
Shay offers the following tips to thrive with staff education:
Make it Mandatory: Hold bi-weekly, one hour sessions in which you discuss new products, your advertising, practice sales techniques, and discuss ways your business can run better.
- Extra Tip: Jewelers of America members can log into the association’s online education center at www.jewelers.org to find free product knowledge and sales training guides, for help in creating in-store training materials.
- Keep it Structured: Create a written program to go along with these sessions. By providing these to each participant, it shows you have a formal plan and are serious about improving your business.
- Refresh: Hold 10-minute staff meetings each morning before you open. This is an excellent opportunity to ensure everyone is on the same page and gets staff up to speed on that day’s advertising, displays to be built, merchandise to be checked in and ordered, and resolutions to any issues that came up the previous day.
Take The Tip:
Jewelers of America offers inexpensive in-store education programs and guides to help you structure and implement staff education easily. Click here for more information on our popular Jewelry 101, Counter Intelligence and JA Professional’s Guide to Fine Craftsmanship in-store education tools.
Stand Out to customers with certified staff. Jewelry consumers look to purchase from professional retailers who they trust. Reiterate your commitment to professional standards and skill through Jewelers of America Professional Certification. Jewelry professionals, who are certified through JA’s sales, management or bench certification programs, have respected status and increased marketability among consumers. Click here to learn more.
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