Are Your Retail Sales Staff Properly Trained

I was given a Blondie cartoon strip recently by a friend who was probably teasing me more about my age than anything else but it was a very poignant strip. Essentially Dagwood was motivated to buy a video recorder from a retailer because the young clerk suggested he was too old for this technology. What intrigued me most about this strip was that the naive young clerk failed to recognize the demographic target market Dagwood represents, average age of 39, male and known as the 'Unwired Baby Boomer' which comprise 16% of the population with an Internet use of 45% and 69% have cell phones. They tend to be married with children and do not have a lot of free time to devote to technology which means a more aware clerk should have provided a discussion on the benefits of the video camera. In this scenario Dagwood is now left thinking he bought something for the wrong reason and may have buyers’ remorse and return the camera.

There are two problems here; the clerk was not properly trained on the benefits of the video camera as it pertains to Dagwood’s demographic and Dagwood made an impulse buy. If you own a retail business ask yourself how much business you have lost because of poorly trained and young staff and, if you are a consumer, ask yourself how much information you have about your purchase before you buy?

The most popular method for product information research is the internet. Before you buy, search the internet and remember that the website that answers all your questions is probably the best place to buy. If you are the retailer then remember that the consumer is much more educated today because they can research the product on the internet before they buy. The consumer is more likely, and this number grows every year, to buy online if a 'shopping cart or e-commerce service' is available from the web site that answered all their questions and provided the best comparison information.

If you don't have an online shopping service then at a minimum your site should provide dynamic, media rich, and comparative information to the consumer. This will build trust for them to visit your store in person and the longer they are on your site the more brand recognition you will also receive.

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com

Ray MacNeil writes in his Blog daily for New Entrepreneurs and those people considering the move into Self-Employment. His blog can be found at: franchisefun.blogspot.com

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