You would have to have been living under a rock not to notice a few major changes happening within the retail marketplace over the past few years, namely:
- The level of competition is getting higher and much, much better.
- The ‘online’ world is growing, but more impactful than the sales it steals away from brick and mortar stores is the way it educates your consumers.
- Your customers are more knowledgeable and demanding than ever before.
- Your store staff is much more important today than ever before.
The reality for most retailers is that Traffic is down slightly in most stores due to the increased level of competition and rise in online sales. And, the customers that are coming into your store have much higher expectations of a shopping experience than ever before. This puts the pressure squarely on the shoulders of your store staff.
When Traffic is down, there are only two other ways to maintain and grow sales; sell to more of the customers entering your store (increase your Conversion Rate %) and/or sell more to the customers already buying (increase Average Sale).
The impact your staff can make on both Conversion Rate and Average Sale can easily offset any drop in Traffic. Let’s be realistic for a moment and recognize that it’s just not that hard to sell to a few more customers every day and to get an extra buck or two from the customers already making a purchase. All that’s required is to train both your Sales Staff and Managers properly.
Here’s what you need to answer: Are you certain you’re training your staff properly? Have you committed the right resources? Have you made your staff much more important than ever before?
If you can’t affirmatively answer these questions, I’ll answer the question posed in the title of this blog post (Are Your Stores Keeping Up?) for you. They’re not.
Don’t have a Sales Training Program in place? Or the one you’re using isn’t working for you?
We can help! Just contact us at solutions@graffretail.com or 905-842-1275.
