By Mark Polman
If you are in the retail or sales business then you can understand the importance of having good people interacting with your customers. To begin with they are the people that represent your business while at the same time ensuring your company sells products. Without a sales force that is well trained, knowledgeable about your products and courteous to your customers you don't have much hope in staying alive in the business world. Following is a short list that will help you give the support your sales force needs.
#1 - Ensure your sales force treats your customers with respect.
As stated in the introduction, your workers are the people who face the public and represent your company. There are various ways that you can drill your staff on how to treat customers. Make sure your sales force is trained in how to treat customers with respect and tolerance.
#2 - Make sure your sales force knows the products they are selling.
If you staff is unable to answer questions about the product then they are not doing their jobs. Your staff should know all of the ins and outs of how the product works, what it does and what its advantages are. Let your sales force use the products you are selling and get them accustomed to using them. If they have to show customers how the product works then this will be highly advantageous.
#3 - Make sure your sales force is up to date on how to use your companies technology.
If you have a unique point-of-sale system or any other unique technology that your company relies on to record sales or employee activity then give your employees some training in how to use it. This can avoid problems that may occur with the payroll or tax. If sales are not recorded correctly you may have some explaining to do come tax time.
#4 - Notify your employees of changes.
If your employees are going to be affected by any changes in the company then let them know. If you are bringing in a new product organise a sales training seminar so they know what the product is and how to use it.
#5 - More training can be better than firing.
If your employee is having trouble interacting with customers or closing sales because they are not sure what to do - try giving them more training before firing them. A lot of the time there may just be some misunderstanding that was gleaned while the employee was trained initially. Of course if the problem is attitudinal then you probably should consider the next point. Some basic sales training will go a long way.
#6 - Cut loose dead weight.
Sure this doesn't sound nice, but if an employee has no hope at improving at the job they are doing after constantly underperforming then it might be a good idea to let them go. Remember how I stated in point one that they are the people that represent your company? The rest speaks for itself.
#7 - Get your sales force excited about the product they are selling.
If your sales force doesn't believe in the product they are selling then they will have a lot of trouble selling it. Excitement is infectious.
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