Hire the right shop floor teams to increase sales

• In any business, it is the employees who steer the enterprise to greater heights. The main role of the business owner is to get good people to do the right job and retain them. If you get it wrong on this, regardless of what you sell, success will be hard to come by.
• Most business owners lose out when they spend so much money on advertising, exterior and interior décor and acquiring the best products in the market and keep incompetent staff on the floor.
• As a rule in business, all the employees and especially those who are in direct contact with customers need to know all the aspects of your products or services. They are technically sales people whether they are in sales department or not.
• Employees are the face of the firm and knowledge is power. The more they know about what you offer, the more potential clients will trust them.
• It is said enthusiasm is contagious. When your staff is equipped with the two-edged sword of knowledge and enthusiasm, customers will buy more and come back.

One of the costlier mistakes that a business owner can make is investing heavily in products development and inventory while ignoring human resources, which is a key ingredient for enterprise success.

In any business, it is the employees who steer the enterprise to greater heights. The main role of the business owner is to get good people to do the right job and retain them. If you get it wrong on this, regardless of what you sell, success will be hard to come by.

The main role of human resources in a business, especially the front office staff such as customer service executives or floor attendants may be summed up as helping customers to make informed buying decisions and offering after-sales services.

Study after another shows that even after researching products on their own, through the Internet, referrals, window and mobile-shopping tools as well as media adverts, as many as 40 per cent of customers enter shops undecided about what to buy.

Indeed, today many companies are stationing their sales people on the floors of major stores to help customers decide to buy their products.

Others are enlisting the services of attendants to recommend their products to customers.

Many of us can remember that time you went into a chemist, a garage, boutique or a bookshop with an intention of buying a specific item only to come out with something else or more items than you had planned and still smiling with contentment. This is courtesy of a smart and helpful attendant.

Most business owners lose out when they spend so much money on advertising, exterior and interior décor and acquiring the best products in the market and keep incompetent staff on the floor.

As a rule in business, all the employees and especially those who are in direct contact with customers need to know all the aspects of your products or services. They are technically sales people whether they are in sales department or not.

Employees are the face of the firm and knowledge is power. The more they know about what you offer, the more potential clients will trust them.

Knowledge is not a gift. It is an art that must be taught and learned. Therefore, teach and instill an enthusiasm and desire to sell and serve in every employee.

A genuine desire to sell that is based on helping the customer pick the product that will meet their needs and expectations accomplishes more than pressure sales tactics.

It is said enthusiasm is contagious. When your staff is equipped with the two-edged sword of knowledge and enthusiasm, customers will buy more and come back.

The market is very noisy and competitive. The cost of attracting the attention of a prospect is very high. So when a customer walks into your premises on their own, that is a godsend gift you should not let go.

Seize this as an opportunity to improve your off-line sales by equipping your floor people with the necessary knowledge and skills to immediately capture them and make them your customers and loyal ambassadors.