Customer service is one of the most important factors contributing to the success of independent retailers. And of course a cornerstone of good service is product knowledge.  You won’t find in-depth information about merchandise in most big-box or discount stores (if you can find someone to help you, that is).  But online retailers provide access to a wealth of information, so it’s important that we give our employees all the tools they need to compete with this challenge.

Good training during the settling-in stage of a new employee will help make sure that anyone joining your staff knows where items are located (on the floor and in back stock), and what the key selling points are for most of your merchandise. Don’t expect a new hire to master this information right away — always allow a period of shadowing an experienced employee before expecting full service.

Communication with all employees will help keep them informed of new arrivals.  We send out a biweekly employee newsletter via e-mail on payday, and also post information and all our ads on a bulletin board behind our checkout counter.  We ask that part-time employees in particular take time before their shift starts to walk around the store to see what’s new.

A fun idea for increasing your staff’s knowledge of your merchandise is to create a quiz that can be taken during a staff meeting or even while the store is open. You might offer a prize for the most right answers, or allow employees to work in teams to help them get to know each other.

A multiple choice quiz is easy to come up with, and in fact you could ask each employee to contribute a question or two, along with three or four possible answers for their questions.

But studies have shown that people learn better when they have to write out answers — and if you are using this as an exercise during a staff meeting, write-in answers give you a chance for more discussion.  Here are some ideas for questions that would work for our store:

•Name four of our products made in Wisconsin.

•What is the material used for Swiss Diamond cookware, and  how does this benefits the cook.

•What soaps are best for dry skin?

•What items make good gifts to take when traveling abroad?

•How often should good knives be sharpened? Why?

•Name three toys suitable for a toddler.

Be sure that your staff knows where to find information in your office files.  And if possible, offer access to the internet for when a customer asks a really difficult question.  “I don’t know” is a reply that rarely leads to a sale.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder