Apr 24, 2008

Training: Retailers Need to Get OnboardBy Faye BrookmanStores.org

Last December, Brian Douglas entered a big-box electronics store giddy at the prospect of buying an HD-TV as a gift for himself. Although he had done some research online, he really wanted expert advice to help him decide which size, type and brand would work best in his Branchburg, N.J., home. A poorly trained salesperson couldn’t help him, so he left for another chain store.

In late February, Starbucks closed all of its U.S. units for several hours to retrain baristas in the art of coffee making. The company realized it had taken its eye off of the ball.

Unfortunately, poor service — even a perceived lack of service — is all too prevalent in retailing today. Thirty-three percent of consumers polled for The Retail Consumer Dissatisfaction Survey, conducted by the Wharton School’s Jay H. Baker Retail Initiative, said they have been unable to find a salesperson and 25 percent said they were ignored completely by associates. These findings reveal that retailers lose at least 6 percent of shoppers because of a lack of trained help.

Those statistics don’t surprise Bob Richardson, president and CEO of Associates Interactive, a new company that helps retailers and manufacturers enhance training. (Richardson had been president of R2 Marketing Group, a technology marketing and training firm that developed programs which helped boost sales at companies like Wal-Mart.)

Associates Interactive focuses on a blend of conversational skills and individualized techniques.

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