If you have been paying attention then you have been working hard on getting your branding right. Your logo, your advertising, your packaging and your location are all running in the same harness to get your message across, right? You’re broadcasting your message of professionalism and style loud and clear; but what is your staff saying?
Your sales staff (even if it is only you) is the final piece of the great marketing puzzle. The care you take in hiring, training and managing your staff can either close those sales or completely undo every marketing move you have made. Staffing is one of the hardest parts of running a small business. Good Staff is hard to find and a bear to keep. What is the small business owner to do? Maybe you need to look differently than you have been.
Many times we look over resumes and scour applications with an eye to experience and knowledge; that may not be the best answer. You can teach someone the fine points of your products and client base, what you can’t teach is personality. I do not care how well trained or knowledgeable an employee is if he/she is surly or condescending they are going to turn off more customers than they will sell. Long gone are the days of the surly waiter in the 4 star restaurants being a status symbol. Today it is about connecting with your customers. This is true for any staff member that may in any way have anything to do with one of your potential customers. ANY!
Your staff is your surrogate; they are your representative to the public. From the way they look to the way they speak you must be sure that they are representing your brand in the way you want it represented. Why do you think that Abercrombie & Fitch has a floor staff of attractive young kids? Did you really think they were hired for their vast experience in fashion merchandising? Right!
Once you have found some enthusiastic people that fit your brand the key is in the training. You should look at training as an ongoing process. There is always more to learn and always more to teach. Each time you take the time to train your staff you also have an opportunity to refresh their enthusiasm. Back in the day when I was still in the hospitality business the wine and liquor companies would come to my restaurant on a frequent basis to showcase a new wine or educate the staff on a flight of cognacs. Each night the chef would prepare a serving of that night’s special for the staff to taste; he would take the time to explain the ingredients and the methods used. They did these things because they knew that there was always a dramatic spike in sales in what ever they had showcased. By training the staff they were creating excitement around a product; they had sold it to the staff. The staff then carried that enthusiasm forward.
Take a look at your staff with a fresh eye. The better you make them at their job, the more they will enhance your bottom like. The more enthusiasm you can create the more loyal your staff will be. Sounds like a win/win to me.
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