Are you still relying solely on field-based brand representatives to train retail sales associates? There’s a better way, and you’re only scratching the surface of the benefits that you could be getting from taking a digital approach to your retail sales enablement. From scaling and streamlining your training at a fraction of your usual cost, to tracking the usage of your content across all points of sale, a digital training scheme will greatly increase your sell-through, engagement and customer experience. Fortunately, there’s no better time than now to digitise your sales training. Here’s why.
The existing approach has been disrupted
Thanks to the pandemic, reps haven’t been able to visit stores to run training clinics. So, the enthusiasm and knowledge needed among retail staff to sell your products has been missing. Retail has a notoriously high staff turnover, but the events of 2020 saw this jump even higher, from roughly 45% to 57%, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The pandemic has created the perfect market conditions for companies to digitize this process. However, this has left a big knowledge gap, and the quicker it's filled, the better.
Brands should leap at the opportunity to embrace new ways of supporting retailers in their sell-through. By taking your retail sales enablement online, you’ll protect your brand against future disruptions to the industry and maximize the benefits of digitization.
Faster execution at a lower cost
The traditional method of sending out a fleet of brand representatives to different territories is expensive. By moving the process online, however, you can provide the same quality training without paying the usual high costs.
Brands should also consider the time it takes to complete product training on a large scale. With online retail sales enablement, training can be rolled out across many stores simultaneously, regardless of location. New product launches can be supported by passionate and knowledgeable retail sales associates from the get-go.
For these reasons, training clinics are often far apart. However, it’s with continuous training that employees can make up to 50% more net sales. Online sales enablement allows you to deploy training modules whenever you need to. As customers return to in-store shopping, there’s no better time than now to capitalize on a more efficient training process.
Creating content is easier than ever
It’s important to remember that your training content isn’t consumer-facing. That means it doesn’t need the high production value and huge budget you’d normally spend on consumer comms. Everyone has access to digital tools and devices, and they’ve become much simpler to use – it’s easier than ever to make engaging training content available at the touch of a button. In a study by Axonify it was shown that training frequency increased by 42% when done through mobile.
The barrier to entry is incredibly low, but the ceiling for the value it can bring is sky-high. We’ve all become more familiar with digital spaces since the onset of the pandemic, so now is the perfect time to adopt online retail sales enablement.
Measure your performance
It’s difficult to know how much meaningful impact brand reps are having as there’s no reliable way of measuring return on investment. If you see an uptick in sales, you can’t always say for sure whether that’s down to the brand training. Brand reps can report that a training clinic went well, but there’s no certainty that the information has been absorbed by staff. In fact, research from PROLIFIQ found that 47% of sales enablement teams don't measure the ROI of their efforts at all. That's cause for concern.
Digitizing retail sales enablement helps you to understand its direct effect on sales by analyzing the data and taking informed actions. It also gives you accountability with the retailer. You can see if certain employees haven’t completed your training and if those that do are selling more. It’s in everyone’s best interest to optimize your sell-through, and sales enablement platforms put that power in your hands.
Complete solutions exist
According to a report by Xerox, 87% of sales training content is forgotten within the first month. There are a lot of learning management systems (LMS) out there that can solve part of that issue, but they’re missing a key piece of the puzzle. As they can’t rely on compliance, brands need compelling content that motivates people to complete their training.
There are solutions that exist to do just that by utilizing engaging video content and gamification techniques based on psychology to create easily digestible and valuable product training programs.
The outcome with such platforms isn’t just personal development for a team member, but tangible business value: increased sell-through and a better customer experience. Choosing a platform that facilitates this is imperative.
Past a certain point, a brand’s success is out of its hands. Once a product is stocked in stores, the hard work is not over. The next challenge is ensuring that your stock is sold to consumers, so it’s only sensible to optimize your sell-through.
After such a difficult period, can you afford to leave that up to chance? Give retail sales associates the proper tools to be a real advocate for your brand. According to Salesforce, 80% of customers say that the customer experience is just as important as its products. Make it count.
Get in touch below for more information on how Myagi can help you take your retail sales enablement online.