Founder of Simon Acres Group Simon Acres says training is even more important in a challenging retail market

Everyone agrees we all need to do more to help train and professionalise our industry but finding the time is often the biggest barrier for most businesses.

With a long-held passion for sales training, training is an investment in a business that will help growth and prosperity.

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Independent retailers are facing unprecedented challenges in supply, inflation, cost of living crisis and future market confidence and whilst the most successful companies understand they need to invest in their people, some see it as a time to batten down the hatches.

And there are three important reasons why investing in training is even more important in a challenging market:

• Retain best staff

If the market gets tougher, staff are tempted to look around for a better position, especially if their earnings are lower because performance related pay or bonuses are down.

One sure way to keep your best people loyal, is to invest in their training so they will feel valued, motivated and are more likely to stay with you.

• Attract new employees

With more staff potentially on the move, it will pay to be seen as an employer that respects and supports staff.

You will find it easier to attract new employees who are qualified, passionate and enthusiastic.

Keeping the best team you can will result in a more profitable business.

• Maintain customer service

With consumer confidence lower for some customers, they may be uncertain about investing in their home.

Having staff that are better trained on how to close the deal, and overcome uncertainties and objections can have a positive impact on sales.

But what practical ideas can retailers adopt to enhance their business? Here are three simple tips to help increase sales conversion rates, achieve higher order values and increase your company profit.

1. Coach your team to do something every day before 9am that will make an impact to their sales performance. This could be self-learning plan or prospecting for a new contract client.
2. Question customers with alternative options and provide a deadline where a decision needs to be made by giving a valid reason, such as a manufacturer`s pending price change.
3. Agree the next stage. This should be when a customer leaves the showroom and is also as important, after every phone conversation.

The Simon Acres Group Customer Engagement Sales Training has previously been accredited by OAL (Occupational Awards Ltd) and those that have been on the course say that it was extremely informative and provided many new sales techniques.

Learners that complete the course will be awarded a SAGL certificate of achievement