Consistency in training prepares salespersons for the information- centric buyers today

Lucknow-based Raj Jewellers wanted a complete transformation in their store operations, and staff training was of utmost priority this time. Maheep Raj Gupta, Owner, Raj Jewellers, believed that there had to be a complete overhaul in the way sales executives approached customers. The brand felt the need for their employees to understand human behaviour in order to deal with them effectively and efficiently.

There were several training programs by the brand in 2016, but without continuity, there was no perceivable improvement in the body language and communication of the sales people. They later realized the need to conduct training sessions consistently to get the desired results as an employee needs constant exposure to evolving techniques. “In today’s time, the management can’t evaluate every interaction between the staff and customers and thus, we decided to take the help from professionals to formulate and conduct the training sessions. We restarted training in April this year with around 20 employees across two showrooms in Lucknow,” he said.

One of the most important aspects of the training programme was personal assessment. Under this, the employees were taught how to perceive themselves and present themselves in front of the customer. “People have different mindsets. Some operate in a fixed set-up while others evolve their understanding continuously. The sessions taught the staff members to transform themselves from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset,” he added.

The training sessions also stressed the importance of understanding the persona of a customer. “Many employees are working with us for the last 5-10 years. So, they have a certain understanding of the customer. However, in today’s time, the customer is exposed to a lot of data available on online platforms and has varying levels of awareness or misinformation regarding the jewellery they want. Thus, it becomes important for employees to have expert grasp over inventory for better sale,” he added.

Sharing an instance of heightened product awareness, Gupta said how customers seek information beyond the 4 C’s of diamond now. “They are interested in the origin of the diamonds, mining, cutting and polishing technologies, etc. So, a salesperson needs to explain all these things and the training sessions also focused on this aspect.

Courtesy: Retail Jeweller India News