You’ve chosen a great retail sales program for your team. Now, you need to get that program working hard for you.

Training your team is a significant investment, so it’s important to ensure that it’s driving the results you need, such as improved sales figures, growth in conversions, or net promoter scores. 

The key to getting the most out of your training budget and time is successful training implementation. Here are three things to think about when you’re implementing your sales training program:

Set realistic expectations

Before getting your team started on a course, think about how much time they’ll need to complete it. 

Don’t waste your training budget by rushing your team through their training. Instead, allow them the time they need to complete the course to fully understand the teaching and transfer that to skills on the shop floor. Having ample time to consolidate their learning will mean your team is well-trained and ready to provide a higher level of service.

Setting realistic expectations is also about understanding what obstacles might be preventing your team from completing their training.

Download: 3 Sales Coaching Tips for Busy Retail Managers

Eliminate your roadblocks

Don’t let anything stand between your team and a great training program. Training roadblocks like lack of engagement and interrupted learning can reduce motivation and impact progress and learning outcomes. Make your training process accessible and successful by considering potential obstacles before they arise. Here’re some things to think about:

• You know how much time your team needs for each course. How will that fit into the working week?
• What devices are the team going to need to use for training? Does everyone have an appropriate device and headphones?
• Are all staff ready to learn online? What tech support might they need?
• Will you offer incentives for course completion? 
• What happens if people fail to complete their training?

Watch: 3 Common Barriers to Training (and how to overcome them)

Understand your metrics

Think about your training goals. You know your goals vary according to the type of training you’re providing for your team. But no matter what your goals are, you’ll want to measure the effectiveness of your training programs. 

Using various reporting methods will help you check you’re hitting your targets, no matter what. If your goal is to improve sales skills, you’ll need proof of sales growth. Is your goal to improve employee engagement? Use data, such as surveys to confirm your team’s progress. To check on skills acquisition, you might want to analyse the data from your coaching-feedback loop. 

Evaluating the training results will help you, your team, and your customers benefit. A happy, knowledgeable team will mean better service and more profitability.

Today’s top retailers succeed by embracing a culture grounded in learning, transparency and accountability. To achieve this level of success, teams need the right tools to accelerate their growth. 

With personalised insights and expert-led content, RedSeed is a powerfully simple training, coaching, and enablement solution that helps companies build a framework for continuous improvement throughout their organisation to grow sales and create meaningful change. Sign up for a free trial here.