Its not ok to not train your people, so that you don't have to increase their wages.

training them to handle all that a customer might require, makes them more valuable , so train them and then in turn , pay them more.

they have the ability to pay for their higher wages by selling a lot more, so train them , and quit pissing customers off.

product knowledge is important , yes, BUT !
customer service , both on the telephone and in person is every bit as important.

quit wasting your time and your customers time by chaining your employees to the lowest rung, by only paying them $8.00 per hour , or even $9.50 .

there are very few stores that can claim Prime exclusivity , almost everyone has a competitor .

train them and be an example for them to follow,
get a plan to get your people advancing instead of stagnating .

give them some incentive to increase sales by teaching them .
this showing up to collect a wage is not what your customers come to your store for.

Reminds me a little bit of a cartoon I saw years ago of an operations manager and a finance manager discussing whether or not to train their people.

Finance: well, what if we pay to train our people and they leave??

Ops: what if we don't train them and they STAY...

I keep saying this.

Create MERCHANTS! Not just cashiers. That 21 yr old could be your next asst. manager. The next manager of the next store to open in the chain.

Invest in their success.

and if they do not know the answers or can not obtain the answers, keep them off of the damn telephone

When pitching a bitch such as this one, describing the situation that inspired should be included.

Knowing nothing about the situation that precipitated this, looking how business has been evolving lately, any businessperson looking at their entry level employees more likely sees jobs that are going to be automated out of existence than future managers to be groomed. And if a business is looking for future managers, they'll likely hire them with that intention (thinking better educated than the basic floor workers), and train them directly for that position.

quote:

Originally posted by Paragon:
I keep saying this.

Create MERCHANTS! Not just cashiers. That 21 yr old could be your next asst. manager. The next manager of the next store to open in the chain.

Invest in their success.

Survival in retail these days is all about customer service, because there is almost always an alternative that is cheaper or more convenient.

At our store service is everything. We hire the right people, train them well, pay them well, and reward them often. We use spot bonuses.

Minimum wage is something we just don't get involved with. You get what you pay for. It is easy to just find a warm body in a college town but that doesn't work for us.

Our guys start on a 3 month probation and training program. We lose a few but if you interview and train well they will most likely make it and get a nice raise. Most end up staying until they graduate.

Our motto with staff is that if you treat us (and our customers) right, we will treat you right.

[quote]When pitching a bitch such as this one, describing the situation that inspired should be included.

I second that emotion.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
and if they do not know the answers or can not obtain the answers, keep them off of the damn telephone

Saying "I don't know. Let me find out" is the surest path to success with your customer. Trying to BS an answer only aggravates the customer and harms your integrity. Sometimes the customer already knows the answer but wants to see if you do too.

quote:

Originally posted by AZSigs:

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
and if they do not know the answers or can not obtain the answers, keep them off of the damn telephone

Saying "I don't know. Let me find out" is the surest path to success with your customer. Trying to BS an answer only aggravates the customer and harms your integrity. Sometimes the customer already knows the answer but wants to see if you do too.

Working the LGS part time, this is what I tell a customer when they ask me something I don't know much about. I either ask one of my fellow employees or try my best to look it up and find out the answer to their question/s.

Be honest and up front with the customer.

quote:

Our motto with staff is that if you treat us (and our customers) right, we will treat you right.

another good one is:
"Never keep them waiting and always leave them wanting more "

There is a pet shop/garden center here that only hires high school kids.
which would be fine,just fine if they would each learn just one thing per week, but they get no training what so ever.

they are every bit as clueless at the end of the summer as when the where hired in the spring.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
Knowing nothing about the situation that precipitated this, looking how business has been evolving lately, any businessperson looking at their entry level employees more likely sees jobs that are going to be automated out of existence than future managers to be groomed. And if a business is looking for future managers, they'll likely hire them with that intention (thinking better educated than the basic floor workers), and train them directly for that position.

quote:

Originally posted by Paragon:
I keep saying this.

Create MERCHANTS! Not just cashiers. That 21 yr old could be your next asst. manager. The next manager of the next store to open in the chain.

Invest in their success.

People who are made to feel like they have an investment in your business are more likely to do a better job then if they don't feel that way. Treat someone like a number and just another cog in the machine, and that person is more likely be apathetic. Customer service will go up or down based on that.

and I don't mind waiting for an extra 6 minutes IF ! everyone is in motion and doing their best to get to you .

but the minute I see two people leaning or yaking it up about where they went for lunch , I want to just make half of a scene

Good post. This seems to be what happened to Radio Shack. The sales people knew NOTHING about the products they were trying to sell.

I was hired to train some maintenance people at a manufacturing facility.
The first day I walked in, the plant manager wanted me to come into his office.

He asked me what my goals were. When I was done, I asked him what his goals for his people were.

He told me he could not keep people at his plant who had any experience. I told him that most places I knew of that paid to train their people gave them a small raise when they completed each class. He asked me what right I had to walk in the first day and try to run the plant!!!

So, I knew why he could not keep people. Of the 9 people I trained, 7 were gone within 6 months of finishing and one of those was number 11 on the overall seniority list.

quote:

Originally posted by Aquabird:
Good post. This seems to be what happened to Radio Shack. The sales people knew NOTHING about the products they were trying to sell.

I was hired to train some maintenance people at a manufacturing facility.
The first day I walked in, the plant manager wanted me to come into his office.

He asked me what my goals were. When I was done, I asked him what his goals for his people were.

He told me he could not keep people at his plant who had any experience. I told him that most places I knew of that paid to train their people gave them a small raise when they completed each class. He asked me what right I had to walk in the first day and try to run the plant!!!

So, I knew why he could not keep people. Of the 9 people I trained, 7 were gone within 6 months of finishing and one of those was number 11 on the overall seniority list.

I've worked many jobs from retail to production. In retail, I chose to work commission as the more I learned, the better I could serve the customer, and the better my pay was. I wouldn't try to sell the customer what they didn't want, because returns came back out of my commission, reducing my pay.

My last job before the one I have now was for a military sub-contractor for weapons mounts. We were paid a flat wage, and everyone in the shop was on the same scale. If you and I had the same start date, we had the same pay, regardless of our abilities or jobs.
I volunteered for every class, and new learning opportunity I could take. After 8 years, I was one the highest skilled workers on the floor. I found a new job that paid a lot more, and gave me flexibility in my schedule, that the old job slowly kept taking away.

When I gave my notice, I was asked "why?". I told them flat out, that I took the classes offered to better myself as a worker. However, my skills were no longer being recognized, so I found an employer that would.

Once the manager thought about what I said, he agreed, and wished me well. We still get together for the occasional beer, and he has told me how his hands were tied due to corporate rules. I believe him, and have done my best to warn him that any of the people I worked with could walk fro the same reasons. According to him, corporate is trying to lean the processes so that the need for skilled work is minimized, and that if they walk, they can be replaced for far less skill and lower wages as well.

All I can say is it looks like I got out at the right time.

In my business untrained employee would cost me lots of money. I train each one to handle his/her job but most importantly to ask instead of winging it for fear that I might think they can't handle their job. Chris

and all employee's have to park 20 spaces out from the main entrance, or more.
this b.s. of taking up the 40 closest parking spaces is for the birds.

either that or , or you do not deserve to have your job.

you can walk an additional 60 feet, if it means a courtesy to the people who want to shop at your store