Preparedness is an essential trait of running a successful bookstore. The best way to make sure you’ll be ready from day one is to find a comprehensive training program that will enable your staff to provide a smoother customer experience, maximize your store’s organization and turn your employees from novices into experts. A direct correlation can be drawn between well-instructed training and store success.
With personalized instruction from an experienced trainer, your staff will quickly get up to speed on any piece of software and feel confident that they can answer any question a customer throws at them. At the same time, you’ll be turning that new found expertise into tangible results since you’ll have a staff capable of efficiently taking care of all of your logistical needs while providing a better customer experience through faster checkouts from a knowledgeable staff, all helping to drive up your sales.
Key elements you’ll want to look for in a company’s training offerings include:
Product demonstrations
You want to see how the product you are thinking about implementing works, right? A product demonstration lets you experience first-hand exactly how the product works, and how you can use it to perform all of the key tasks in your store.
Training during implementation
Training during implementation puts an expert in your store, right alongside you and your employees, as you handle your first transactions and tasks. This will get your store off on the right track while ensuring an answer to any question is just a few steps away.
Flexible, personalized training
Whether it’s in your store, online or at a specialized classroom, your training should be done on your terms. You know your store best, so you should be looking for something that can fit those unique needs with a personalized approach.
Customer-oriented events
In addition to one-on-one training, larger company-hosted events can be a great way to not only see product demonstrations and take informative classes, but to visit with and hear from stores in a similar situation to you. By attending these events, you’ll have an opportunity to learn from stores that you would have never otherwise met.
On-demand customer service
Even the best training available may not answer all of your questions up front. Having an on-demand dedicated resource like an expert service representative can play a crucial role in making sure that your education on your new product continues when formal training does.