You have entered the business world by kickstarting a retail store, just like you always dreamed of but now you need a bit of help handling the tasks. Perhaps it has been enough to have just you and another employee tend to the store but as your reputation and customer base grow, you need to react quickly and hire employees to fill in different roles so that you would have time to plan the future development of your retail business. To help you discover which positions you need to prioritize, here is a list of 5 key employees’ types that every retail store should, at one point, have.
A patient customer support rep
A modern business must have an online presence since a big portion of the sales might come through different online platforms. However, if you want your small retail business to grow, you need to be there for your customers face-to-face, online, and over the phone. Industry leader Nextiva provides phone systems that will help you streamline communication with your customers and make it more personal, which is essential for establishing strong relationship with your customers. While it might be tempting to rely on automated customer support, a phone conversation with customer support representatives is still a prefered way of communication for many.
That’s why it is vital you have a customer support representative or a team of representatives, depending on your customer base – you need someone to handle a multitude of questions your current and prospective customers might have. This employee needs to also be familiar with how other departments function and to have in-depth knowledge about your products so that customers’ inquiries can be answered with precision and in due time. Customer support representatives’ communication skills are one of the reasons that many customers remain loyal to your retail brand because their attention to detail, problem-solving attitude, patience, and enthusiasm are exactly what customers ask for when they need help.
An enthusiastic sales associate
Regardless of whether your customers need help with finding a product or they are just browsing around, sales associates will do their best to be at their disposal in case they need any help. If they need explaining regarding how some product is used or they inquire after the price – a sales associate is the go-to person for all of those things and many more.
You will often find them restocking items and taking care of the store’s organized appearance although their primary task is tending to the customers which means that a sales associate needs to be communicative and quick to learn. Some basic financial knowledge wouldn’t hurt because it gives them more confidence when offering your products but it is the social skills that need to be most developed in this type of employee.
An experienced cashier
To an inexperienced eye, the job of a cashier seems quite straightforward but there is more to this position than meets the eye. This type of employee needs to have formidable social skills and an enormous amount of patience in order to remain calm in stressful situations and to be decisive if there is a need to find a solution for something on the spot. This person has to know the products and how they are used or worn by heart to be able to help customers if the sales associate is busy with another customer.
If the need arises, a cashier has to answer the phone and provide information on products, promotions, and many other details. Also, a greeting at the entrance and a pleasant attitude when a customer is leaving can influence their customer experience so you need somebody with experience, skill, and passion for their work.
A detail-oriented visual merchandiser
Your products are the core of your business and even though you may not think that they need any special visual or organizational addition to their functionality, there is actually a need for somebody to tend to that. For instance, if you wish to promote a new product or to boost the sale of another, you need to position them in store properly so that people would notice them more.
There is a reason why gums and candy bars are so close to the register in supermarkets: while you wait in the line idly, you might decide that you need something sweet to lift your mood. A visual merchandiser will also tend to your window display so as to make it magnetic for customers. Also, they can be of use when it comes to staging product pictures during promotional and other marketing campaigns.
Conclusion
You still may be reluctant to hand over certain tasks to others but at some point, you will have to. If you wish your retail store to grow, you need to gather a reliable team around you so you can delegate tasks and responsibilities which will provide you with the time you can then dedicate to creating a plan for future development.
