REAL RETAIL

The Bottom Line Value of Training

How much brand knowledge and training help on the sales floor

how much does your sales staff’s know-ledge of your product really matter to their sales numbers? To find out, Marshall Fisher, a University of Pennsylvania Wharton School professor, led a behemoth study for retail training firm Experticity involving more than 63,500 retail sales associates in 330 stores over two years.

The study, “The Value of Helpful Expertise in Retail,” compared point-of-sale data to sales associates’ engagement with Experticity’s education in the categories and brands they sell. The goal: To determine just how much an impact brand knowledge and helpful expertise can really make on the sales floor.

TRAINING = SALES

The study’s results were a clear advocate for training. The study showed that sales associates who completed even one short online training module sold 69% more than those who did not take any training.

In addition, salespeople who completed six or more training sessions with Experticity sold an impressive 123% more than those who took none. The result is clear—sales associates who engage in training simply sell more products at their retail location.

“We’ve always started every conversation with the fact that smarter, better-trained people sell better for you, but now we can say how much—and now retailers can better gauge how much they want to invest in training,” says Tom Stockham, CEO of Experticity, which provides online training modules for the sales staffs of more than 70,000 retail locations (primarily independent) across the country in a variety of product categories, including eyewear.

BY THE NUMBERS

69%: The amount that sales associates who completed even one short online training module sold more than those who didn’t



123%: The amount that salespeople who completed six or more training sessions with Experticity sold more than those who took none



87%: The amount that brand sales were higher for sales-people who completed one education module designed specifically for that brand versus those who didn’t engage in training at all



9.5%: The increase of a specific brand’s products sold by associates who took one education course on that brand



30%: The amount that sales associates who know their stuff engage consumers more often than their coworkers



50%: The amount of customers looking for expert advice on what to buy when they enter a store



73%: The amount of consumers who say product knowledge is what they need most from a sales associate

Source: The Value of Helpful Expertise in Retail study by Experticity

BRAND SPECIFIC

“The Value of Helpful Expertise in Retail” study also revealed that brand-specific training yielded even higher sales results for that specific brand. In fact, brand sales were 87% higher for salespeople who completed one education module designed specifically for that brand versus those who didn’t engage at all.

“The educated sales associates are more than twice as productive,” says Stockham. “They’re selling thousands and thousands of incremental dollars of that brand each year.”

Those associates who took one Experticity brand-specific education course (containing an average of three modules) sold a full 9.5% more of that brand’s products afterwards.

The bottom line: the more sales associates know about the brands they sell, the more knowledge and expertise they can share with customers—and the more likely those customers are to buy that brand’s products.

—Erinn Morgan