Turn on salespeople with training

EIvtPt-oYEE training to be efEfective must be a continuous program, not just a couple of daYs of job indoctrination. Wise managers stress that each pair of feet is a potential purchaser and satisfied customer. They also motivate each salesperson to become the best in his department or store.

Training can take several forms. Frequent classroom sessions with employees meeting in grouPs to discuss problems and waYs of handling them are helpful. These can be sparked by a speaker capable of outlining good selling techniques and motivating better selling.

Role playing is another successful teaching technique with one salesperson taking the part of the customer while another acts out the role of seller. The audience should be encouraged to take notes and contribute to a critique of the performance.

Seminars organized bY buYing groups, manufacturers and wholesalers are often available to both independent and chain store personnel. These traveling programs are usually well thought out and effective. Associations also provide employee training through their regular meetings or special educational programs.

Less formal, but equally effective, training can take place when managers make frequent selling floor appearances, observe the employees at work and offer praise as well as helpful, constructive criticism.

Essentially, an emPloYee training program should stress developing a good attitude, being informed, setting specific goals and building confidence.

Salespeople should be PromPted to consider how they can best serve people and meet each customer's needs. They should be reminded that theY are not only creating a profit for the company but also a profit for themselves since good salespeoPle are rewarded with promotions and raises. Friendliness cannot be over emphasized. Courtesy and a smile are absolute musts for every salesperson. Salespeople should be encouraged to think positively about who they are and what they do since the way they think about themselves can affect their performance.

A good salesperson is an informed person. Product brochures, talks with suppliers and talks with customers asking them about the Performance of various products which they have used will supply the needed information. Customers and suPpliers will appreciate and respond to the interest of the store employee and the employee will learn new, helpful information about the Products which are sold.

A salesperson should have a clear idea of attainable goals which he plans to accomplish with each customer. He should be taught to aPproach every person who enters the store or department with the determination that he will find out everything necessary to know to sell them everything they need.

Salespeople should be aware that it is important to talk with customers and find out what project theY are working on and what help they need. As a store representative, they should be sure that customers know what items they will need to complete the project and help them find the information and products they need as well as refer them to product brochures or how-to brochures that relate to their project.

Finally, managers should stress that confidence and good selling techniques result from product knowledge, being willing to find answers and practice in serving more and more customers. Good salespeople don't just happen, they develop.

DG Shelter Products offers a caPsule course in sales techniques entitled "Helpful Hints for Salespeople. ' ' In addition to outlining suggestions such as you have read in this article, they give specific pointers on ways to increase sales of moulding and assist customers by providing them with helpful literature, suggesting add on sales and helping them to determine what and how much they need to buy for their project.

IILENTY of out of the woods f optimism, fueled by an accelerating turnabout in the nation's economy, abounded at the 79th NHMA International Housewares Exposition in Chicago, July l0-14.

With 1,835 exhibitors in the giant McCormick Place/McCormick Place West exhibition complex, it was the final July show until next year's shift to spring and fall dates for new marketing patterns. More than 60,000 persons in the trade attended the five-day showcase, which is not open to the public.

"It has been a good six months overall for our industry," said Ronald A. Fippinger, managing director of the National Housewares Manufacturers Association, which sponsors the event. "And the next six months and beyond promise to be even better, as economic indicators of all kinds paint a rosy picture for the nation's strengthened rebound from the recession climate of last year."

He said that notwithstanding last July's low point, housewares manufacturers' sales in 1982 totaled more than $20 billion and were 590 ahead of the previous year, when a thenrecord $19 billion sales mark was set.

"With inflation slowed, interest rates leveling off and consumer confidence on the rebound," Fippinger said, "the housewares industry and all its members have plenty to be positive about."

A bumper crop of new or improved home-use products was unveiled. Notable :rmong them was an ever-expanding group of health care items that range from air cleaners to water purifiers, from blood pressure and pulse meters to