Retail store associate loyalty can make the difference between customers buying your products or your competitors'. Cultivating and maintaining brand advocacy at the store level is certainly not an easy task, but it is a valuable pursuit. Our new eBook Winning the Hearts and Minds of Retail Store Associates will guide you through the process.
Our recommendation is to create a holisic approach to engaging retail personnel with your products and your brand. The more knowledgeable and familiar they are with your products, the more confidence they will feel in recommending them. And that means more sales for your brand!
Here are just a few of the topics you'll find covered in detail.
The power of the store associate
Did you know that each store associate could make as many as 18 product recommendations per day? Across thousands of store personnel times 4,650 recommendations per year- that's a lot of brand impressions. You'll definitely want to make sure you're getting your fair share of those recommendations!
50% of shoppers seek advice when they enter stores, and MarketForce finds that 90% of shoppers who receive assistance end up purchasing products. - CNBC
How can you affect those recommendations you ask? It might be simpler than you think.
- Get them to use your products - through employee discounts, demo days, giveaways
- Give them stories to tell about your brand and its products. Insider information that the customer couldn't get on the shelf tag or their phone
Using incentives correctly
More than a gold star for the day, use of incentives can really get store associates on your side. Read the complete eBook to see more about topics like these:
- Reward learning about your products - offer incentives for taking frequent micro-training for better learning retention, and top of mind awareness
- Change incentives frequently, so everyone gets a chance to win, otherwise it might turn them OFF your brand
- Frequent, lower cost awards may increase impressions, at the same cost as a few big-ticket items.
Using mobile apps to stay engaged
You and your field force can't be in every store, every day. So you've got to find a way for regular communication. Mobile apps can help bridge the gap much better than a clunky brand extranet they have to access from a shared computer. Plus, it will allow them to have the answers they need at their fingertips if a potential customer asks a question. You can use mobile apps to:
- Train
- Communicate
- Build relationships with store associates
- Gather feedback
- Schedule webinars
- House product literature and resources
- Build forums to generate knowledge sharing and engagement with your brand
There's much more in the eBook. If it was all here, you wouldn't need to read it!
If you'd rather download a pdf copy to share with your colleagues, you can download it using the link below.
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