Amazing Training Tool!

I recently purchased The Flip, an amazingly tiny video recorder. Not only is it small, it is incredibly user-friendly and the ability to incorporate this relatively inexpensive and easy-to-use tool as a trainer is invaluable!

Even a true beginner can use this, and create videos in minutes. The Flip plugs directly into your computer's USB port. I got the mino HD which would even allow you to directly connect the The Flip to a television that you have set up in an office area or training room! No brain damage on figuring out wires, how to connect the video to a computer or tv. So easy, I CAN DO IT!

Here are just a couple of tips on how to use the Flip Video to improve and impact how you train your team on a daily basis:

Create a short video (you get 60 minutes of recording time, so that is more than plenty!) on a how-to that is important to your business. You could easily video tape an associate building an endcap, for example. You can show how to merchandise it, how to label and sign it, how to select an impactful aisle presentation, etc. You can easily edit, add some music, and run on a continuous loop in a break room, play for team huddles, play for one-on-ones and play for new associates.

The next time your District Manager or Regional Manager, or any corporate partners visit your store, ask them if you could record a special message for your team. So often, a team works incredibly hard for a store visit, but only a select few may be part of the visit itself. This way, your leadership can provide a message for all of your team to view and listen to. They can share what the focus is, help drive the company message and impart some tips or insight to your team.

You can tape your walks with your executives and then edit and play back those discussions and to-do strategies. Your team can see what you are focusing on, what needs to be improved, and what the team is already doing very well. Furthermore, it can become a follow-up tool, reminding your executives what they signed up to accomplish and what your expectations are.

You can tape fun messages, team building events, team parties, and more. Drive morale by showing your team that while they must work hard to get results, hard work can be fun as well! I can tell you from my experience, my team loved it when I was silly. Doing "Cartwheels for Credit", dressing up as a hula dancer for a special Luau...to capture those moments for your team to enjoy (and tease you about!) for months to create bright and joyful moments for a hard-working team!

One strong suggestion, however: make sure that you have permission of those that you are taping, and you may need to partner with HR to ensure that they are aware of how you are using this recorder as a tool to build morale, send an impactful message to your team and to continue to drive results in a challenging economy.

Want more information? Click on this image and you can explore how The Flip Video recorder can be a fantastic training tool for your organization!

A Plea to Retailers and Small Business Owners: Do Not Neglect Training

This is a challenging time for retailers and other small business owners who depend upon an associate base with keen product knowledge and customer service skills. Many continue to cut labor costs in an effort to keep the doors open, and I know how tough those choices are. I was in retail management during recessionary periods, and experienced first hand the layoffs, the cutbacks and the need to reduce costs to boost profits. I have been with retailers in the best of times and still experienced massive changes to streamline operations. However, when the economic outlook is shaky at best, bleak at the very worst, these cutbacks hit associates and manager far more deeply as there are simply fewer job opportunities for them to turn to.

With that said, I offer the following advice: Do not neglect training, this is a necessary labor expense. It may seem painful upfront, but the investment is crucial to staying competitive and profitable in the long run.

Exhibit #1: I recently shopped at a national big box retailer. In the course of the transaction, the cashier was unable to process part of the transaction and had to get a supervisor involved. While waiting (with many others behind me in line) and watching a frustrated cashier get flustered, I told her, "It is okay. Everyone has been new once in their career". Her response? "I am not new, I have been working here for almost 4 months. They just did not give me much training". I told her to simply delete the item in question (which was a big ticket item for which I had a special coupon) and continue with the transaction.

Exhibit #2: I also recently was shopping with a major electronics chain. In looking at laptops to get ideas for a present, I asked an associate to describe the difference between a few of the laptops on display. The associate walked up to the signs and read off the descriptions. I told them that I had already done that. I asked for some additional specific information, and he said that he was "kinda new" and would have to ask someone else. I waited almost ten minutes, another associate showed up and asked me if I was the lady "confused about the laptops". Confused? No. In need of more information, yes. This associate then began to read off the product information from the same signs. I walked out.

Two simple shopping outings proved the point that if you skimp on training and you "assume" that they will pick it up when you throw them onto the sales floor you are wrong. You will alienate customers, you will lose precious sales, you drive down morale, you will negatively impact your ability to compete and survive in an ever-changing economy and retail environment. Here are the top reasons why you need to continue to invest in training, teaching your associates your expectations, your corporate culture, product knowledge and how to best assist your customers:

1. Corporations and small businesses alike are cutting back on staff, tasking fewer people to do more. However, in these times there is still turnover and businesses have opportunity to fill open positions. When businesses do bring new people into the organization, all too often it is a rush to get them in position, get them in their job function as quickly as possible as labor is precious and there are many tasks to juggle. However, without thorough training do they truly know and understand their new responsibilities? Morale takes a huge hit when associates feel that they are doing things that they cannot do well, and other associates get frustrated when they have to pick up the slack for those who cannot perform.

2. Cross-train your associates NOW to avoid the issues that arise when labor is cut and associates are even laid off. Invest the time in these associates upfront to ensure that they understand the new tasks that may be expected of them. Get ahead of the curve and get your staff as proficient as possible in a variety of work centers. Even simpler still: sit down with each one and ASK them what they would like to learn in the store or business. They will surprise you when you find how truly hungry they may be to learn and develop. Associates are pretty savvy, they know that this is a tough job market and they will know that the more you depend upon them and their skills, the more likely they are to maintain that highly-valued employment.

3. Technology is going to continue to change and you will need to train your associates to be proficient with the new technology. This may include training on product knowledge, this may include training associates how to deal with new computer systems and other technology that they will use to make their jobs easier. When new items hit the sales floor, have daily huddles by that product. The morning crew, afternoon crew and evening crew can learn in a few minutes of your time what that new item is, what it does, how to sell it to a customer. When new technology arrives take the time to train each associate, set up training buddies and do not assume that they will "learn it on the job". They may not, and that technology investment is wasted in an associate base that works around the technology instead of enhancing their ability to perform with that technology!

4. Investing in your associates makes their job outlook more stable in an environment in which they may have a great deal of stress in their personal lives impacting their job performance. If you invest in training them, they will feel valued and contribute at a higher level. If you train them on how to improve their organizational skills, interpersonal skills, communication skills and even conflict management, these will be skills that will help them across the board when they have to juggle stress in both their professional and personal lives. As an employer you have the ability to inspire your associates through training and development in ways that will carry over into all aspects of their lives.

Training often only takes a few minutes of each day. Every minutes is precious, and as managers and owners you juggle huge responsibilities and demands on your time. However, investing those few minutes, even a few hours a week will pay off immensely as you are able to maximize sales and profits with a team that is knowledgeable, engaged and productive.

Why Training is key to Retail Success

I have been in retail management for over 15 years, in both strong economies and recessionary economies. When times are good, it is easy to get teams on cruise control and be complacent about sales and profits. However, when economic times get tough, too many managers struggle with sales, margins, retention and more.


Training in tough times is as important, if not more important, than training your team during the flush times. If you did not invest in training when you had more labor, more associates and more time to manage the training, you must instill the disciplines now to train your team for success during this upcoming recessionary economy.


Train your team to be a mean, lean team of salespeople, even if that is not your current culture. Access your team's ability to upsell, to understand the product that surrounds them on the salesfloor, and to ensure that they understand the benefits of any protection/insurance type plans that you have to help the consumer protect their purchases. A recent example: I bought my son a rather expensive bike on behalf of my parents for his birthday. One of the first things that the associate told me was, "You may want to look at a protection plan. This is a large investment, and I would hate to see you spend a lot of money on any potential repairs or tune-ups." She went on to tell me with a protection plan, I would get many repairs covered at no additional charge, and one free tune-up. Okay, where do I sign? She personalized it, "I would hate to see you spend too much money". She said it genuinely, and I totally connected to her sales message. Would your associates know how to do that?


She did, as she is a well-trained associate. She sold me a protection plan by letting me know that I can spend one set amount now, or pay many painfully large amounts as my son rides his bike and the bike ensures the (ab)normal wear and tear of a nine-year-old boy! This suggestive selling is key to upgrading a customer into a different price and definitely a much more attractive margin level. Suggestive selling shows the customer that you are thinking of them, their investment, how to maintain their investment and their long-term content and happiness with the product that they are buying from you.


Train your team to be productive in several functions throughout the store, throughout the business. Often, we have associates that do one thing extremely well, we have them do that for us all of the time, and when they call in sick...well, how does that now get done? My challenge to my team has always been, "If they can do that function extremely well, let's find out what else they can do even better!". Cross-training will be key as labor budgets shrink and you are tasked to do more with less. Cross-trained teams are often the happiness teams, associates get the hours that they want, they feel productive and content with their work, and managers are more successful in managing the multitude of tasks they are challenged with every day.


Train your team to remember that the customer is king (or queen!). I cannot stress this enough. Every day, there should be a huddle or two of your opening, mid and closing associates to remind them of one single thought: "The customer signs your paycheck". You and your management team need to show the way by greeting customers, asking if they need any assistance, engaging your customers in dialogue. Train your team to LISTEN to your customers, empower them to REACT to that feedback. If a customer sees you connect to their concern and fix it, that customer will come back. If a customer does not even get greeted, they will take their precious dollars to your competition. It is that simple. I will drive a ridiculous distance to go to a retailer or service provider that listens to me.


FUN TIP: I used to walk the salesfloor with a tablet of the tiny smiley face stickers that you can get at Staples, or any other office store. I would give my associate a small sticker for every time I saw them greeting a customer, talking to a customer, taking them to what they are looking for. I would ask them to post their stickers on a huge poster board that had every associate's name on it in the breakroom. The associate that had the most stickers by the end of the week would get special kudos in team meetings. The associate with the most by the end of the month would get lunch with me, or they could be Store Manager for a day, the weekend off of their choice, or I would have them as my "VIP" associate that would walk with me when my District Manager visited. Rewards do not need to be splashy or expensive. The greatest reward your team truly desires (besides their paycheck, of course!): your validation of their hard work, your satisfaction with their job well done, your acknowledgement of how they have fulfilled the expectations you put forth.


Now, go train your team! If you still think that you cannot afford the time or energy to train them, you will really not be able to afford how your business suffers when your competition DOES effectively train THEIR teams!