Retail Training – Don’t Make Clients Storm Your Castle, er Counter

A castle is a safe place for those salespeople to endure, fortified to resist the attack of consumers.

Do you need service? Come into the castle and we may lower the bridge to give you the answers, otherwise, you are going to stand in the moat until we’re ready for you.

Perhaps you have seen something in a shop that seemed interesting, then noticed the bored workers behind the counter looking bored and walked ? I have.

When a shop is empty, it’s much harder for that very first person to walk in because they feel all eyes are on them. They’re afraid of three things:

1. Being assaulted by an overly aggressive greeter.
2. Being ignored and not able to get what they need.
3. Being judged.

Timid workers will compound these anxieties by staying behind the counter. Er, castle.

Get out your employees from behind the counter and keep them busy, especially if you have windows.

Customers outside need to find people inside trying on clothing, matching prints, perusing books, comparing goods so that they will want to become part of their group. If you do not have any clients at that moment, have workers act like they were clients.

That way clients will feel more comfortable walking in as they won’t find a group of workers simply hanging out behind the counter.

However, this is not just for retail, if you have just opened a restaurant with an outdoor patio and nobody is there at lunch — place your surplus employees on the terrace with meals before it is busy.

If your automobile repair bay is empty, have a worker put up their car on a lift so they’ll be accessible when someone comes in or individuals see you as occupied when they drive .

Get the idea?

Here are Five Tips to Make the Castle Less Comfortable:

• Eliminate any chairs or stools
• Eliminate comfort pads or rugs off the concrete floor
• Make both sides open and available
• Cut the counter in half so it is more of a desk
• Move the telephone

If you have trained them well, salespeople are not behind the counter waiting; telegraphing the world how bored they are. They are busy, moving around all of the time making excitement, not barricaded behind the castle.