In the world of retail, store level employees are the people who are greeting customers, answering questions, and making sales. So, what happens when those employees don’t have the information they need to best serve customers?
That’s exactly why a strong internal communication plan is so important. Here’s what you can do to create and maintain yours.
Develop an Excellent Training Program
Employees can’t be expected to excel if they’re never given the tools, information, and resources they need to do so. Your internal communication plan should start as soon as an employee is hired. Developing a great training program means you’ll be setting your employees up for success. Experts know that starting off on the right foot will help avoid issues down the road.
Keep it Going
After your employee is trained in the procedures, policies, and company culture, they should be all set, right? It’s not quite that simple. All employees will benefit from ongoing training. As a supervisor, it’s your job to take note of common problems on the floor and issues that need to be ironed out. Periodically, it’s important to come together as a team to address concerns and get back on the same page.
Respond to Employee Questions and Concerns
Retail stores cannot run well without employees that know what to do day-to-day and when problems arise. That’s why it’s so important for managers to be available to answer questions and address concerns. When an employee reaches out, get back to them as soon as possible. By doing so, you’ll often be able to nip problems in the bud before they escalate and cause any real damage.
See How your Decisions Affect Customers
When you aren’t face to face with customers each day, it’s easy to forget that decisions supervisors make directly affect the customer experience. From management, to the design team, the information from each conversation will work its way down the line until it reaches the store. As a supervisor, you can intercept this information and decide how to best relay it to store employees.
Keep Employees Engaged
It’s much easier to get an entire team of employees on board for policies and procedures if they have some say in the way those structures are set up. Communicating doesn’t just mean relaying information from management to store level employees. It should be a two way street. Present ideas to your staff, open the floor for comments and suggestions, and earnestly take their feedback into consideration.
Lead by Example
Every group needs a leader to look to, and with your retail store level employees, that leader is you. Remember that your team is always paying attention to both your words and your actions and will follow your example when communicating with each other and with customers.
In any industry, communication is the key to teams working together to meet company goals. If your internal communication strategy could use some help, contact us today to schedule a demo and see how we can help.
