Employees can benefit from training in a variety of professional areas; product knowledge, company policy, and customer service, just to name a few. There are various professional services that offer training programs for employees. Some are electronic and are more conducive to retail shift-work than a classroom setting type of class. Employees can train online either during their shifts or at home, making it easier to get them trained without taking them out of the shift rotation.

If you are running a smaller retail store or boutique, your training may be very specific to your store. In this case, you may want to create programs on your own to improve your employees’ customer service skills. Putting a system in place will make it easier to keep the employees’ knowledge up to date.

Customers’ number one complaint about the retail industry is that the employees are not knowledgeable about the products. This is a good place to start with your employees. Boutiques generally only carry a limited number of brands and types of items, making it easier for employees to gain knowledge about the products. Call your suppliers and ask for company info, selling points for their products, or special employee training information. Most companies will have this information handy to send to you, or you may be able to find it on their web site.

Hold small training sessions or meetings with your employees to inform them about what makes each brand or product special. If you carry competing brands, then it may be a good idea to train them on the two brands at once. Customers really appreciate knowing pros and cons of each product and often buy the one that knowledgeable employees recommend.

Have separate trainings for company policy. Sometimes this involves more than you may put into a handbook. Come up with scenarios that have employees decide which is the best course of action, and explain to them why you would have them act in that certain way. Lots of times owners and managers would prefer that employees refer certain situations to them instead of having the employees handle irate customers.

Customers are also concerned with being treated with courtesy and respect. Part of that expectation includes having the store set up in a user-friendly manner. Not only should employees be knowledgeable and polite, but the store itself should be easy to navigate. Clothing racks should be stocked with all sizes. The garment racks in your store should be orderly and fully stocked at all times. Be sure that you stress to your employees the importance of this often overlooked step. The garment rack rack itself is part of your store’s presentation and personality.

Once your employees are knowledgeable, courteous, and keep your store in order, your customers will have the shopping experience that they are looking for in your store or boutique.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of clothing racks including garment racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.

First, get your employees interested in seeing the business succeed. Let them come up with promotional ideas, window displays, and have input in what inventory you sell. Not only will you benefit from the new ideas, but your employees will feel involved and start to see how their hand in the business is paying off.

Once they care about the business, explain how the success of the business is dependent on the customer experience. Providing customer service that exceeds expectations will ensure that the customer raves about your boutique to friends. Word of mouth is most definitely your most effective form of advertising. You can’t pay for a customer’s respect, you have to earn it. Once you have it, you could have a customer for life, plus a walking, talking, texting, advertising machine.

Teach your employees some basic ways to exceed customer’s expectations. Never point out where something is if a customer asks. Always say something to the effect of, “Let me show you where that is.” Never brush off a customer and say, “It’s over there by the shoes.” When you’re helping a customer, avoid distractions and store responsibilities. The display that you were straightening will be there when you’re done.

Give your staff selling tips or special deals to offer your customers. Once they are helping a customer, they can engage in conversation. Your staff could find out that this is the customer’s first visit and then inform them that if they provide their e-mail address at check out, they can receive 10% off of their entire purchase. When a customer feels like a deal is being made specifically for them, they are way more likely to purchase.

Reward employees for providing this type of service by incenting them. You could say that whoever accumulates the most e-mail addresses of first time customers in a month’s time wins $100 bonus. The extra sales, customers, and good customer experiences that you create in that month should far exceed the bonus money that you pay out.

Another way to improve the customer experience is to have your staff constantly move around the store. They can straighten and restock your displays and garment racks instead of looking bored at the register. Customers hesitate to “disturb” the staff if they look bored or involved in conversations with one another. Your employees should always approach customers and offer help. Moving around the store, managing clothing racks and displays, and offering help will further ensure that your customer’s every need is met.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.