Frontline staff in Indian stores are lacking in selling skills. | |
| A study of current skill set availability in the retail sector, by MeritTrac, Bangalore-based skills assessment company, has found that while customers surveyed gave the ability to creatively explain and demonstrate a product/service the highest priority among four skills covered, sales staff in the retail sector "woefully lacks" this particular skill. |
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| The study polled 1,097 respondents across Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi (four Indian cities where the retail boom is in full swing). |
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| It focuses on four key skills"" the ability to communicate, the ability to comprehend, courtesy and professional ability, and clarity and creativity in product or service presentation"" and attempts to relate these skills to the ability to sell and the ability to attract customers back to stores. |
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| The objective of the study was to gauge customers' evaluation of sales staff skills at stores of leading retail chains, and to relate this to their purchase behaviour. The skill sets available at stores were also benchmarked against customer expectations of staff skill sets. |
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| The study found that good oral communication skills rank second, listening and comprehension skills rank third, and courtesy and professional ability rank fourth in terms of their effect on sales. |
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| Three conclusions have resulted from the study. First, retail purchase behaviour is shaped significantly by frontline staff skills: The ability of sales staff to generate sales and repeat visits"" in short, to create customer value"" is strongly dictated by the skill levels they possess. |
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| Even a single grade shortfall in skill rankings could mean substantial loss of potential sales opportunities and repeat business. |
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| Second, retail staff skills are not in line with customer expectations: Skill sets of staff employed by retail firms are in inverse order to those accorded priority by customers, and the most critical sales skill"" the ability to present products and services creatively is least available in stores. |
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| Third, there is an acute need for skills that create immediate value for the business: Sales staff is better at mannerisms and listening skills than they are at selling. Thus, retail firms are geared more towards bringing back customers without even being able to sell to them, the MeritTrac study concluded. |
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