As a store-owner you need employees who are cheerful and knowledgeable to be a successful business. The benefits of having well-trained staff are simple – the better the service, the more people you’ll have coming through the door.
Our award-winning training programme
At SPAR, we can offer you an award-winning staff training programme that we call SPARkling Service. It was designed by retail experts and includes six modules, each covering a separate aspect of customer service. The training is based on a train-the-trainer principle where Owners/Managers are trained and then they deliver that training in-store to their staff. The entire programme can be delivered in the space of a single day (we promise not to waste any time!). Even better, it’s been proven to have an impact on motivation and retention – and ultimately your bottom line.
Stores that have implemented the training have seen improvements of up to 12% uplift in sales, while a significant improvement has been noted by our customers.
Recruiting, retaining and motivating our store teams is vital to the success of the SPAR business. Our people are our greatest asset, and the challenges of managing and maintaining an effective retail workforce in this often highly pressurised and fast-moving sector are well recognised.
SPARkling Service
SPAR has established eight standards that our customers should experience when using our stores. They should:
- Receive genuine, friendly and efficient service
- Be served quickly and efficiently without queuing
- Always find a wide variety of quality products on sale
- Be treated as individuals, according to their needs
- Be able to shop in a clutter-free and clean store
- Be served by a professional and approachable team
- Know that their complaints and enquiries will be dealt with respectfully
- Expect and receive excellent knowledge of our products and promotions from all of our staff
These eight standards provide the basis for our SPARkling Service training package, which is split into six 20-minute modules, as follows:
- Choosing your attitude
- Think like a customer
- Customer contact
- Our place in the community
- Silent service
- Your SPARkling service
Each module is accompanied by support training materials, which include a guide for trainers, a log to record and review progress, worksheets for each team member and certificates of achievement. Also included are forms for evaluating the programme that help ensure that SPARkling Service and future training initiatives are as beneficial as possible to all SPAR retailers.