Small and local businesses no longer believe in the ‘small business’ mentality. The local business marketplace today sees increased competition among small businesses with all of them trying to increase customer traffic better than the other. They’re spending time on outdoing the competition—all while managing their business plan effectively, staying on top of accounting, and managing inventory.
Juggling all of these business tasks can make it impossible to find the time to promote your local business and get new customers.
We at Welcomemat Services take that business challenge away from you so you can focus on the many other aspects of running a small business. Check out how hundreds of small business owners across the country have found a way to better utilize their time.
The most common business challenge, of course, is still training your staff.
With the onset of small business technology in today’s marketplace, it has become easier than ever for local companies to find & hire the right people.
Check out our previous blog post about hiring right for your local business.
While these technologies have certainly been a boon, training your staff in line with your business strategy can still be a challenging task for business owners and managers.
Below are 6 effective staff training techniques to help you save a lot of time and effort.
Introduction & Team Welcome
Hired a new staff member? The first thing you need to do is welcome them to your team at least as warmly as you would welcome a new customer to your store. New employees can feel overwhelmed when they join a new business and often pass down that discomfort in the way they serve customers. Take care of this thoroughly during orientation to make sure your new hire is well accustomed to and comfortable in the new environment.
Appearance
First impressions are still the last impressions when it comes to business. No matter what you may read or hear from people, when it comes to a local restaurant or business, first impressions make the most impact on customer experience. Make sure one of the first things you implant in your new hire is how to be presentable and behave in a manner consistent with your company values.
Menu & Display Training
Regardless of whether your business is a local restaurant, a small pizza shop, a salon, or a corner hardware store, it needs employees who are efficient at presenting products to customers. Make sure you provide them with thorough education on your menu and display items. Employees who know your business like the back of their hand come off as both well-trained and confident in their job (and your business).
Give Them a Chance to Observe Before They Do
There is no amount of training that will teach them the basics of the job as well as observing you or a manager will. Make your new hires into good observers to cut training time in half and provide them with appropriate, practical training.
Ethical Practice
Two of the most important things to teach your employees are business ethics and culture. Make sure to give them a chance to learn about your work culture and business ethics. After all, your employees interact with customers the most—and, as such, are the ones most likely to make or break a customer relationship.
Check out our insights on why work culture is so important.
Encourage teamwork and coordination
If you can infuse a sense of teamwork and coordination into your new hire, you will save an enormous amount of training time and effort. Indulge more in team-building activities, promote a team atmosphere and let ideas flow freely. This is a great way to quickly train a new hire.
At Welcomemat Services, we understand the number of business challenges you face as a local business owner. That’s why we take the burden of finding new customers away from you with our Welcomemat Program so you can focus on your other business challenges.
Talk to us today to see how we can introduce your business to thousands of new movers in your neighborhood and increase customer traffic to your store.
