INTERNATIONAL. Research company m1nd-Set and staff training specialist Travel Retail Training (TRT) have partnered to create a new employee engagement programme.
Named ASSERT (Alliance for Sales Staff Engagement, Research & Training), it aims to improve employee engagement with shoppers and their motivation.
ASSERT will lean on m1nd-set’s research and analysis capabilities while TRT will work with organisations to address issues such as knowledge and skills shortfalls, internal communication and/or performance management.
TRT Managing Director Christine Martin noted how employee engagement is linked to productivity. “We know that engaged and happy sales professionals drive better results, not only through their sales performance but overall.
“They have fewer sick days, take fewer breaks and they motivate other team members more, so it’s a virtuous circle. They also have around +60% more satisfied customers and drive around +25% more sales than other team members.”
m1nd-set owner & CEO Peter Mohn added: “Around six out of ten shoppers globally interact with the sales professionals and in two-thirds of the cases, this leads to a positive outcome and closes the sale. This only happens when sales teams are motivated and engaged.”
Martin continued: “By working with m1nd-set it will enable us to bring a more scientific approach to our existing training and employee engagement programmes. Our complementary approach will bring more value to our respective services and of course to the end customer.”
Mohn noted: “We have long been advocating the need for better engaged and empowered sales professionals, as time and time again our global client research flags up the direct impact engaged sales advisors have on sales.
“Once the specific areas which are preventing a high degree of engagement have been addressed by TRT, the second wave of the research demonstrates whether these have been dealt with correctly and the evolution of the sales professionals’ engagement level.”
Martin and Mohn will co-present on this theme at the forthcoming IAADFS Duty Free Show of the Americas. They will discuss how to leverage employee engagement, previewing elements from the ASSERT programme. Their presentation will also focus on how to use social media to attract Millennial shoppers.
