sportFACHHANDEL 3_2015 Leseprobe

3.2015
Sales Personnel | FOCUS | 19
The human resources are the most important
resources of every company, according to Herbert
Horelt, CEO of Haglöfs Germany. The requirements
have increased, since the modern customer
has the possibility to inform himself better in advance
and he makes use of it. He says: “We can help
best with extensive, detailed product training and
fast, uncomplicated service. However, the retailers
must play their part. Due to lack of time, it becomes
increasingly difficult to obtain a date for training
courses from the shop managers.” For that reason,
Haglöfs regularly offers courses in cooperation with
the partners, for example, within the framework of
the Scandinavian Outdoor Retail Workshops.
Another vital factor is the work with young
employees. This is a priority of Bertrand Ragonneau-Flemming,
International Sales Manager of
Julbo. He has an interesting assessment: “Within
the last years, we could observe the splitting up of
the retailers in two different categories. On the one
hand, premium sports shops which train their employees
very well. In these shops, the salespersons
are mostly active athletes themselves and really
competent. They even have a vast general knowledge
of the sector and do not only know things about
the own assortment. On the other hand, we have retailers
who place emphasize on the highest possible
quantity of sold items. Here, the personnel have
only service function and no advisory function,
according to the Julbo manager.
He explains that the key factor is thus, to offer
pro-actively interesting, professional and vividly
presented workshops. Already trained salespersons
should refresh their knowledge regularly. Furthermore,
the best possible confrontation with the
product in practice is motivating, too. This presentation
demonstrates best the differences between
the products and the competitors. In general, the
regular personal contact should not be underestimated,
for example, to clear the always up-coming
questions, according to the French manager. He underlines
that regular information about events, for
example a factory tour, strengthens the motivation
and the loyalty towards the brand and its products,
especially in case of young sales staff.
What can the retail sector itself do to better
train and motivate its sales personnel “We
recommend a systematic annual planning, in
order to ensure the constant qualification of every
employee. The appropriate budget for that
purpose is about 0.5 to 0.75 percent of the gross
annual turnover”, explains Intersport manager
Britsch. Which priorities they have therein is, of
course, different. One realization is important in
this respect – motivation does not necessarily mean
just giving a salary increase. Praise and appreciation
as well as the offer of further educational
programmes are very helpful in this regard. To put
it briefly, targeted employee support is crucial for
success, according to Mr. Britsch.