Saturday, 4 August 2012

How To Create A Procedure Guide For Your Retail Shop

By Ron Swanson


One of the obstacles of managing a retail company is reducing the uncertainty staff feel in regards to how to tackle different situations. They should have the ability to reply with confidence that they are behaving in a way approved by the shop owner.

From taking different forms of payment to addressing shoplifters, staff should feel confident their preferred strategy won't lead to a reprimand, or even worse.

The above illustrates the importance of setting up a very simple procedure manual for your retail store. Doing so will help to improve your shop's day-to-day operation; it will give your employees self-confidence to address scenarios which are new to them; and will also give new employees the means they will need to swiftly learn how to do their work.

Perhaps most significantly, a procedure manual is going to standardize the method in which your store is run. That will provide your customers assurance they'll be dealt with fairly no matter who helps them.

Beneath, we're going to highlight several critical areas that should be dealt with once you create your store's procedures that should contribute to keeping your store from ever going out of business.

Bear in mind, your manual is usually as uncomplicated as a folder filled with copied pages. The main thing is that your staff may understand it and use it as a dependable source.

Exactly How Will You Handle Return Items?

Retail customers consistently return things they've bought; the factors vary. A number of people return products they bought by mistake; others bring back items which failed to do the jobs for which they'd been bought; and a lot of customers return merchandise mainly because they changed their minds about buying them. Your staff ought to recognize how to deal with these circumstances in a dependable way.

Establish whether or not you will refund the whole purchase amount, or give store credit, for returned products. You should also specify a time frame in which your shop will take this kind of merchandise (e.g. a month). Might customers have to show their sales invoice as proof of purchase?

This info ought to be included in the procedure guidebook for your staff; they should additionally be exhibited for your customers. That way, everyone can have the same expectations.

Staff Responsibilities Regarding Shoplifters

Each and every retailer, small and big, confronts shoplifters. It's an unfortunate truth of operating a retail business. Making things even worse, laws and regulations vary through the nation. This makes it hard to understand how to reply to assumed thieves.

As an example, should your workers attempt to detain assumed thieves? Should they deal with them verbally in front of shoppers? Or, would you rather your staff to promptly call the police? Will you file charges for all acts of thievery or only those that go beyond a specific dollar value.

By observing these details ahead of time, your personnel will have a better notion regarding their duties. You'll also decrease the chance that your company will end up the objective of a normally preventable suit.

What Options Do Shoppers Have To Pay For Products?

If possible, all of your customers will pay cash for their merchandise. In the real world, they are going to wish to use their charge cards, debit cards, personal checks, and even vacationer's checks. Based on your advertising and marketing campaigns, you might also take coupons, discount vouchers, and gift certificates.

Your shop's procedure manual should determine the conditions to which you are going to accept these methods of payment. For instance, are you going to take American Express and Discover or only Visa and MasterCard? Will you need a photo ID when taking a credit card and personal checks? If a client's check is returned for non-sufficient funds, do you want to impose a service charge to the customer? If that's the case, how much will you charge? Also, will you count on your staff to pay attention to authenticity when presented with $50 and $100 bills?

These issues are essential given that your workers will be taking numerous forms of payment for items throughout each day. They ought to understand how to deal with them quickly and with confidence.

One of the key advantages a procedure guidebook provides your store is uniformity; not only will your employees be able to act with certainty, but your customers will appreciate knowing what to anticipate when they visit. That by itself may play a major role toward motivating them to come back over and over.




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