While the buying group has offered various sales and marketing presentations to members in the past, Nationwide managing director Colin Pocklington said this would be the first time it had provided a course that members could take back to their store and conduct themselves.
“Retailing is getting harder in many ways, so helping members hone their staff’s selling skills is important,” he explained. “Also, it is good to be abreast of the latest thinking in selling techniques.”
The program has been developed by New York-based global training company Dale Carnegie Training, which currently operates in 80 countries and has provided training to more than 400 of the Fortune 500 corporations.
The program has been developed by New York-based global training company Dale Carnegie Training, which currently operates in 80 countries and has provided training to more than 400 of the Fortune 500 corporations.
Members at the conference will be briefed on the content of the course and instructed how to deliver the training to staff in their own store.
The course, titled, Coach your team to deliver professional sales solutions, includes five modules: understand and apply a proven selling process to create partnerships; learn how to make buyers eager to talk with you; establish immediate credibility to build alignment with buyers; the new Sales Cycle; and how to set yourself apart from your competitors.
Pocklington said although it was hard to estimate how long it would take retailers to complete the program, it would probably be best presented over four half-hour staff meetings.
He added that the conference program had now been finalised and would include a presentation by US-based keynote speaker Crystal Vilkaitis on social media strategies for retailers.
A number of other workshops will be offered at the conference including an advanced, hands-on diamond workshop delivered by an Antwerp diamond merchant.
The 2015 Nationwide conference, located at the Pullman Auckland Hotel in New Zealand, will take place from Friday