Keeping up with speed of technology in wireless retailing is increasingly difficult each year.  With a more educated consumer, constantly evolving devices, and increased competition the initial and continued training of your sales force is crucial.  Training can be broken down into three elements; product knowledge, operations, and sales skills.

In recent years the ever-increasing number of devices and features these devices offer has forced product knowledge to the forefront of training.  For starters leverage your carrier and manufactures reps as much as possible having them conduct in-store as well as classroom trainings.  There is no shortage of resources to find product information what you need to focus on is creating an efficient process to ensure everyone on your team is up to speed.

The best way manage this is by creating a product certification program in which employees must pass before being allowed to sell.  Exactly how this needs to be structured varies by the size of the organization but the following key elements are universal:

1 – Pick on easy to use platform, for small organizations simple Word documents may suffice.  For larger organizations try creating surveys in Constant Contact, it’s easy to create, send and, grade hundreds of quizzes.

2 – Set a standard and stick to it.  There need to be repercussions for not passing, generally additional training with a manager is a good first step.

3 – Offer prizes and/or recognition for top performers, enforcing product knowledge as core company value.  If there are negative consequences for not passing there should be positive ones for excelling.