How to Train a New Sales Assistant in Your Store

You can organize training for a new sales assistant around a specific work operation: explain the task, demonstrate the steps, offer supervised practice, and discuss any actions they do not understand. Link the assessment to specific gaps in how the work is performed.

Adapt the onboarding plan to the employee. There is no single training period: the duration depends on the role and the store’s needs.

Define the task and expected result

Name the operation the sales assistant needs to learn. Explain what they must do and the level of performance you expect. The store defines the expected result.

For a training exercise, you could use a hypothetical delivery containing an unordered or damaged item. The employee’s task is to explain their actions according to the procedure established by your store. You need to define that procedure before the exercise.

Demonstrate the steps and offer practice

In the Job Instruction method, a description of the task comes before a demonstration of each step. For a store, you could adapt it as follows, with supervised practice and a check for understanding:

1. Describe the specific task and expected result.
2. Demonstrate how to do it according to the store’s procedure. Explain each step.
3. Ask the sales assistant to repeat the operation under the supervision of an experienced employee.
4. Ask them to explain the task and sequence of actions in their own words.

This is an example of how to organize training. The store defines the specific steps of the operation and when the employee can move on to working independently.

Pay attention to preparing the trainer. Being good at a job is not the same as being able to teach someone else to do it.

Role-play a delivery problem

A delivery may contain an unordered item or an ordered item that is damaged. You can role-play this hypothetical situation as a training exercise.

Ask the sales assistant to demonstrate their approach and explain what actions your store’s procedure requires. The store determines the approval requirements, what to do in exceptional cases, and how to get help.

Write out the operation as numbered steps

Prepare a short description of the chosen operation. List the actions in sequence using numbered steps. Each item should describe a step in your work procedure.

Note exceptions separately: which situations do not require approval and what the employee should do in them. Set out how to ask for help for your store as well.

Explain specific gaps

After a demonstration or exercise, discuss what the sales assistant needs to improve. Link the assessment to how they perform a specific task.

For example, if the employee could not explain what to do with an unordered item, name that specific gap: “We need to go over the procedure for handling unordered items in our store again.” Explain the relevant steps and ask the employee to describe them in their own words.

You can check understanding by asking the employee to explain the expected result, demonstrate their approach, or practice in a low-risk situation.

Training demonstration of a sale in Torgsoft

In Torgsoft, the “Sale” mode is used to sell goods. If the sales assistant will work with the software, you can choose this operation for the trainer to demonstrate and for the employee to practice under the trainer’s supervision.

A description of the work operation is available on the official Torgsoft “Sale” mode page.