Download case studyAfter a change in their stores' organisational structures, PC World needed help to ensure that their staff could provide excellent customer service and improve sales performance. Skill4 carried out a two-stage research project, designed to identify and analyse the use of effective (and ineffective!) verbal behaviours in customer interactions. This allowed us to work with PC World to develop a competency framework - called 'Milestones' - based on the key PC World behaviours in a structure suiting the store environment.
In conjunction with PC World's internal training functions, Skill4 delivered a series of workshops to an assistant manager from every store across the UK. The workshops were designed to enable them to demonstrate Milestones during customer interactions, train their colleagues to use Milestones effectively, and coach colleagues to attain high levels of performance. The workshops were well received, with comments such as:
- Excellent tool for new colleagues. Good opportunity to improve feedback skills
- Gives colleagues the confidence they need.
- Will help the reputation of PC World as a whole.
- Proper, structured sales process, which is currently not used by most staff, particularly new starters.
- Provides clear criteria for one-to-ones etc.
Assistant managers have gone on to train and coach every UK store colleague in Milestones. Preliminary results have indicated measurable improvements in customer service and sales performance in stores implementing Milestones. Skill4 is currently conducting a UK-wide evaluation to determine the exact impact of the project across the chain.
