Very often when I’m in store Personal Shopping with a client, I feel the staff are watching me, not in a bad way I might add but almost with a longing gaze. They initially hover around me asking if I need their help but once they can see I’ve got things covered they soon wander off. They watch me confidently choose items for my client and are usually in shock at how everything we take into the fitting room fits them like a glove. Of course it’s because I’m dressing my client in their right colours and shape but for someone witnessing this, it can be pretty impressive!
By the time we get to the checkout one of the staff will always discreetly ask me if I’m a stylist, do I have a card, or question me “how did you just do that?” This is how our Retail Training Course came about, where we actually train Retail staff to become Personal Stylists, we’ve now proudly trained Zara, Reiss, Harvey Nichols and a lot of the Arcadia group, teaching staff our formula and as a result increasing their individual average transaction values by over 30% (sorry I’m digressing here…!) A lot of Retail staff do get in touch with me as they can see the instant benefit of becoming a Personal Shopper; it’s a no brainer… They love clothes they love fashion and they like working with customers!
Whenever I get a call from anyone working on the shopfloor and explain to them how much we charge for the Personal Shopping service (£300 for a maximum of 4 hours) you can almost hear the disbelief on the other end of the phone! With £7.50 being the average hourly rate they soon realise that they have to work 40 hours on the shop floor to earn the same amount of money! Ask anyone who’s once worked on the shop floor once they leave Retail they almost never go back, it’s not because it’s that bad a job, it’s actually quite fun but it’s the long hours no one misses, standing on the shop floor or folding clothes when it’s quiet is painstakingly boring and lets not forget the weekends they have to sacrifice!
These girls attend our training and go back to the shop floor with newfound enthusiasm, they now have the knowledge to style anybody and being on the shop floor surrounded by customers is the perfect place to build their confidence and their pay cheques, especially if they work on commission! But in our experience they don’t stay in these positions for too long, they either get promoted to Management quicker or even better get promoted to working in that stores Personal Shopping department; no more standing around on the shop floor, what’s not to love?
Sometimes they just want to leave that company altogether and with so many stores now having a Personal Shopping department, these jobs are more and more available but by saying you’ve trained as a Personal Stylist by Style ME Training most definitely puts you ahead of any competition but it’s what they do when they’re working as a Personal Shopper that the success really comes in. The customer in the Personal Shopping Department is their target audience! Imagine being with that customer, building up a rapport with them and subtly telling them you also privately offer Colour Analysis and Wardrobe Styling and if you were to take them Personal Shopping you wouldn’t be restricted to that particular store… it’s a little sneaky I know but everyone does it!
So if you’re currently working on the shop floor, dreading the long Christmas hours that you’ll soon be facing start imagining how your life as a Personal Shopper could be. Get in touch to find out which of training courses suit you best, just think this time next year you might not only be a Personal Shopper but be running your very own Personal Styling company… why not let Style ME help you make your dreams come true!