Retail staff greatly influence consumer purchase decisions and can improve brand image, leading to customer loyalty to your organisation.

Employees should be given the chance to experience products, allowing them to provide personalised recommendations which are more authentic. After all, it is rare for staff to endorse items they know little about and have never tried.

To encourage retail associates to try out your products, offering discounts is essential. This is where a Pro Deal programme can come in. This allows you to provide employees with more affordable access to your products and, in turn, they will drive full-price consumer sales.

What is a Pro Deal programme?

Manufacturers can’t afford to simply give away their products to salespeople!

A Pro Deal programme is a discount scheme offered to store staff and experts (such as industry professionals) to raise awareness of certain products. For example, a ski company might offer a Pro Deal to a ski instructor in the hopes of influencing their students – by seeing the instructor wearing and approving of certain products, they may be more likely to purchase them.

Retail associates are the most influential resource you have when it comes to selling your products. If a customer receives a product recommendation based on first-hand experience, that gives the item a huge seal of approval.

Employee Pro Deal programmes incentivise staff to try out products for themselves. They can then go beyond sales jargon when offering recommendations and speak from a place of personal experience.

Pro Deal programmes drive sales in a number of ways. They encourage staff to purchase your products, boost the likelihood of effective product recommendations and generate user testimonials that you can use in marketing materials.

A key part of running a responsible Pro Deal programme is staying up to date with who is able to access the discount. You can validate members by using an application form and requiring people to provide credentials.

It is also important to constantly review your user database, ensuring individuals are still qualified for the discount. It can be useful to use a third-party organisation to manage this.

Benefits of a Pro Deal programme

Research suggests that 92% of individuals trust word-of-mouth recommendations and 83% of these are tied to personal use of a product. A Pro Deal programme is a great way to provide your employees with these first-hand experiences.

Employee advocacy can be increased by introducing a Pro Deal programme. Research suggests that when a purchasing conversation is started through employee advocacy, it is seven times more likely to lead to a sale, when compared to other tactics.

Just a 12% increase in employee advocacy can result in a 200% increase in revenue, showing that Pro Deal programs can pay for themselves.

Incorporating Pro Deals into training

Knowledgeable retail employees are crucial to driving sales. One study found that retail associates who engaged with training sold 87% more than their colleagues who didn’t.

The key to successful retail training is to have your employees engage with the content. Incentivising employees through a Pro Deal programme brings learning ad rewards together. This will make staff feel appreciated.

Research shows that companies who offer training alongside their Pro Deal programme receive two times more recommendations than those who offer the discount alone. This is because employees can use what they have learned to further influence consumers.

People who are familiar with and knowledgeable about a product will ultimately sell more.

To ensure employees understand a product, you should introduce a Pro Deal programme to offer discounts on your products. This will allow staff to experience your items firsthand. You should link your Pro Deal programme to your training to ensure employees understand your products and services.

Why Wranx?

Wranx is an employee development platform that uses microlearning to help associates gain excellent product knowledge. Our platform uses Spaced Repetition in the form of daily drills – a series of around 10 questions a day. These form part of a month-long module, created by a team of content writers.

We can help to drive sales and improve brand advocacy by incorporating a Pro Deal programme into your training.

Wranx offers a verified service that provides discounts to the right people. Only validated users will be able to access the content and redeem a discount. Participants are subject to verification checks every 12 months and we have a User Admin Area, which delegates the ability to add and remove learners to privileged users.

Using Wranx to facilitate a Pro Deal programme gives you the opportunity to connect with retailers that stock your products and offer brand incentives to their associates. Ultimately, someone who has used your products will be much more likely to recommend your brand to customers.

You can find out more about Wranx here.