Running a liquor store is tough, and having the right help can make all the difference. But what separates a good employee from a great one?
The answer is simple: good training.
Every store is different, and expecting an employee to be at 100% from day one is unreasonable. But by taking the time to develop a comprehensive and consistent liquor store employee training plan, you can keep employees more engaged and get them up to speed faster.
Cover these five essential employee training topics to keep your liquor store running smoothly, increase customer satisfaction, and boost sales.
At a time when inventory costs are increasing and the cost of living is going up, spending more on great employees might not seem worth it — but you’d be surprised.
While independent liquor stores may struggle to compete with chains and corporate competitors on price, they can compete with superior customer experiences.
That can have a real impact on your bottom line. Businesses that provide better customer experiences are able to charge up to 16% more for their products. And according to a survey by Gartner, over 60% of customers care more about customer service than price when it comes to picking a business.
In other words, having engaged and friendly employees can differentiate your brand and help you boost profits.
When hiring new employees, focus first on the person. Remember: Skills can be learned along the way, but personalities tend to stick around. So, if the candidate seems like a perfect fit except for a few missing bullet points on their list of experience, don’t let it stop you.
After you hire them, it’s time for the most important part: training. Liquor store owners are busy, and it might be tempting to take a “sink or swim” approach to new hires. In reality, this is a good way to get your once-excited employee to start looking for a new job. Taking some extra time to train employees will pay off for you and them.
Here are the five most important topics in your liquor store employee training to cover.
First and foremost, ensure all employees are consistently checking customer IDs. If an employee knowingly or unknowingly sells alcohol to a minor, your business suffers the consequences.
The general rule of thumb is that if a person looks under 40, then you should be checking ID. In many cases, it’s a good idea to check all customers’ ID to establish good habits. You can also have your point of sale (POS) system prompt employees to check ID whenever an age-restricted item is scanned.
Employees should ask themselves the following when they’re verifying customers’ ages:
It’s worth emphasizing this last point. In some states, police send out underage people with fake IDs or expired IDs as part of sting operations. If employees suspect someone is carrying a fake ID or their ID is no longer valid, make sure they call a manager or feel empowered to refuse a sale.
If an employee thinks they’ve spotted a fake ID, refuse the sale, call a manager, and notify the police. In many states, it is illegal to try and detain someone who tries to use a fake ID.
To significantly reduce your compliance risk, we highly recommend using a 2D barcode scanner to scan IDs at checkout. If your POS system supports it, integrated ID scanners can instantly validate an ID, keeping your store secure without slowing down checkout.
One of the most important tools in your liquor store is your POS system. Your employees use it every day to ring up customers, search and update inventory, make purchase orders, and more.
Make sure employees know all of the key functions they’re expected to use, and which ones they need a manager to access. Teach them any useful shortcuts or commonly used features (e.g. how to look up a loyalty program member).
Start with the functions that are most important to their daily tasks, as it can be overwhelming to introduce employees to everything at once.
Also, for new employees, ensure that the ability to apply ad-hoc discounts or make stock updates is limited to managers or trusted employees only to prevent theft or fraud.
Related Read: Liquor Store Security: 6 Tips for Keeping Your Store Safe
Employees are integral to differentiating your store from the competition and boosting sales. With prices on the rise, many customers are more hesitant to buy outside of their comfort zone — but a friendly employee with a helpful recommendation can change that.
Encourage employees to learn about your new and featured products so they can engage with customers. Give them access to your sales reports so they can understand your bestsellers to make quick recommendations.
As your employees get more confident, help them know when it’s a good time to cross-sell items (e.g. recommending a great bitters for a cocktail-crazy customer) or upsell a customer on a more expensive bottle. There’s a fine line between being persuasive and being pushy, so don’t make this a mandate.
If your liquor store inventory management system supports it, you can make it easier for employees to learn about your products and provide recommendations by adding searchable notes to products (tasting notes, recommended usage, products made by craft distillers, etc.).
No one is perfect, and that includes your employees. Mistakes are inevitable — rather than demanding perfection, encourage your employees to overcommunicate any concerns or problems they run into.
In many cases, feeling comfortable with approaching a manager or store owner will head off a problem before it starts. When mistakes do happen, make sure to be patient and run through the correct procedure with the employee so it doesn’t happen again.
You can also use the employee tracking features on your POS system to identify small areas for improvement. That said, don’t single out employees. Instead, hold regular group meetings to review performance and even brainstorm new promotion ideas.
If an employee feels like you’re invested in them and value their ideas, they are much more likely to stick with your business for the long term.
Last but certainly not least, optimizing inventory — from reordering to stocking to performing cycle counts (and everything in between) — is the lifeblood of a liquor retail business.
Ensure all employees follow inventory management best practices to ensure your liquor inventory is accurate and processes are efficient. When receiving, don’t rush, and make sure to flag any variances and damaged items immediately to ensure inventory levels are accurate.
Using barcode scanners and the built-in product databases on your liquor store system to ensure employees aren’t creating duplicate SKUs if items already exist.
Last, train employees on how to monitor stock levels so you can reorder at the right time. Setting automated low-stock and reorder points is a good start, but sometimes there will be swings in demand that your employees spot first.
A great employee is worth their weight in gold. However, one aspect many businesses don’t think about when it comes to getting the most out of employees is their technology.
The right liquor store POS system can simplify your daily tasks, freeing up your employees so they can spend less time on admin and more time helping customers. Combine that with modern conveniences like flexible discounts, built-in customer loyalty, and tailored marketing, and your store will quickly become the go-to spot for liquor sales in town.
Looking for more tips on how to run a liquor store that customers love? Check out our free guide on owning a liquor store for expert advice and practical tools that will set you up for success.