People the Essential Ingredient in GTR

I will never forget a whisky brand ambassador who worked in London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 simply because she was amazing in her job. She was highly knowledgeable about the brands she was selling, a skilled salesperson and had a tremendous passion for what she was doing. She would not let a potential customer pass by her without her engaging with them and that meant literally everyone who passed within 10 ft of her. She knew regular travellers by name and remembered what they liked to buy. Importantly she also knew when to politely pull back and give the potential customer space. If only all people working on the shop floor in an airport were like her.

Brands invest huge amounts of money in experiential promotions in airports yet don’t always pay enough attention to the training of promoters and shop staff working on them. This is despite the fact that people play such a key role in whether the promotion will fly, cruise or dive bomb. Training should not just be about brand knowledge in my opinion but also about some simple sales techniques and how you want your brand to be sold. 

Global Travel Retail taught me the importance of well trained people selling brands with passion. In my opinion as people start to travel again now is the time to make sure everyone selling your brand in an airport store is well trained on how you want it to be sold.

If you would like to chat about this or anything else with regards to the wonderful world of Global Travel Retail please give me a call or send me an email at tim@youngspiritconsulting.com.