The current landscape for small and midsize businesses offers more questions than answers and that uncertainty has translated into another month of declines for NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index. Ratcheting down to 100.7, February’s index represents a 4 month low and another decline from January. While the mood may be grim among owners, it also illustrates the critical importance of having a well trained and highly skilled team that can maximize each and every opportunity. For small and midsize businesses, performance and productivity are foundational facets of any business positioned to be successful in their particular market. SMB’s can easily pivot to fit market conditions but effectively training new hires and existing workers takes time and resources, which can be in short supply in the SMB sphere. ExpressTrainingSystems.com has a suite of training products that are flexible and designed specifically to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses. From customer service, to loss management and ever critical leadership roles within SMBs, ExpressTrainingSystems.com delivers flexible and effective training content to the backbone of any modernized economy.

Customers at the Core of Business

Many small and midsize businesses are customer facing or have a customer service component within their business model. These interactions can occur in person or over the phone but for SMBs, maximizing each and every opportunity is crucial in driving business, especially during periods of economic uncertainty. ExpressTrainingSystems has entry level customer service training that can be deployed to new hires or existing staff that want to sharpen their customer service skills. Customer Service Training is available in either In Person Engagement (CST-IPE) or Contact Center Representative (CST – CCR) roles and deliver fundamental communication and organizational skills that frontline workers need to maximize those precious customer opportunities. Available in either self-paced or instructor-led formats, the CST series can help small and midsize businesses improve overall customer service performance and positively impact both brand reputation and profitability. Frontline teams are the face of the business and having skilled teams will ensure customer expectations are met on a consistent basis.

A Difficult Environment for Retailers

One of the biggest challenges facing retail type operations are increasing losses due to external and internal ‘shrink’. A recent NRF report suggested that retailers reported 93% more theft incidents in 2023 from 2019 and expect dollar losses to increase beyond 90% of previous values. Decreasing and managing these losses starts with a frontline team that not only has extended awareness of their surroundings, but also has increased organizational abilities that reduce or eliminate potential internal losses. Loss Prevention Training (LPT) covers all the foundational aspects of loss prevention from customer service strategies to identifying vulnerabilities within the workspace. LPT also delivers essential concepts and skills that highlight a growing problem and the effects it has on the business. While not all theft can be prevented, active skills and awareness can act as a deterrent to many types of losses in small and midsize businesses.

Small Business Leadership Sets the Tone

SMBs with larger frontline teams need frontline leadership that can ensure high levels of performance and smooth day to day operations from those teams. Managing teams takes a special set of skills that can resonate and motivate the individual as well as the group to achieve results and goals. Entry Level – Supervisor Training (EL-ST) delivers essential and foundational skills and habits that frontline supervisors and managers need to effectively manage their teams and maintain consistent high performance. Available only as an instructor-led, EL-ST covers in depth essential and advanced communication skills, organizational habits for effective planning and strategies for individual evaluation and performance assessment. EL-ST is ideal for individuals that are new to supervisory roles or those already in leadership but want additional upskilling.

The Bottom Line

Small and midsize businesses depend on frontline teams to drive business and perform day to day tasks ensuring smooth operations. The need for high performing teams is even more critical in the face of questionable economics and souring consumer mood. Areas such as customer service and loss prevention can always be fine tuned and optimized to deliver better results from individuals and teams. Effectively training and onboarding new hires is essential for eliminating costly turnover and rehiring processes. For larger teams, leadership plays a crucial role in managing and driving productivity and performance. Having highly effective managerial and communication skills are foundational for leading entry level teams through tough times and to better results. ExpressTrainingSystems.com designs training platforms and products that are specifically for small and midsize businesses, delivering essential skills and training more practically and effectively than traditional methods of training. ExpressTrainingSystems.com training platforms are flexible and can be delivered in various methods to suit the particular business. Please visit https://expresstrainingsystems.com/course-descriptions-training-access/ for more details.