Former Omega sales director, Simon Acres, has called on KBB industry trade bodies to offer more clarity on training and education options available.
Launching a new recruitment, marketing and sales training consultancy to support KBB retailers, Acres told kbbreview: “We need clear terminology, less jargon and a directory of providers that list the available training options.
“We need the key players to work as one body to map out the accredited options.”
Acres Consultancy, located in Raunds, Northamptonshire, which has dedicated training facilities, offers sales training for retail staff, accredited by Occupational Awards Ltd (OAL).
It had its first training event in January, which it hailed as a “great success”. Its second training day will be at the end of February.
Acres said his new business brings together a team of experienced professionals to offer services, including recruitment, accredited sales training, video marketing, social media solutions, end-to-end web development and business consultancy.
He said: “We are very excited about the launch of the new business and looking forward to adding value to our clients’ businesses.
“With a unique range of consultants, we are confident that we will become a first-choice KBB provider for all support services. Our remit is to make a tangible difference, helping our clients to stand out from the competition, improve sales conversions and increase profits.”
In an in-depth interview for the February issue of kbbreview, Acres, who is also the retail corporate chairman of the KBSA, said that to compete in a difficult market, KBB businesses must recognise that investing in their employees’ development will create “increased motivation, loyalty and improved results”.
He said it was the role of the training provider to illustrate the benefits and return-on-investment in training staff.
“Everyone agrees that we all need to do more to help train and professionalise our industry, but we are fragmented,” Acres said, giving his views on the current state of training.
“We need more joined-up thinking, better cooperation and support between the different organisations and providers. We should help make it easier for businesses to invest in training by demonstrating the benefits, and making training options easier to access.”
- To find out more about how Simon Acres plans to support KBB retailers, read our interview in the February issue, pg24