Service: VM Training & Development
Unlock the potential of your people and develop the potential of your store teams for outstanding retail brand delivery. A well-trained and motivated workforce is proven to have a measurable impact on in-store customer experience. But not all retail VM training and development providers are the same.
Unlike generalist trainers, our qualified experts have unparalleled knowledge of this highly specialised area of retail VM training. Visual Thinking is trusted by some of the world’s best-known brands to develop their store teams in VM. Our delivery goes far beyond the scope of conventional task-based training; we equip your people with the knowledge, skills and behaviours to seize and maintain the leading creative and technical edge in a highly competitive retail marketplace. We provide many types of VM training and development, from store presentation, visual merchandising and creative display, through to all aspects of brand development, retail brand delivery and brand management.
We deliver this through a range of innovative and stimulating bespoke learning experiences such as group workshops, self-learn training packages, train-the-trainer, large-scale company events and one-to-one coaching for senior managers. Our programmes deliver quantifiable results to make a visible difference to retail brand delivery and sales performance in-store.
Expert VM training and development, exceptional performance improvement.
Case Studies:
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Client: Matalan
Project: Visual Academy
Brief:
Matalan asked Visual Thinking to develop a ‘Visual Academy’. The aim of the exercise was to improve the effectiveness, consistency and standards of store presentation and to provide a framework of effective visual merchandising and retail policy for use in all stores. Matalan was currently operating with a range of store formats, and there was a lack of clarity of ‘what good looks like’ in VM and retail standards across the business.
Solution:
The Visual Thinking Team developed a programme of two-day training workshops, run separately by job function. Delivered to area, store and field VM managers, the workshops were run from a ‘Centre of Excellence’ model store that had previously been set up to the required standard. Two workshops were run per area, delivered over a three month period.
Interactive and participative, the sessions incorporated ‘best practice’ examples, ‘show-and-tell’ and problem solving activities. Following the training, delegates took away a plan of action and practical assignments to implement back in their stores. A three day train-the-trainer session was also run for the client’s field visual managers to enable them to run the workshops as an ongoing programme.
Visual Thinking also created a comprehensive Visual Academy pack for use in stores countrywide. All senior and store manager groups are now trained in ‘what good looks like’, and a ‘model store mechanic’ has been established to maintain required standards. Stores undergo practical tests to assess effectiveness, with all stores having now completed the training process and signed-off as meeting the required standards.
